Aaron touched the crystal ball, and basic information from his clan appeared written on it.

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[Clan Membership]

Name: Aaron Ironblood

Clan: Ironblood

Tier: C

Personal rank: Leader

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He found it interesting the way the object was attached to the Cage's system. It had retrieved information about Aaron's clan, and he had felt no energy disturbance at all. He would study it after he got strong enough to mess with the Cage.

The scribe wrote the info on the parchment and asked, "Who will compete tomorrow?"

"Alys will," said Aaron.

That surprised her. "Me, Patriarch? Didn't you say you would win it for the unit?"

"That was before you joined my clan and thus became slightly important to me," he said. As a junior member of the clan, she still needed to prove herself to gain his approval and certain advantages, but even without her doing anything, he still cared a little about her. "This is a great opportunity for you to better understand your power after your recent level up."

He patted her head. She found this incredibly strange because she was much older than him, but at the same time, it felt unexpectedly comfortable.

She touched the crystal, which showed her own data.

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[Clan Membership]

Name: Alys Tyren

Clan: Ironblood

Tier: C

Personal rank: Member

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The scribe wrote it down and gave them a square piece of paper. It had the royal seal and the "Ironblood" word written on it.

"Show this pass to the guards in the participants' area tomorrow, and they'll let you through."

"Thanks," Aaron said and left the tent with Alys.

The scribe was overwhelmed by depression when he saw them leave; they hadn't paid the registration fee! But he didn't dare ask for it. He took the money out of his own pockets instead.

Tears streamed down from his eyes as he put the equivalent of two months of savings into the money box that would be given to the judge the next day.

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Wherever Alys and Aaron went, people whispered and looked at them. The news about a Four Star Shaper prostrating herself before a Two Star Qi Manipulator had spread like wildfire, and people had come from all sides to observe the madwoman who had done this.

A tall, muscular man stopped in front of them and crossed his arms. He was a Two Star Qi Manipulator.

"Hey, princess," he said. "If you are looking for a Two Star man to entertain you, why don't we—"

Before he could even finish his sentence, a wave of Space Energy left Alys and pushed him dozens of feet away, like the piece of trash he was. Alys and Aaron didn't even slow down.

They arrived where they had left the Fire Wolves with no further trouble and set up camp. An uncomfortable mood had fallen over them, and everyone ate in silence. After Alys put protective spells around the sleeping bags and ligurus, Aaron went to her.

"I'm going to become a Three Star Qi Manipulator today," he said. "I need you to sit next to me and hide us so that everyone thinks it's something you're doing instead."

Originally, it would've taken him six days to level up, but thanks to the morning exercises using the movements of the Rise to the Heavens Cultivation Method, his body and soul had gotten accustomed to the stronger Qi faster, in only five days.

That was really a miraculous cultivation method. How stupid he had been to ignore it when he left Earth!

"Yes, Patriarch," she replied.

Aaron sat in lotus position in a place slightly distant from the Fire Wolves, with Alys by his side. She created a black dome around them, and Aaron started cultivating.

Within his dantian, the central hurricane continued to spin and prevented excess Qi from entering his body because of his morning training, so there was a lot of energy stored in the central hurricane. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near how much was necessary for him to become a Three Star Qi Manipulator. If to reach the One Star level a cultivator required one measure of Qi, to reach Two Star, they needed ten, and Three Star, one hundred!

Myriad Absolute Arts — Formations Arts — Two Star Qi — Qi Absorption Matrix One-Three-Nine!

He reactivated the magical formation he had etched on the walls of his dantian, this time using more and better-quality Qi to make the formation more effective. That caused his dantian to absorb absurd amounts of energy.

The small hurricanes reappeared too, coming from the large one and linking themselves to the entrance to his energy channels, pumping Qi from the central hurricane into Aaron's spirit.

This time, the amount of Qi and the speed with which it was pumped was much more intense than in the previous cultivation session. Once again, his body was seized with incredible pain as his energy channels were forcibly widened.

Most Qi cultivation methods didn't dabble with the Laws of the universe, but starting on the Three Star level, his did. Up to the eighth level, he would mix one of the Five Basic Elements — Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth — with his Qi, and at the ninth level, he would add Death. As he already had Life in abundance within himself as a young living being, a little knowledge well applied would make all seven elements harmonize perfectly inside him.

That would give him great gains. Each level would provide him with distinct advantages, while the full circle would allow him to reach unimaginable heights when compared to ordinary cultivators.

He had thought for a long time about which element he would choose first. It was important because he would only level up again in fifteen to eighteen days, depending on how much he used the Rise to the Heavens cultivation method. His body and soul would have to get used not only to the extra amount of Qi of higher quality but also to the chosen element.

He had chosen was Earth.

Earth would give him greater resistance and more stamina, which would increase his survival chance. There was no point in hitting harder, as he could do by choosing the Fire element, if he didn't survive long enough to keep hitting!

Besides, he was unlikely to fly or go to the sea soon, and while his body touched land, the Earth element would allow him to recover Qi much more quickly. In a long-term battle, even a small recovery advantage could be the difference between life and death.

He moved his Qi in a specific way, creating a three-dimensional arcane symbol around the central hurricane. This symbol resonated with the Laws of Earth, attracting more and more particles of said element. The ground below him shook strongly, pulsing like a heart.

Qi and particles of the Earth element entered his dantian at high speed. He controlled the minor hurricanes on the walls of the dantian precisely. All Qi going through his energy channels had an exact amount of Earth element for it to reach every corner of his body and soul.

These particles were like tiny runes that contained secrets from the universe, tempering and strengthening everything they touched. They were engraved on his flesh, bones, marrow, entrails, blood, spirit, and soul!

Outside Aaron's body, the energy from the surrounding area was spiraling in a much larger area than in the capital.

All Inepts in the Clans Arena immediately passed out, those at the One Star level felt sleepy, and the cultivators at the Two Star level or higher gathered around the black dome Alys had created, watching it with intent and curiosity.

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Alys, inside the dome, was in the middle of an energy battle.

Her dantian wanted to absorb the abundant Qi that passed through her to reach Aaron, but she was currently focusing on purifying her inner energies and didn't want to absorb any more impurities! Aaron had taught her during the three-hour lesson that purifying her Qi would be beneficial, and she needed to grasp every possibility to have a better future.

Unfortunately, different energies couldn't interact. So, she could only use the One Star Qi in her body to fight the external Qi trying to invade her dantian.

After ten minutes, she was sweaty.

After twenty, her breathing was labored.

Half an hour later, she could barely continue. Her body was shaking and only a thin layer of Qi was protecting her purity. She kept her eyes closed and concentrated as much as possible.

Fortunately, at that very moment, the flow of energy suddenly stopped. She opened her eyes, looked at Aaron, and activated the Heavenly Skill Check Level.

In the black rectangle that appeared over his head, she saw the word Qi followed by three stars.

She knew that was the whole point of that cultivation session, but seeing him become a Three Star Qi Manipulator a mere five days after he had reached the Two Star level, and doing it in a mere thirty minutes...

Incredible. Unbelievable. Monstrous.

She was happy to have bet her future on that man.

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Tia was physically tired from the travel and mentally drained from stressful happenings. When the lack of energy in the air made her sleepy, she couldn't think of anything but getting to her sleeping bag.

She fell asleep instantly.

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Logan and Lana had energy at the Two Star level inside them, so they could go longer without absorbing Qi. The lack of energy in the air felt uncomfortable, but that was all. Both watched the black dome around Alys and Aaron, together with the hundreds of people around it.

"Is this what the Goddess of Light spoke to you about?" asked Logan.

Lana nodded. All the Devouts of Light in Illyria had received the same order: find the responsible for the energy disturbance in the capital.

"By the number of Devouts in the area," said Logan, "you don't need to report it. But considering our closeness to him, the goddess is likely to contact you to give you a task related to him." He was envious of it.

Although they couldn't see inside the dome, they had stayed with Alys for months now, and nothing of the type had happened. Neither of them had any doubt that Aaron was the one behind the disturbance.

Lana nodded in silence again. She had been a Priestess for a few years now, just another one in an endless sea of Priests who followed the Goddess of Light. Her days were filled with meditations, prayers, and obedience, nothing exciting, nothing different from anyone else.

But one day, Aaron appeared. To her, he was...

A breeze-windstorm.

He was an unusual person who took her out of the monotony of life, like a breeze that brought freshness to a dull day. Just like when Alys passed out, and he had said it was because of his beauty!

Then she saw the breeze turn into a windstorm against the Four-Wings Blue Tiger, and the goddess — who was paying attention to all Devouts in Illyria after the energy disturbance in the capital — had already told her that something strange was happening around Lana when she slept. Not that it was a surprise, given the natural disaster they had encountered one morning and the animals the other mornings.

But as hard as she or Logan had tried, they hadn't managed to stay awake to find out what it was. The only night they didn't sleep, in the Red City, nothing had happened. Alys had also said that the spells she placed around the Fire Wolves before bed weren't detecting anything.

Now, Lana knew ​​who was responsible for those events.

Aaron, the breeze-windstorm.

As Logan expected, but much faster than they imagined, a female voice came to Lana's mind.

"Child."

"Your Devout listens, my goddess," Lana immediately replied in thought.

"Follow him. I read your memories and I can easily see through his disguise. Give him all the support he wants, whatever it is. He came to bring change to the universe, a necessary change that I am unable to make happen. Give yourself to him. He came to save The One Who Suffers. He came to defeat The Usurper."

Lana didn't understand the second part of what the goddess said, but the orders to help Aaron to the best of her ability had been clear enough.

"Don't leave him," continued the goddess, stressing to Lana how important this was. "The New Gods do not know how the universe was before The Usurper brought the Quantification, and they ignore the cries of The One Who Suffers. Protect Aaron Ironblood. They will try to stop the Hero Who Is Not. Do whatever it takes to help him do what is needed. That fate has placed you with him, instead of a Priestess of the New Gods, is the best thing that could have happened to this world!"

"Your Devout will follow your will, my goddess," replied Lana with submission and respect.

Most of what the goddess had said confused her, but obedience didn't require an understanding of anything but the order itself.

Henceforth, she would follow the breeze-windstorm to the ends of the world.

As soon as she accepted her role, vast amounts of Holy Energy simply appeared in her dantian, and she lost consciousness.