All of it came from the same routine — collecting bodies by day, training in the hidden chamber by night. His spirit root talent helped, certainly, but the real difference was the accumulated harvest of a hundred small burials: barely a month ago, his root had finally broken from low-grade into mid-grade.He was no longer the weakest cultivator on the mountain. Not by talent, and not by strength.Between everything he'd absorbed, Silas had picked up fragments of nearly every discipline the outer sect touched — techniques, supernatural arts, and slowly, the four higher crafts of the sect. Alchemy was by far his strongest, sitting at a near-grandmaster level. The rest remained early, unrefined understanding.The one gap that still nagged at him was swordsmanship — he'd never recovered Marcus Thane's body, and the Four Seasons Sword Art remained stuck at only two of its four chapters: Spring and Summer. Still, what he had, he'd refined considerably, and its power had grown well past wher

The next day, Silas's cultivation advanced naturally, carrying him cleanly into the seventh stage of Qi training — a threshold most outer disciples spent thirteen months chasing.He could feel the density of his spiritual power multiply several times over, his techniques growing noticeably stronger alongside it.Time to prepare for Foundation Establishment, he thought.Twelve total stages made up the Qi training realm, but the seventh marked the real turning point — everything past it came easier by comparison. It was time to start planning the leap ahead.With a mid-grade spirit root, he had roughly a sixty percent chance of breaking through cleanly into Foundation Establishment. The Foundation Building Pill formula he already possessed could push that up by another twenty percent.Eighty percent sounded solid enough — but for someone as careful as Silas, it still felt too thin a margin.Legends spoke of supreme cultivation methods capable of boosting breakthrough odds even further.

The elder's grandson sounded like a spoiled, reckless piece of work, judging by his reputation. Rather than brawling in the streets, the smarter play would be gathering evidence of his misconduct and handing it directly to Seraphina Ash.Let her righteous fury do the work — eliminate the grandson outright, clearing space for both remaining rivals to take the top two spots cleanly, leaving Gus's senior brother a straightforward path to third.Silas floated the idea carefully, phrased vaguely enough to seem hypothetical.Gus's reaction surprised him. "Junior Brother Marrow, I never would've guessed you had that in you." He studied Silas for a long moment. "You've got the face of a gentle scholar and the instincts of an assassin.""I was only thinking out loud," Silas said quickly, backpedaling. "Nobody's actually going to provoke someone connected to Seraphina Ash directly. Last time she intervened, it was over a murdered maidservant — real personal stakes for her. There's no comparable

Silas was willing to spare a man's life. But Brother Grath's casual contempt for ordinary people had sealed his fate the moment he opened his mouth."Either don't act, or act absolutely. Tonight's going to be a long, sleepless one. There are still seventeen more."Silas withdrew his palm, and after reading Brother Grath's memory, learned there were seventeen others — all of them sent to assassinate Wes Corbin's allies.He changed into a black robe, put on a skull mask, and walked toward the overpass without looking back.Behind him, the fireball dropped and reduced Brother Grath to nothing.The next morning, a house just outside the outer gate was surrounded by law enforcement disciples.A crowd of outer disciples gathered outside to watch."Have you heard? Dorian Vance and his whole crew are dead.""I'm not blind — isn't this Dorian's house?""Last night they tried to assassinate Corwin Vane, but they were all killed by some mystery man.""What mystery man? Isn't it obviously Corwin?

Once he'd gained some standing, he naturally didn't forget his old friend on Skypillar Mountain."Junior Brother Silas, come on — your senior brother's taking you to Rapture House to unwind, and I'm covering everything." Wes said proudly.Hearing this, Silas's expression changed sharply, and he refused at once. "Senior Brother, I can't. I still have to guard the mountain.""What's there to be afraid of? I'll have someone else cover for you. Besides, you're nearly nineteen — practically still a boy. Let your senior brother show you the finer things.""No, no — I'm just a mortal. It wouldn't be fitting.""It's fine. Out there, all that matters is spirit stones.""I'd rather stay on Skypillar Mountain, honestly.""Fine. Whenever you're ready, just tell your senior brother — I'll make sure you're satisfied."Wes said, more than a little disappointed."Looks like it's time to start refining pills again." After Wes left, Silas returned to the underground palace and found his pill stock near