"There are places where the power of heaven remains absolute," Xue Ren said, her voice low and steady. "In such places, even a crippled Destiny Star can be pushed to at least Advanced Stage Level One."
"Only Advanced Stage Level One?" Tianlei clenched his fist so tightly his knuckles turned white. "For a beast master, that's like bringing an egg into battle against an elephant. It's not power. It's humiliation."
Xue Ren brushed a strand of hair from her face, studying him in silence.
Cold air drifted in through the open window. Tianlei turned toward it, letting it brush his cheeks and steady his breathing. His reflection in the glass looked thin, sharp-eyed, and furious.
"The beast-master path is easier," he said quietly, "but it's also a cage. If I walk that road, then my beasts must be strong. Otherwise, I'm nothing but a joke."
"In this world," Xue Ren replied, "there are lands that nourish spirit masters. One of them is the Great Di Forest."
"That place is saturated with spiritual energy," Tianlei said, already knowing the answer.
"Indeed."
"So all I have to do is go there and let this pathetic thing grow?"
The Destiny Star flinched, its silver eyes dimming as it lowered its head.
"But the Great Di Forest is filled with ancient beasts," Xue Ren continued. "Without a partner, you would be torn apart before you reached the inner regions."
"So it's a dead end," Tianlei said. "Then why bring it up?"
"Because the Great Di Forest is not your only option."
She looked directly at him.
"You're fortunate. I am the Chief of the Spirit Hall."
Tianlei turned sharply. "Spirit Hall? Golden Earth Academy only has three halls—the Hall of Beasts, Mages, and Warriors. And you're clearly a warrior."
"For now," she replied. "But I will rebuild it."
"But you rely on gene evolution and energy manipulation," Tianlei pressed. "You're telling me you can also cultivate spirit energy?"
"I chose my own fate," Xue Ren said. "Not that twisted system."
Tianlei understood. Humans implanted monster genes into themselves. They devoured souls. They slaughtered rivals. Power was bought with blood.
"This world has become so rotten," she continued, "that even survival demands cruelty."
She stepped closer and pressed her finger against Tianlei's forehead.
"I will give you a fragment of my flame qi."
Cold fire poured into him. It was nothing like raw energy. This was silent, heavy, ancient, sliding through his veins like liquid will.
His roommate opened his eyes. "That woman is dangerous."
Tianlei felt it too. His body tightened, muscles drawing taut as something unfamiliar settled inside him.
"This feels… different," he murmured.
"Of course it does," Xue Ren replied. "It is Demon Heart Flame."
"Sharing qi weakens you, doesn't it?" Tianlei asked.
"Only if I care," she said.
His roommate snorted. "She dumped corrupted qi into you."
"Silence," Xue Ren snapped. "For a deviant with a Blood Devil-Eating Vein, it is perfection."
"Dark qi?"
"Yes," she said calmly. "For monsters, it is nourishment."
"If you want righteousness," Xue Ren added coldly, "go pray in a church. Power is born from blood."
Tianlei didn't argue.
"Comprehend it," she said. "If it kills you, then you were never worthy."
And she left.
The door closed behind Xue Ren with a soft, hollow click.
For a long moment, Tianlei did not move. The faint echo of her footsteps faded down the corridor, leaving only the quiet hum of Golden Earth Academy and the steady rhythm of his own breathing.
The room felt emptier without her presence, as though the air itself had lost weight. A faint trace of heat lingered where she had stood, the residue of her Demon Heart Flame clinging to the space like a ghost.
He exhaled slowly and turned back toward the bed.
The Destiny Star hopped up beside him, its small body curling into a silver-white knot as it settled close. Its fur shimmered faintly under the dim light, soft and harmless, nothing like the terrifying beasts that ruled the beast hall.
Tianlei stared at it, a complicated knot of frustration and pity tightening in his chest.
"So this is what I have now," he muttured. "A healer."
The beast lifted its head, its large eyes meeting his. It wasn't offended, only quietly afraid.
Tianlei sighed and sat cross-legged on the bed, mirroring the posture his roommate often used while cultivating.
The Destiny Star shuffled closer, pressing against his thigh as if trying to share warmth. For a moment, Tianlei allowed himself to rest a hand on its back.
Living alone in the slums, being treated like disposable trash by the Zhao family… this was the first time in years that something had stayed beside him willingly. The realization was almost painful.
"If only I could remember her face," he said softly. "The one who saved me… the one I loved."
The thought hollowed him out.
Outside, night deepened, the Academy's towering structures looming like silent titans beyond the window. He knew mockery, contempt, scorn for being a beast master with nothing but a healing pet awaited him .
The Demon Heart Flame.
Xue Ren's qi still burned within him, heavy and alien, pulsing beneath his skin like a second heartbeat. It wasn't warm the way ordinary energy was. It was cold, predatory, filled with a will that felt older than anything he had ever touched.
Among the hundred Heart Flames born between heaven and earth, the Demon Heart Flame ranked within the top forty, feared not for its raw destructive power but for its ability to corrupt, consume, and reshape those who dared to wield it.
Tianlei slowly placed his hands on his knees and closed his eyes.
There was no way he could fully comprehend it in one night. Even so, the difference was undeniable.
His muscles felt tighter, his bones heavier, as though his body had been reinforced from the inside. A few percent of growth was all it had given him, but even that was enough to prove that Xue Ren hadn't lied.
Still, it wasn't enough.
He tried to guide the flame qi through his body, mimicking the way he manipulated energy through his genes. But spiritual energy was different. Where energy manipulation was brute force, spirit cultivation was flow, structure, circulation. He had none of that.
He had no meridians.
No spiritual pathways.
Only monster genes and raw, unrefined will.
"This flame qi is far more complex than anything I've ever handled," he muttered. "If I can force it to merge…"
He drew a slow breath and focused.
Sweat soon formed on his brow as he tried again, pushing the Demon Heart Flame through his blood and flesh, forcing it into the genetic pathways that carried his monster genes.
The resistance was immediate. It felt like trying to push molten metal through veins never meant to hold it.
Eight hours passed and he night drained away but nothing changed.
"Damn it," Tianlei hissed as he finally opened his eyes.
Sunlight streamed through the window, slicing across the room in golden bands.
His cultivation had barely moved, yet his body felt denser, heavier, as though it had been compressed. He was close to the Four-Star Soldier threshold… but still trapped below it.
Stagnant.
Golden Earth Academy gleamed outside, its buildings reflecting the dawn like molten gold. The sight stirred something violent in him.
He had to shine brighter than all of them.
"I'm a deviator," he muttured to himself.
"A monster without limits."
The orthodox path demanded a spirit core before cultivation. To form one now would be suicide.
But when had his life ever followed safe paths?
He stripped off his upper attire and sat in the center of the room, letting the rising sun bathe his scarred skin.
"There's no going back."
A section of his armor flowed over his hand, hardening and twisting until it formed a thirty-centimeter dagger. The blade was black and sharp enough to cut metal itself.
Tianlei took one breath.
Then he drove it into his chest, just below his ribs
Pain exploded outward, but he didn't withdraw. Instead, he forced all the flame qi toward that single point.
He had to combine his genes ,blood and the flame qi to make something resembling a spirit core.
The risks were catastrophic as forced core formation often ended in death especially at an immature stage when the wielder didn't have a solid foundation.
Tianlei focused, drawing out his blood and black veins. Slowly, a small orb formed beneath his skin, roughly four and a half centimeters wide.
Then he forced the flame qi to surround the small orb while slowly seeping into it.
That alone took over fifteen minutes ,he coughed blood endlessly and surely he had no more blood to lose .
His heartbeat accelerated, pounding like it would rupture. He coughed violently, blood spilling from his mouth.
Any longer and he'd collapse or die. His vision blurred but he managed to keep himself upright
Suddenly soft hands touched his shoulders .
Tianlei's breath caught ,he even forgot the pain in his chest . He felt relief and happiness creep in and a smile crossed his face.
" Who are you "
The illusory figure's sighed ,her voice softening into a whisper.
" Who am I, and who are you . All I know my heavenly thunder doesn't give up "
Tianlei tried to turn his head to see the figure but a soft hand touched his face , pointing it forward.
" Never look backwards, only forward . You will never find me if you keep looking backwards, because I am always at the end of the lane "
Her hands slowly lowered to the dagger in his chest ,her fingers wrapped around it , holding it tight.
Tianlei looked down at her hands, then slowly reached out to them, wrapping his fingers around them.
" Why can't I remember you, is it because I am weak "
A soft chuckle escaped the figure's lips.
" I know my Tianlei is weak but what I know is that you never give up "
She placed her head on her shoulder, now Tianlei could see her face. It was covered with a white cloth on her eyes and the rest of his face shone brighter than light.
She shifted ,and kissed him on the cheek.
" You are my only destiny"
That was the last word she said before she disappeared . Tianlei regained his posture ,his hands were wrapped tight around the hilt of the dagger.
" Whoever you are ,you are also my Destiny . "
Tianlei gasped.
"Destiny Star."
A silver trail erupted from his ring, revealing the healing beast. Its eyes locked onto Tianlei, panic flashing through them as it released a chilling aura into his chest.
"Your healing ability will keep me alive," Tianlei muttered. "I need this core to form."
Black veins coiled around the nascent orb, stabilizing it but only barely. Nothing was anchoring it ,it was like holding water using a sponge and that wouldn't last long .
Destiny Star growled sharply, warning him to stop.
Tianlei only coughed more blood.
"A mid-stage level one beast can't stop this anyway," he rasped. "I'm finishing it."
He tore the dagger free. Blood surged from the open wound, pulsing like a second heart.
This time, Destiny Star's growl softened.
It opened its mouth.
A dazzling, multicolored orb emerged and plunged into Tianlei's chest.
The wound sealed slowly as the energy dissolved inward. Tianlei dropped his hands to his thighs. The pool of blood around him lifted, forming thin trails that streamed back into his body. His stained skin slowly cleaned itself as the last traces vanished.
"…Finally."
A breath escaped him.
The spirit core had been formed despite being low grade and imperfect, but real. Enough to circulate and store the flame qi. His chest burned with heat, yet an icy chill lingered around it.
Like balance forced into existence