The change came faster than Damon expected.
Just yesterday, people had practically lined up outside his room.
Servants smiled whenever they saw him.
Maids found excuses to linger around.
Some of the younger ladies nearly tripped over themselves trying to get his attention.
Now?
It was like he had become invisible.
The same maids who used to greet him warmly simply walked past him.
The same servants who rushed to open doors barely acknowledged his presence.
A few even looked annoyed whenever they had to attend to him.
One maid placed his breakfast on the table and immediately turned around.
No smile.
No greeting.
Nothing.
Damon stared at the closed door after she left.
Then he nodded.
"Yep. This feels more familiar."
Honestly, it wasn’t that hard to adapt.
His previous life had prepared him perfectly for being ignored.
Compared to struggling to pay rent and surviving on instant noodles, this wasn’t even a problem.
At least he still had a giant room.
A soft bed.
And food that didn’t come from a microwave.
Life could be worse.
More importantly, Damon had something to focus on.
The Birthground.
The opportunity wasn’t gone yet.
Nobody said he couldn’t enter.
Nobody had disqualified him.
If there was even a small chance of finding answers there, he intended to take it.
Which left him with only one option.
Cultivation.
Damon locked his room and sat cross legged in the center.
The posture came naturally through the previous owner’s memories.
He had spent years learning cultivation theory.
Everyone in this world did.
But understanding theory and actually cultivating were completely different things.
Damon took a deep breath.
Then slowly closed his eyes.
The room became quiet.
His breathing steadied.
And for the first time, he truly attempted cultivation.
The process sounded simple enough.
Feel the Aether in the surroundings.
Draw it into the body.
Guide it through the Aether veins.
Store it inside the core.
Simple.
At least on paper.
Reality was much harder.
At first, Damon felt absolutely nothing.
No energy.
No sensation.
Nothing.
Minutes passed.
Then more minutes.
His legs began hurting before he even felt a single trace of Aether.
"This is already harder than every cultivation novel promised."
Still, he didn’t quit.
He focused again.
And again.
And again.
Eventually, something changed.
A faint sensation appeared.
Tiny.
Barely noticeable.
Like a cool breeze brushing against his skin.
Damon immediately concentrated on it.
The sensation grew clearer.
Then another appeared.
And another.
Soon he could feel countless tiny particles floating around him.
Aether.
His heartbeat sped up slightly.
"So it’s real."
The moment he sensed it, everything became easier.
Not easy.
Just easier.
He carefully guided the Aether toward his body.
Most of it slipped away.
Some disappeared before reaching him.
Others scattered completely.
But little by little, he improved.
Each attempt became smoother.
Each failure taught him something.
Hours passed.
The process remained slow and repetitive.
Draw.
Guide.
Absorb.
Repeat.
Damon stuck with it.
Unlike many people, he wasn’t expecting instant results.
Years of gaming had taught him one important lesson.
Grinding worked.
It wasn’t exciting.
It wasn’t glamorous.
But it worked.
So he kept going.
As time passed, he began noticing the advantages of his White Core.
His sensitivity to Aether was absurd.
The surrounding energy felt clearer and easier to sense.
His absorption speed also continued increasing.
The deeper issue, however, became obvious very quickly.
His core was huge.
Ridiculously huge.
Every bit of Aether he absorbed disappeared into it like water falling into an endless ocean.
No matter how much entered, it never felt full.
Damon almost laughed.
"So that’s the catch."
A White Core gave incredible potential.
But the amount of energy required was equally ridiculous.
Others had guides.
Resources.
Aether crystals.
Family support.
He currently had none of that.
He was relying entirely on ambient Aether.
And despite that disadvantage, he refused to stop.
If one path closed, he’d find another.
That was how he’d always lived.
The servants still brought meals, and other activities they usually did throughout the day.
Most simply performed their duties and left immediately.
But few paused when they saw him still cultivating.
One maid frowned slightly.
"Young Master is still at it?"
Another shrugged.
"He’s desperate."
The first maid looked at Damon again.
He hadn’t moved for hours.
They noticed the bead of sweat that covered his forehead. Still, his breathing remained steady.
"He may be desperate," she admitted quietly, "but he’s working harder than everyone else."
The other maid didn’t respond as they watched on for a while before they left.
Meanwhile, Damon remained completely unaware.
He had become absorbed in cultivation.
Morning passed.
Afternoon followed.
Then evening arrived.
Time simply disappeared.
At some point during the process, Damon noticed something strange.
Inside his body.
Or more specifically...
Near his core.
There was another structure.
A small one.
Compared to his massive White Core, it looked insignificant.
Yet it clearly existed.
Damon focused on it.
The strange object remained motionless.
Silent.
Almost hidden.
His memories provided no explanation.
The previous Damon had never discovered it.
Which meant it was either newly awakened...
Or connected to him personally.
The thought immediately caught his interest.
Unfortunately, no matter how much he examined it, nothing happened.
No response.
No clues.
No information.
After a while, Damon gave up.
For now.
"There’ll be time later."
His priority remained cultivation.
So he returned to absorbing Aether.
And strangely enough, once he stopped paying attention to the mysterious structure, the cultivation process became smoother.
The flow of Aether accelerated.
More energy entered his body.
More entered his core.
Hours continued passing.
Until finally—
The flow stopped.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t absorb another strand of Aether.
Damon slowly opened his eyes.
Night had already fallen.
Moonlight entered through the windows.
For a moment, he simply sat there.
Then he let out a long breath.
His entire body felt exhausted.
Yet there was also satisfaction.
He could feel the difference.
The growth wasn’t huge.
But it was there.
More importantly, he had finally completed his first true cultivation session.
Damon wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Then he looked outside.
The sky was dark.
His eyes widened.
"Hold on."
He quickly checked the time.
Then groaned.
"Twelve hours?"
Even Damon was shocked.
The longest cultivation sessions he’d heard about usually lasted a few hours.
He had spent almost the entire day cultivating.
And somehow his core still felt far from full.
His White Core really wasn’t normal.
A small smile appeared on his face.
No element.
No support.
No special treatment.
Fine.
He would work with what he had.
Damon finally stood up.
And immediately regretted it.
His stomach growled so loudly it almost sounded angry.
"Right. Food."
A few minutes later, he completely destroyed everything the kitchen had prepared for him.
Then he soaked himself in a hot bath.
The exhaustion slowly faded.
By the time he entered his bedroom, he could barely keep his eyes open.
Damon looked at the enormous bed waiting for him.
Despite everything that happened...
This was still infinitely better than sharing a room with John.
The thought made him chuckle.
Then he collapsed onto the mattress.
The softness swallowed him instantly.
And within seconds...
He was asleep.