Evening.

Jiang Hao’s figure moved in and out of the spiritual herb garden. After confirming that everything was fine, he finally left.

Usually, he would help with the herb processing; otherwise, it would be rare for bubbles to drop the next day.

When he wasn’t in the herb garden, he relied on luck to collect the bubbles.

This was why it took him several years to accumulate a hundred vitality and cultivation points.

It was only after joining the inner sect that he occasionally began to touch upon divine powers.

It seemed that the better the spiritual herbs, the more likely he was to find good bubbles.

After returning to his residence, Jiang Hao carefully checked the area, ensuring no one was around, and then entered his cultivation room to begin his practice.

Today’s encounter with Senior Sister Yun Ruoxian had left him with a sense of inexplicable danger.

It was always better to stay vigilant.

He sat cross-legged, simultaneously checking his vitality and cultivation stats.

When he first entered the sect, he had tested his talent—it was above average. With normal training, he could expect to reach the foundation-building stage around the age of thirty or forty.

Now, at the age of twenty, it had come much earlier than expected. There should be some bottlenecks, and breaking through both at the same time would be a better approach.

After a while, a look of pain appeared on Jiang Hao’s face. His vitality surged, and spiritual energy flowed wildly.

The Tianyin Hundred Turns technique was running at full speed, absorbing vitality and spiritual energy.

Crack!

A sound of transformation echoed within Jiang Hao’s body as his blood, flesh, and bones underwent rigorous tempering.

If he could endure it, he would succeed in foundation-building.

Crack!

The transformation lasted for a long time. By dawn, the sound subsided, and his vitality began to calm down, while the spiritual energy flowed smoothly through his meridians, returning to normal.

Everything was falling into place.

After completing another cycle of cultivation, Jiang Hao opened his eyes. He could now feel a brand-new energy filling his body.

“I’ve built my foundation. Everything went smoothly. I’m much safer now.”

He sighed with relief and looked at his system panel. After reaching foundation-building, the panel had displayed new changes.

[Name: Jiang Hao][Age: 19][Cultivation: Early Foundation-Building][Cultivation Technique: Tianyin Hundred Turns][Divine Power: Nine Turns to Replace Death, Daily Mirror][Vitality: 36/100][Cultivation: 41/100][Divine Power: 1/3]

“Daily Mirror can be cultivated now, but there’s no reward?”

Initially, when he had acquired the Nine Turns to Replace Death divine power, he had expected that reaching foundation-building would unlock a cultivation technique for him.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

While Tianyin Hundred Turns was powerful, it wasn’t a long-term solution. He needed a stronger technique.

“Never mind. I’ll learn the Daily Mirror first before worrying about the technique later.”

It took half an hour, but Jiang Hao finally mastered the Daily Mirror. What it did, however, remained unclear to him.

Curious, he stepped out of his residence and used the mirror to assess his wooden house.

The results came quickly.

[Jiang Hao’s Small Wooden House: Built three years ago using Qinglin wood. It is strong and durable. Built by Jiang Hao himself, it seems sturdy but has several structural flaws inside and could collapse at any moment.]

Jiang Hao: "......"

So it’s just assessment information.

Once he understood the purpose, he headed to the spiritual herb garden.

He collected the bubbles and then began to help with the maintenance.

“Maybe I should learn a bit about architecture and renovate this house.”

In the spiritual herb garden.

[Strength +1][Spirit +1][Cultivation +1][Common Spiritual Sword +1]

Jiang Hao walked into the pavilion, absorbing the surrounding bubbles. This was always the most enjoyable time of his day.

After taking a short break, he began assisting with the herb garden’s management.

The majority of those tending to the garden were ordinary people.

In the past, these ordinary people feared the inner sect disciples who guarded the herb garden because a single mistake could result in their death.

Since Jiang Hao took over, such dangers had vanished.

This was why others considered Jiang Hao to be a man of integrity.

While this wasn’t necessarily a good reputation in the demonic sect, Jiang Hao didn’t want to randomly kill ordinary people.

Fortunately, it hadn’t caused any worse consequences.

Jiang Hao didn’t share his foundation-building progress with others.

Three days later.

He once again encountered Senior Sister Yun Ruoxian, and it was then that others realized he had reached foundation-building.

Thankfully, it hadn’t caused any commotion.

In the days that followed, Yun Ruoxian frequently visited him, simply chatting about trivial matters.

She would occasionally mention how, in the demonic path, many things were beyond one’s control and how, as a child, she had wanted to be a good person.

As her visits became more frequent, Jiang Hao’s sense of danger grew.

During this time, he extracted all his vitality and cultivation points to continue consolidating his cultivation.

One month later.

Jiang Hao stepped out of his residence. The sky was clear, yet it failed to bring warmth.

“These past few days, Senior Sister Yun hasn’t come to find me. I wonder if it’s because nothing is happening, or if it’s a sign of something wrong.”

After thinking for a moment, he headed to the library.

In this past month, he had discovered something very serious.

Yun Ruoxian, as a member of the Tianhuan Pavilion, was born with an alluring charm and was considered a beauty of the sect.

However, no matter how close she got, Jiang Hao felt absolutely no reaction.

Not only that, when he tried to awaken any reaction, it had no effect whatsoever.

This felt extremely off.

Though he was dedicated to his cultivation and didn’t want to be swayed by romantic emotions, it wasn’t about desire—it was about capability.

This strange situation had only started after meeting Yun Ruoxian. The only possible explanation was that something he had consumed was affecting him.

He spent two days at the library but couldn’t find any answers.

However, he did come across a purple bubble.

[Divine Power Fragment +1]

A pleasant surprise.

Another divine power fragment, and he would acquire a new divine power.

“Lately, it seems like the sect has been auditing the list of disciples. Is something happening?”

Leaving the library, Jiang Hao overheard some people talking.

It seemed the sect had suddenly started investigating the disciples, like they were searching for someone.

“Are they looking for a traitor?” Jiang Hao immediately thought of Yun Ruoxian.

After being humiliated by that extraordinary woman, he knew something was bound to happen within the sect.

But he hadn’t expected that what was happening would pull him into the situation.

“Senior Sister Yun has been in foundation-building for many years. I have little chance of defeating her if it comes to that.”

Jiang Hao began calculating the worst-case scenario.

Hopefully, he was just overthinking it.