The sun hung in the sky, as it always did in the third month, like a lamp, spreading its light and heat.

In the arena, the ceremony dragged on, Elder Sa Yu Guo calling out names one after another. Hours slipped by, and most participants were revealed to have 1-star aptitude, with three having no aptitude, while no one had shown 2-star aptitude since Sa Wen.

A young woman stumbled off the stage, sobbing loudly, knowing her no-aptitude meant activating powercubes was all she would be able to do without the Essence Center.

Not to mention she would most certainly be stuck in the 1st-transformation Beyond Mortal stage all for the short lifespan of 90 years the Beyond Mortal gave.

At that moment, the Elder called out: "Sa Min."

And the arena fell into a dead silence, as though everyone had stopped breathing. This was to be expected; Wasn’t Sa Min the heavenly miracle, blessed with visions from heaven?

Some people even thought he possessed a 4-star aptitude, and they came here just to witness it.

Sa Min lifted himself up with a loud groan, stretching his muscles. Though the pain in his back had faded, an annoying itch lingered, like something stuck there. He shook off the sensation and surveyed the crowd.

The participants watched him, their faces a blend of respect, admiration, and a lot of envy. Except for this San Juan. She sat alone, shunned by the others; She looked miserable and afraid and angry—so much anger coming from those naive eyes.

What a pathetic slave… Sa Min thought to himself as he walked down the stands. Everyone there was a slave in one way or another, including him. He despised it, no doubt about that. But was he just some slave who loved being a slave? Was he a pathetic slave?

On the side, Sa Wen nodded at him, but Sa Min pretended not to notice, strolling towards the stage.

The thud, thud sound of his steps hitting the ground echoed in his ears.

Everyone's attention was focused on him.

It didn't take long before he reached the platform. On the stage, the Elder Sa Yu Guo rose from his wooden chair, beckoning him over with his head; a look of anticipation on his face.

Without a second of hesitation, Sa Min stepped onto the weathered platform, calm as ever, and headed straight to the big wooden container.

There was still one complete force apple and half of another, leftover from the last young woman's awakening, so Sa Min only grabbed three force apples with both hands and walked to the designated circle.

The force apples felt slightly cool, their surface slick as glass and their color as white as snow.

Upon reaching the circle, Sa Min cast one final glance around at the silent faces impatiently watching him. A faint smile flickered on his lips, but it quickly faded into a soft sigh. Sitting cross-legged, he placed the three force apples in front of him, alongside the two already there.

Closing his eyes, he raised one of the force apples to his force gate. Instantly, the force apple trembled in his hand as he began absorbing its primal force with his thought, feeling a surge of primal power rushing into him.

It felt like… like that refreshing jolt you get after rinsing off in cold water, then stepping out into a crisp, chilly breeze.

After some time, Sa Min opened his eyes. The force apple had withered, drained of its primal force. Brushing away its dried remains, he reached for the next one.

These force apples were more than mere fruits, obviously; they were vessels of pure primal force…or more accurately, they were the tangible form of condensed primal force. Such resources were really valuable to cultivators, and could only be harvested from the White Garden.

And what was the White Garden?

The White Garden was the lifeblood of Tetra Blessing City, the very reason for its existence. Without it, there would not be much Word’s Force for cultivators to absorb and grow their power.

Perched atop the mountain peak in the middle of the city, the White Garden was the most valuable place in the city producing a large amount of force apples.

It was regarded as the foundation of the entire city.

Under the control of the city lord, it was heavily guarded by the city’s army.

Nearly 900 years ago, after the Bloodthirsty Invasion had ravaged this region, some survivor forces - the Four Clans - came together and settled around this mountain after discovering it contained a White Garden, and that's how Tetra Blessing City was born.

Sa Min, before he began absorbing the next force apple, glanced toward Elder Sa Yu Guo, who stood nearby.

The Elder was staring at him with a puzzled scowl.

Sa Min held back a smirk. He knew exactly what was bothering the elder.

One key aspect that distinguishes the five aptitudes was the number and type of meridians a cultivator possesses, which directly affects the speed of absorbing primal force. And the time it took Sa Min to fully absorb the first force apple didn’t exactly… look great

I can already tell what kind of sea core I have just from this absorption speed, he thought with a slight of disappointment. Nevertheless, he closed his eyes, showing no emotion or whatsoever as he placed the next force apple at his force gate, absorbing its primal force.

For a few moments, everything felt normal. Then, suddenly, an odd sensation washed over him– it was as though he were stripped naked in the snow. Goosebumps prickled his skin, every hair on his body standing on end.

But Sa Min pushed the strange feeling aside and focused inward on his Ordinary-sea core, which had just opened. It had been a while since he last saw a sea core, but its appearance was all too familiar.

A layer of sky-blue enveloped the sea core—known as the dantian to some. Its surface was rough and rugged, like the hide of a wild beast; this reflected the natural state of Beyond Mortal cultivators’ sea core walls in their 1st-transformation.

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These walls had two essential functions — supporting the sea core and preventing it from collapsing was one of them.

The sea core itself was an enigmatic, internal space that existed separately from any physical organs, with its size varying based on one’s aptitude.

For instance, the Unfortunate-sea core was only 10% the size of the Legendary-sea core.

Inside Sa Min's sea core, a sphere of a unique pure force glimmered—sky-blue in color, smooth as glass, glittering with tiny copper flicks. This sky-blue pure force, often referred to simply as sky-blue sea by cultivators, was the kind that only cultivators at the 1st-transformation Beyond Mortal stage possessed.

However, the sky-blue pure force in Sa Min’s sea core wasn’t truly his yet; it was still infused with the Copper Essence Marks left behind by the original owner of the body.

Between the sphere of sky-blue sea and the sea core wall, there was a noticeable distance – all cultivators' sea cores were like that, regardless of their aptitude or cultivation stage.

Above the surface of the sea sphere, something floated—a jagged, dark rock with sharp edges jutting out. Tiny holes riddled its surface, glowing faintly with orange light. This was the Borned Ka of the original owner of this body.

The Volcanic Glowing Rock Ka of the Fire Smallway, Sa Min mused to himself, not really impressed. This Ka can only be used with one Yantra…

Suddenly, the Volcanic Black Rock Ka trembled.

It’s time, thought Sa Min and he acted quickly. He immediately summoned a few tiny white grains that, if you observed them closely, you would see intricate lines on their surface. These grains surged in through the wall of the sea core and swept over everything.

Kas were born in three different ways—one of which was as a Borned Ka for cultivators. Every cultivator had their own Borned Ka that they were borned with, a vessel that produced their Essence Marks. It was as vital to them as a soul is to mortals.

If a cultivator’s Borned Ka was damaged, they would experience a severe reaction. If it got destroyed or refined by some other cultivator, death was inevitable.

The Volcanic Black Rock Ka within Sa Min’s sea core, however, was not his own. Even though he’d managed to take possession of this body, its Borned Ka still belonged to its original owner.

Sa Min’s true Borned Ka, called Ominous Snake Stick, was hidden far away.

Before his battle with the red-flames mercenary band, Sa Min had secured his rank 7 Ominous Snake Stick Ka in a hidden location protected by a masking formation. He had provided it with enough food that would suffice it for many years, until he could return to it.

Because if his enemies had gotten their hands on his Borned Ka and refined or destroyed it, he would have died—regardless of whether his Yellow Mind Swap Yantra had succeeded.

With hardly any resistance, Sa Min's rank 7 White Essence Marks easily wiped away and replaced the rank 1 Copper Essence Marks of the original body owner from the Volcanic Black Rock, making it truly his.

The sphere sea, which used to shine with copper, now sparkled with white glimmers.

Refining a Ka wasn't always this easy. It was typically a challenging process for cultivators. It demanded a significant amount of their Mark Essence, time, and effort, depending on the Ka's rank and the previous owner's willpower.

In this case, the Volcanic Black Rock was rank 1, only producing rank 1 Copper Essence Marks. It had also just awakened and was still weak, having not yet fed. Moreover, the original owner was merely a one-year-old baby with a feeble will.

That was why Sa Min had managed to refine it in no time.

Sa Min's White Essence Marks were rank 7 because his true borned ka was rank 7.

Essence Marks were essential for cultivators, and they could only be created by the cultivator's Borned Ka.

Before Sa Min had concealed his Borned Ka, the Ominous Snake Stick, he had made sure to store a large amount of his White Essence Marks enough to sustain his cultivation until he was able to return to it, in the Ba Domain in his mind. Even though he couldn't access the Ba House until he broke through to the middle realm and reached the Ba Awakening stage—stage 4—he could still summon the White Essence Marks he had reserved there.

As the Volcanic Glowing Rock Ka sank into the sky-blue sea, Sa Min calmly opened his eyes and smiled, indifferent to the result of his awakening. He had hoped for high aptitude, but it hadn't happened. What could he do?

At least he didn't end up with no aptitude at all—that would have been truly terrible. 1-star aptitude was bad and meant his cultivation would be slow, but he could still manage.

The crowd, however, was dead silent. This wasn't the curious anticipation from before, when they had eagerly awaited him to open his Grand-sea core. Now, it was a stunned, confused silence as they struggled to grasp what had just happened.

"Hey... have you opened your sea core?" Elder Sa Yu Guo asked, his voice almost pleading for Sa Min to say no.

Sa Min slowly stood up, answering his and the crowd's unspoken question.

Chaos erupted in the arena. Faces twisted in disappointment, mockery, and anger. Some laughed like they never had, while others were already turning to leave.

Sa Min shifted his gaze toward Elder Sa Yu Guo, paying no heed to the crowd reaction.

“...Grand-sea core… man, can’t believe I fell for that… he must only have a strong Ba…” Elder Sa Yu Guo was muttering to himself looking disappointed and embarrassed.

Wanting to get home as soon as possible to check his back, Sa Min cleared his throat, snapping the elder from his daze.

When Elder Sa Yu Guo finally looked at Sa Min, he found no trace of emotion in his face. No sadness, no disappointment, no anger—nothing as though this arrogant young man didn’t even care what kind of sea core he had just opened. The complete lack of reaction only made the elder more frustrated, turning his disappointment into anger.

“What’s with the attitude, little brat?” Elder Sa Yu Guo snapped. “It’s just an Ordinary-sea core. You…you should be hiding your face in shame, just like your old man over there.” He pointed to the elders' section, where Sa Huiqin had his head buried in his arms like an ostrich trying to disappear.

The elders surrounding him shot daggers with their eyes and tossed around mocking words and laughter.

“Aren’t you embarrassed?” Elder Sa Yu Guo pressed, getting angrier. “Look around! Look at all those people leaving! Aren’t you mad at what they’re saying about you?”

Sa Min remained silent but inside he sneered, concerning myself with how people perceive me? Yeah, I cut that slavery thread a long time ago…

"Why are you so… bland?” the Elder continued. “Do you even get how important aptitudes are for cultivation?”

Oh, I understand, Sa Min thought. Trust me, young man, I know exactly the great difference between aptitudes—whether it’s cultivation speed, battle power, crafting Yantras, or creating Kas…

But Sa Min also knew this wasn’t the end of it. He had over 600 years of cultivation experience, and he was aware of certain rare methods that could help compensate for his weak aptitude.

Growing impatient, Elder Sa Yu Guo stepped closer. “Why aren’t you talking? Are you so disrespectful you can’t even respond when an elder’s talking to you?”