Yama was genuinely excited to begin cultivating.
This was his first time experiencing something like this.
In the past, he had been the Lord of Hell, a celestial being beyond mortal limitations. Ordinary things could not affect him, nor had he ever needed to grow stronger through training.
But now it was different.
For the first time, he could experience human emotions properly.
And among them, the thrill of gaining new power was the most fascinating of all.
Once I begin cultivating, I'll be able to practice sword arts as well.
And if I'm lucky, I may even find a way to learn magic.
His thoughts turned to Ye Yong's Judgment details.
He still did not understand why the Magic Rank had rejected him before.
If my guess is correct, then my cultivation level simply wasn't high enough yet.
With that thought in mind, Yama carefully reviewed the cultivation memories he had inherited from Ye Yong.
Previously, he had only skimmed through the names without studying the details.
Now, he opened the Lord's Thunder Technique properly.
The first stage focused on gathering the lightning element and storing it within the user's sea of consciousness.
To increase one's cultivation realm, one had to continuously absorb more lightning essence.
The more lightning gathered in the sea of consciousness, the faster one's cultivation would advance.
The accompanying sword art, The Lord's Sword, also played an important role. It increased the speed at which the user could gather lightning essence, allowing the two paths to strengthen each other.
As Yama continued reading, his eyes lit up.
Once a cultivator broke through from the Elementary Realm into the Spirit Realm, they would gain access to lightning-based magic.
That detail immediately caught his attention.
The only issue was that Ye Yong's actual magic chants and spell techniques had not transferred to him.
Perhaps I'll be able to access them once I reach the Spirit Realm.
Yama already knew that this world had eight elemental affinities that magicians could awaken:
Wind.Ice.Fire.Lightning.Water.Earth.Light.Darkness.
Most people could only awaken a single element.
But true geniuses sometimes awakened two or even three.
Those individuals could often fight opponents a whole realm above them.
Because of that, anyone who awakened elemental affinity usually chose the path of a magician over that of a warrior. Magicians were more respected and often more feared.
What fascinated Yama most was that the Lord's Thunder Technique could forcibly awaken the lightning element.
And because the cultivation technique and sword art complemented each other, the user could advance in both cultivation and magic much faster than normal.
No wonder Ye Yong had become so terrifying.
But one thing bothered him.
If even Ye Xiang had hidden the fact that Ye Yong had also been a magician, then that meant such a secret must be dangerous.
Which means I'll have to hide it as well.
Yama's expression darkened.
Your mother.
Nothing ever comes easy in this world.
After throwing the complaint into the void, Yama sat down cross-legged and began cultivating according to the first chapter of the Lord's Thunder Technique.
Thirty minutes passed.
He felt nothing.
Still, he remained patient.
Yama was not discouraged.
He believed he would eventually sense even the faintest trace of thunder essence.
Then more time passed.
Hours.
At some point, he noticed the Judgment Book begin to shine, emitting faint rays of thunder.
But Yama did not stop.
He simply assumed the book was helping him.
Soon after, he finally felt something.
Thin strands of thunder flowed through his meridians.
Spark-like fragments of lightning began gathering within his sea of consciousness.
Yama immediately understood.
He was on the verge of a breakthrough.
He was about to step onto the path of cultivation for the first time.
But just then, the Judgment Book's light grew even brighter.
A surge of thunder essence flooded into him far more violently than before.
Countless sparks poured into his sea of consciousness.
The sensation was so overwhelming that Yama's vision blurred.
A wave of dizziness struck him.
And then—
He fainted.
In his old life, such a thing would have been impossible.
The Lord of Hell had never once been troubled by pain, dizziness, or weakness.
But times had changed.
He was no longer the all-powerful being he had once been.
He was only a fragment of that existence now, trapped inside a mortal body.
"Ye Ji gege… are you okay?"
When Yama slowly regained consciousness, he heard a familiar voice.
Yu Yan.
For a moment, he did not know whether to laugh or sigh.
Even now, she still insisted on calling him Ye Ji instead of Yama.
"Yu Yan… how long was I unconscious?"
Her face lit up immediately.
"Yay! Ye Ji gege, you're finally awake!"
"You've been sleeping for about a day. Everyone was worried."
Yama's eyes widened.
A whole day?
He immediately wanted to inspect what had happened, but the Judgment Book had already opened to Yu Yan's details.
That alone made him pause.
Although the book allowed him to review the information of people he had previously touched, their fate would not update unless new contact had been made.
And now that it had updated—
Yama felt a quiet sense of relief.
Yu Yan's fate had changed.
The death that had once awaited her at the Ye Clan no longer existed.
That meant his earlier guess had been correct.
Whatever had killed her before had been connected specifically to the Ye Clan.
Now that she had left, her path had shifted.
For the first time since arriving in this world, Yama felt completely certain that Yu Yan would survive.
"Ye Ji gege," Yu Yan said softly, interrupting his thoughts, "you only have two more days to refine the pill."
Yama blinked, then nodded.
"Alright. I'll need to begin preparing soon."
He looked at her and added,
"I'll come out later. Tell Ye Ming and the others not to worry. I'm fine."
Yu Yan nodded obediently.
"Okay, Ye Ji gege. Take care."
Once she left, Yama immediately opened his own details in the Judgment Book.
The moment he saw the result, his eyes lit up.
He had reached the 5th Stage of the Elementary Realm.
And yet—
Yama was not satisfied.
Too little.
If Ye Ming or anyone else had heard that thought, they would have looked at him like he was a monster.
Advancing from nothing to the 5th Stage of the Elementary Realm in a single attempt was already enough to make most cultivators question their entire existence.
But Yama felt it was slow.
Still, it was enough.
Now that he had some real cultivation, he was certain he could successfully refine a pill using the memories and techniques he had inherited from Wei Wang.
Without wasting time, Yama began reviewing the vast alchemy knowledge in his mind.
But after only a short while, the Judgment Book suddenly emitted a green light.
Yama frowned and summoned it.
The moment he saw the new page, he froze.
On it was the image of a cauldron, surrounded by green flames.
The cauldron looked alive.
Its surface pulsed with spiritual light, and the fire around it shifted in color like a living thing.
Yama recognized it immediately.
It was none other than Wei Wang's cauldron, the same one he had seen in the ancestor's memories.
Yama was stunned.
The Judgment Book could now even copy or store items.
That ability truly exceeded anything the original Judgment Book in Hell had ever done.
This version was far more mysterious.
Far more powerful.
And far more absurd.
Not wanting to waste a second, Yama reached into the page and pulled the cauldron out.
It emerged smoothly from the book.
The fire inside did not burn him at all.
He could touch it freely with his bare hands.
The cauldron itself was exquisite, and the constantly shifting colors of the flames left even Yama momentarily speechless.
He had never seen such a treasure before.
And it had appeared without him adding a single herb or igniting anything himself.
Just as he was about to return the cauldron to the book, another page suddenly appeared.
This time, the page was filled entirely with fire.
Flames of different colors shimmered across it, nearly identical to those inside the cauldron.
Yama's eyes widened again.
The Judgment Book had not only given him the cauldron.
It had also given him the flames needed to use it.
That realization shocked him even more.
Of course, he immediately understood the danger.
If Wei Yang or anyone from the Heaven Pill House saw this cauldron, they would recognize it instantly as the treasure of their ancestor.
So Yama quickly returned the cauldron to the Judgment Book.
But he kept the page of flames open.
Curious, he reached toward one of the blue flames and summoned it out.
A small blue flame appeared on the tip of his finger.
It flickered quietly in the dim room.
And Yama stared at it with growing excitement.