The main hall buzzed with conversation as the elders discussed his wedding, but Kieran excused himself and made his way out of the room. His heart still raced from the earlier events, his mind consumed by thoughts of the future. He was no longer the waste he once was, but a rising cultivator, with two outstanding women by his side. Baixue, the Saintess candidate of the Frozen Lotus Sect, and Roulan, the young white-grade-ranked alchemist.
As he walked through the Long Clan estate, heading to his courtyard in the back mountain, Kieran reflected on his transformation. From being a nobody to being thrust into the center of attention with two talented fiancés, the change felt surreal.
He used his divine sense to check inside the sphere.
The herbs Sindra just planted were thriving. It was not the first time he had seen such vibrant growth, but it still filled him with a sense of wonder. He marveled at how the herbs seemed to pulse with life. They had already begun sprouting, forming small shoots, but their growth was noticeably slower than the Phoenix Tear tree.
Sindra, ever playful, spoke up. "Master, the plants need more energy to grow. The sphere is low on energy, and that's why growth has slowed."
Kieran furrowed his brow. He had considered creating a herb garden inside the sphere before, but now, seeing the herbs flourish in such an unexpected way, a new idea sparked within him. "I could become rich from this. The herbs will grow faster as long as the sphere has enough energy."
Just as Kieran was lost in thought, Sindra reminded him of something he had overlooked before. "Your lovely wife, Baixue, carries a piece of the sphere within her."
Kieran blinked, confused. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"
Sindra's voice dripped with sarcasm. "You were too busy with your little... activities to listen."
Kieran rolled his eyes but didn't respond. Instead, he used his divine sense to probe Baixue, trying to locate the energy signature Sindra had mentioned.
To his surprise, his divine sense was pulled into the sphere.
Before he could fully process what had happened, Baixue's divine sense followed. She had felt something and had reached out as well, only to be pulled into the sphere alongside Kieran. They both stood there, in the vast space, unsure of what to make of it.
Kieran was the first to speak. "Baixue, you can come here too?"
She looked around, equally stunned. "How? Where is this?"
Kieran finally understood. This was how the tribulation energy had been drawn into the sphere—through Baixue.
Their physical bodies stood still, with vacant gazes in their eyes. Roulan, noticing their disorientation, panicked and rushed forward to shake Kieran and Baixue out of their trance. The two were forcefully pulled back into their bodies before they could talk.
Kieran snapped back to reality and quickly reassured Roulan, whose brows were furrowed with worry.
Baixue, now equally shaken, remained silent. Her mind raced, processing the unexpected experience. We need to talk later, she thought, though she kept her emotions in check.
As the tension in the air settled, Kieran's uncle, Ryuji, approached with a grin on his face. "Brat," he greeted, his voice filled with pride. "You've suddenly soared. You're no longer the same boy you were."
Kieran's brow furrowed. "Uncle, how much do you want to borrow this time?"
Ryuji's smile froze. "I don't want your money, brat."
Kieran enjoyed his uncle's flustered appearance as the two girls behind him stifled their laughs.
Ryuji was secretly happy for him and didn't mind the teasing.
"The Patriarch has requested that you move into your parents' courtyard," Ryuji announced, his eyes gleaming with pride. "It's time you take your rightful place."
The news struck Kieran deeply. The courtyard, a place of cherished memories with his parents, had been left untouched; the clan only maintained it, never changing anything. A silent testament to the position his parents once held in the clan. He had always avoided it, choosing instead the solitude of the back mountain. But now, it seemed the time had come for him to let go of the past and move forward.
Ryuji handed Kieran a storage pouch filled with spirit stones. "I don't need to save anymore since your spiritual roots have been cured."
"Unc....."
Before he could say anything, he was handed another storage pouch. "Compensation for the resources you missed out on," he said with a wink. "This should cover your training from all those years."
Kieran nodded, silently grateful. Even though he secluded himself in the back mountain, he always felt the clan's love for him. As he watched his Uncle walk away with a bounce in his step, he felt touched knowing that the source of his uncle's happiness was his good fortune.
Baixue, who had been quietly observing, spoke up. "I'll return to my room for now." She gave Kieran a meaningful look. "We'll talk later."
With that, Baixue turned and left, leaving Kieran alone with Roulan. Roulan, ever attentive, followed him as he made his way to the courtyard of his childhood home. Despite the solemn memories, Roulan seemed to know exactly what he needed, silently giving him space as she picked a room for herself.
Kieran sat beneath a peach tree in the center of the courtyard, taking in the air that still carried traces of his parents' presence. The memories stirred emotions he wasn't ready to face, so he pushed them aside. Instead, he focused on his cultivation.
He activated his cultivation technique, drawing nature's chi toward him. The sphere hummed in response, spinning as it absorbed some of the energy flowing through his body, but he realized that the energy was not enough to cause any significant changes to the herb garden.
As he meditated, Kieran began to search his mind for pill formulas. The herbs in the sphere were potent, and he was eager to start refining them into pills.
But he found something even better. Knowledge of alchemy techniques filled his mind. A specific technique stood out among the rest: the "Flames of Creation." The technique focused on awakening innate flames, improving their strength, and using them to refine pills with greater skill.
"Flames of Creation," Kieran whispered, a deep sense of recognition flooding his thoughts.
Sindra, sensing his excitement, urged him on. "Master, meditate on it! This technique will be invaluable to you."
Kieran's mind was awash with knowledge, as if he were relearning something from a past life. The process of learning was made extremely easy. It wasn't long before he felt a surge of power within him; he could feel something pulsing right above his dantian.
He snapped his fingers. A purple flame, shimmering with divine energy, erupted from his hand.
Sindra's voice rang in his mind, full of excitement. "Congratulations, Master! You've obtained the divine rank Amethyst Flame."
Kieran stared at the flame, awe and wonder filling him. The path ahead of him will become much easier if he becomes an alchemist.