Half a year later.
Surrounded by rolling mountain ranges lay a basin.
The air here was dry and scorching, like the legendary Flaming Mountains.
Plants rooted in this high-temperature environment were all covered in thorns, with thick outer layers to lock in moisture.
At this moment, Feng Qi, Xiao You, and the little boy were hiding inside a dim cave within this domain field.
The temperature outside was still rising. Going out now was clearly a bad idea.
The climate of this domain field was bizarre.
Each day, with alternating day and night cycles, lasted 40 hours in total.
For the first 18 hours, the temperature remained blisteringly high, like being inside an alchemy furnace. The ground was as hot as burning iron plates—totally unfit for any normal lifeforms.
During the following 18 hours of night, the temperature would drop to terrifying lows, like stepping into a freezer.
Only the 4-hour transition period between day and night offered tolerable temperatures.
Any lifeforms capable of surviving in this domain field had extremely tough bodies and were skilled at burrowing, making their homes deep underground.
The cave they now sheltered in had originally belonged to a native creature of the domain—Feng Qi had forcefully taken it.
Inside the cave, the Demon Blade hovered mid-air, emitting a soft glow that illuminated the surroundings.
Feng Qi wore a serious expression as he explained foundational knowledge of cultivation studies.
Before him, Xiao You and the little boy sat cross-legged.
Xiao You's head kept bobbing—nodding off and snapping back up—her mouth occasionally smacking as she drifted deeper into sleep.
Feng Qi could only shake his head helplessly.
Fortunately, Xiao You already had inherited memories. Even if she didn't learn the basics of cultivation, it didn't really matter.
With her deep background, even if she never carved a new path, it would still be more than enough to last her a lifetime.
But the little boy, on the other hand, was completely focused. He listened with intense concentration and even asked questions from time to time.
Compared to Xiao You's nature, the boy was on the other end of the spectrum.
But behind his persistence and effort lay a deep-rooted hatred he could never forget.
His name was Po Jia (Armor Breaker), once a member of the Po Gong Clan, one of the two dominant forces in the Po Yuan Domain Field.
This was the same domain field where Feng Qi had found and rescued him.
According to Po Jia's account, after realizing that the domain world was slowly decaying, his clan and their long-time rival finally agreed, after 300 years of fighting, to a temporary alliance.
They agreed to jointly enter the human world, mark off territory between them, and then develop separately—one heading east, the other west.
At first, entering the human world went smoothly.
But disaster soon struck.
Right after crossing over, Po Jia's Po Gong Clan was ambushed by war.
That battle crippled them. Taking advantage of their weakened state, the Chi Mang Clan—their former allies—immediately massed troops at the boundary line, planning to wipe them out in one go.
By the time Po Jia's people realized what was happening, it was already too late.
In that battle, most of the Po Gong Clan were slaughtered. Some were captured alive, while others fled the Po Yuan Domain Field and vanished.
Po Jia was among the captured.
After completely taking control of the Po Yuan Domain Field, the Chi Mang Clan—desperate for laborers to mine the abundant new mineral veins—split up the surviving Po Gong members and threw them into underground mines as slave workers.
Po Jia had originally been with his father.
But the Chi Mang Clan treated the Po Gong survivors with cruel hatred. Three hundred years of war had engraved deep resentment into their bones.
His father was assigned to the most heavily irradiated mining zone. Combined with severe malnutrition and constant pain, his health deteriorated rapidly, and he finally succumbed, dying in the mine.
Po Jia had personally witnessed his father's slow death—the despair, rage, and helplessness etched forever in his memory.
That hatred was buried deep in his heart.
Now that he had escaped, Po Jia was obsessed with gaining power. He desperately wanted to personally wipe out the Chi Mang Clan and slaughter every last one of them.
That was why he studied so seriously.
Feng Qi had once asked Po Jia why he hadn't learned the cultivation system passed down by the Po Gong Clan.
Po Jia had answered:
"I've basically grown up in the mines. Resources were nearly nonexistent. Even if I wanted to learn, there was nothing to use. My father had already given up on my future. Only when resting did he tell me stories of the Po Gong Clan's history and former glory."
From those words, Feng Qi could tell—
Po Jia's hatred toward the Chi Mang Clan didn't come from his own experiences. It was inherited from his father, from their people's legacy.
Compared to Xiao You, Po Jia was more withdrawn, more ambitious. Everything he did had a clear purpose.
His strengths and weaknesses were both very obvious.
But Feng Qi didn't care about that.
What he cared about was Po Jia's growth potential. He was someone worth cultivating—and using.
Through the Demon Blade's assessment, Po Jia's natural talent was weak, but his bloodline potential wasn't low.
The Demon Blade's explanation was that Po Jia's race couldn't be considered a powerful clan. Their bloodline potential was just average at best, but Po Jia was an exception.
He was like Jian Ji from the Sword Clan and her older sister Chao Xuan—both once-in-a-century prodigies within their clans.
From the moment they were born, they had far greater growth potential than their peers.
Feng Qi had long understood one thing—
In front of true talent, hard work alone crumbles.
That was why he brought Po Jia along—because he had extraordinary potential for growth.
Since Po Jia had no matching cultivation techniques from his clan, Feng Qi taught him the Blood Refinement Method during their journey. He would often catch wild beasts to help Po Jia absorb and refine blood, using it to nourish his body.
On top of that, the Demon Blade's memory contained general cultivation techniques suited to Po Jia's current stage. Combined with the Blood Refinement Method, they were enough to steadily raise his strength.
Po Jia didn't disappoint—his growth rate was astonishing.
Aside from sleep and travel time, he devoted nearly every minute to improving his cultivation.
After several hours of teaching, Feng Qi spent over ten more minutes helping Po Jia consolidate the day's lesson. Then, he picked up the Demon Blade and headed toward the cave entrance.
Now it was time for his own training.
After unlocking the second seal of the Demon Blade, his daily blade swings had dropped from 2000 to 100.
The blade's weight had increased drastically. While its killing power soared, every swing now placed immense strain on his body.
Especially during the pullback phase—it was easy to tear muscles.
Standing at the cave entrance, he looked out into the blazing landscape. Waves of heat rolled outward, and distorted shimmering heat ribbons floated in the air.
Xiao You and Po Jia couldn't handle this temperature, but his body was strong enough to endure it.
Stepping out into the harsh heat, he raised the Demon Blade and began his practice swings.
Each swing followed a three-step process—initiate force, amplify force, then release force. This rhythm helped him gradually adjust to the massive increase in the blade's weight and improved his control.
Under the intense heat, sweat poured from his body, making it hard to concentrate.
But Feng Qi didn't find the harsh conditions troubling at all.
The tougher the environment, the more effective the training.
In fast-changing battles, he couldn't always count on fighting under comfortable conditions.
That was one of the reasons he'd originally chosen to train under a raging waterfall.
Time passed.
By the time he finished his 100 swings, his body was shaking uncontrollably, and his stamina had nearly hit rock bottom.
At that moment, the Demon Blade's aged voice echoed in his mind:
"Qi brat, next I'll teach you the Body Control Technique—or you can call it the Blade Control Technique."
Realizing that the Demon Blade was about to pass on another useful skill, Feng Qi nodded despite his exhaustion.
"Alright!"
The Demon Blade then began a detailed explanation of the technique's principles.
As the lesson went on, Feng Qi gradually understood the function of this new ability.
According to the Demon Blade, it was a technique specifically designed for wielding it. Whether called Body Control or Blade Control, the concept was the same.
Body Control was how the Demon Blade referred to it, since it saw itself as part of Feng Qi's body.
Blade Control was the term used from the wielder's perspective.
The ability allowed him to manipulate the Demon Blade to achieve aerial movement.
Just like flying sword techniques in classic cultivation novels—this would let him use the Demon Blade to fly through the air.
But that didn't mean the blade's weight would disappear during use.
The burden remained. In fact, in the controlled flight state, the pressure on his body might even increase.
The advantage was that, in aerial mode, he'd gain much greater mobility.
For travel, he could use Blade Control to avoid sinking into the ground with every step due to the Demon Blade's weight.
After hearing the Demon Blade's breakdown of the technique, Feng Qi found himself incredibly interested.
Flight was practically a baseline ability for any strong cultivator.
If battles were limited only to the ground, too many variables could hinder movement.
In the main timeline, his only method of flight was wrapping himself in telekinesis—but that was slow and drained mental energy fast.
And in battle, he almost always activated his Blood Source (Blood God) form.
When doing that, he'd convert his mental energy into blood energy to boost his combat power.
Which meant, in Blood Source form, he had no flight capabilities at all.
Even if this Body Control Technique couldn't be brought back to the main timeline—since his main self couldn't actually learn anything—it would still be a massive advantage in this sacrificial path.
In the future, this technique could even serve as a research reference to create a flight method suitable for all of humanity.
After the Demon Blade finished explaining, it trembled slightly, and the blood and flesh energy stored within it surged into Feng Qi's body.
His exhausted body felt like it was soaking in sweet dew, greedily absorbing the energy. The torn muscles began to rapidly heal and grew even stronger.
At his current stage, muscle strength was no longer about sheer size.
What looked like balanced, well-proportioned muscle actually hid terrifying power.
Just like the warriors guarding the mines in the Po Yuan Domain Field—those guys were several times his size, whether in body mass or muscle bulk.
But when it came down to raw strength, he had a clear advantage.
Muscle quality was the real key.
Once his body recovered, Feng Qi started training in the Blade Control Technique.
Following the method provided by the Demon Blade, he used his mind to guide the weapon. The Demon Blade floated behind him, and he could clearly feel its immense weight.
At the same time, the Demon Blade lifted his body up, wobbling slightly as it held him in midair.
This technique required mental control, and without practice, maintaining stability was tough.
He had barely risen a dozen meters when he lost balance. His body tilted, and he crashed down with the Demon Blade.
Boom!
With a deafening crash, the heavy Demon Blade slammed into the ground like a meteor, creating a small crater. Loose rocks tumbled down the slope above the cave.
Feng Qi stood up, holding his breath and steadying himself. Then he tried again.
If he wanted to master aerial movement, he clearly needed a lot more training. But that too was a form of growth in his journey toward divine ascension.
As the training went on, the ground kept rumbling with loud impacts.
Each crash left Feng Qi dazed, his body feeling like it might break apart from the shocks.
But the Demon Blade had no intention of helping him.
The commotion outside also woke up Xiao You, who had been sleeping deep inside the cave. Rubbing her eyes, she floated lazily to the entrance and shouted up at Feng Qi, who was still wobbling midair:
"Boss, it's too noisy."
Just as Feng Qi was concentrating, her voice startled him. He lost focus and fell again, smashing into the ground with another tremor.
Covered in dust and clearly frustrated, he shouted back at the sleepy Xiao You:
"Go back inside and cultivate! You can't handle the heat out here."
"Okay," she nodded and turned around, drooping like a little ghost as she drifted back into the cave.
Once Xiao You left, Feng Qi took a deep breath and resumed training.
While Feng Qi was grinding away outside, Xiao You sat cross-legged deep in the cave and started her own training.
Her method was much simpler.
She just needed to sit and meditate. The inherited knowledge imprinted in her mind would surface naturally, and all she had to do was use her consciousness to comprehend it.
This wasn't learning in the traditional sense—it was more like digesting information.
Her inherited memory was like a library. The moment she focused on something, that knowledge would rise to the surface.
Within her mind lay the crystallized wisdom of her entire race—priceless beyond measure.
Right now, the only thing limiting Xiao You was the strength of her internal energy core.
The energy she used to weave physical constructs was like building a structure—the quality of the energy was the building material.
If the quality wasn't up to par, the structure would collapse easily.
To reach the level where she could construct complex, stable energy entities, she still had a long way to go.
After browsing through her knowledge for a while, Xiao You started channeling her clan's cultivation method to absorb external energy and nourish her core, hoping to improve its strength.
But after just a short session, she grew bored and opened her eyes.
Her glowing eyes lit up the dark cave, making everything she saw clearer.
Looking over at Po Jia nearby, she got even more bored and propped her chin up, ready to drift off again.
Just then, Po Jia opened his eyes too.
Their gazes met, and Po Jia suddenly spoke:
"How did you and the boss meet?"
"Boss saved me. If not, I would've been sacrificed as an offering," Xiao You answered honestly.
Po Jia fell silent for a moment, then said in a low voice:
"He's just using you. Compared to being sacrificed, he just used a gentler method."
Xiao You blinked, clearly thinking it over.
Po Jia went on:
"Join me. When we're strong enough, let's break free from his control together."
"No. I want to stay with Boss. I'll listen to whatever he says," Xiao You replied without hesitation.
"He's using you," Po Jia repeated, frowning.
"It's fine. Xiao You likes being used by Boss. I'm just scared he'll think I'm useless."
At that, Xiao You suddenly let out a sigh, clearly frustrated at how hard cultivation was.
Looking at her serious little face as she said that, Po Jia cursed silently.
He'd wanted to find a partner to help him one day escape the boss's grasp, but this one… was a complete idiot.
Annoyed, Po Jia glared at her and asked:
"I really don't get why you'd willingly follow that guy… What if he told you to eat poop—would you?"
"Yeah. I'd eat it. Big bites too."
Faced with that same type of question again, Xiao You didn't hesitate one bit.