When I woke up, the poisoned man I recovered from the Heaven Basin was floating inside a Formation Array, while Grandpa Heavengaze stood guard.

Lin Fei looked somewhat less dead now, possibly getting healed by the Formation. Nodding to myself, I shifted inside my treasure vault to search for a pill that might help. Sadly, there wasn't any with the exact prescription, but eventually I found a couple of herbs in the vault's gardens.

'Mystic Purple Ginseng, used to cure soul poison. Worth 40 million spirit stones'. That single herb was worth a truckload of precious stones, but they would grow back. In the meantime, I had a man to heal.

When I returned with the herb in hand, the old ghost chuckled in amusement. "Are you sure you want to waste that precious root on this man? You don't even know him."

"That may be so, Grandpa. But a kind act should not be avoided only for its cost. Plus, I do have ulterior reasons..." I answered and passed the ginseng root to him.

"Oh? Perhaps you want to obtain a cultivation method directly from him? Not bad, not bad..." the ghost nodded in approval, while the ginseng melted into a bead of purple liquid, using some kind of small array the size of his hand.

'Refined Purple Soul Cure, used to treat soul poison. Worth 400 million spirit stones.' my eyes discerned to my surprise. Somehow, simply refining that root made it 10 times more valuable?

"Still has the same effect, even in liquid form..." I observed with my genial mind.

The ghost fed Lin Fei the liquid cure, then turned towards me. "Same effect, yes. Not the same harmful byproducts, though. You might eat that ginseng without problems, but normal people may get stuck in their cultivation forever."

Uhhhh. I didn't think of that. But obviously, there was a good reason why Alchemists and Pill Refiners were so valued. And even so, pills still had toxic effects if taken in quantity. Raw herbs would be that much worse.

Lin Fei began to look even better, and by the time I finished my breakfast, he opened his eyes.

"Where, who?" he asked in a slow voice.

I took out the body of his dead enemy and dropped it on the floor, while Grandpa ghost made the Formation vanish. "I found you out cold, beside this dead guy. I guess you're the one who killed him, right?"

Lin Fei paled when confronted with the evidence. "We should burn the body...not safe." he whispered and sat down.

I mean, destroying the evidence would be a thing criminals did. "His family should get the body back, I think. Find some closure." I countered and stored the body back in my ring.

"..." Lin Fei dismissed me and turned towards the floating ghost. "Senior, you know better. There would be consequences if this gets out. Reprisals. Interrogations. Executions." he warned in a dire voice.

The ghost nodded slowly. "And you want to avoid all that. Very wise. But young Pef here is an orphan, without even a method of cultivation. The victim's family should be rich enough to afford such a method as a fair reward."

Lin Fei turned towards me and stared for a long minute. "The Oracle Mountain method would only get you in trouble, Young Master. I do have something else, an ancient sutra I found as a child in a cave." he proposed and took out a broken metal plaque, printed with some kind of demon with 6 arms. However, only 3 arms remained intact.

My eyes glinted as they scanned the quest item. 'Six Yang Asura Body, used to cultivate the body. Partially damaged. Worth: 50 spirit stones.'

I frowned and glanced at the all-knowing ghost. "Grandpa, what is an Asura?" I asked with childish naiveté.

"An Asura is a kind of high rank Demon from the Netherworld. They have powerful bodies." the ghost provided with a tiny smile.

I nodded slowly, figuring out why Lin Fei could punch his way out of trouble. This body cultivation method would certainly work in Saint Realm. And I already had my Saint Soul.

"I suppose I can trade that dead body for the Asura sutra. Even if damaged, it should still work in Saint Realm." I decided and gave the evidence to Lin Fei. Who promptly burned it with a fire technique.

Then I began studying the new sutra, and ignored everyone. Demons didn't cultivate like normal people, doing exercise or taking herbal baths.

Instead, they used beast blood and beast cores, forging themselves stronger through pain. Demons equal blood and pain. Roger.

Deciding to test the sutra, I took out the body of the flying snake, and began carving it up according to the sutra, forming some kind of blood array on the floor. Then I stepped inside, and tried to meditate.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I didn't get far, when the blood array jumped by itself and imprinted on my back, causing enormous pain. What else? Right, eat the beast core.

I followed the instructions and ate the small red bead I extracted from the snake, making my the pain shift from my skin to inside my body. Much worse. My body began to crack, and my skin flaked off. And it hurt.

I don't know how someone without my Unbreakable Will perk withstood this kind of pain and remained sane. "It bloody hurts!" I exclaimed and spat some blood.

"Senior, this child is not normal...he is still conscious!" I heard Lin Fei comment towards the ghost.

The ghost just read through the metal plate and let it drop to the floor, with a shrug. "Suffering is a normal part of life, little Lin Fei. I do worry about the inner demon that could form..."

"Oh. I just punched it until it died." Lin Fei answered with a careless voice.

I looked around my mental landscape, but my perk also made me immune to mental techniques. No demon showed up.

About an hour later, my skin finished chipping away, so I stood up and threw a few punches in the air. At least three times stronger, from a single cultivation session. No wonder those Asura Demons were strong.

So I ran to the nearest waterfall to get clean, then remembered to store a small lake inside my ring. You never know when water might be important, right? Then I changed in my back-up robes and returned to the ghost.

"It worked, Grandpa! Triple strength already!" I exclaimed in a victorious voice.

"...I don't have triple strength yet. Did I do something wrong?" Lin Fei muttered to himself.

"Don't compare yourself with a Heaven's Chosen, little Fei. That road only leads to suffering." the ghost answered with a mocking tone, while I picked the sutra tablet and stored it in my ring.

"So, I found this tunnel under the secret realm, leads to many rooms. Want to go with me and explore, Lin Fei?" I asked my newer guest.

Lin Fei blinked then sighed. "You found your way into the inheritance trial?"

I patted his elbow, since I couldn't reach his shoulder, and shifted us into the cave under the Heaven Basin. "This is great, right? Follow me, I know a few rooms nearby." I commanded and began walking towards the nearest tablet room.

A second later, my feet skipped in the air, as Lin Fei held me up by the scruff of my robes. "This place is dangerous, little Pef. I will go first." he demanded in a protective voice.

On the other hand, having someone to tank hidden traps wasn't so bad. "I graciously agree to your willing sacrifice, Disciple Lin Fei." I spoke from my suspended station.

The man clenched his other fist, and dropped me on the floor. "Kids are quite a pain." he muttered and took off at a light jog, which I could barely match at my best speed. Then we ran, and ran and ran some more. Damn tunnels were quite long, and barely illuminated by glowing crystals every 50 meters or so. Luckily, I was already a cultivator and could see better than normal people, and last much longer when running.

"Hold!" I yelled as we approached the first room. Lin Fei stopped, then cautiously explored around until he found the hidden stone door.

"You already knew it was here?" he asked to make sure.

I just tapped my temple. "Perfect Memory. I have the entire labyrinth mapped in my head." I explained among deep breaths. I still needed more training. Lin Fei seemed as fresh as he left. But as he failed to find a hidden lever to open the door, he began to glow and punched the stone door a few times, until a hole appeared, large enough for a small child to crawl.

I look around carefully, but sadly I was the only such child in the area. "Step aside, Lin Fei. You're too fat to crawl through." I demanded in a superior voice, and passed by the flabbergasted disciple.

Then crawled into the hidden room, and began searching the inner walls beside the door. One gray stone seemed a bit out of alignment, so I turned it straight and the door opened by itself.

"You're quite a clever child, aren't you?" Lin Fei noted as he entered the room.

I nodded wisely. "Proceed forward, meat shield. Try not to die." I advised him in a serious voice.

Lin Fei growled like an uneducated brute, then stepped forward towards the tablet, while I bravely advanced backwards outside the room. This room shouldn't be trapped, but better safe than not. A thinking of safety, time to eat a few spirit stones again.

I ate one for my 4th level, then three more for 5th level of Xiantian. My bag of stones had become a bit fuller, with the loot from the dead guys, but if the cost of cultivation kept increasing, my stones would finish before I reached 10th level. Then I would need to wait another week for the bag to refill. Still, it could have been worse. I could have failed to pick up the spirit stones item in the CYOA, for example.

"It's not trapped!" I heard Lin Fei yelled from inside the room, as he picked up the tablet from a stone table.

Which is of course when the stone table lit up with familiar green glyphs, and Lin Fei vanished.

I shifted back to the Tower, to let Grandpa know what happened. "Grandpa, Lin Fei was eaten by a green glowing array!" I yelled from the start.

The old ghost sighed as his eyes glowed for a second. "He was not eaten, child. The array transported him outside."

I let out a sigh of relief. I had high hopes for the guy I saved. And also poisoned with the blue snake, but that's less important. Saving was the important part.

"I guess I'll meet him later, after I finish exploring the tunnels..." I said with a casual voice, then prepared to return to my quest.

"Outside of the secret realm, little Pef. He just completed the inheritance trial." the ghost continued in a mild voice.

Oh. That was different. Well, I hope Lin Fei won't start discussing what happened inside my Tower with his sect Elders. I did tell him I have Perfect Memory, right?

"Damn it. I guess I can't collect the cultivation tablets then. I would be transported outside too." I mused in a sad voice.

"You're not ready for the outside world anyway, child. Plus, the secret realm has many more treasures beside those tablets. Herbs and beasts...for example." the ghost pointed out in a wise voice.

Why did he make so much sense? I just slumped on the floor to brood. I didn't even know the way out of those tunnels...yet. Time to search my memories and figure out where was the exit. The right one.

Then I opened my eyes and took out the Tri-sword mantra I had obtained yesterday from another dead guy.

I also had his sword, which made learning the new technique easier. Time to grind again.

My Brilliance perk was quite handy, especially for learning hew things like sutras and techniques. It made me a genius seen once in a generation, and there were milions of cultivators of my age out there. And I was the best of all of them.

By the time the day ended, I had already learned all the sword moves, and could begin inserting qi into them. But first, another nourishing Spirit Feast, and a good night sleep.