After the gathering at Juyuan Pavilion ended, the three bid farewell and went their separate ways.

Under Alaric Ye’s envious gaze, Zachary Song elegantly soared into the clouds on his flying sword. Elijah Wang, on the other hand, seemed a bit unsteady with his sword flight, wobbling a bit as he flew just a few dozen meters off the ground, leaving Juyuan Pavilion.

Sword flight is one of the fundamental abilities of a cultivator, a true skill of the Immortal Family, and something Alaric greatly yearned for.

However, he couldn’t achieve it just yet.

As long as one steps into the first level of Qi Refining and possesses the power equivalent to a fierce horse, they can use this power to control a flying sword, bearing hundreds of pounds of weight, to soar into the sky and dive into the earth.

With powerful magic, one can not only fly on a sword but also use magic to make their body float, a skill known as aerial levitation.

However, the aerial levitation ability at the first level of Qi Refining is extremely poor, with very slow flight speed and high consumption of magic power, making it unsustainable. Normally, no cultivator would use this ability.

But this ability is enough to prevent a cultivator from falling to their death from a high altitude.

Currently, Zachary Song resides on Spirit Sword Peak, practicing swordsmanship. Due to his exceptional talent in swordsmanship, he has gained some fame within the Top Xuan Sect, and with the resources tilted in his favor on Spirit Sword Peak, his strength has been growing rapidly.

Elijah Wang, practicing spells, lives on Thundercloud Peak and has also garnered the attention of the Peak Master. Coupled with his wealthy family background, he never lacks spirit stones or elixirs, and his cultivation has been advancing swiftly.

Only Alaric Ye is the most pitiable, still living in the preparatory servant dormitory, with no support within the sect, and only a mid-grade spiritual root. His integration into the Longevity Society circle is mainly because Zachary Song and Elijah Wang find him quite mysterious and believe he has extraordinary potential.

If he were just an ordinary mid-grade spiritual root cultivator, even if he were their neighbor, he wouldn’t receive so much care.

Alaric is very clear about this.

Walking alone on the shaded path, with a gentle breeze blowing, the Top Xuan Sect remains peaceful and serene.

On the training ground, senior brothers and sisters, along with fellow preparatory servants from the same batch, are diligently training, exchanging techniques in fist arts, body movements, and swordsmanship...

On the road, cultivators gather in small groups, chatting and laughing, in perfect harmony.

All of this is built upon the current sect rules. Once the rules are changed, all of this will cease to exist. It is foreseeable that the Top Xuan Sect will become oppressive and bloody.

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But if the rules don’t change, how can the flowers cultivated in a greenhouse fight and kill the brutal Earthly Demon and Human Demon alliance?

Therefore, Alaric also believes that the sect rules are about to change, and the Top Xuan Sect is about to undergo a transformation!

He clenched his fists secretly.

"Although Zachary Song and Elijah Wang treat me well, they are just friends. They can't solve all my problems. To stand firm, I need to have enough strength myself!"

"In the Immortal-Demon War, I must survive!"

Alaric absolutely does not want to be cannon fodder in the upcoming Immortal-Demon War. He has always been someone who wants to control his own destiny.

In the mortal world, he wanted to change his fate, not to be a slave or an ordinary person.

In the cultivation world, he also wants to change his fate, not to be cannon fodder!

He wants to become stronger!

Although Alaric always wants to become stronger, at this moment, his desire to become stronger is unprecedentedly intense!

Returning to the dormitory, a small white-scaled snake crawled out from Alaric's left arm, and a black, large-clawed mutated cockroach crawled out from his right sleeve.

These are Little White and Little Strong, who have used the shrinking secret technique.

To protect Alaric's safety, they usually hide in his clothes to deal with any potential danger. Because they have learned the secret techniques from the Ancient Ring of the Insect Emperor, unless a Foundation Establishment expert approaches Alaric, ordinary Qi Refining cultivators cannot detect anything unusual.

Little White and Little Strong returned to their normal size.

Alaric stroked Little White's snake head and then patted Little Strong's smooth shell.

"From now on, we will face many challenges. One wrong step could lead to our demise. To survive, we must work together!"

Little White said, "We will definitely survive. We will protect Master and not let Master get hurt!"

Little Strong chirped in agreement with Little White.

Alaric said, "That won't do. Not only can I not die, but you also can't get hurt. You are my precious darlings!"

With that, Alaric drew out a sharp Black Iron sword and lightly cut his fingers on both hands, creating two wounds.

Little White and Little Strong began to drink Alaric's blood.

"Drink more, get full..."

Little White mumbled while drinking blood, "As Master's cultivation increases, the nutrients in the blood also increase. We want to drink more, but drinking too much will cause our bodies to explode!"

Chirp chirp...

Before long, Little Strong was full. He stood up like a warrior, using his big claws to knock on his round belly, indicating he couldn't drink any more.

Little White's pink forked tongue licked Alaric's wound, and the wound began to heal automatically. Within a few breaths, there was no trace left.

During this period, Alaric did not raise more insects. Firstly, he had no time to select insects, and secondly, he had no access to higher-level spirit insects. He usually only saw ants and butterflies.

Alaric had always thought about raising a few small ants.

He found ants to be very interesting insects. They work together with great unity, moving large food with their small bodies, and fighting enemies without fear of death, with no deserters.

But he wanted to decide after visiting Spirit Beast Peak. If he couldn't find any particularly favored spirit insects, he would randomly select a few lucky ants to raise.

After feeding Little White and Little Strong, Alaric placed them into the space within the Ancient Ring of the Insect Emperor, where they had the opportunity to comprehend secret techniques and enhance their strength.

According to Alaric's current estimation, Little Strong should now have the strength of a fifth-level Qi Refining beast, while Little White is at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

Little Strong excels in close combat, with immense strength and extreme speed.

Little White, on the other hand, is more adept at spells, having comprehended many low-level spells in the space of the Ancient Ring of the Insect Emperor.

As for their master, he has yet to step into the first level of Qi Refining.

Yesterday, he felt he was about to break through the bottleneck of the first level of Qi Refining, but after several attempts, he couldn't break through. Today, after eating Elijah Wang's feast, his body is filled with spiritual energy, making it the best opportunity to break through to the first level of Qi Refining!

Alaric sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.

Inhale...

Exhale...

Threads of spirit power were absorbed into Alaric's body as he practiced the Breathing Technique, flowing through his meridians and finally gathering in his dantian, forming magic power.

As the magic power in his dantian increased, the limited capacity of the dantian caused the magic power to compress and condense...

One hour.

Ten hours.

One day.

Two days.

On the morning of the third day, Alaric's body suddenly shook, and a majestic aura radiated from him, causing the tables and chairs in the dormitory to creak under the pressure.

Alaric opened his eyes, and a sharp gleam flashed through them.

"I have the power of a fierce horse!"

His cross-legged body slowly floated off the ground.

This is the ability of the first level of Qi Refining, aerial levitation!