Rain tapped softly against the manor windows long after midnight.
The estate had finally gone quiet. Patrol rotations had slowed to a crawl, servant footsteps had faded from the corridors, and even the distant noise from the barracks had dissolved into silence.
Only Kael’s chambers remained awake.
A single candle burned beside the bed while Kael sat cross-legged on the floor with a wooden practice sword resting across his knees. His breathing remained slow and measured as he replayed the movements he had observed earlier that day.
Step.
Pivot.
Recover.
Again.
Inside the armory of his mind palace, phantom knights repeated the forms endlessly beneath rows of spectral weapons.
The Murim master stood nearby in unusual silence.
For once, he wasn’t correcting Kael’s posture.
That alone felt ominous.
Finally, the old man spoke.
“I understand your world’s energy now.”
Kael opened one eye slightly.
The ghost paced slowly across the room with his hands folded behind his back, his expression thoughtful in a way Kael had learned usually preceded terrible ideas.
“At first, I believed your energy was fundamentally different from the energy of my world,” the old master said. “It is not.”
Kael frowned slightly.
“Why did you think it was fundamentally different?”
“Because your world cultivates it differently, but I was wrong," he said with disdain.
"You just cultivated it similarly to the principles of the disgusting orthodox faction.”
The ghost extended one hand.
Mana gathered above his palm.
Soft blue light spiraled gently through the air, stable and calm like flowing water.
“In my world, those disgusting orthodox sects cultivated energy almost exactly like your knights do now,” the old man explained, his anger palpable to the touch, yet the mana in his hand showed no change.
“Slow absorption. Careful circulation. Steady refinement over time."
"A uselessly inefficient cultivation method.” He sneered while the mana in his palm rotated peacefully.
Kael listened quietly.
“The heavens naturally calm mana as it settles into the world,” the ghost continued. “Ambient energy becomes easier for mortal bodies to absorb. Less violent. Less dangerous.”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“But also slower.”
The mana above his palm suddenly changed.
Kael felt it immediately.
The energy twisted violently, becoming denser and sharper in an instant. The calm stability vanished beneath something raw and unstable that made the air itself feel heavier.
The candle flame flickered erratically.
Kael’s instincts immediately reacted.
The energy felt wrong.
It didn’t feel evil nor corrupted. It simply felt unfinished and crude.
“This,” the old master said quietly, “is, as chloe would say, mana before nature finishes making it its bitch.”
The violent energy pulsed once more before the ghost dispersed it with a wave of his hand.
Silence returned.
Kael stared at him carefully.
“You can do that?”
“I can recognize it,” the ghost corrected. “Manipulating it directly without a body is another matter entirely.”
He continued pacing.
“In my world, some cultivators discovered that raw mana possessed far greater potential than the stabilized form used by orthodox sects.”
Kael caught the subtle shift immediately.
Some cultivators.
Not all.
The old master’s tone had changed slightly.
“They bypassed the natural refinement process entirely,” the ghost continued. “Instead of absorbing stable mana from the world, they drew in the chaotic form directly and refined it within their own bodies.”
Kael grimaced slightly.
“That sounds unhealthy.”
“It is.”
The answer came instantly.
“Raw mana tears through weak bodies. Damages meridians. Destabilizes emotions. Many cultivators died attempting it.”
The ghost’s gaze grew distant for a moment.
“But those who survived advanced far faster than traditional cultivators.”
Kael remained silent.
The old man stopped pacing.
“Your world chose safety,” he said. “Which is understandable. Stable mana creates stable and reliable growth.”
He looked toward Kael.
“But your situation is abnormal.”
There it was.
The terrible idea.
Kael sighed quietly.
“That sentence never leads anywhere pleasant.”
“Child, you are out of time. But that does not mean I cannot help you.”
The ghost told him.
“Your synchronization altered your mental structure significantly. Your control over thought and internal perception is unlike anything I have seen.”
The library inside Kael’s palace pulsed faintly.
“A normal person attempting to process unstable mana would likely destroy themselves. Their thoughts would fracture long before their body adapted.”
The old master’s eyes narrowed.
“You, however, already survived worse.”
Unfortunately true.
Kael leaned slightly against the side of the bed.
“So what exactly are you suggesting?”
The ghost became quiet for several moments before answering.
“Follow my instructions to the letter, and you will not die.”
Kael blinked once.
“That sounds… harmless.”
“Not at all. ”
The old master folded his arms behind his back, smiling.
“Your world’s mana cultivation is methodical but inefficient. The process is too slow for someone in your position.” His gaze sharpened. “You need a stronger foundation faster than traditional methods allow.”
“And this method fixes that?”
“It's up to you to believe me.”
Kael narrowed his eyes slightly.
“At what cost?”
The ghost actually looked offended.
“Everything powerful costs something.”
Not reassuring.
The old man continued anyway.
“Normally, mana enters the body already stabilized by nature. Your mages circulate it carefully through fixed pathways, gradually strengthening the core over the years.”
He pointed toward Kael’s chest.
“My method changes the order.”
Kael felt immediate concern.
“How much concern should I be feeling right now?”
“Extremely so. ”
Reasonable.
The ghost ignored his expression.
“Instead of allowing mana to settle naturally before refinement, you will force the refinement process internally.”
Kael stared at him.
“That sounds dangerously close to poisoning myself with extra steps.”
The old master’s mouth twitched faintly.
“A crude description.”
“An accurate one?”
“Yes.”
Kael rubbed slowly at his forehead.
The ghost continued before he could object.
“The advantage is efficiency. Raw mana contains greater vitality before the world smooths it into stability. If controlled properly, the growth speed becomes significantly faster.”
“And if controlled improperly?”
“You die.”
A pause.
“Possibly violently.”
Kael nodded once.
Expected.
The old master studied him carefully.
“You are taking this remarkably well.”
“I spent most of my childhood listening to screaming ghosts while nobles debated whether I would survive the winter.” Kael sighed softly.
“My standards for acceptable danger are fundamentally broken.”
For several seconds, the ghost simply stared at him.
Then he barked out a rough laugh.
"Fair enough.”
The old master’s expression slowly sharpened afterward.
“But understand this clearly, child. ”
The room grew still.
“This method cannot be practiced carelessly.”
The mana around him shifted faintly.
“Orthodox cultivation is forgiving because the world already softened the energy beforehand. This method is different. You will be refining chaos directly inside your body.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“And if I fail, I die, yes?”
The old master looked directly at him.
“Yes. The mana will refine you instead.”