Merin stares at the violet flame in his palm.
It took him three months to comprehend the law of Dream Spiritual Fire.
With his energy, he can now form the dream flame himself.
He disperses the flame.
His consciousness sinks into the heart's acupoint space.
A fire spiritual stone glows there, surrounded by a thin mist.
The mist echoes with his Dream Space.
He falls into contemplation.
He has a quota to enter the Saint Stone Array Formation.
But it is twenty years later.
And many in the association are more qualified than him.
Even then, he would be tied to saint stones for cultivation.
The world's spiritual energy cannot raise a Saint.
He would be chained to the Array Association.
He does not want that.
A thought rises—his own path.
Rank Sixteen.
Before, it was impossible.
Now he has a way.
"Dream Space is spiritual. The acupoint spaces are energy. If I merge them, I can derive material space. A seed of a world."
He begins with the fire acupoint.
He opens Dream Space inside it.
The two begin to merge.
Time drags as flame and mist fuse together.
At last, the spaces unite.
The Dream Space and the fire acupoint become one.
His heart transforms again.
The law of Dream enters his blood.
It reshapes his body.
Slow, like a snail's crawl.
But he knows.
When the change is complete, his body alone will stand at Saint-rank.
While his cultivation remains at Five-Turn Dao Casting.
Merin turns his focus to the other four elemental acupoint spaces.
He can merge them with the Law of Dream.
But it will take time.
If he had spiritual materials like the Dream Spiritual Fire, it would be faster.
He heads to the association's library.
He searches the books on spiritual materials.
He finds them.
Earth element—Dream Sand.
Metal element—Memory Metal.
Water element—Fantasy Water.
Wood element—Dream Nectar.
Metal and Water are not bound to dream, but they belong to the spirit system.
All four can be used.
He checks the exchange records.
His merit is enough for only two.
He makes his choice.
Dream Sand.
Dream Nectar.
He takes them from the association.
Dream Sand is used to forge bases for dream-related arrays.
Dream Nectar is gathered by Dream Bees and refined into pills that heal the spirit.
He studies the laws hidden within them.
At the same time, he continues tasks for the association.
He aids Xiao Yun in obtaining more spiritual flames.
This draws the notice of the Huang Family.
Two years pass.
On his return from a mission, a Saint-rank cultivator ambushes him.
Merin's body has not fully advanced into Saint-rank.
But half the transformation is complete after merging his other four elemental acupoint spaces with his Dream Space.
He knows he has the strength to kill.
Instead, he activates a Saint-rank array to trap the enemy.
And escapes.
He chooses not to kill.
If he does, it would shatter the common belief of the mainland—
That a Five-Turn Dao Casting cultivator can never kill a Saint.
He would be the first.
His name would spread.
But so would trouble.
Questions would arise.
How did he kill a Saint without stepping into the Saint realm?
If the truth of his body and Dream Space is revealed, he will face disaster.
The method can be replicated.
It is difficult, but among a hundred, one or two may succeed.
They, too, would gain Saint-level strength without crossing the threshold.
Then even the Array Association cannot protect him.
The great families and forces may resent the Huang family's monopoly.
But they still acquiesce.
Because the Huang family maintains order.
Because only through them can one ascend to the Saint rank.
If Merin's method spreads, that order collapses.
The monopoly breaks.
Merin becomes the world's public enemy.
And at the same time, a beacon of hope.
But Merin does not wish to be that beacon.
Not yet.
Not before he can defend himself.
For that, he must climb higher.
He must reach the Quasi-Emperor rank.
Saint rank itself is divided into five realms—Saint, Saint Lord, Saint King, Great Saint, and Grand Saint.
After that comes the Quasi-Emperor rank, a transition realm to the next stage—the Emperor Rank.
Merin returns and takes the Saint-rank test of the Array Association.
He passes.
His reward is a best-grade spiritual stone.
Studying it, he comprehends its composition.
He discovers the best-grade spiritual stone is linked to the void.
It absorbs void energy.
It can restore itself after consumption.
Even if ninety per cent of its energy is drained, it will recover.
With this knowledge, Merin advances the five elemental top-grade spiritual stones inside his Dream Space.
Six months later, changes erupt within.
The water elemental stone in the north releases a deep blue mist, dyeing the north in watery haze.
The wood elemental stone in the east spreads a rich green fog, turning the east verdant.
The fire elemental stone in the south ignites orange mist, burning across the southern sky.
The metal elemental stone in the west shines golden brilliance, veiling the west in metallic light.
And at the centre, the earth elemental stone breathes brown mist, stabilising the whole space with heavy earth qi.
Next, Merin fuses the five best-grade elemental stones.
His body erupts in multicoloured light.
The shackles within him break.
He feels a terrifying change.
With a single motion, he knows—his body can tear open space.
The ability of a Saint-rank cultivator.
Yet his cultivation has not stepped into the Saint realm.
Only his body has.
One day, while returning from a mission, he is ambushed.
Two Saint-rank cultivators.
A space blockade array seals the area, leaving him no path to escape.
Forced, Merin unleashes his full strength.
One Saint falls beneath his hands, the other is left gravely wounded.
But the survivor flees.
The secret is out.
News of Lin Ye's power spreads across the world.
Merin knows he cannot return to the association.
He escapes—vanishing directly into the inner void of the world.
When the news erupts, every force begins hunting.
Some want him dead.
Some want his method.
But Merin is nowhere to be found.
Time flows.
The conflict between Xiao Yun and the Huang family intensifies.
Attention shifts away from Merin.
Two hundred years later, the central continent becomes a storm's eye.
Huang Xing, head of the Huang family, merges with an evil creature.
By devouring the souls of half the continent, he forces a breakthrough—stepping into Emperor rank.
Xiao Yun, holding the world's lone source of energy, also breaks through to the Emperor rank.
Their battle shakes the central continent.