“AAARRRGGGH!”
The moment she entered the room, she could hear the endless screams of pain echoing from Bai Zihan’s mouth.
(What’s he doing?)
It was definitely not the kind of normal cultivation she had expected him to be doing.
It didn’t seem like he was suffering from Qi deviation from cultivating incorrectly either.
Looking at the materials around him, she was able to somehow come to the conclusion that Bai Zihan was refining his body.
But…
Looking at the ingredients and the cultivation level of Bai Zihan, she felt like he was taking on something far bigger than he could handle.
Grade-7 Monster Blood—such an ingredient wasn’t something a Nascent Soul cultivator could handle.
Even Grade-5 Monster Blood would be difficult for a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator to refine but Bai Zihan was taking Grade-7 Monster Blood.
And there were a few materials present that were of even higher grade than that.
“Just what kind of Body Refinement Technique is this?”
The Remnant Soul wondered.
With her knowledge, there weren’t many techniques she hadn’t seen.
Even though thousands of years had passed and new techniques might have been developed, they were always somewhat similar to already existing ones.
However, the refinement technique that Bai Zihan was using—she had no idea what it was, even with her millennia of accumulated knowledge.
The Remnant Soul floated in silence, her gaze locked on the boy writhing below.
The pain that Bai Zihan was enduring… it didn’t just seem physical. Even his meridian seemed to be breaking and recovering.
The kind of agony that could crush even Immortal cultivators and make grown men beg for death.
And yet… he didn’t stop.
He didn’t even hesitate after the first bottle.
When the screaming dulled for just a moment, she saw his trembling hand reach out—grabbing a jagged black crystal that oozed with corrosive energy.
A material refined from the core of a Void Beast.
It wasn’t just poisonous—it actively consumed life force.
The Remnant Soul’s brows furrowed.
She could hardly believe it.
This wasn’t simply body refinement anymore.
This… this was something else.
“…This technique…”
She muttered under her breath, voice filled with doubt and curiosity.
(It’s not like anything I’ve ever seen… Even among Immortal-Grade Techniques—this stands apart.)
She had studied thousands of techniques during her lifetime—personally created many, even.
From ancient forbidden arts passed down from the Age of Chaos, to modern refinements forged in the heavens.
And yet not a single one resembled the madness unfolding before her eyes.
The way Bai Zihan’s flesh trembled, tore, and stitched itself back together…
The way his Qi spiraled violently, refusing to stabilize, like it was being forcefully reforged…
This wasn’t refinement.
This was a reconstruction.
“This… this might even surpass Immortal Grade,” she whispered, awe creeping into her tone.
“Could it be a Technique more ancient than the Age of Chaos?”
She watched him as he grabbed another vial—this one filled with a swirling, crimson mist that pulsed like a heart.
A drop of blood from a Phoenix?
Even though he was screaming in agony, he was still going to take a Drop of Blood from phoenix which would increase the pain.
(Insane…)
He poured it into his mouth without flinching.
A scream ripped from his throat moments later, his skin glowing red as if he’d been thrown into a furnace.
But still—he didn’t stop.
Even as his body convulsed.
Even as blood poured from his eyes, his nose, his ears.
Even as his bones cracked like glass under pressure.
Most would have long since passed out. Others would have gone mad. And yet Bai Zihan remained conscious—awake—driven.
The Remnant Soul’s expression softened.
(This technique wasn’t meant for everyone. I don’t think that even I could have withstood such agony.)
Although the Body Refinement was obviously very powerful, she didn’t think it was for everyone.
Many would have died by even taking one Material for the Body Refinement, not to mention several such materials.
She then thought about the fated person to inherit her Inheritance which she also believes to be Bai Xinyue.
After looking at her progress in the Third Trial, she also knew about her character and what type of person she was.
Her kindness, her determination and her talent which she thought was comparable to hers.
Although satisfied that her heir would be someone like her, she had been having second thoughts ever since Bai Zihan showed up.
If not for her calculations—and the Inheritance being tailor-made for a girl—she wouldn’t have hesitated to give it to Bai Zihan.
She felt that even Bai Xinyue, as talented as she was, would have died on the first step if she refined her body using Bai Zihan’s Refinement Technique.
Anyway, the Body Refinement Technique that Bai Zihan was using, she believed it was definitely something more powerful than what she could offer.
Moreover, It was not a technique that rewarded ambition. It was one that demanded sacrifice—pain beyond measure.
And yet…
The part that surprised her most wasn’t the technique or the ingredients.
It was his eyes.
There wasn’t a hint of fear in them. No hesitation. No despair.
Only a cold, iron-like determination.
His determination never fading, making him seem like a completely different person than she saw previously.
Her earlier impression of him was that he was young, arrogant, undeniably talented—blessed by fate, but naive.
Someone who had never truly worked hard or experienced real suffering.
Yet she seemed to have been wrong about Bai Zihan.
She rescued people, took care of them, and in the end even sacrificed his life to fight the Devil while making others flee the place.
(Just what is driving this boy?)
She hovered in silence, a strange emotion tightening in her chest.
Admiration? Pity? Intrigue?
She couldn’t tell.
But one thing was clear—
She wanted to see where this boy’s path would lead.
And what he would become once he walked it to the end.
“Could he also be the one who can save this world?”