“Mhm, Daisy, go make the arrangements.
I’m heading to the Arcanum of the Divine Flame.” Sophia gave the order without looking up.
“Princess, may I ask why you suddenly wish to go there?” Daisy blinked in confusion.
“I’ve had enough of this suffocating palace.
I need some air.
And I’m going to find that damn bastard while I’m at it-figure out what kind of twisted technique he used to drain my spiritforce dry in an instant.” Sophia’s voice was sharp, her eyes colder still.
Daisy hesitated for a moment, concern flickering across her face.
“Your Highness, if you truly wish to enter the academy…
it might not be ideal.
Someone like me doesn’t qualify to set foot inside.
Without my protection-”
“I never said you had to come in with me.
Just find a way to get me admitted.
Inside the academy, who in their right mind would dare lay a hand on me?
I’m the royal princess.”
“Understood.
I’ll get it done right away!”
*****
The Heavensway Range stood at the border where Luminara met the Eastern Continent.
It was a realm untouched by the rule of domains-a dreamlike land brimming with lawless spirit.
And nestled deep within it, the famed Arcanum of the Divine Flame stood like a fortress carved from the mountain’s bones.
Vast, timeless, a city unto itself with roots sunk deep into history that stretched back a thousand years.
“Are you kidding me?
They’re charging just to register?”
Outside the colossal gate of the academy, a ragged young man stood at the front of the crowd.
Dirty, disheveled, hair tangled like straw-he stared wide-eyed at the old man managing the registration table.
That boy was Cassian.
He’d queued up two full days and nights just to get to this point.
Freedom felt so close…
until this geezer demanded a hundred gold coins just to sign his name.
“Registration fees have always been part of the Arcanum’s regulations,” the old man replied calmly, holding a brush in one hand.
“That covers your robes, student token, and meals for a year.
Without funds, how else would the academy function?”
“Where the hell does a beggar like that think he’s going?”
“Oi, move it!
No coins, no cultivation!”
He heard the sneers and mocking laughter from behind, and his head pounded from the noise.
He’d seen cruelty in his old world-but didn’t expect this realm to be just as ruthless.
Spiritforce cultivation here?
Still needed gold to buy your way in.
Honestly, it was all his fault.
If he hadn’t bolted like a damn idiot, fleeing that stupid wedding and running off without a plan…
Maybe if he’d gone back to the Faraday clan and cleared everything first-
But no.
A so-called man, ran away from an arranged marriage like a coward.
And the journey since had chewed him to the bone.
Now, he barely looked better than a beggar.
“So hungry…
no, gotta find something to eat first.”
Cassian scratched his wild hair, stomach growling loud as thunder.
With no coin and no hope of entering just yet, he’d be better off finding something to fill his belly first.
“What the hell…
Westerners?”
Just as he was about to slip off into the nearby woods, he noticed two blond-haired, blue-eyed girls in line-their appearance stood out like light in a tunnel.
Westerners from Luminara?
Here, at the Arcanum?
Cassian figured he’d seen enough and didn’t linger.
Slipping away from the crowd, he headed for the forest skirting the academy, hoping to score some fruit-or anything edible.
“What a massive pheasant…”
Just as Cassian stepped into the steaming mists of Duskmist Hollow, his eyes caught a strange beast sprawled atop a giant slate boulder.
It was nearly as big as an ostrich, feathers shining bright, with tail plumes like something straight out of a myth-reminded him of a phoenix.
But the beast looked lazy, not alert in the slightest.
Cassian grabbed a sturdy stick from the ground and crept closer.
He didn’t bother identifying the creature.
To him, it was just an overgrown pheasant soaked in spirit aura.
With a sharp thud-“Bang!”
The stick slammed down hard.
The bird never even let out a cry.
Skull cracked, dead on the spot.
Cassian plucked it, cleaned it quick, and had it roasting over a fire in no time.
“How the hell is this meat packed with so much spiritforce?”
Biting into the roasted meat, Cassian felt like he was munching on spirit elixirs-delicious, sure, but every bite surged life into his veins.
His whole body buzzed, cultivation rising faster than ever.
It didn’t sit right…
but damn, it felt good.
The more he ate, the more addictive it became.
By the time he finished, heat surged through him.
Spiritforce erupted in his sea of vital energy, crashing and rolling until it swept across every inch of him.
His soul core burned with light-silver, brilliant, powerful.
Then-“Crack!”
A crisp snap echoed from deep inside his brow.
That sound…
it marked a breakthrough.
His cultivation level had just shot up to Spiritcore Realm, second tier.
“Hell, are you kidding me?!”
Cassian half-laughed, half-yelled, shocked and thrilled all at once.
He never imagined that eating one damn wild bird could push him up a whole rank tier.
Now his thoughts raced-what if he found and ate one of these every day?
What Cassian didn’t know, of course, was that the so-called “wild pheasant” he’d just demolished was no average beast.
Far from it.
“Wonder if there’re more of these pheasants deeper in?”
Greed stirred.
He wiped the grease from his lips, then glanced deeper into the mist-filled valley.
If he could nab another, maybe he could sell one for enough to cover the Arcanum’s fee.
The further he walked into the haze, the thicker the scent of spirit herbs became, rich and sharp.
Soon enough, Cassian sniffed something he’d only read about.
“Someone’s refining third-rank spirit elixirs in there.”
Eyes narrowing, he picked up at least five or six distinct spirit materials from the air alone-all high-grade stuff.
This kind of subtle sense wasn’t instinct.
It was knowledge.
Ever since Crimsonlotus Alchemy Emperor passed along the Alchemical Codex of Chaos, the details had burned into his awareness-herb auras, effects, usage, even concoction methods.
All of it, like second nature now.
He could easily rival a ninth-rank alchemist just from raw memory alone.
Then he saw it-a quaint two-storied tower rising from the valley center, ancient in form, draped in thick fog.
The herbal scent was strongest there.
Through the haze, Cassian spotted an old man in a blue-azure robe, gray hair tied tight behind him.
The elder’s focus never wavered from the cauldron before him.
Flames of blue spiritfire danced in his hands, lapping at the base of the furnace.
His expression-unmovable.
Grave.