The day after the year-end evaluation dawned quietly.
But for Siddharth, everything had changed.
No longer was he a disciple of the Normal Class.
From today onward, he was officially part of the Expert Class—and with that status came privileges he had never been allowed to touch before.
One of them stood before him now.
The Expert Class Library.
The library was vastly different from the one used by the Normal Class. Taller shelves, denser prana in the air, and manuals that radiated an unmistakable sense of depth and danger.
Siddharth entered calmly, his eyes sharp.
"I need anything related to blood, monsters, or refinement," he murmured.
For hours, he searched.
Blood refinement.
Beast cores.
Ancient alchemy.
Forbidden techniques.
Most of it was either incomplete or useless to him.
Then, on a corner shelf layered in dust, he found a thick jade-bound manual.
"Puppet Refining Arts: Blood Construct Edition"
Siddharth's interest was instantly piqued.
He opened it.
The manual explained a rarely practised refining path: blood puppets.
Using monster materials, a cultivator could refine a humanoid puppet capable of independent combat.
The rules were simple:
A puppet refined from Shishya-rank materials → Shishya-rank power
A puppet refined from Sadhak-rank materials → Sadhak-rank power
A puppet refined from Yogi-rank materials → Yogi-rank power
In theory, it was terrifying.
An army of obedient cultivators.
Siddharth's eyes narrowed as he read further.
And then—he understood why this art was nearly abandoned.
To refine one puppet, the requirements were absurd.
First, monster blood had to be refined into blood essence drops.
100 drops from the same realm
10 drops from one realm higher
1 drop from two realms higher
That meant:
For a Shishya puppet →
100 Shishya monsters or
10 Sadhak monsters or
1 Yogi monster
The cost alone was crippling.
But the final requirement crushed all hope.
Only an Acharya-rank refiner can refine blood essence.
Even at the Acharya rank, refinement is limited to Sadhak-rank beast blood.
Siddharth closed the book slowly.
"So that's why no one uses it…"
Even rich clans couldn't sustain such losses.
Even geniuses couldn't meet the refining requirement.
Then—
A thought struck him.
No.
A realisation.
His breathing slowed.
"…Wait."
His fingers tightened slightly.
"The Beast Transformation Art…"
Kaushik had explained it long ago.
Before consuming monster blood, Siddharth's body automatically refined it into blood essence—pure, concentrated, and perfectly stable.
That was the foundation of the art.
Siddharth's eyes widened.
"If I can refine monster blood into blood essence…" he whispered,
"…why am I not selling it?"
Blood essence was one of the most important ingredients in artefact refining, puppet refining, and high-level alchemy.
And for him?
It was almost free.
His heartbeat quickened.
Then reason returned.
"…No."
Selling Sadhak-rank blood essence openly would immediately raise suspicion.
People would assume an Acharya-ranked refiner was backing him.
And attention like that was lethal.
He wasn't strong enough yet.
"So I'll start small," he decided.
"Shishya-rank blood essence only."
And he would hide his identity.
That evening, a figure in a black robe and mask entered the market district.
Siddharth.
He spent 50,000 rupees—every coin he had saved.
5 bottles of Shishya-rank monster blood
10,000 rupees per bottle
Afterwards, he rented a secluded room in an inn.
Inside, he locked the door.
And began refining.
The process was smooth.
Too smooth.
One bottle after another, the monster blood was purified, condensed, and refined into glowing drops of blood essence.
Five bottles.
Five drops.
By dawn, he was finished.
Siddharth stared at the results silently.
"This really is unfair…"
His next stop was the largest trading company in the city.
The moment the masked youth presented the blood essence, the atmosphere changed completely.
Within minutes, he was escorted into a private chamber.
Waiting for him was the manager himself.
Shubham.
An Acharya-realm expert.
Shubham examined the drops carefully, his expression unreadable. Then his eyes sharpened.
"Perfect purity," he said slowly.
"Stability beyond standard Acharya refinement."
He looked at Siddharth.
"These five drops," Shubham continued,
"They are worth six million rupees."
The transaction was completed personally.
Just like that, Siddharth became a multimillionaire.
Before leaving, Siddharth spoke again.
"I want a price list."
Shubham nodded.
Shishya-rank blood — 10,000 per bottle
Sadhak-rank blood — 100,000 per bottle
Yogi-rank blood — 1,000,000 per bottle
Acharya-rank blood — 10,000,000 per bottle
Siddharth absorbed the numbers, then said calmly,
"I want to buy Acharya-rank blood."
Shubham's brows rose.
"But right now," Siddharth continued,
"I only have six million. I'll also need Sadhak-rank materials, costing around one million."
Shubham stared at him for a long moment.
Then he smiled.
"I'll offer you a one-time discount," he said.
"On one condition."
Siddharth waited.
"In the future," Shubham said,
"You will sell all blood essence exclusively to me."
Siddharth did not hesitate.
"I agree."
That night, Siddharth returned to his dormitory.
Inside his storage ring were all the materials he needed.
Blood.
Refining components.
Core materials.
Everything required to refine—
A Sadhak-rank puppet.
As he sat down, his gaze grew deep.
"This world is full of ladders," he murmured.
"And I just found a way to break them."