Journey of true Cultivation

Step. Step.

Walking toward the wooden door, Yuan's mind raced, analyzing everything he knew about the spoiled girl and the scheming elder.

Emilia,the spoiled girl.

She likely knew nothing about any hidden schemes. Probably.

After all, she was foolish,so foolish that she would guaranteed die a dog's death if left to her own devices.

But the real problem was her grandfather.

Elder Viktor.

An old man, nearly a hundred years old, already with one foot in the grave.

He had no hope of advancing to the Meridian Awakening Stage,he was simply too old.

Without miraculous medicine or rare elixirs, his cultivation had long since stagnated.

But his experience made him dangerous.

He had once been an outer disciple in a low-ranking sect, one that had long since ceased to exist.

According to his own words, the sect had been at war,a war they were doomed to lose.

The enemy was far stronger, and when his sect was destroyed, the surviving leaders were slaughtered.

The victors did not stop there,they hunted down every last disciple, turning the remnants of the sect into a massacre.

At least two thousand died.

Only the strongest survived.

Only those who could run escaped.

Just from that story alone, Yuan understood the kind of man Elder Viktor was.

Cunning. Ruthless. A survivor.

To survive the annihilation of a sect was a feat few could claim.

Even the most talented cultivators often fell in such battles.

Yet Elder Viktor had fled the bloodbath, evaded pursuit, and stayed alive to this day.

That meant one thing.

He was an expert at escaping death.

But so was Yuan.

Elder Viktor had plenty of experience, but he would never suspect what kind of monster Yuan truly was.

After all,who would ever believe that a twelve-year-old child could fight a Meridian Awakening cultivator?

No one.

If Yuan made such a claim, he would be laughed at and called a fool.

And yet,it was the truth.

Yuan could kill a Meridian Awakening cultivator.

He could even fight a Bone Forging cultivator.

But there was a limit.

He couldn't defeat them in one strike.

Against a Blood Purification cultivator, his Azure Basilisk Flames were instant death.

But against a Meridian Awakening cultivator?

His attacks were slow,too slow.

But once his flames landed…

They wouldn't survive.

A Meridian Awakening cultivator could endure the flames for only a few seconds before perishing.

Only a Bone Forging cultivator could withstand the Azure Basilisk Flames,but even they would suffer.

The flames would burn them continuously, inflicting pain with every passing second.

It wouldn't kill them, but it would torment them.

With all these thoughts running through his mind, Yuan could only hope that Elder Viktor didn't have a powerful protective artifact.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the wooden door.

The morning sun shone against his outstretched hand, its warmth pleasant yet meaningless to him.

Above, the sky was clear,a perfect day for travel.

His gaze swept across the surroundings, searching for the carriage.

After a brief moment of scanning, he found it.

Elder Viktor was already seated, fully prepared to depart.

And beside him,Emilia.

The spoiled girl sat impatiently, shifting in her seat, clearly eager to leave.

Yuan exhaled softly.

It was time.

Yuan wore a smile and casually waved his hand toward Elder Viktor.

The elder returned the gesture, waving back.

Meanwhile, the spoiled brat, Emilia, turned to look at Yuan, her expression impatient.

"Come here already!" she yelled. "We want to reach the capital on time, not in a year!"

Yuan could swear to the heavens,if he wasn't being so cautious around the elder, he would have tortured that arrogant girl to death using every single art the Basilisk had ever mastered.

But he restrained himself.

Instead, he simply chuckled, brushing off Emilia's attitude, and responded with a feigned cheerfulness:

"Yes, yes, I'm coming now!"

With that, Yuan ran toward the carriage like a carefree child, his steps light and foolish-looking.

Upon reaching it, he chose to sit at the back, away from the elder and Emilia.

Now that everyone was ready, Elder Viktor laughed heartily.

"Hahaha! Now we can finally begin our journey to the capital! Here we come!"

With those words, the elder tugged the reins, commanding the horses to move.

The carriage lurched forward, beginning its long journey toward the mortal kingdom's capital,Wolven.

Now, there was no turning back.

The game of schemes had begun.

Plots and deceptions would slowly unravel, step by step, until the moment he would either be trapped, used, or killed.

Who could predict what truly lurked in the mind of a human?

One thing was certain,something would happen.

And when it did, Yuan had to be ready.

At all times.

Even though he had no desire to fight or plot against others, this opportunity was simply too valuable to waste.

He had already starved once,he would never allow himself to go through that again.

But this time…

He was prepared.

For the challenges.

For the dangers.

Even for the food problem,he had already solved that himself.

Now, all he had to do was wait… and survive.

Yuan had already considered running away.

After all, he knew the capital's location.

But to join a sect, one had to either be nobility from a mortal kingdom or be recommended by a noble.

Although Yuan could kill the baron and force him to grant a recommendation, that would only lead to disastrous consequences.

He would end up offending the sects,making it impossible to join them.

So, unfortunately, that option was not viable.

However, this realization gave him an important clue about the sects themselves.

They were all righteous sects.

After all, for demonic or evil sects, it didn't matter where their recruits came from.

Righteous sects cared deeply about reputation and face.

They followed strict moral codes, maintained prestige, and upheld the so-called justice of the cultivation world.

Evil sects, on the other hand, had no such restrictions.

They operated under a different rule,strength above all.

But while both righteous and evil sects were fundamentally different, they had one common enemy

The Demonic Sects.

Unlike evil sects, which pursued power and ambition, demonic sects were in a league of their own.

They thrived on slaughter, blood rituals, and dark pacts with demons.

By offering flesh and blood, they gained cultivation in return.

Because of this, both righteous and evil sects hunted demonic sects, creating what could even be considered an unspoken alliance.

But despite this, demonic sects still existed.

And the reason for their survival was frighteningly simple.

They were replaceable.

A demonic sect could easily transform a mortal into a Bone Forging cultivator, as long as sufficient offerings were made.

And why did demons support humans in this way?

The answer was clear to Yuan.

Basilisk had encountered many demons in the past, having fought and killed them countless times.

His flesh and blood were highly prized, being the only Basilisk alive.

For years, demons relentlessly hunted him, craving his unique body for their dark rituals.

But one day,they simply stopped.

At first, Basilisk was confused.

Why had they suddenly lost interest?

Curiosity drove him to investigate, and what he discovered shocked him.

Demons weren't chasing him anymore because the ones who had pursued him in the past were not true demons.

The beings he had slaughtered had merely been demonically infected cultivators.

Real demons,true demons,didn't wander the world freely.

Instead, they resided in the Demonic Continent, a massive landmass protected by an ancient, powerful rune formation.

This formation required endless blood and countless souls to sustain itself.

It was a barrier, one that prevented anyone but demons from stepping foot on their lands.

This knowledge deeply unsettled Basilisk at the time.

If true demons never left their continent…

Then who or what were the ones he had been fighting all those years?

And that's when he deduced the horrifying truth.

Demons didn't just exist separately from humans.

They infected them.

Corrupted them.

Turned them into puppets.

And the beings Basilisk had fought in the past?

They weren't demons.

They were humans who had already fallen under demonic influence.

After learning the truth, Basilisk no longer cared about demons.

They had only ever sent puppets to kill him,never their true forces.

So, as far as he was concerned, they weren't worth his attention anymore.

Although evil and demonic sects were often described as black and gray, the so-called righteous sects and clans were by no means saints or Buddhas.

If anything, they were the worst hypocrites of all.

They masked their cruelty behind noble words, yet in reality, they were often more ruthless than even evil sects.

Basilisk's own clan,the Azure Dragon Clan,was one such 'righteous' clan.

But through his experience, he had learned how to navigate their endless schemes and politics.

If he had to pretend to be a pig so he could one day swallow the tiger of the mountain, then so be it.

It would be annoying, but he would gladly endure it if it meant reaching his goals.

And so, the carriage departed the village, traveling across various landscapes, cities, and villages.

But as the journey continued, nothing happened.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Nothing suspicious.

And that confused Yuan.

Had he been too cautious?

Had Elder Viktor never been scheming against him at all?

Was the old man truly just a foolish but kind-hearted person?

These thoughts lingered in his mind as time passed.

No matter how closely he observed them, neither Elder Viktor nor Emilia acted any differently.

They were exactly the same as before.

Eventually, the carriage arrived at the mortal capital, Wolven.

And by then, with countless thoughts running through his mind, something strange had begun to happen.

His perception of the grandfather and granddaughter pair… slowly began to change.

Over the course of the journey, there were moments when he no longer needed to act.

Moments when he let his guard down, even slightly.

Moments when he even enjoyed the time he spent with Elder Viktor.

Even so, deep within his heart, he remained cautious.

No matter how comfortable he became, he was always prepared for danger.

But still, a new thought emerged.

Maybe…

Just maybe…

Could he actually become friends with the spoiled brat?

After all, she was just a child, not an adult.

With a little guidance, a little effort, perhaps he could reeducate this rotten, spoiled child.

Perhaps, instead of seeing her as a nuisance, he could turn her into someone useful.

Time would tell.

As the capital of Wolven finally came into view, the spoiled child, Emilia, could barely contain her excitement.

Her eyes sparkled like shining stars, completely captivated by the sight of the grand city.

Seeing her childlike wonder, Yuan couldn't help but be amused.

A small chuckle escaped him.

But the sound of his laughter snapped Emilia out of her daze.

She turned toward him, pouting in annoyance.

"What's so funny?" she demanded.

Yuan simply shook his head, his expression calm.

"Nothing. It's just a beautiful scene… looking at the capital."

Of course, the capital wasn't special at all.

To a cultivator, it was no more than a primitive village.

Compared to the grand, towering structures of the powerful sects and clans Basilisk had seen in his past life, mortal buildings held no interest for him.

As they approached the capital, Elder Viktor spoke up.

"We'll stop here for the night and enter the capital by lunchtime tomorrow."

It wasn't a request,it was a decision.

Yuan, having no say in the matter, simply nodded without care.

After all, the area around the capital was safe.

There were no monsters, no unintelligent demonic beasts lurking nearby.

The only possible threat was bandits.

But no powerful bandit group would be foolish enough to operate near the capital.

That would be suicide.

So, with no real danger present, they set up camp for the night.

As night fell, they ate as usual, sharing a meal prepared by Elder Viktor.

Yuan took his portion, eating without suspicion.

But the moment he took a bite, something felt… off.

A faint, familiar spice coated his tongue.

It wasn't present in any of their previous meals.

The realization hit him like a hammer.

This wasn't just an ordinary spice.

It was the spice of betrayal.