Inside a cave filled with a strong smell of blood, a young man sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. He was motionless like a stone statue.
In front of him, there was an empty basin with red liquid residue at the bottom, which seemed to be the blood of some creature.
After a while, the young man suddenly opened his eyes wide and looked around with a bewildered expression
"Where am I?" Xue Mo thought, his mind clouded with the memory of a golden light piercing his chest, the destruction of his soul, and then the darkness that followed. When he finally regained consciousness, he found himself in this unfamiliar place.
"Did I reincarnate?" Xue Mo wondered as he sat cross legged.
Looking at the unfamiliar environment and his own body, Xue Mo had to accept the fact that he had indeed reincarnated.
Splitting pain surged through his mind, scenes that were not his own flooded his consciousness—an outer disciple struggling to break through, the harsh rules of the Azure Sky Sect, the desperation of absorbing beast blood…
Xue Mo inhaled sharply. These memories didn't belong to him, yet they felt all too real. They belonged to Lin Feng—the previous owner of this body.
The original owner of the body was called Lin Feng, and was an outer sect disciple of the Azure Sky Sect, which belonged to the righteous faction.
Of course, the Azure Sky Sect would only nurture disciples who are productive, not burdens.
Disciples who were unable to break through their cultivation within the stipulated time frame would be deemed as having poor aptitude and not worth nurturing. They would be stripped of their disciple status and expelled.
The same held true for even inner sect disciples and above, thus forcing everyone to cultivate or risk being expelled from the sect and losing all the resources they enjoyed.
Everyone in the Azure Sky Sect were always cultivating, afraid of being expelled
The original owner of the body took risks and absorbed large amounts of energy from beast blood in order to break through his cultivation realm within the specified time.
Unfortunately, he was unable to eliminate the ferocious aura in the beast's blood, which caused his consciousness to dissipate due to the overwhelming ferocity.
The practice of absorbing beast blood was fast and powerful, but came with endless troubles. Even a slight mistake could result in death.
"According to the memories of the original owner, I have one month left. If I don't break through to the fifth level of Qi cultivation within that time, I will be stripped of my disciple status."
"Xue Mo's expression returned to normal. Absorbing an entire life's worth of memories was dangerous—without a strong soul, one could lose themselves or even turn brain-dead."
It's because he had reached the saint realm and his soul had been tempered countless times that he was able to assimilate it without being affected much.
Given the aptitude of this body, it was almost impossible to break through to the fifth level of Qi cultivation within a month.
That was why the original owner of this body took the risk of devouring a large amount of beast blood. For Lin Feng, a body with poor talent and lacking resources, expulsion seemed inevitable.
To break through, he had resorted to risky methods, absorbing beast blood to accelerate his progress, but the ferocity of the blood had consumed his consciousness, leaving him in this state.
Xue Mo smiled, now understanding the situation. Lin Feng had one month left to break through to the fifth level of Qi cultivation before being expelled. But with such poor talent, it seemed nearly impossible.
"But Xue Mo wasn't Lin Feng and something so small was not enough to even stall him in his search for power."
A plan had formed in his mind from the info. He had one month. That was more than enough.
With that out of the way, Xue Mo tried to push himself up, but his limbs felt sluggish, as if weighed down by iron chains. A dull ache spread across his body. His former self could shatter mountains with a palm strike. Now, even standing was an effort. He clenched his fist, feeling the unfamiliar weight of his limbs.
This body lacked the power he once had, but he would make sure to change that.
Without hesitation, he wobbled until he could eventually walk well and then left the cave.
"Tch." Xue Mo exhaled sharply. This body is truly useless.
---
The sunlight outside was harsh, causing Xue Mo to squint for a moment. The familiar landscape of the outer sect greeted him—the modest courtyards, training grounds, and groups of disciples either practicing or chatting.
He adjusted his robes, taking a deep breath.
His first goal was clear—increase his cultivation. Resources were limited for outer sect disciples, and without sufficient strength, his position in the sect was precarious at best. He needed a plan.
The outer sect had various ways for disciples to earn resources: sect missions, arena matches, and personal contributions to the sect.
The fastest way to earn contribution points was through arena matches which provided immediate rewards but it would attract too much attention. Sect missions, on the other hand, provided a less inconspicuous means of gaining points.
Disciples of the Azure Sky Sect could receive a low tier Qi gathering pill every day for their cultivation, and he happened to have not received his for the day.
He met several disciples on the way, but they were all very indifferent, ignoring and only some even turned to look at him.
With the original owner's memories, Xue Mo arrived at the Internal Affairs Hall to collect the Qi gathering pill.
There were many people in the hall, some of whom were here to collect Qi gathering pills, and some were here to receive sect missions.
Whether they were outer or inner sect disciples, they had to complete a sect mission every three months. Speaking of which, the original owner of the body had not yet completed this mission.
But there was still time. The immediate priority was to break through the fifth level of Qi cultivation.
Xue Mo patiently waited at the back of the line for his turn to reach, he was not strong anymore and could only follow the rules made by those stronger.
An hour later, Xue Mo returned to his cave with the Qi gathering pill he had received and sat cross legged on the ground.
What was most important for Xue Mo right now was getting stronger, only that way can he hold his own fate in his hand.
Xue Mo was once one of the strongest Saint realm powerhouses, but after being reborn, he had to start again from the beginning Now he was just some weakling at the fourth stage of the Qi Cultivation realm.
On the path of cultivation, one of the most important things was what kind of skill was used. The higher the level of the skill used, the higher your achievements would be later on.
Once being a top tier Saint realm powerhouse, Xue Mo had collected numerous Skills. If he were to ever decide show just one skill, then all the people in the sect would kill over it.
Techniques were classified into nine ranks from Mortal all the way to Supreme rank and Xue Mo knew 3 skills in the seventh rank (Saint rank), each one of them priceless.
However, Xue Mo decided not to cultivate these 3 skills, even when practicing in his previous life he had plans to give them up.
This was because he had another skill, Blood Deity Art !
Xue Mo obtained this skill in an ancient ruin during his previous life. The skill had no known origin but he knew it was powerful.
According to Xue Mo's estimation, this skill's potential was way beyond the Saint category, reaching a level which even he does not know about.
When Xue Mo obtained this skill in his previous life, it was already too late, he was already a saint and the only way of cultivating it was to restart his cultivation. With his level of intelligence, he knew what would happen if he dared to do that.
In his previous life, this had been one of his biggest regrets–not being able to cultivate this Skill But since he had now been reborn, he would use this opportunity to practice this technique and surpass his past life.
He closed his eyes, steadying his breath. The scripture's words surfaced in his mind, and for the first time in two lifetimes, he began cultivating the Blood Deity Art.
He was only in the Qi Cultivation realm now and had yet to form his Core or his domain. He was at a good point to cultivate with the Blood Diety Art.
After absorbing the Blood Deity Art's scriptures, Xue Mo closed his eyes and attempted to circulate the technique.
Yet, after several minutes, nothing happened. His expression darkened slightly.
"Why isn't it working?"
He tried again, forcing the energy within his body to respond, but the Blood Deity Art remained unresponsive.
Only then did it hit him—this technique required fresh blood to activate!
Xue Mo was speechless. In his past life, he had obtained this skill but never used it, so he had overlooked this crucial detail. Now, he needed blood to even begin cultivating.
This revelation made him frown. Where would he get enough blood to start?.
Xue Mo exhaled slowly, his expression calm despite the obstacle before him. The Blood Deity Art required fresh blood to activate, yet he had none at the moment. He needed to find a source without drawing unnecessary attention to himself.
He retrieved a basic iron sword from the cave—a weapon the original owner possessed. It was chipped and dull, but it was better than nothing.
Sheathing it, Xue Mo made his way to the door and went towards the outer hunting grounds from his memories Leaving the sect's perimeter, he continued forward until he came across a forest.
The journey was actually longer than one would think as it was considerably far from the sect, his body was weak, making it hard and incredibly taxing.
As he moved through the trees, a faint rustling sound caught his attention. His keen senses, sharpened by his past life's experience, immediately picked up the presence of a creature lurking nearby. He halted, his eyes narrowing slightly as he focused on the movement.
A low growl echoed from the underbrush. Emerging from the shadows was a green spotted Leopard, a spirit awakening beast, its sleek dark green fur shimmering under the dimming light. It's eyes locked onto Xue Mo, but it did not immediately pounce. Instead, it observed him, as if trying to determine whether he was a threat or prey.
Xue Mo did not move. His expression remained unreadable, his body relaxed yet prepared. The original Lin Feng would have been terrified at this moment, yet Xue Mo felt nothing. No fear, no anxiety—he was calm.
Xue Mo remained still, his eyes meeting the leopard's piercing golden gaze. The beast stood a few meters away, muscles tense as if deciding whether to attack or leave.
His instincts urged him to react—to prepare for a strike, to suppress the beast with sheer willpower like he had done countless times before. But when he tried to gather even a fraction of his old strength, his body resisted. A wave of fatigue washed over him, a reminder of just how weak this body truly was.
Useless.
His fists clenched slightly. In his previous life, a beast of this level wouldn't even dare look him in the eyes. But now, not only did he lack the strength to suppress it, but his body even felt sluggish, his limbs heavy as if weighed down by iron.
The leopard sniffed the air, sensing something strange about him. Its eyes narrowed, and it took a slow, measured step forward.
Xue Mo's breath remained steady, but deep inside, he knew—if the beast attacked right now, he would have a hard time fighting it.
A single mistake could mean serious injury, or worse.
"Tap... Tap... Tap..."
Just then, another rustling sound came from the forest behind him. The leopard's ears twitched, and it instantly turned its attention toward the source.
A group of outer sect disciples approached, their voices growing louder as they neared.
"…I swear, that idiot Lin Feng probably got himself killed already. He actually tried using beast blood to break through? What a joke!"
"Haha, serves him right! He thought he could reach the fifth level in a month? With his trash talent? He should just pack up and leave before he embarrasses himself even more."
Xue Mo's eyes flickered, but his expression did not change.
The leopard let out a low growl but decided that dealing with multiple humans wasn't worth the trouble. With one last glance at Xue Mo, it turned and disappeared into the shadows.
Xue Mo didn't move. His body was still recovering, and he couldn't afford to waste energy on unnecessary actions. But in his mind, a plan was already forming.
The disciples finally walked into view. There were three of them, all wearing outer sect robes. They hadn't noticed him yet, still laughing among themselves.
Xue Mo lowered his gaze slightly, his posture relaxed, as if he hadn't just been staring down a Spirit Awakening Leopard moments ago.
For now, he would play along—act weak, stay unnoticed. His true strength would be revealed when the time was right.