Elementary Profound Realm. It was barely the first rung on a ladder that stretched to the heavens, but to Yun Che, it felt like being reborn.

The Body Refining Elixir had rebuilt his meridians from scratch. They were still delicate — new growth always was — but they were whole. And what was more, the Sky Poison Pearl had strengthened them in ways his original meridians had never been strengthened. He could sense profound energy now with a clarity that startled him, picking up the faintest currents of spiritual power in the air.

He spent the next week in the Whispering Forest, hunting and cultivating with ruthless efficiency. A Profound Beast at the Elementary level fell to his ambush on the third day, its core providing enough energy to push him to the second level. By the fifth day, he had refined his control over the Pearl's enhanced strength, extending his active window from five minutes to eight. By the seventh day, he stood at the peak of the Elementary Profound Realm.

But he needed more. The Profound Handle's guards were at the Spirit Profound Realm, their elders at the Earth Profound Realm. At his current level, he couldn't even scratch one of them.

He needed advancement. Rapid advancement. The kind that would burn out a lesser cultivator's meridians and shatter their dantian into dust.

His meridians, reforged by the Elixir and the Pearl, could handle it.

He found a cave deep in the mountains — the former den of a Steel-Back Bear he'd killed on day four — and settled in for closed-door cultivation. Three days. Maybe four. Enough time to break through to the Profound Spirit Realm, the second major realm, or die trying.

The old Yun Che, the prince and genius, had always advanced carefully, measuring his progress against safety margins and clan expectations. That Yun Che had been crippled and discarded.

The new Yun Che advanced like a man with nothing to lose and everything to reclaim.