The carriage ride to Shanan City was quiet, save for the rhythmic crunch of sand under heavy wooden wheels. Inside the modest but sturdy transport, Long Xiaoyan sat cross-legged, his breathing shallow. Across from him, Mo Jinyao watched him with an unreadable expression, her fingers tracing the edge of a merchant's ledger.
"You're lucky," she said suddenly, breaking the silence. "The Ironleaf Clan guards in this region are mostly at the Body Refinement stage. If you had encountered a true Inner Disciple, that palm of yours wouldn't have been enough to save you."
Xiaoyan opened his eyes. "I am aware. My cultivation was… damaged. My foundations are currently in chaos."
"Damaged? It looked more like it was reborn," Jinyao remarked, leaning forward. "Most people who lose their cultivation become cripples. You, on the other hand, have a spiritual aura that feels like a sleeping volcano. It's quiet, but dangerous."
Xiaoyan didn't respond. He turned his focus inward, sinking his consciousness into his Dantian.
Following the "Balance Breaker Protocol," his Inner Root had transformed into a low-tier Divine Root. In the Cangyuan Continent, this would already make him a top-tier genius in a place like the Nansha Empire, though it was still common in the Longshen Empire. But the most important change wasn't just the grade—it was the Spiritual Codex itself.
'Codex... show me my status,' he commanded mentally.
A screen of golden light, invisible to Jinyao, flickered into existence before his mind's eye.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Host: Long Xiaoyan
Current Realm: Mortal Stage 1 (Severely Weakened)
Inner Root: Divine Grade (Low-Tier) — Can Evolve
Affinities: Undiscovered
Techniques: None
Body Constitution: Standard Mortal (0.2% Progress to 'Ancient Dragon-Elephant')
Current Objective: Recover 10% Spiritual Energy to unlock 'First Devour'
Xiaoyan gritted his teeth. Mortal Stage 1. He had fallen from the heights of the Divine Realm back to the very bottom. But the sight of the "Can Evolve" tag filled him with a cold, predatory ambition.
"We've arrived," Mo Jinyao announced.
The carriage slowed. Through the window, Xiaoyan saw the towering gates of Shanan City. Unlike the white marble of his home, these walls were built from heavy, heat-resistant red sandstone. It was the capital of the Nansha Empire—a bustling hub of trade, sand-beast hunters, and rogue cultivators.
Mo Jinyao led him to a secluded courtyard in the back of the City Lord's estate. "My father is busy with the Imperial Tax Envoys from the Tianyuan Empire. You can stay here for now. No one enters this garden without my permission."
"Thank you," Xiaoyan said, his voice sincere. "I owe you a debt, Mo Jinyao."
"Don't thank me yet," she laughed, though her eyes remained sharp. "In Nansha, nothing is free. When you've regained your strength, I'll have tasks for you. For now, try not to die."
Left alone in the moonlit courtyard, Xiaoyan sat on a flat meditation stone. The air here was slightly richer in spiritual energy than the desert. He closed his eyes and began to circulate the Longshen Imperial Breath, the technique he had practiced since childhood.
CRACK.
A sharp pain shot through his chest. He coughed, a spray of dark, clotted blood hitting the stone.
[...Warning: Longshen Imperial Breath is incompatible with the evolved Divine Root...]
[...The Codex requires a 'Balanced' foundation. Imperial techniques are too rigid...]
"Even my family's techniques reject me now?" Xiaoyan whispered, a bitter smile on his face. "Fine. If the old ways won't work, I'll find a new one."
He touched the Sovereign Ring.
'Codex, if I cannot use my old techniques, give me something that can handle the Balance Breaker path.'
The ring pulsed. Suddenly, a flood of information rushed into his brain—a technique so ancient it felt as if it predated the Cangyuan Continent itself.
[...Basic Body Tempering Technique Unlocked: The Sun-Sand Core...]
[...Requirement: Absorb the heat of the earth and the essence of sand to forge a 'Balance' between Spirit and Body...]
Xiaoyan didn't hesitate. He stripped to his waist, feeling the lingering heat of the day radiating from the sandstone floor. He followed the mental diagrams, placing his palms flat against the burning stone.
Instead of drawing energy from the air, he began to draw the heat—the raw, brutal energy of the Nansha sun stored in the earth—directly into his pores.
"Argh!"
It felt like liquid lead was being poured into his veins. His skin turned a deep, angry red. In the Cangyuan Continent, most cultivators feared the heat of the South because it was "impurities" that ruined one's spiritual channels. But the Spiritual Codex was different. It didn't care about purity; it cared about energy.
The heat traveled up his arms, meeting the silver light of his Divine Root in his Dantian. The silver light acted like a forge, hammering the raw heat into a refined, golden essence that began to coat his bones.
[...Body Tempering Progress: 1%... 2%... 5%...]
[...Mortal Stage 1 Peak reached...]
Hours passed. The moon reached its zenith. Xiaoyan was drenched in sweat, his body steaming in the cool night air. Suddenly, a soft pop echoed from his joints.
He stood up, and for the first time since the coup, he felt strong. Not the fragile strength of a prince, but the dense, heavy strength of a warrior. He punched the air, and the sheer friction created a faint whistling sound.
"This is... Body Cultivation?" Xiaoyan marveled. He had practiced Spirit Cultivation all his life, but this was different. He felt anchored. Solid.
[...Breakthrough Successful...]
[...Realm: Mortal Stage 2 (Spirit & Body Dual-Path)...]
"Not bad for a night's work," a voice came from the shadows.
Xiaoyan turned to see Mo Jinyao standing by the entrance, holding a wooden tray with a bowl of medicinal soup. She was staring at his chest—at the faint, glowing golden patterns that were slowly fading back into his skin.
"You practiced a Body Tempering technique in three hours that usually takes our city guards three months," she said, her voice filled with genuine shock. "Who... or what are you, Long Xiaoyan?"
Xiaoyan wiped the sweat from his brow, his golden eyes reflecting the moonlight. "I am a man who has lost everything, Mo Jinyao. And the only way to get it back is to break the world that took it."
Jinyao set the tray down, her expression becoming serious. "Then you'd better eat. Tomorrow, the Blackriver Clan—one of the Seven Lower Clans—arrives for the Recruitment Trials. If you want to get into the Eternal Gate Academy eventually, you'll need a background. And Nansha is the only place where no one will recognize a 'dead' prince."
Xiaoyan looked at the bowl of soup, then at the ring on his finger. The path to Godhood was long and bloody, but tonight, he had taken the first real step.