After a thorough discussion where Calum voiced his questions about cultivation and Heris answered them, Heris left. Night fell on the Demonic Saint sect's mountain. Although, it didn't make that much of a difference as dark clouds always covered the sky in the vicinity of the mountain.

After Heris left, Calum called one of the servants and ordered a quick meal. The meals were of course made with monstrous beast meat and spiritual herbs. He sipped a cup of spiritual tea for digestion.

Then once again he found himself before the wooden puppet. Not wasting any time, he activated the inscription inside it. There was a hum, and the puppet came to life, its eyes glowing red.

Without preamble, it waved its saber toward Calum's neck. In Calum's perception, the trajectory of the saber was incomparably clear. He simply leaned backward and avoided it using the most minimal motion. A sharp light blossomed in his irises, and he punched straightforwardly. The fist parted the air so fast it was barely a blur.

Crash.

The wooden was sent flying a couple of meters away before regaining its balance. On its chest, a crack was now present. It stomped heavily on the ground shaking the whole martial field then pounced at Calum with a supernatural speed. The saber in its hand turned into a whirlwind of blades advancing domineeringly.

Calum was nonplused, he reacted by trusting his index finger like a treasured sword. A keen glow appeared on its tip as it ripped the void. His finger landed perfectly on the weakest point of the saber barrage.

The puppet's stance was broken, and the finger struck true, a hole was punctured through its chest. The red glow in the puppet's eyes dimmed and it became motionless. Calum had dispatched it in a matter of seconds.

All those motions happened so fast; a bystander would have only heard the noise of their collision. Calum looked at his palm impressed by the power he demonstrated during the bout.

It would take a few hours for the puppet to finish repairing itself. Luckily there were tens of other wooden puppets like it on the martial field. The only difference was in the weapons each was holding.

Let's do it! This time, against 10 wooden puppets!

As he decided, his battle intent exploded. He was now like a fiendgod ready to battle Heaven and the Earth. The puppets positioned themselves in a formation around him.

He exhaled slowly as his gaze sharpened until it felt like the tip of a sword. His consciousness spread, taking all the puppets in his senses. Suddenly, the puppets exploded into motion and the combat field devolved in chaos. The trajectory of their attacks seemed mapped to Calum as he weaved between them like a butterfly.

The air seemed to not restrain his movement at all. His body cut through it as if he were in a void. The Treasure Assimilation Scripture could not be called a qi cultivation method, it was more like a treasure refining method. Except, in this case, the practitioner himself was the treasure.

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Through fusing with various treasures, the practitioner evolves progressively into an unparalleled treasure. The innate qualities of the assimilated treasures are kept by the practitioner, whether they be physical or mystical. Truly a heaven-defying scripture! This Saint is a monster in human skin!

These thoughts flashed through his mind as he kept pace with the attacking puppets. He avoided almost all their blows, and for those he could not avoid, he simply parried with his palms. The collision between his palm and their weapons gave sparks. The toughness of his body could be imagined.

Because the scripture didn't require to refine qi, he didn't have any qi in his sea of consciousness. Nevertheless, his consciousness was even more powerful than his peers. Not to mention his body. Though this fact posed some restrictions on the methods he could use, it more than made up for it in pure battle power and survivability. He could only learn spiritual spells, Qi arts were out of his grasp.

The battle lasted for a few minutes until he created a gap in their formation. Like a needle through paper, he pierced through it and quickly dispatched the entire squadron of puppets.

Stopping and looking at the damaged puppets around him, he felt pure exhilaration. Comprehending battle intent turned him into a battle fanatic, as such he relished in such melees where he could express his battle lust to the max.

He retracted his battle intent satisfied with his prowess. He was able to become more and more powerful. He clenched his fist and the familiar demonic glow appeared in his eyes.

Never again, will my fate be left in the hands of others! Never again will I watch powerlessly as people close to me pass on!

The vow he uttered before his father's grave seemed clearer in his head now. After joining the sect and learning this scripture, he was now convinced he could make it a reality.

A moment later, after he took a quick bath, he found himself back in the gazebo. He sat cross-legged and searched for some spells in his sect token. He found two spiritual spells.

Spiritual spells were spells that made use of one consciousness. The ones in the token were the Piercing Divine Gaze and the Illusory Boundary, two high-level spiritual spells. Truly the treatment of a core disciple was excellent.

Piercing Divine Gaze was an offensive spell that directly attacked one adversary consciousness, at completion one would be able to kill with a gaze, hence the name. As for Illusory Boundary, it allowed the user to create an illusory space to confuse the senses of one's opponents.

He was pleased with these spells. If he mastered them, there was no telling how strong he would become. He also needed to find a way to acquire a treasure. The cultivation of the Treasure Assimilation Scripture was built upon hills and hills of treasures. Artifacts were only enough to help Calum enter the path of immortality. Artifacts, like his father's sword, were mere secular weapons. True cultivator used treasures. Thankfully, Calum had the right to redeem a treasure at the Treasure Pavilion as a newly enrolled core disciple.

Having mapped the direction of his future cultivation, Calum retreated in his chamber to rest.

. . . . . . . . .

The next morning, just as the sun rose above the horizon, Calum left his mansion. His steps were light and graceful, he headed toward the treasure pavilion. Before long, he left the series of mansions that composed the core disciple territory.

Crossing trees, ponds, waterfalls, and majestic cliffs, he finally reached the Treasure Pavilion. If not for the map in the General Guide given to him, he would not have reached it that fast. He once again marveled at the size of the sect's mountain.

He calmly walked inside. Despite his quick pace while coming here, his clothes were proper and his hair unruffled. He wasn't even sweating. He was greeted inside by an elder. He had pure white hair and a beard. A few ages line could be seen on his face, but his eyes were clear and full of vitality.

"You are the new core disciple?" The elder observed Calum as if trying to see through him. It was obvious to Calum by now that the various elders and powers in the sect weren't aware of the last part of the trials, the Treasure Assimilation Scripture. Because of this, to their knowledge, the most a new disciple could reach was the inner sanctum of the sect, not the core.

"Yes, Elder. I am Calum of the Seren Clan." Calum answered respectfully.

"Seren? Well, no matter. I suppose you are here to redeem a treasure. Follow me." The Elder seemed to not know his clan. It was normal, the opposite would have been startling. The Seren Clan was an ant to the Demonic Saint sect.

Calum followed the Elder deeper into the pavilion. They stopped before a vault. The Elder executed several seals with his hands. There was a flash of light and the vault opened. Inside a plethora of treasures were displayed. Each of them released terrifying fluctuation as if to compete.

Calum's eyes lit up and he went inside.