Ta Chen stormed out of the lecture hall, her face taut with anger as her hand tightly gripped the Ka Seed Senior Hu Guo had just handed them; she truly wished it would splinter in her grasp.
"Ta Chen, Ta Chen, wait..." Sa Juan’s voice called from behind.
But she didn’t care to stop. She just wanted to get to her dormitory and vent her frustration on shattering blocked passage that led to the essence core. Why was heaven unfair? Why burden her with such a flaw? Why did it create her with such weakness?
Sa Juan finally caught up, grabbing her arm and forcing her to stop. "Ta Chen, wait."
“What?” Ta Chen turned sharply, barely holding herself from exploding. “What do you want?”
Concern clouded Sa Juan’s face. "What happened? Was it something Senior Hu Guo said? She didn't mean to offend you—"
"Damn her," Ta Chen growled, her face tightening even more. "I won the argument, and she didn’t like it. Damn her and her arrogance."
"Argument?" Sa Juan said, confused. "But everything she said was true. You’re just... overreacting..."
"Overreacting?" Ta Chen’s anger spiked, her words coming faster than she could stop them. "Which part am I overreacting to? When I said that we women are cursed with a flaw that keeps us weak? That keeps men always above over us, treating us like some kind of resources—"
Before she could finish, Sa Juan clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shh, don’t say that!!" she whispered urgently, looking around. "Senior Hu Guo was kind enough to ignore you, but if someone else hears this, you’ll be in serious trouble. Don’t you know the punishment for blasphemy?”
At the mention of punishment, Ta Chen froze, a vivid image flashing in her mind—herself, strung upside down and slowly sliced in half. She hastily scanned her surroundings before letting out a sigh of relief. No one was close enough to hear her outburst.
Seeing her calm, Sa Juan slowly removed her hand. "The Seed Core isn’t a flaw, Ta Chen. It’s a gift." she said. “Heaven blessed it to us women. Ask any man if he'd prefer having it, and see."
"I asked Sa Min." Ta Chen scoffed. "That bastard said he thanks heaven every night for not being born a woman."
Sa Juan scowled. "Sa Min’s… do not take that monster seriously. Who would reject the ability to produce a Natural Ka every month."
Ta Chen sighed, frustrated. "Yeah, you're right. It’s just that this Seed Core sucks 80% of our pure force…”
"That’s not—” Sa Juan tried to cut her off but Ta Chen didn't let her. “...leaving us weak and vulnerable for an entire week with only 20% of our sea force, and slowing down our cultivation.”
Natural Kas emerges into the world in three different ways. The first is as Borned Kas from cultivators. The second method is unique to women: the Seed Core, located just above their Sea Core, plays a crucial role in the process.
Every month, during their menstrual cycle, female cultivators experience a draining of 80% of their pure force into their Seed Core. If a Ka Seed is placed within during this time, there is a chance for a Natural Ka to be born.
"That’s why men, who don’t have to deal with this flaw, are always above us," Ta Chen continued. "So don’t try to convince me otherwise. Just… leave me alone."
With that, she turned and walked away.
Behind her, Sa Juan’s voice was soft but annoying: "have you ever read the Book of Revelation, Ta Chen? Heaven gives and takes. That’s the way of heaven."
"Damn you and your book," Ta Chen muttered under her breath.
Senior Hu Guo had stated that the academy would provide them with Ka Seeds each month to birth Natural Kas. However, that wasn’t what made Ta Chen furious. Regardless of whether she planted a Ka Seed in her Seed Core, her sea force would still be drained away.
It was Senior Hu Guo's words, telling her to embrace this flaw, that ignited her anger.
….
Once Sa Min left the Yantra Library, he headed straight to his dormitory. He quickly took a Body Cleansing Powercube and a pouch of golden coins, then left the academy and made his way down to the city.
After some time, he found himself walking through a lively street in the central zone, bustling with merchants and wealthy families. It took him a while to locate the Wing family residence, and by the time he did, the last light of the day was beginning to fade.
Keeping an eye on the gate of the Wing family residence, Sa Min casually strolled down the road toward an inn positioned just across from it.
"Greetings, young master. How can I be of service?"
A servant quickly approached him with a warm smile as he crossed the threshold.
Sa Min glanced around. The dining floor was crowded—tables crammed with people eating and chatting. Off to the side, three men sat in formal blue robes, each wearing black headgear adorned with a metal star— Officers of the Investigation and Justice Office.
"Do you have any rooms that overlook the street?" Sa Min asked in his usual cold voice.
The servant nodded gleefully.
A few minutes later, Sa Min stood before a lattice window, peering through its panes at the busy street below.
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The servant's voice kept droning on in the background, but Sa Min paid no mind.
This is the perfect view, Sa Min thought with a smile, satisfied with the room and the discreet window that made it difficult for people to notice him without using any Yantra.
Across the street, within the Qing family's house, he could see a few guards moving about the courtyard.
Now, let's see if the contents of the message has any truth to it. He turned to the woman who was still trying to convince him about the room. "How much a day?" He cut her off.
The servant blinked, surprised at how quickly he was swayed. "With food included, we normally charge 62 gold coins. But I'll give it to you for 60," she offered with a smile.
Sa Min reached calmly into his robe. Two pouches were there. One was filled with five force apples—the one Hu Guo had given them out before class. She’d mentioned that the academy would provide this amount every week until they opened their essence core.
The other pouch held gold coins.
To keep things balanced, and keep both currencies needed, the Xi Empire had a strict law prohibiting the trade or exchange of regular goods and services using force apples. Anyone caught doing so faced a heavy financial penalty.
Naturally, the city had a bureau where people could exchange currencies. The exchange rate was generally fixed at 1 force apple for 6,000 gold coins.
Sa Min counted out exactly 60 gold coins from a pouch of 95, neither a coin more nor less, before handing them to the servant.
"Thank you, young master," the servant said with a cheerful nod. "Have a pleas—"
Sa Min tossed two more gold coins into the servant's hand.
"Thank you for your generosi—"
"For this month’s journal," Sa Min cut in. "And bring a towel with it."
She smiled, trying to mask her embarrassment. “Of course. Just give it a few minutes and they’ll be here along with your meal.”
True to her word, a short while later, she came back with his meal, a towel and a journal.
Sa Min closed the door behind her, lit the lamp as the last traces of sunlight disappeared, and pulled a chair over to the window. Once he settled in, crossing one leg over the other, he opened the journal, his gaze shifting to the Wing family residence across the street.
I doubt I’ll find anything useful from here, he thought. This was a family that’s supposedly been kidnapping and sacrificing people for three years, all without the Investigation and Justice Office noticing.
For the next twenty minutes, Sa Min stared out of the window, watching the residence. He saw nothing of interest, except for what appeared to be the guards’ head entering the brightly lit main hall. There was no sign of Wing Lian or his father.
Letting out a sigh, Sa Min turned his attention to the journal. deep down, he knew that this approach was likely pointless.
Searching the Common-tier Yantra Library for a Yantra even his extensive knowledge couldn’t identify, or sitting by the window hoping to uncover some proof that this Wing family was behind the disappearances and searching for the Key—it all felt like a waste of time.
But what choice did he have? His cultivation base was too weak to take more decisive action. Now, he could either sit idly, letting his thoughts trouble him, or make these desperate, likely futile, attempts to keep himself occupied.
He had chosen the latter.
With a slight frown, he flipped through the journal, searching for any noteworthy events from the previous month. These journals were the official means of disseminating news across the Xi Empire, owned by the White Crow Association, which belonged to the Ministry of Information.
That’s why Sa Min never took anything he read in these journals at face value. He was well aware of how governments around the world controlled information, using it to propagate their own interests and manipulate their people.
*[Jian Bai of the Imperial Academy deservedly won the Eastern Plane Championship…]*
*[The Poisonous Snakes Mercenary continues to wreak havoc in Gansu Province…]*
*[Two Heavenly Union Immortals have been spotted in the Kensey Empire with the Minister of Defense.]*
A flicker of interest crossed Sa Min’s face as his eyes fell on this particular headline.
*[The Xi Empire responded by raising its defenses in the Tight Sea, making a clear statement that any violation of the Treaty of Nine Nations will be faced with force.]*
This is not good, Sa Min thought, tossing the journal onto the bed behind him. The tension between Xi Empire and Kensey Empire is escalating, and that’s exactly what the Heavenly Union wants.
Since the Heavenly Union and its allies had been expelled from the Eastern Plane after years of colonization, they had struggled to regain any significant influence here. Neither the people who overthrew them nor the Nine Emperors—who had convened a council after the colonization ended— had allowed it.
During that council, the Nine Emperorshad enacted the Law of Belief.
The Law of Belief branded the Heavenly Union as a heretical organization with rebellious doctrines that directly opposed the Temple of the Thousand Swords—and by extension, the will of heaven itself.
Under this law, any nation within the Eastern Plane that allied with or adopted any of the Union's beliefs, or even welcomed a member of the Heavenly Union into their territory, would be seen as an enemy who declared war against all the Eastern Plane, and should face the anger of all Eastern Plane.
This law made it nearly impossible for the Heavenly Union to spread its influence here and kept the Eastern Plane largely isolated from the rest of the world.
That was, until 209 years ago, when Emperor Ishino Uchitoki of the Kensey Empire rose to power.
When I was at the True Immortal stage, I heard rumors that Emperor Ishino Uchitoki believed the Temple of the Thousand Swords needed to be reformed to align with the Age of Rebirth. Sa Min cast a brief glance at the Win family residence before standing up. But to bring members of the Heavenly Union here... a war is coming.
Sa Min could smell it. His intuition, honed over more than 600 years, told him that a great war was on the horizon—one so bloody that it would engulf the entire Eastern Plane.
He removed his boots, gray robe, and undergarments. I need to be strong by then. I must at least reach the Gold Ancestor stage to avoid being caught in the middle of this war.
Now completely naked, Sa Min returned to his chair, crossing his right leg over his left
In the Eastern Plane, ka wielders typically cultivated in the traditional lotus position. However, this wasn't a requirement—cultivation could be done in any position that felt comfortable to the cultivator.
In the Western Plane, for instance, cultivators were known to cultivate while waiting for their bus, making the most of any moment. You could even cultivate under a blanket, so long as you could focus on manipulating your sea force.
Sa Min chose to cultivate on the chair by the window, just in case anything noteworthy occurred within the Wing residence.
As he settled into the seat, he took a deep breath, preparing himself for the intensity of what would be his first cultivation session in this body.
The reason he had removed his clothes was because he knew he’d end up soaked in sweat during the process.
I should probably buy a new robe, he thought idly before he closed his eyes.
And with that, cultivation began!