After leaving a legend behind in the Battle-Martial Department, Wang Baole returned to his cave-residence in the Armament Department, plopped down on the balcony, and gazed at the blue sky and drifting white clouds with deep satisfaction.
His mood was excellent.
He tore open a bag of snacks and started crunching away.
"I'm this skinny now, I should really replenish myself," he muttered, rubbing his still-round little face, then glancing at his slightly bulging belly.
His grand weight-loss plan had, in the end, only burned off his spirit fat. Physically, he was still the same chubby kid.
But as far as Wang Baole was concerned, he was very pleased with himself.
"Those fat grandpas definitely can't catch up to me anymore."Grinning, he savored the powerful flow of Blood-Qi coursing through his body and felt even more content. He grabbed another packet of snacks and continued eating.
By the time dusk settled, he was full from nothing but junk food. Ignoring the little mountain of empty wrappers piling up beside him, he went back into the cave and began refining spirit stones.
With his previous experience, it didn't take him long. Once he circulated the Void Devouring Technique, invisible spiritual energy gathered from all directions, drawn in by the devouring seed within him. It condensed into his right hand and finally formed a diamond-shaped spirit stone.
The stone wasn't perfectly flawless, but it was quite clear and radiant.Holding it, Wang Baole's grin nearly split his face.
"Seventy-five percent purity. Not bad at all. I've got to push harder and hit ninety percent as soon as possible."
The thought of the School Head position and the authority that came with it made his heart burn. He immediately threw himself into further cultivation.
Time passed quickly.
Seven days went by in a blink.
During those days, Wang Baole still attended the Spirit-Stone Hall from time to time, though not with the same frantic intensity as before. Most of his effort was poured into the Void Devouring Technique.
Eventually, he noticed a problem.
Once his spirit stones reached seventy-five percent purity…they stopped improving.
No matter how he tried, the purity refused to go higher, as if he had hit an invisible wall.
This made Wang Baole anxious. He tried several more days, but still saw no progress. Frustrated, he slapped his belly, pulled out the black mask, and muttered:
"Did I cultivate it wrong? Maybe I missed something when the text was blurry last time…"
With no other options, he took out the dream pillow and entered the dream realm again.
As before, he appeared in a world of ice and snow. Snowflakes drifted from the sky; the wind was so cold it felt like it could cut skin. But he wasn't in the mood to appreciate it.
He hurriedly looked down at the blurred mask in his hand.
After a long moment, he managed to read the technique again and carefully confirmed every line.
"No, it's right… So why can't I get past seventy-five percent?"
He grew more and more annoyed.
Sighing, he was about to leave the dream and think of other solutions when—
The black mask suddenly began to twist rapidly, as if it had understood his complaint.
Wang Baole froze, staring.
Before his eyes, the characters for the Void Devouring Technique faded away—
Replaced by new text, emerging slowly across the surface.
The new text…was the answer to his question about improving purity.
The sheer user-friendliness of it all left Wang Baole stunned.
He rubbed his eyes hard, then glared at the mask and shouted:
"Come out! Who's in there? I see you! Come out!"
He braced himself as if preparing for battle, staring without blinking.
But the mask didn't react.Nothing else changed.
After a long wait, he could only turn his attention back to the floating text. As he read, his eyes gradually brightened.
"Purifying Pill…"
According to the mask, if he wanted to reach higher purities, he would need a pill known as the Purifying Pill (Huà Qīng Dān). Only this pill could specifically cleanse the impurities in his body, allowing spiritual energy to circulate more smoothly within him.
Only then could his purity go higher.
Wang Baole hesitated.
On one hand, the solution excited him. On the other, the mask felt more suspicious than ever.
Even after he left the dream, he was still wavering. Eventually, he logged into the spiritual network and searched for "Purifying Pill."
He soon found its entry in the academy database.
The Purifying Pill had no harmful side effects and excellent benefits. It could purge bodily impurities and make the body of an Ancient Martial cultivator more agile and responsive.
However, it was incredibly rare and difficult to refine.A normal Pill Department student wasn't even qualified to attempt it.
Only the Pill Department School Head had a slim chance of producing one—and even then, success wasn't guaranteed. If they did manage to refine one, they typically took it themselves.
The herbs involved were all top-level spiritual materials; even School Heads often had to give up halfway, unable to afford the cost. Only Pill Department instructors had a real chance, and even they would pay a heavy price in materials and effort.
As a result, in the entire Lower Institute of the Misty Dao Academy, the Purifying Pill was something that "existed in name only"—technically available, but almost never seen on the market.
After reading the entry, Wang Baole stopped hesitating.
Even if the mask was strange, the pill itself was clearly beneficial to him. That was all that mattered.
Over the next few days, aside from classes and cultivation, he dedicated almost all his time to investigating the pill. He even contacted the "little white rabbit" and Du Min in the Pill Department, asking them to help him gather information.
But there was no news at all.
The pill was simply too rare.Even if someone wanted to sell one, news of it would never reach ordinary students like them. As for Wang Baole, despite being a Special Admission student, he had only been in the academy for less than a year. He still didn't have access to that level of circle.
But persistence pays off.
The little white rabbit took his request very seriously.She had always felt that Wang Baole had saved her life. Even after she learned the truth behind the assessment, she was like Liu Daobin—unable to forget that blood-covered figure etched in her memory.
So she paid special attention.
With her sweet looks, lively personality, and genuine effort, she finally dug up a lead for Baole a month later.
"Brother Baole," her voice chimed through the transmission ring, "there'll be an auction in Misty City in half a month. I heard there'll be one Purifying Pill up for bidding!"
The moment he got her message, Wang Baole jolted to his feet, overjoyed.
He grabbed the transmission ring and planted a loud kiss on it.
"Xiao Ya, I love you so much!"
In the Pill Department dormitory, the little white rabbit was sitting on her bed. When she heard the kiss coming through the ring, her cheeks instantly flushed red.
Across from her, Du Min shot her a suspicious look.
"Xiao Ya, what's wrong with you?"
"N-nothing…" The little white rabbit ducked her head, heart pounding, a shy sweetness blooming inside her that she couldn't quite describe.
Back in his cave, Wang Baole paced in excitement, punching the air as his eyes sparkled.
"They'll want spirit stones at the auction. And spirit stones couldn't be easier for me! Seventy-five percent purity is already pretty valuable—and the best part is, I have no cost at all."
He laughed loudly.
As far as he was concerned, that Purifying Pill was already as good as his.He'd already accumulated a decent number of stones from his previous refining, and his personal demand for spirit stones wasn't very high. To him, these were just external belongings—if he had to trade them all for the pill, he wouldn't feel even a twinge of pain.
"But I can't get careless. All those high-ranking official biographies say the same thing—never underestimate your opponents."
With that thought, he decided to use the remaining half-month to refine even more spirit stones.
So for the next two weeks, he threw nearly all his spare time into refining.
Then, at last—
The day of the auction arrived.
That morning, Wang Baole left his cave full of energy.
The Misty Dao Academy stood by Greenwood Lake, in the eastern outskirts of Misty City. Students could freely enter and leave the city on normal days, and though this was Baole's first time going there, he wasn't unfamiliar with the route.
He took a boat across the lake, landed on the shore, and headed straight toward Misty City.
As he neared it, the comparison to his hometown, Phoenix City, became obvious.
Misty City was enormous.It could fit over a hundred Phoenix Cities inside its borders.
Phoenix City was just one of countless minor cities in the Federation.Misty City, on the other hand, was one of the Federation's seventeen main cities.
Outside the city, towering walls rose like iron armor, ringed with countless shining spikes that radiated a sense of lethal danger when the sunlight struck them—the faint aura of killing intent spread across the air.
Huge formations encircled the city walls. Even at their default, non-maximized state, they gave off a powerful pressure that blanketed the surroundings.
In the distance, Baole could see numerous tall towers built atop the walls. Massive spheres hovered above each tower, slowly rotating. From time to time, arcs of lightning flashed within them, rippling outward with terrifying power—clearly meant to deal with threats from the sky.
All of this had its roots in the ancient bronze sword that had fallen from space, pierced the sun, and shattered. The fragments of its hilt rained down across the planet, scattered over a vast area.
Those fragments were gathered by various forces.Different cultivation methods bloomed like flowers across the land.The entire Federation's structure was reshaped.
The Federation remained the nominal ruling body, but beneath it, four great powers had formed in different directions, with countless smaller factions attached to them.
If not for the Beast War that broke out in the early days of the Spirit-Origin Era… the Federation might already have fractured.
That war had changed everything.
Thanks to its aftermath, the modern Federation appeared peaceful on the surface—but beneath that calm, these major and minor forces still clashed in the shadows. Their conflicts stayed within limits, never allowed to escalate into full-scale war.
Because everyone remembered—
That war against the beasts had been a catastrophe.
The Federation had teetered on the brink of extinction as a species.And all of it had started… because spiritual energy suddenly appeared.
Spiritual energy didn't just grant humans the chance to cultivate.Beasts, plants, and birds had gained power as well.The density of qi caused widespread mutation among wild animals, vegetation, and flying creatures. Many surpassed humans outright and became terrifying existences.
The Beast War was born from that imbalance.
Though it had ended, with the Federation claiming dominion over the cities, in reality the wilderness and the seas belonged to the beasts and the flying monsters.
That was why the cities needed such powerful defenses.And because the world outside was so dangerous, most people spent their entire lives inside city walls. When they had to leave, they traveled in groups or hired specialized battle cultivators as escorts.
Just like the escort convoy that had brought Wang Baole and the other students to the academy.
Now, standing before Misty City's towering gates, Wang Baole took a deep breath.
Back straight, chest lifted, he stepped forward and walked into the vast, majestic city.