"Are you fucking daft?! It's yellow, not grey! Why would we call it Grey Root!" "Because! Who gives a shit- it's a plant, that's its name. It might make more sense to change it, but think about tradition- how would you feel if you discovered a plant, died, and then some idiot like you changed it without your permission? That's a legacy right there!" "Ok, ok, but- HE WAS COLORBLIND! COLORBLIND PEOPLE SHOULDN'T NAME THINGS AFTER COLORS! I don't care how a corpse feels- we should change the damn name!" Liu Zhu watched on in awe as the herb gatherers screamed at each other, debating over the name of Grey Root, an herb common throughout the Northern Wastes, and whether or not it should be changed. This all started when Liu Zhu had been speaking to one of the herb gatherers, hoping to learn more about herbology. The discussion was enjoyable at first, but then the conversation turned to the Grey Root. The herb gatherer continued speaking for far, far too long as he went on a lengthy diatribe about how Grey Roots aren't grey, the origin of the name, and why it should be changed. Liu Zhu tried to change the topic several times, but failed every single time. At some point the other herb gatherers heard them speaking, and since they also had confusingly strong opinions about the subject, the situation had developed into this. This farce had served as Liu Zhu's entertainment for the night, and as he cultivated and practiced the movement techniques Zhu Chao had given him, it could be constantly heard in the background.

That night, as Liu Zhu practiced with the movement technique and the book of observations Zhu Chao had given him, he felt like it was... clicking more than usual. Parts that had previously confused him were much easier to put together. This odd feeling reminded him of when he was cultivating back at the village. Everything just seemed slightly simpler than before. He stopped training, mulling over this oddity, and came up with a hypothesis- his perception had increased. Of course this was just an assumption, and if his training didn't go as smoothly within the next few days that would disprove it, but this made sense. If that pearl made a beast sentient, then it had to increase their intelligence. In that case, why wouldn't it do the same thing for humans? He felt most of the energy within it go towards his head, so it would make sense if it had change his brain somewhat.

Although an increase in perception didn't directly increase his cultivation, Liu Zhu was still overjoyed. As one's cultivation increased, they'd naturally search for stronger cultivation methods and battle techniques. This was a difficult task in itself, and even assuming that one could find these things, they needed to have a certain level of talent and perception in order to understand and then cultivate them. While Liu Zhu's cultivation had rapidly risen after his lucky chance in the cave, his perception hadn't. That meant that eventually his cultivation would rapidly slow down. Body Tempering relied one's talent for cultivating far more than their perception, and that's why Liu Zhu's cultivation had increased so much. Whatever happened in the cave affected his body and made it better for cultivating with, or at least more suitable for Body Tempering. But when trying to break through to Acupoint Opening, or possibly even earlier than that, his mediocre perception would become a massive problem. But if his perception had increased, this problem was a non-issue. Of course, that was all assuming that this wasn't just a coincidence. Liu Zhu would need to pay close attention to his cultivation over the following days and make sure this sudden clarity was a trend and not just a one-off event. If this had happened when he wasn't feeling nervous about spending a month in pain without any visible benefits he wouldn't have paid much attention to it, so there was a chance this was just a coincidence. Still, Liu Zhu was hopeful and ended that night's cultivation in high spirits before going to sleep.

After waking up the expedition through the woods continued with much of the same, and over the next week Liu Zhu settled into a comfortable cycle of spending his days learning about herbology and plants local to The Northern Wastes before training and cultivating through the evening. Every few days they'd stop at the village for a night to deposit their plants and other gains, but they wouldn't stay long, departing again the next morning. Apparently this season was highly profitable, and the herb gatherers didn't have much time to spend in the village. During this time Liu Zhu confirmed that his increased perception wasn't an illusion, which made him extremely happy. Within a few weeks he'd need to leave, as it wouldn't take too long for a well-educated cultivator to learn most of the knowledge these men had to share, but for the time being it was a useful experience. However, while Liu Zhu was in the woods, several developments related to him were occurring without his knowledge.

A few men stood next to a hill, guarding it. If Liu Zhu was here he'd recognize the hill as the origin of the beast horde and the place where he'd found the mysterious red pearl. The men suddenly stood at attention as a massive elk dashed out of the forest. On the back of the elk were a teenage boy and an old man. The men standing near the hill bowed, greeting the two newcomers. "Low Protector greets the Highblood and High Protector!"

The boy waved his hand, causing the three to stand back up. "Is the site where the ruin may be?" One of the men stepped forward and nodded in response to the boy's question. "Yes, this is where the ruin should be. There's a force stopping us from reaching the top of the hill so we can't confirm it, but given the odd phenomena and our records, it's likely that the first patriarch left a ruin behind here."

The boy simply nodded in response and began walking up the hill with the old man. They reached the midpoint of the hill without much trouble, but as they advanced further the two began sweating and straining. As the two continued their slow ascent the old man's footsteps suddenly began to leave deep imprints on the ground, his back straightening as he resumed his leisurely walk forward. Not to be shown up the boy grunted, causing two small antlers to begin growing from his head. They grew to a length of half a foot before stopping, allowing the boy to walk up the hill unimpeded. The two quickly reached the top of the hill before staring at a carved piece of stone set into the ground. As they stood there the boy glanced at the old man and hesitantly asked a question. "These are the symbols of the Horned God, right? I've seen them in our records before, but unlike you I've never seen a ruin of ours before." In response the old man carefully examined the piece of stone, even going so far as to rub his hands over it. After several minutes he nodded. "Yes, these are the exact symbols. This is definitely a ruin left behind by the first patriarch. We should just need to stimulate our vitality and bloodlines to open it. Hopefully the two of us are enough, or else we'll be forced to share our harvest with the Lowbloods."

The two placed their hands against the stone, and after several minutes the stone began slowly parting with a great rumbling noise. The two entered into the chamber, and seconds later let out joyous laughter. The boy excitedly exclaimed "These murals! This is beyond my wildest expectations! This is definitely one of the chambers where the first patriarch left behind a Bloodline Core!" The old man responded with a similar excitement. "Yes, yes, that's right. The clan hasn't obtained a Bloodline Core in time immemorial. Since the first patriarch refined them from the monster core of the Horned God, there should only be a few left. If we can use it both of us should have bloodlines purer than countless generations of Highbloods, and with what's left we can nurture the future generations!" The boy's excitement dimmed slightly after he heard the old man mention saving part of the Bloodline Core for future generations, but he quickly hid his displeasure.

The two looked around the chamber, a mixture of joy and greed in their eyes. After several minutes their joy disappeared, changing into a combination of confusion, frustration, and anger. As the search continued veins popped out of the old man's head and his emotions peaked. "The Bloodline Core... it's not here. Nothing is here! I... someone must have came here before us. The ruin only surfaced a couple of months ago and most of the time it was surrounded by vicious beasts, so they probably entered when that rumbling phenomena was noted. I didn't pay much attention to it before since these ruins trigger plenty of odd phenomena, but that was probably the door being unsealed."

The two stood there silently, processing the situation, before the old man continued speaking. "There are two possibilities. The first is that a peerless expert who practices body transformation techniques took the Bloodline Core. Only they'd have enough vitality to open this place without being a part of our clan. If this happened then we have no choice but to suck up this misfortune and speak of this to no one. The second possibility is that someone else from our bloodline came here first. They could be from a rival faction of the clan, or they could be someone who left the clan generations ago. Either way their bloodline would either need to be powerful enough to unseal the door alone, as I don't believe an entire family clan descended from our lineage could escape Horned Island's notice. This second case means we have a chance of getting the Bloodline Core back, but only if we can find them. If we find them, we need to eliminate them- with a bloodline that powerful they could replace you as Highblood and take control of the clan." As the old man said this an odd expression crossed his face for just a moment, hinting at some emotions he was hiding, but the boy didn't seem to pick up on it.

The boy regulated his breathing and closed his eyes, trying to calm down. After a few seconds he turned towards the old man, a cold look in his eyes. "We'll have to assume it's the second option. Do everything you can to track them down."

At the same time as all of this, Liu Xuan arrived at the Liu Clan's estate. One of the Liu Clan's elders greeted him and Ji Quxin, who had accompanied him. "Young Master Liu, Young Master Ji, we didn't expect that the two of you would be coming. Please, come in. How was your time at the Ji family Young Master Liu?" Liu Xuan and the elder made small talk as his fiancee looked around. "So, your younger brother is here, right Xuan'er?" Liu Xuan looked at his fiancee before nodding. "Yes, he should be in seclusion right now. I'm not sure what happened, but he has made a lot of progress recently. Maybe it's related to that." "Mmm... Xuan'er, it'd be rude not to greet him. Would he mind being disturbed for a moment?" "Probably not, but I don't know where he's holed up. You'd have to ask Grand Elder Zhu, he's the one who said he was secluding himself." Ji Quxin stopped the conversation there, simply gritting her teeth and continuing to walk.

Later that night Ji Quxin walked into her guest room, vacantly staring at the furniture before slamming her fist against the desk. "He can't even come out of seclusion for a damn meal... shit, how am I supposed to do anything like this. Food is given to his 'quarters' twice a day, maybe I can bribe the cook. No, just get rid of the maid and send my own. Wait... urgh, how will I cover that up. Dammit!" Ji Quxin ran her fingers through her hair violently, as if trying to pull an idea out of her skull. Despite her efforts nothing came out though, so she simply sat there, a violent expression on her face.