The cold winds blew through the now-silent graveyard of the "Fallen Leaf Sect," carrying with them the faint scent of dried blood and the whisper of tormented souls. Wei Shen stood for a final few moments at the sect's gate, casting one last look at the place that had once been his prison and the source of his humiliation. There was no sense of triumph or even revenge in his eyes, only the empty coldness that follows the completion of a necessary task.
"The old account… has been settled," he muttered in a low voice. "And now… with this new power and this blood… it's time to seriously consider the requirements for the Foundation Establishment realm."
He turned, leaving behind the sect that had scorned and expelled him, which had now become just a bloody memory in his history. He had no intention of staying in this area for another moment. The scent of death would inevitably attract spiritual beasts, and perhaps even some wandering cultivators or reconnaissance teams from other sects investigating the sudden silence of the Fallen Leaf Sect.
More importantly, he could feel the raging sea of chaotic energy in his Dantian. The power he had absorbed from dozens of cultivators, including the eighth-level sect leader and several seventh-level elders, was not pure "Blood Qi" that he could use immediately. It was a chaotic mixture of life essence, echoes of souls, remnants of their techniques, hatred, and fear. It was a ticking time bomb in his body.
"This isn't Qi. It's raw chaos," Wei Shen thought as he made his way swiftly through the forest, moving away from "Bleakwind Mountain." "If I try to use it in a real fight now, it might explode in my face before it harms my opponent. Order must be imposed on it, it must be refined, and converted into real, controllable fuel."
He needed a safe place, completely isolated, to conduct a long and decisive closed-door cultivation session. His old cave was no longer an option; it was too close to the crime scene.
Wei Shen spent the next three days traveling nonstop, delving deeper into the wilderness in a direction he had never taken before, relying on his senses, sharpened by the ninth level of Qi Condensation, to avoid any danger. He moved like a ghost, silent and swift, his every focus bent on finding the perfect "den."
On the fourth day, he found it.
Behind a huge, violent waterfall that poured its water into a clear emerald lake, there was a hidden crevice in the rock wall, covered by a curtain of water and climbing plants. After a careful inspection of the area and ensuring that no powerful spiritual beasts lived nearby, Wei Shen passed through the waterfall.
He found himself at the entrance of a spacious, dry cave. The air inside was pure and held a pleasant coolness. The cave was much deeper and wider than any he had found before, consisting of several natural chambers. In one of these chambers, a small pool of clear water had gathered from water seeping through cracks in the ceiling.
"Perfect," Wei Shen thought with cold relief. "Secluded, protected by a curtain of water, and with a source of pure water. This fortress must be impregnable. Any interruption now… would be catastrophic."
He spent the rest of the day securing the place. He used his immense physical strength, enhanced by the ninth level, to move massive boulders and block any secondary openings that might exist. Then, using one of the primitive formation manuals he had looted from the "Fallen Leaf Sect," and relying on his superior intellect for understanding engineering principles, he carved some simple symbols on the rocks at the entrance, then infused them with a little of his "Blood Qi." It wasn't a strong defensive formation, but more like an early warning system that would alert him to any vibration or approach of a living being near the entrance.
Once he was satisfied that his new sanctuary was as secure as possible, Wei Shen sat in the deepest part of the cave. He took out the spoils from the late sect leader's storage bag: a pile of low and medium-grade "spirit stones," some vials of "healing pills" and "Qi recovery pills" that seemed crudely made to him, and some dried spiritual herbs.
"These resources… will be necessary to maintain balance," he thought, arranging the spirit stones around him.
Then, he closed his eyes and turned his attention completely inward, to that raging, chaotic ocean of bloody energy in his Dantian.
He began the process of refinement.
It was a violent and painful process. He felt as if he were trying to tame a thousand raging beasts at the same time. Every thread of energy carried with it the echo of its original owner – the anger of the elders, the terror of the disciples, the despair of the sect leader. These echoes tried to resist him, to distract him, to taint his consciousness.
But Wei Shen's will was like an unshakeable mountain of steel. He mercilessly crushed these echoes, tearing apart the remnants of their consciousness, and asserting his absolute dominance over this energy that was now his.
"You are now just fuel," he said in a cold voice in his mind. "Fuel for my ascent."
He began to circulate this chaotic energy, forcing it to pass through the "Blood-Devouring Stone" which pulsed strongly and steadily in his Dantian. The stone acted as a demonic filter, a smelter, devouring all those spiritual and emotional impurities, converting the raw energy into a denser, purer "Blood Qi," then returning it to Wei Shen's pathways.
The process required a delicate balance. Whenever he felt the "Blood Qi" becoming too violent or unstable, he would absorb the pure, gentle energy from the "spirit stones" around him to achieve equilibrium, to calm the savagery of his energy.
Days passed with him in this state, completely immersed in this internal world of conflict and refinement. He didn't eat; he didn't sleep. He lived on Qi alone, and on his unyielding will.
After nearly two weeks of continuous closed-door cultivation, the raging sea in his Dantian finally began to calm. The chaotic energy that had nearly torn him apart had been completely tamed.
In his Dantian now, there was no raging sea, but a deep, terrifyingly calm ocean of "Blood Qi" that had taken on a dark crimson color, almost black. It was dense, heavy, like liquid mercury, and it pulsed with a terrifying, compressed power.
He was still at the peak of the ninth level of Qi Condensation, but his foundation was now unimaginably solid and strong, far surpassing any other cultivator at his same level.
Wei Shen slowly opened his eyes. The sharp, intermittent red glint was gone; now they were like two seas of calm blood, holding in their depths a power capable of drowning the world.
He once again looked at the requirements the stone had displayed in his consciousness:
1. Spiritual Beast Core from the Foundation Establishment Stage.
2. Heart of a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm.
3. Essence of the pure 'Ice Soul Flower'.
"Now," he thought calmly, "I am ready to begin the real hunt."
He rose, feeling the immense, stable power flowing through every part of his body.
"The time for preparation in this forest is over," he said to himself. "It's time to go out into the wider world… the world of cities, sects, and powerful cultivators. It's time to search for information… and for new prey."
He looked at his reflection in the clear pool of water in the cave. He saw a lean young man, his face sharp, his hair long and unkempt, and his eyes holding a glint that did not belong to this world. His clothes were tattered rags stained with old blood and dust.
"This appearance… will attract the wrong kind of attention in the world of men," he thought. "Before I begin hunting in their fields… I must wear a new mask, a mask befitting this world."
He turned and exited his new cave, his temporary fortress. He looked at the distant horizon, where he knew from the maps he had looted from the sect that the nearest city lay several days' walk away.
The Demonic Heir, with his new, consolidated power, and with his grim, clear goals, was about to take his first steps into the world of men.