Wu Jian groaned as he opened his eyes. He once again found himself floating in a starry expanse of space. The giant eyes of Byakko loomed before him, though their presence seemed to be diminished.

“What happened? Did I fail?”

He did not like the thought of failing, but he couldn’t remember what happened after that roar made his eardrums explode. Had he killed the giant humanoid tiger? He had no idea. But if he hadn’t, then it meant he hadn’t passed the trial.

“On the contrary. Congratulations, boy. You passed the trial,” Byakko said. “I have to say, you are quite the extraordinary young man. The test I gave you was far harder than the ones I gave to those who came before you. However, because you have passed such a difficult trial, I have decided to gift you with far more than what I would normally give.”

“Oh? What does that mean exactly? What are you going to give me?” asked Wu Jian, grinning. Excitement bubbled within him. It had been a long time since he had been this excited about anything, but the knowledge that he passed and was getting an extra bonus award made him happy. This would surely help him become stronger.

“I would normally give you my cultivation method… but I had the opportunity to look into the cultivation method you are using, and it is far better than the one I have,” Byakko stated with a thoughtful hum. “I never thought I would find an Ancient-grade cultivation technique on this tiny world.”

“Ancient-grade… I assume that’s good?” asked Wu Jian.

“Hm hm hm. I’m not surprised you don’t know about Ancient-grade techniques and cultivation methods. This world only goes up to Heaven-grade. Since you passed the trial, I will share this knowledge with you. There are seven grades that we use to determine the power of a cultivation method or technique. They are Earth, Spirit, Heaven, Immortal, Divine, Celestial, and Ancient. Earth-grade techniques are the worst. Ancient-grade is the best.”

Wu Jian bit the inside of his lower lip as he realized what this entity was saying, but it was so hard to take in, and he had so many questions! Why did Yōuměi have this technique when they found her? Where did she come from? If Ancient-grade cultivation methods did not exist in this world… Did that mean Yōuměi came from another world? And if so, how did she get here?

I don’t have enough information to make any conclusions, and I’d rather not come up with some asinine theory when I don’t have the full picture…

Wu Jian decided to put this information on the backburner for now. He focused on the eyes and asked, “So, if you’re not going to give me a cultivation method, what will you give me?”

“I will give you two things. The first is a technique uniquely suited to you. Your body is sturdy and strong. I can tell you have trained it extensively ever since you were a child. The technique I will pass down to you is called Tiger’s Strength. This technique has three stages, and each stage lets you release more of your power. The first stage is only the equivalent to a Spirit-grade technique, but the third stage is the same as a Divine-grade technique. Each time you unlock a new stage, your power is doubled for a brief period while activated. I will warn you now that this technique comes with drawbacks. Since you are in essence overdrawing on your strength, you will suffer a backlash. You’ll be weakened for roughly one day after you use it. Be careful.”

That sounded like an amazing technique! Wu Jian had heard of techniques that could be used to briefly increase a cultivator's strength. Huǒ Shuchang had a technique that did something similar, though it mostly increased the strength of his flames. Those wings that grew from his back… Wu Jian was sure that it was a technique just like this one. His flames always felt hotter when they were present.

He shook his head to dispel all those errant thoughts. Placing his left fist in the palm of his right hand, he bowed to the eyes.

“Thank you for bestowing such a technique upon me.”

“Hmmm. You are quite welcome. Now, then, my last gift to you is something I have been keeping for many generations. Never in the history since this sect was built have I given these away, but I believe you to be a worthy successor.” Byakko paused. Wu Jian held his tongue. He wanted to ask about the gift, but he knew the tiger—eyes—would tell him soon. “My final gift is thirteen drops of my blood. I will infuse the blood into your body.”

“Oh. Hmm,” Wu Jian mumbled.

“Is something wrong?” asked Byakko.

“No… I was just wondering what having your blood inside of me will do? I won’t start sprouting fur or something, will I?”

The last thing Wu Jian wanted was to turn into a humanoid tiger like those creatures he fought in the trials. He would never be able to face Wu Meiying. Hou Jingshu and Zhou Lihua were also unlikely to recognize him. Yeah. No. He didn’t want to become some kind of furry monstrosity.

“Gya ha ha ha ha!” Byakko’s laugh shook the heavens. “You think you’ll become a tigerkin? You’re a funny kid!”

“I don’t think it’s that funny,” Wu Jian pouted. His worries were quite valid. Byakko was a deity and a tiger. Surely taking in a deity’s blood would change his body somehow.

“You need not worry,” Byakko soothed. “Having my blood infused into you will not change you physically. In fact, I doubt you will even notice a difference. However, you will find several benefits to having fused with my blood. The first and most obvious is that you will receive an exponential increase in your physical abilities. I don’t just mean strength either. Your speed, reflexes, vision, sense of smell, touch, and taste. Everything will be enhanced. You will also always land on your feet.”

While that last ability sounded kind of… well, lame, the rest seemed pretty incredible. His physical strength was already far above people within his cultivation level, so if it increased even further, he might be able to compete with people at the Human Limit Realm while only at the Asura Realm.

“What are the other benefits?” asked Wu Jian.

“The other benefits are that your cultivation will be much more solid as you rise through the realms—at least, up until you reach the peak of the Nine Mortal Realms. In either event, it will take much less time for you to stabilize your cultivation after each breakthrough. The other benefits are that those of my clan will recognize you as kin. I am the king of all feline magical beasts. They will know that you have been blessed by me and treat you with the proper respect.”

Those were also pretty good benefits. He didn’t know if he would ever meet Byakko’s kin but—oh, wait. Yōuměi was a panther magical beast, which was also a feline. That meant she was his kin, wasn’t she? Wu Jian already had an excellent relationship with Yōuměi, so he didn’t know if having Byakko’s blood would affect it, but now he was kind of curious. Would she act differently around him?

That reminds me, she hasn’t left my shadow since Hou Jingshu showed up. I should find a chance to let her go out and play. My shadow has to be cramped, right?

“First, let me give you the technique. I recommend you close your eyes. I will be sending the technique directly into your mind, and it is best not to be forced to look in two directions at once.”

Wu Jian shut his eyes so tightly he only saw the beam of light drilling into his head as a dull brightness behind his eyelids.

He suddenly found himself standing in a black space. There were not even stars to light his way. As he looked around, a man appeared. This man had wild white hair like a lion’s mane, ice blue eyes, and a powerful body. He wore a simple training gi, yet he somehow seemed majestic. The aura of a king emanated from every pore.

The man spread his legs wide until they were shoulder-width, bent his knees, and leaned over. He formed a tiger seal with his hands. Flowing blue lines appeared along his body. Those must have been his meridians. The bright glowing ball in the very center had to be his dantian, or his magical beast core.

He shifted hand seals from tiger to dragon, then to ox, goat, and back to tiger. The moment he did, the man’s danitan exploded with power, which rushed through his meridians, causing his muscles to release steam as they swelled, compressed, then compressed further. It looked like the man was leaning out, but Wu Jian could tell his muscles were far denser than they had been. He not only had more power but more speed as well.

“This must be the first stage of Tiger’s Strength,” Wu Jian said. “I wonder what the other two stages are like.”

Despite wanting to know, his vision ended there. He once more found himself standing before the great eyes of Byakko.

“Hey, what gives? I only saw the first stage of the technique,” Wu Jian complained.

“The first stage is all you need right now. Do not worry. The method for learning the other two stages is also within your memories now. Once you have mastered stage one, stage two will appear before you,” Byakko assured him. “Now, are you ready to receive my blood?”

“I am.”

“No hesitation. Good. You are a brave young man. Very well. Receive my blood now. If you survive, your strength will be incomparable to anyone else at your current cultivation level.”

Wu Jian wondered how he would receive Byakko’s blood. He was in a separate space, right? Or was all this happening in his mind? If it was in his mind, could he even receive blood? He was pretty sure his real body hadn’t moved from the pedestal in the White Tiger Sect ruins.

Just as his mind was inundating him with questions, Wu Jian found himself getting thrown out of the space. Byakko’s eyes disappeared. He soon found himself standing on the pedestal again. Hou Jingshu and Huǒ Shuchang stood not too far away.

He would have greeted them, but several golden drops of liquid emerged from the pedestal. Each one looked to be about the size of his fist and there were thirteen in total. Were these large globules supposed to be single drops of blood? Why were they so big?

Wu Jian had no time to have any more thoughts. The blood flew into his chest, merging with his skin, and the moment they did, pain like never before wracked his body.

“Nnngggrraaaaaaaahh!!”

“Jian Wu!”

“Hold it!”

“What are you doing?! Let go of me!”

“Don’t go near him! Something is happening!”

“But he looks like he’s in pain!”

“I’m pretty sure this is part of the trial! If you go up there, you’ll disrupt it and he may die!”

Voices came from behind him, but Wu Jian could barely recognize who was talking. The pain was too much. He couldn’t focus on anything else. It felt like his entire body was being boiled in lava! Like his insides were on fire!

I… I need… to cultivate…! Have to… get this… under control!

Wu Jian somehow forced himself into a cross-legged position. He was about to use the dragon seal, but he quickly changed it to the tiger seal, as though some animal instinct was guiding his actions. Sweat formed on his brow, drenched his back, and stained his clothes. His skin had already become a blistering red like he was being burnt by the sun. He twitched every few seconds, muscles spasming. It was like something inside of him was trying to fight its way out. Was that Byakko’s blood?

Gnashing his teeth together, Wu Jian cultivated in silence. He never noticed the way his shadow writhed.