"Could it be because of that seed today?" Evan Yang wondered, curiosity driving him deeper into his dantian to see what it looked like. But when he arrived, he was stunned—the seed had moved into his dantian and was now floating inside, suspended in midair. "What the hell?"
Evan tried to control the seed and sighed to himself, "Is the seed going to live in my dantian from now on?" The thought was unbelievable. He checked his blood again, which made his head ache even more, muttering, "What exactly is this Flameblood? And what is the Heaven-Cold Seed anyway?"
After finally realizing his body had truly undergone unprecedented changes, Evan left his inner world and returned to reality. Looking at Tiger Sun, who was still cultivating, then thinking about the blood and miraculous seed inside him, Evan found his confidence again and said to himself, "No matter what happens next, as long as I can cultivate, that's enough. I want to become stronger."
The next morning, Evan left his room early and went to the cliffside—a place he often visited. Staring at the faint light in the sky before sunrise, Evan told himself, "Starting today, I'll cultivate here every morning."
In order not to attract attention, Evan always left his room at dawn and returned in the morning. For the first few days, his cultivation went smoothly—he didn't experience that boiling-blood sensation again.
Just as Evan was happily heading back to the manor, Logan Luo blocked his way. "Kid, did you strike it rich? Why are you grinning so much?"
"Steward Luo, it's nothing," Evan quickly hid his expression, not wanting Logan to notice anything.
"Then hurry up and check the fields. The higher-ups need a batch of herbs this time. If you can't deliver, you can expect to be kicked out of the manor." Logan Luo snorted and walked away.
Evan was already used to this kind of thing. The Rising Sun Sect had a tradition of collecting herbs—every month, they had to deliver medicinal plants to a superior sect. Evan never questioned this unwritten rule; he just did his job.
When Evan entered the herb shed and saw all the herbs he had planted thriving, he felt relieved. "Good thing I planted so many this time," he said.
Just as Evan was about to harvest the herbs, they suddenly withered as if poisoned, leaving behind shriveled, lifeless stalks. Shocked, Evan crouched down to examine them and found they had completely lost their vitality. "How could this happen?"
At that moment, Evan felt a disturbance inside his body. "Is this... oh no, is my blood about to boil again?" He knew the feeling all too well. In response, Evan quickly used the Inner-Viewing Technique to peer into his dantian—and what he saw shocked him: the seed was spinning, and faint green gas was appearing around it. "What's going on?"
His blood began to boil again, but as the seed spun, the faint green gas flowed through his bloodstream. After circulating once, his blood seemed to meet its nemesis and calmed down instantly. In that brief moment, Evan witnessed the seed suppressing his blood and refining the green energy.
"Could it really be...?" Evan opened his eyes and looked at the dead herbs around him, unable to believe what he was seeing.
To confirm his suspicion, Evan went to another herb shed. Sure enough, as soon as he stepped inside, the seed in his body reacted—the faint green gas appeared again, and the surrounding herbs withered as if their vitality was being drained.
"What the hell..." Evan muttered, stunned as his suspicion was confirmed.
Now Evan was worried. If every time he got near herbs, the seed in his body absorbed their vitality, how could he ever harvest them? He silently prayed that the seed wouldn't spin.
"Seed, can you please not absorb their vitality?" Evan muttered to himself, trying to comfort himself.
With two entire plots dead, Evan felt a headache coming on. How was he supposed to explain this to Logan Luo?
Luckily, there was no one else in the herb shed at the moment—otherwise they'd definitely think Evan was some kind of monster. Evan himself felt like a monster, but he forced himself to stay calm. He found the usual secret path he used to sneak out, left the manor, and went to the cliffside. After glancing at the sky and then at himself, he sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and prepared to cultivate.
Since the herbs had already been absorbed, Evan figured he might as well see what effect it had.
Evan closed his eyes and tried to control the seed, but it wouldn't respond to his will. All he could do was circulate spiritual energy in his dantian. Then he noticed something strange—the seed had developed a crack.
"Is it about to sprout?" Evan recognized the crack immediately. He was used to planting herbs, and the seed in his body looked exactly like a seed about to germinate.
But after staring at it for a long time, the seed just stayed there—it didn't crack open or sprout. "Does it need to absorb the vitality of other herbs to germinate?" Evan thought, feeling a bit odd.
He watched for a while but nothing happened, so Evan tried running several cycles of cultivation. He was startled by what he saw—after each cycle, his blood would boil, and the seed would release faint green spiritual energy into his blood, calming it into pale green threads.
"What is this Flameblood, really?" Evan wondered, recalling what the ice-sealed expert had said about it.
To confirm his thoughts, Evan tried several more times. Sure enough, whenever his blood started to boil, the seed would stabilize it. Even more surprising, Evan discovered he had broken through—he'd reached the second layer of Qi-Refining, meaning he could now cultivate using the second layer of the Rising Sun Scripture.
Having reached the second layer of Qi-Refining, Evan felt much more energetic. If the first layer was about strengthening his body, then the second layer brought him closer to true cultivation. "Whew, blood and seed together... who knows what'll happen next."
After breaking through to the second layer, Evan sat cross-legged again, wanting to see what cultivation was like at this new stage. Sure enough, when he closed his eyes, he found his blood flowing faster, his spiritual energy moving quicker, and his absorption rate increasing.
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"I'm absorbing spiritual energy from the outside faster, and it's circulating through my body more quickly. Even my internal tissues are changing," Evan thought as he cultivated, sensing the changes within.
He had thought the seed would always suppress his boiling blood, but this time was different. When his blood boiled again, the green energy released by the seed couldn't keep up, making Evan feel pain and even burning sensations inside. Realizing the problem, he quickly stopped cultivating.
"Looks like from now on, my cultivation depends on this seed." Seeing its miraculous effects, Evan knew he couldn't cultivate without it. To advance again, he'd have to let the seed evolve—only then would it release more and faster green energy to stabilize his restless blood.
That was just Evan's initial guess. To be sure, he'd have to let the seed absorb more essence from the herbs. With that in mind, Evan snuck back into the manor, planning to let the seed absorb the rest of the herbs. But to his annoyance, Logan Luo was already there, looking furious. When he saw Evan return, he snapped, "Kid, where did you run off to slack this time?"
"I was worried the herbs wouldn't be enough, so I went outside to look for more," Evan replied, sounding unlucky.
"Look at this—these are the herbs you planted? What are these, anyway? Did you forget to water them?" Logan Luo stormed over to the two dead plots and cursed. These herbs were supposed to be delivered, and now two plots were missing, making him lose face.
Evan didn't want to explain. He just thought to himself, "If you weren't here, it wouldn't just be two dead plots."
"What, cat got your tongue?" Logan Luo barked when Evan stayed calm.
"Manager Luo, yelling won't help. We should find a solution instead," Evan said, rubbing his nose.
"Easy for you to say. If you can't replant two plots in ten days, you're out!" Logan Luo was truly furious. He wanted to beat Evan up, but remembering Evan's planting skills, he knew he'd have to rely on him for now.
"Alright, I'll do my best to revive these. You go ahead and take care of your own business," Evan replied, sounding resigned but confident.
"You—" It was the first time Logan Luo felt threatened by Evan, and he really wanted to smack him, but held back, leaving angrily. Inside, he cursed, "Damn brat, just wait—once I hand over these herbs, I'll kick you out and beat you half to death."
Evan just laughed to himself. "Logan Luo, just wait until I've absorbed all these herbs—who knows what'll happen. You'll get scolded by your superiors. My father's gone, so getting kicked out isn't a big deal."
Logan Luo had no idea Evan was ready to leave at any moment. Evan wasn't about to tell him. Right now, he was absorbing the rest of the herbs one by one. Sure enough, the seed acted like it was getting nourishment, devouring every herb Evan passed, instantly draining their vitality.
"Heh, I wonder how you'll feel when you suddenly lose over ten plots of herbs." Evan felt a sense of satisfaction—not only was the seed nourished, but he'd also taught Logan Luo a lesson, waiting for him to get scolded from above.
Still, Evan had to keep up appearances. Whenever Logan Luo asked, Evan insisted he was working on it and warned him not to come in—otherwise, if he accidentally stepped on something or ruined Evan's planting technique, he couldn't be blamed.
Logan Luo actually believed Evan. After two years of planting, Logan Luo had to admit—even with personal grudges, he admired Evan's skills.
If he knew Evan had absorbed all the herbs inside, Logan Luo would probably be shocked.
By the end of the day, Evan had slowly devoured many herbs. But the further he went, the less effective the herbs became, which gave Evan a headache. "Is their medicinal potency too weak?"
"Looks like I'll need to find better herbs from now on," Evan muttered. Fortunately, cultivating the second layer of the Rising Sun Scripture was no longer difficult—thanks to the seed, he could run it smoothly. After three days, Evan realized he'd broken through to the third layer of Qi-Refining. He could hardly believe it—was it his blood, or the seed? Either way, his cultivation speed was incredible. Now, he was officially starting on the third layer of the Rising Sun Scripture.
This time, Evan didn't immediately start cultivating the third layer. Instead, he found Tiger Sun. "Tiger Sun, when we cultivators improve our cultivation with new techniques, what attack methods do we use?"
"There are plenty. For us cultivators in the Qi-Refining stage, there are many ordinary attack techniques, and some powerful ones. But those strong techniques are usually kept by the best sects and only taught to their top disciples," Tiger Sun sighed. He knew he'd never get access to those.
"Oh? How many types are there?" Evan had never received formal instruction and was curious to ask Tiger Sun.
"There are four levels: basic, intermediate, advanced, and top-tier. There's even talk of mysterious immortal-grade techniques found in immortal relics," Tiger Sun said, a bit envious.
"Immortal-grade? Isn't that immortal arts?" Evan was excited to hear the word 'immortal.'
"Whether immortals exist is another matter. People just like to call powerful techniques found in immortal relics 'immortal-grade,'" Tiger Sun clarified, shaking his head.
"Does our Rising Sun Sect have any famous techniques?" Evan asked, curious.
"That I do know. The strongest is an intermediate-level Shao Yang Mystic Art. The Rising Sun Scripture was derived from it for us lower-level disciples, but the top disciples are allowed to comprehend the Shao Yang Mystic Art," Tiger Sun answered after thinking for a moment.