Luna withdrew her probe and studied him with her eyes instead. He stood calmly, hands at his sides, meeting her gaze without fear but also without challenge. His posture was relaxed but alert.
Is he a reincarnated expert?
The thought sent a chill through her. It wasn't unheard of. Those cheaters sometimes found ways to reincarnate, preserving their memories and consciousness in new bodies. They would appear as talented youngsters, advancing at impossible speeds as they regained their former power.
But reincarnated experts usually showed signs—knowledge they shouldn't possess, abilities that didn't match their apparent age, a bearing and aura that came from centuries of experience.
This man... Nova... he seemed genuinely uncertain. Respectful. Almost cautious in how he carried himself.
Not like someone pretending to be a servant while secretly being an ancient monster.
Then what happened to him?
"You look different," Luna said, her tone perfectly neutral.
"Yes, Sect Leader."
"Explain."
Nova was quiet for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts.
"I believe I awakened a physique," he said finally. "Something that was dormant inside me. The resources you provided and the... cultivation session we shared... seemed to trigger it."
"A physique." Luna's voice gave away nothing. "What kind?"
"I don't know its name, Sect Leader. I only know that I feel different. Stronger. My comprehension has improved. My body has changed."
He gestured vaguely at himself.
Luna studied him for a long moment. He wasn't lying, she didn't think. But he wasn't telling the complete truth either. There was something he was holding back.
Fair enough. She'd kept secrets from him for three hundred years. Why should he reveal everything to her now?
"What stage of cultivation have you reached?" Luna asked.
"Ninth stage Qi Refining, Sect Leader."
Luna's expression remained unchanged, but internally, she felt a jolt of shock.
Seventh stage to ninth stage in hours. That was absurd. Even geniuses with perfect resources took days to advance that quickly. And Nova had supposedly started with terrible spiritual veins.
"Show me your meridians," Luna commanded. "Remove your outer robe."
Nova hesitated, just for a heartbeat, then complied. The outer robe fell away, leaving him in a simple inner garment that revealed the lines of his transformed physique.
Luna stepped closer.
"I cannot scan you properly," she said bluntly. "Something about your body blocks my spiritual sense. You will need to lower whatever protection you have."
Nova blinked, seeming surprised. Then understanding crossed his face. "I didn't realize I was blocking you, Sect Leader. One moment."
He closed his eyes briefly, and Luna felt something shift. Like a barrier dissolving, though not completely. Just enough to let her spiritual sense slip through.
She extended her consciousness again, more carefully this time.
And what she found made her breath catch in her throat—though her face remained perfectly composed.
His spiritual meridians...
Luna possessed Divine Grade spiritual meridians. The highest grade recognized by cultivation theory. Only one cultivator in ten million was born with such natural talent. It was the foundation of her status, her power, her rapid advancement.
Nova's meridians surpassed hers.
She couldn't determine the exact grade because they operated on principles she didn't recognize. But they were clearly beyond Divine Grade. Beyond anything she'd ever encountered or read about.
The pathways were perfect. Flawless. Every channel optimized for maximum efficiency, every junction positioned for ideal energy flow. No blockages, no imperfections, no weakness anywhere in the entire system.
And his dantian...
Luna's spiritual sense brushed against it and recoiled slightly from the sheer density of the qi contained within. For someone at ninth stage Qi Refining, his spiritual energy was impossibly concentrated. Compressed to a degree that should have caused his dantian to collapse from the pressure.
But it held stable. Perfect. Without even a hint of instability.
From highly unstable seventh stage to beyond perfect ninth stage, Luna thought, her mind calculating. In less than a day. Not days. Hours.
That changed everything. This wasn't just rapid advancement—this was something that broke every rule of cultivation she knew.
"How..." Luna began, then stopped herself.
She couldn't ask. Couldn't show too much interest. That would reveal weakness.
Instead, she withdrew her spiritual sense and stepped back.
"Your foundation is solid," Luna said, her tone professional. Clinical. "The physique you awakened has clearly enhanced your cultivation potential significantly."
"Yes, Sect Leader."
Luna turned away, moving to stand by the window. She needed a moment to process what she'd discovered.
Nova wasn't just talented. He was a monster. His meridians alone would make him one of the most gifted cultivators on the continent. Combined with that absurd qi density and the mysterious physique that blocked spiritual sense...
If word got out, every major sect would either try to recruit him or kill him.
And he was bound to her. Permanently. Through the Primordial Yin-Yang Fusion Scripture.
Luna's mind worked quickly, calculating possibilities.
If she could help him advance, nurture this talent, then their dual cultivation sessions would become exponentially more beneficial. Instead of pairing with someone who would always be beneath her level, she might have found a partner who could keep pace with her advancement.
Maybe even surpass her eventually.
The thought was both exciting and unsettling.
"My cultivation base is unstable from the breakthrough," Luna said, still looking out the window. "To solidify it properly, I will need to engage in dual cultivation again. Soon."
She heard Nova shift slightly behind her. "This servant understands, Sect Leader. Whenever you require."
"Three days," Luna decided. "That will give me time to stabilize what I can through meditation, and give you time to consolidate your recent advancement."
"Yes, Sect Leader."
Luna moved to a cabinet against the wall and withdrew another storage ring. She channeled her qi into it briefly, checking the contents, then tossed it to Nova.
He caught it smoothly.
"More resources," Luna said. "Spirit stones, pills, herbs. When those are exhausted, return and I'll provide more."
Nova bowed his head. "Thank you, Sect Leader."
"Have you mastered the Primordial Yin-Yang Fusion Scripture?" Luna asked, her tone casual.
"Yes, Sect Leader. I've studied it thoroughly."
Luna's expression remained neutral, but internally she was skeptical. Mastered it? A Supreme tier technique? With his previously trash comprehension?
She'd taken a month just to achieve basic mastery of the technique herself. Another two months to modify the Yin portion so she could attempt cultivation without a male partner—though that had ultimately failed.
The technique was profound, complex, touching on principles that even veteran cultivators struggled to comprehend.
"Then you won't mind discussing it with me," Luna said. It wasn't a question. "The dao principles behind the Yang portion. Explain your understanding."
Nova lifted his head, meeting her eyes. "The Yang essence flows through the Meridian of Solar Ascension, gathering at the Yang Palace before—"
"I know the basic circulation," Luna interrupted. "I'm asking about the underlying principles. Why that pathway? What makes it optimal?"
"Because the Solar Ascension pathway aligns with the body's natural Yang resonance, blah blahblah blahblah blahblah blahblah blahblah blahblah blah." Nova replied without hesitation. "But the technique has inefficiencies. The energy loss at the Third Gate could be reduced by seventeen percent if the circulation pattern shifted slightly here—"
He gestured, his finger tracing an invisible meridian path in the air.
"—and the absorption method at the Yang Palace prioritizes quantity over purity. A simple modification to the refinement process would improve output quality by approximately a thousand percent without sacrificing speed."
Luna stared at him.
He continued, completely unaware of her internal reaction. "The Yin portion has similar issues. The Lunar Descent pathway is solid, but the energy distribution at the junction points creates minor turbulence. Smoothing those transitions would stabilize the overall flow and reduce the risk of qi deviation during solo cultivation—though attempting solo cultivation with this technique is inadvisable regardless."
He paused. "Should I continue, Sect Leader?"
Luna's face remained perfectly composed. Calm. Professional.
Inside, she was seething.
He pointed out inefficiencies. In MY technique. The technique I spent three months mastering and modifying.
And he's right. Every single point he made is valid. The circulation could be optimized. The refinement process could be improved. The Yin portion does have stability issues.
How long did he have the technique? Less than half a day?
"No," Luna said, her voice carefully controlled. "That's sufficient. You've clearly... grasped the fundamentals."
Grasped the fundamentals. What an inadequate description for someone who'd apparently mastered and improved upon a Supreme tier technique in hours.
Nova bowed slightly. "Is there anything else, Sect Leader?"
"Actually, yes." Nova's voice took on a note of interest. "I have a request. Do you possess any techniques related to souls? Specifically, methods for absorbing or refining the souls of defeated enemies?"
Luna's eyebrow raised fractionally—the first visible sign of surprise she'd shown. "Soul techniques? Why would you need such a thing?"
"Personal cultivation matters, Sect Leader."
Luna studied him for a moment. Soul cultivation was a dark path, often associated with demonic practices. But if Nova's physique was as extraordinary as it appeared, perhaps he had methods to avoid the usual corruption.
"I have one," Luna said slowly. "But it's not what you're thinking. The technique allows absorption of souls, but it doesn't include refinement. Absorbing unrefined souls corrupts the cultivator's own soul, gradually twisting their nature. Necromancers use it specifically to corrupt themselves—to forge a deeper connection with the netherworld to summon poweful undead."