Merin's figure shimmers with grey light as the morning sun slips through the cracked window behind him.
If anyone knew that in just three days after stepping into First Ring Celestial Master, he had already forced his way to the Fourth Ring, they would see him as nothing less than a monster.
From Lin Yu's memories, this world holds two extraordinary paths—Martial Artist and Celestial Master.
Martial Artists rise through Third Grade, Second Grade, First Grade, and Blood Yang Master.
Celestial Masters climb from First Ring to Ninth. Beyond Nine Rings lies the Divine Soul Realm, where one refines spirit into soul and escapes the body's limits.
Lin Yu's memories know little of Martial Arts, but enough of the Celestial Path—only a single spirit-refinement technique, one that can carry a cultivator no higher than the Third Ring.
That was the ceiling Lin Yu could never pass.
Merin, however, calls upon techniques from other worlds.
His breakthrough bends the system of this realm, not quite Fourth Ring, but something close enough to grant him the strength and safety he needs.
The grey shimmer fades as his younger siblings stir awake.
"Up," Merin says, his voice steady. "We're moving to the new house today."
He rises and turns to the hearth. Hunger gnaws at him—his two consecutive breakthroughs drained his body's energy, and the thin spiritual energy here cannot be relied on.
Even if the density were higher, he wouldn't dare to touch it.
The spiritual energy of this world is poisonous to the human body.
That is why around the dynasty walls are carved with arrays—to keep the outside energy from flooding in.
What little leaks through is faint, barely enough to cause harm.
But Merin knows the truth.
The first time he tried, a single wisp of spiritual energy seared through his veins, burning him alive from within.
An hour later, with three small bags of luggage and a donkey tied beside them, Merin and his two siblings stand in front of a narrow apartment building.
Lin Zhu looks up and asks, "Brother, our house is on the second floor?"
Merin nods. "Second floor, Room Six."
Lin Mi tilts her head, hope in her eyes. "Do we each get our own room?"
Merin shakes his head. "It has one living room, one bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom."
As he starts walking toward the apartment, he hears their quiet sighs of disappointment.
Lin Zhu straightens his shoulders. "Don't worry, sister. When I enter the Black Wolf Gang, I'll buy us a big house and each of us will have a room."
Merin stops and glances back. "I've told you many times—you are not joining any gang."
Lin Zhu frowns. "But brother, Zhu Peng said a deacon is interested in me. If I join, I can learn martial arts."
A guard steps in front of the apartment entrance, blocking their way.
"Hey, what are you kids doing here? This place isn't for the likes of you."
Merin calmly shows his Four Gate Badge and the transfer papers.
The guard's eyes widen, and his tone shifts at once into respect as he leads them upstairs to their new home.
The door opens with a creak, and Merin sets down his bag inside the dim room.
"I'll be leaving for a mission today," he says. "After I return, I'll take you to enrol in a martial school."
Lin Zhu hesitates. "But brother, that will cost money. In the gang, I could learn for free."
Merin checks the bedroom, places his bag on the floor, and replies without turning. "Free is sometimes the most expensive."
Lin Zhu blinks. "What do you mean?"
"If you join a gang, they don't want your money," Merin says quietly. "They want your life."
Lin Mi gasps. "Second brother, don't join the gang!"
Lin Zhu stiffens, doubt flickering across his face.
They aren't his real brother and sister, but Merin feels the weight of responsibility binding them together.
"Don't worry," he says. "I'll make sure you enter a martial school after I return."
Lin Mi looks up. "Brother, when will you be back?"
"Tomorrow evening," Merin answers.
He opens his pouch, pulls out a handful of coins, and presses them into Lin Zhu's hand.
"Buy some necessities."
Lin Zhu grips the coins tightly. "Brother, return safely."
"Brother, return safely," Lin Mi echoes.
Merin smiles faintly, walks down the narrow stairs, and mounts the donkey waiting below.
He guides the donkey through the streets toward the city gate, his figure soon swallowed by the morning crowd.
Halfway, he stops and enters a small store, buying a talisman sword, since the mission concerns a demon.
The target is a rat demon harassing the farmland of a village, two hours away from the city.
He arrives before noon and meets the village head, who explains that the demon only appears at night.
Merin sighs, regretting leaving so early—he should have set out at noon.
Still, he enters the forest around the farmland, hoping to encounter the demon by chance.
No such luck, and by afternoon, he returns to the village.
He eats a simple meal at the chief's house, then climbs onto a tall tree by the farm, sitting on a branch to watch over the fields.
The sun sinks, and moonlight washes across the farmland.
Torches burn along the village perimeter, their light keeping lesser evils at bay.
The sound of insects thickens, forcing Merin to shield himself with his spirit ring against swarming mosquitoes.
The spirit ring, usually a defence against spiritual monsters and curses, also works against mundane bites.
A flicker of movement ripples through the farmland, and Merin drops from the tree.
He runs across the soil, pasting a sharp rune onto his talisman sword mid-stride.
The wooden blade gleams, its edge now sharp enough to cut iron.
From the fields rises the rat demon, its massive body as tall as Merin's waist.
It growls, then lunges, but one swing cleaves its neck clean through.
Merin, even with less than one per cent of his true strength, does not lack skill.
He grips the demon's tail and drags the body back toward the village.
By the next afternoon, he returns to the city, walking beside his donkey carrying the corpse.
He plans to sell the body for coin, since demon flesh absorbs spiritual energy and is poisonous to humans.
Merin sells the demon rat's body to a restaurant on the way to Four Gate.
As soon as he steps inside the building, Li Mei notices him.
She is speaking with a man in the uniform of Six Gate—the force responsible for crimes committed by people.
Li Mei waves him over, "Lin Yu, come here."
Merin walks up and stands beside the man.
Li Mei says, "Your mission is finished."
Merin nods and hands her the wooden badge given by the village chief.
She accepts it, then gestures to the man beside her.
"This is Captain Wang Yi. He needs the assistance of a Celestial Master. But all of them are either on mission or resting at home."
Wang Yi inclines his head politely. "Mr. Lin Yu, you won't need to act, only determine whether a human or an evil creature committed the crime."
Merin asks calmly, "What crime?"
Wang Yi replies, "A concubine of the Yang Family died under mysterious circumstances."
Merin glances at Li Mei for advice.
She passes him three green chips and says, "Assisting Six Gate will earn you ten credits. Determining the cause of death won't take much time."
Merin pockets the chips, then turns to Wang Yi and nods. "Let's go."
Wang Yi smiles. "Thank you."
Merin follows Wang Yi out, leaving his donkey tied outside the Four Gate building, intending to return later to buy runes and ask about techniques for breaking through to the Fourth Ring Celestial Master.
The Yang Family estate is located in the north of the city, occupying nearly ten per cent of the northern district. From Lin Yu's memory, the Yangs are a scholarly family; in every generation, at least one member serves in the ministerial departments of the capital, giving them strong influence in Mulin City.
Inside the estate, Merin follows Wang Yi through courtyards and corridors until they stop before a door crowded with people. Servants in plain robes, Yang family members in finer clothing, and Six Gate officers in uniform are all present, easily distinguished by their attire.
A woman dressed in clothes similar to Wang Yi's steps forward. She bows slightly and says, "Captain Wang, is this the Celestial Master?"
"Yes," Wang Yi replies. "This is Celestial Master Lin Yu." Turning to Merin, he adds, "This is Captain Zhang."
Merin nods with a faint smile. "Captain Zhang."
Zhang nods back. "Could you check if any evil creature is involved in the crime?"
At that moment, a young man approaches, his eyes red from weeping.
Wang Yi lowers his voice. "That is the third young master of the Yang Family, Yang Zilan. The deceased was his concubine. He was the one who called us here."
Merin immediately understands what Wang Yi does not say aloud. To the Yang Family, concubines are not considered true family members. Normally, such a death would be quietly buried and never leave the household walls.
Yang Zilan stops before Merin, voice trembling. "Are you the Celestial Master? Please help me. My wife would never take her life."
Merin blinks at the address, surprised. A man of Yang Zilan's status calling his concubine *wife* is unusual.
He steadies himself and answers, "I will try to find the true cause of her death."
He enters the room, following both captains into the bathroom, where the concubine's body floats in the tub.
Merin scans the room and corpse with his spiritual sense, then methodically pastes detection runes: one on each wall, one on the closed bathroom door, and one at the concubine's head. With a breath, he channels spirit energy into them.
The runes flare, filling the bathroom with a white glow. Above the concubine's body, a thin grey wisp takes form and drifts in the air.
Captain Zhang frowns. "What does it mean?"
"If it were black," Merin says calmly, "an evil creature was involved." He pauses, eyes fixed on the grey wisp. "But grey means… an Evil Celestial Master."