Stiles didn't plan to consume the pill right now. He wanted to wait until he registered his cultivation breakthrough with the sect.
Normally, when someone breaks through a minor realm, they don't need to inform the sect management. But breaking through a major realm is different.
Once someone advances to a major realm, informing the sect increases the resources they receive. As a Qi Refiner, he used to get 50 low-grade spirit stones, 10 Qi Gathering Pills, Body Tempering Pills, and Mind Focusing Pills.
But after updating his status, he would receive 100 low-grade spirit stones, 10 Foundation Establishment Pills, Blood Tempering Pills, and mid-grade Mind Focusing Pills.
There was another reason he didn't want to take the pill yet: if he consumed it, there was a chance he might break through another minor realm. Even if it was just a guess, he didn't want to gamble. If someone noticed such a huge change, it would create turmoil among the disciples.
There was also someone targeting him. He suspected it was someone from inside the sect, probably an outer disciple, maybe even an inner disciple. He didn't know whom he had offended.
Even though he had broken through to Foundation Establishment, what if the attacker was only a contract killer, and the true mastermind was someone else?
That was why he didn't want to alert anyone to his rapid improvement. Even though this breakthrough only affected his body and not his Qi cultivation, the assassin had already discovered his spiritual root was slightly damaged.
Staying low-key for now was the safest choice.
Once he registered as a Foundation Establishment disciple, he would get the chance to visit the Martial Manual Hall, where he could choose two techniques.
First, he planned to take a concealment art to hide his aura.
The second would be a foundation establishment body-cultivation technique.
It was always better to plan things properly. If the other party became suspicious, it would only cause more trouble.
Next, he planned to claim his daily fortune. He wasn't sure what he would get, but this part made him excited.
Hehehe, who doesn't want free stuff?
He opened the system interface and said, "Claim."
"Host has received an auxiliary ability: One with the Spear"
He was shocked. At first he thought the system would grant him a cultivation technique, pills, or an artifact.
But he never expected to receive an ability.
Didn't that mean he would be receiving even more heaven-defying abilities in the future?
Imagining himself getting some broken abilities made him excited.
Then he focused on the panel and clicked on the details to study what the ability was about.
One With the Spear
When the user and the spear unite as one, they become inseparable. The user's mind, spirit, and body synchronize perfectly with the spear, allowing them to achieve flawless piercing strikes.
The user will also be able to learn spear-related cultivation techniques more easily in the future, and comprehending Spear Intent will become significantly easier.
1) Instantaneous Piercing
Effect: The user negates the concept of distance. The spear thrust is initiated and lands on the target at the exact same moment. It cannot be dodged.
2) To be unlocked
3) To beunlocked
4) To be unlocked
5) To be unlocked
Reading the description, Stiles was shocked.
First of all, the fact that this ability would assist him in cultivating spear-based techniques already amazed him. But as he continued reading, he became even more excited.
It even said that comprehending Spear Intent would be easier. That made his heart beat faster.
In this world, if someone wanted to understand and comprehend a weapon intent, they first had to achieve a significant leap in weapon mastery. Even then, that alone wasn't enough.
Their weapon cultivation had to reach the transcendence stage before they could even attempt to comprehend intent. Only geniuses among geniuses could do it. Having a high spiritual root didn't make someone a genius; true geniuses mastered everything they touched, including the clarity of their mind and perception.
Simply put, one had to grasp the concept behind the weapon art, not just practice it.
It was far harder than breaking through a realm.
So for him to have this ability was nothing short of heaven-defying.
And as he continued reading through the description, another ability caught his eye-Instantaneous Piercing.
The moment Stiles saw it, he understood. This was a killer move. Something that could decide life and death in an instant.
But the more he looked at the description, the more speechless he became. The ability practically sounded overpowered once activated, he could pierce and kill an opponent from any distance. Even if the wording seemed exaggerated, Stiles was certain there had to be limitations.
Maybe it depends on my cultivation level… Or maybe it scales with my overall strength, he guessed.
What made his heart beat faster was the note at the bottom: four more abilities were still locked.
Stiles couldn't help but look forward to what he would unlock in the future.
Without any hesitation, he claimed the reward.
As he did, he felt a significant change happening in his body. His mind became much clearer and more composed, and he sensed a tremendous transformation occurring around his heart. It wasn't painful; rather, it felt refreshing. After a couple of minutes, he felt something forming inside his chest.
Because he had achieved Will Manifestation, he could observe the inside of his body.
Looking inward, he saw a spear-shaped tattoo on his heart. He didn't know what it meant, but he was sure it would be a good thing.
When the transformation ended, he opened his eyes and felt that an enormous change had occurred within him. It was almost like the way he saw the world had completely shifted—everything looked clearer.
He opened his storage pouch and took out his spear. The previous owner of this body had practiced spear techniques as his main weapon, making it easier for him to adapt.
Stiles had cultivated the Four Seasons Spear Technique, a high-grade mortal technique.
He began performing every move according to his memory, and to his surprise, he could grasp the technique far more easily. With each step he practiced, he became more familiar with the movements, and his proficiency increased rapidly.
He had been performing the Four Seasons Technique for nearly an hour without even realizing how much time had passed.
Suddenly, he felt as if some shackles inside him had been broken. As he thrust his spear, an illusionary image appeared, and spear energy extended almost 10 meters.
"Did I just break through to mastery? And within an hour?"
Stiles was shocked and excited. He decided that once he finished his tasks, he would focus on pushing this technique to its peak.
A couple of hours later, Stiles had a little bath before getting his cultivation registered
It had already been a week since his last visit. He had been in seclusion the whole time. Thinking about his past experiences, he felt relieved about his present situation. Even though he had broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, it didn't mean he was safe; there was still someone out there who wanted to kill him.
Activating the system made things a little easier, but it didn't make him safer though. As for his future, he still didn't know what was going to happen, so he planned to stay composed and low-key.
After freshening up, he stepped out of the cave and walked toward the sect's registration hall.
When he was halfway there, he heard commotion nearby. Seeing many sect members gathered, he also went over to check what was happening. As he arrived, he noticed two people standing in the arena, staring at each other with a faint level of killing intent.
Stiles understood immediately. This was the Life-and-Death Arena of the outer sect-where people fought to the death, but only with the approval of both parties. From the original owner's memory, he knew the sect did not encourage disciples to kill each other, but the Life-and-Death Arena was different. If both parties were willing to stake their lives, the sect would not interfere in their conflict.
From the way they stood, it was clear the two up there held a deep grudge against each other.
As Stiles focused on the arena, he heard nearby disciples talking to one another.
"Seems like Damon and Vincent are going to fight to the death."
"Yeah… we all knew it would end like this," a man nearby sighed.
Soon after, a new disciple asked a bystander what was going on.
Hearing that, the bystander looked at him and said, "You seem to be new to the sect, so it's normal that you don't know what's happening."
"You see those two men over there? They're Damon and Vincent."
"Basically, Vincent assaulted Damon's sister during last year's Crimson Battle Summit, which enraged Damon and led to a huge clash between them."
"But compared to Vincent, Damon was only at the 6th stage of Qi Refining, while Vincent was at the 8th level. Then one day, Damon got unbelievably lucky and found a Heaven-level Marrow Cleansing Pill. That helped him improve his potential, and within a year he broke through to the 10th level of Qi Refining."
"This shocked everyone. Even an inner sect elder took him as a personal disciple. But things didn't end there. Vincent is from the Heavenly Feather Clan, one of the top five clans in the Darwin Continent. Even though they can't compare to our Celestial Sect, they still have huge influence inside the sect. Not only that, Vincent's brother is a core disciple, so they weren't able to properly investigate what happened to Damon's sister."
Hearing this, the new disciple's eyes widened. "Doesn't our sect uphold justice?"
The bystander replied, "Justice doesn't apply to people with influence."
"That's why Damon challenged Vincent to a duel."