The moon hung high above the Evernight Mountains, veiled by wisps of drifting clouds like a lantern hidden behind silk. A cool breeze swept through the outer sect, rustling trees, flapping banners, and whispering down empty garden paths. Most disciples had returned to their chambers or the meditation halls by this hour.
But deep in the abandoned section of the herb gardens, Lin Xuan sat cross-legged beneath a
old pine tree, its roots pushing through crumbling stone.
In his lap rested three faintly glowing Low-Grade Spirit Stones, while a slowly rotating screen shimmered before him—its golden glow softly pulsing like a heartbeat.
---
> [Life Devourer Interface]
Cultivation: Qi Refining – 2nd Layer
Lifespan: 17 / 59.8
Available Years: +9.8
Spiritual Root: Low-Grade Wood Root
Techniques:
– Verdant Flow Breathing Art (Human Tier – Low Grade)
– Ironbone Pulse (Passive)
Options Available:
– Advance to 3rd Layer (Cost: 1.6 years)
– Refine Technique
– Create New Technique (Can create or Customised technique)
– Enhance Spiritual Root (2.0 years)
---
Lin Xuan's fingers hovered over the final option.
> Create New Technique.
He'd been thinking about it for days. The Verdant Flow Breathing Art had served its purpose—basic Qi circulation, low-efficiency cultivation. But it was just that it was just a basic technique. A method used by thousands. Predictable. Traceable.
If he was going to rise without being noticed, he needed a technique of his own. One that is more suitable with his spiritual root and also can hide his foundation and cultivation. One that no sect elder would recognize—and no disciple could imitate.
A technique not learned… but evolved.
"I've stolen years," he whispered. "Now it's time to make them mine."
He pressed his finger to the interface.
---
> [Custom Technique Creator Initialized]
Choose Base Element Affinity:
– Wood (linked to current spiritual root)
– Beast Qi (from Ironbone Pulse)
Choose Core Intent:
– Regeneration
– Growth
– Strike
– Defense
– Control
– Concealment
Advanced Option: Mutation Fusion? (Y/N)
---
Lin Xuan's eyes gleamed.
Wood was life, growth, flexibility. But Beast Qi—the kind he absorbed from the Duskwind Hound—added aggression, power, and primal instinct.
He selected Wood + Beast Qi.
Core Intent: Strike + Concealment.
Fusion: Yes.
> [Calculating...]
[Estimated Lifespan Cost: 4.5 Years]
[Technique Rank: Human Tier – High Grade (Upgradeable)]
Name Technique?
He paused.
His cultivation was built on the stolen breath of time, hidden beneath soil and silence. He needed a technique that mirrored that duality—soft on the surface, deadly at the core.
> Name: Verdant Beast Claw
> [Confirmed. Creating…]
[Technique Created: Verdant Beast Claw (Human Tier – High Grade)]
– A hybrid wood-beast strike art that mimics natural growth patterns and wild instincts.
– Forms Qi into flexible claw-shaped extensions.
– Attacks curve unnaturally, bypassing standard defenses.
– Qi signature is faint and easily masked.
– Increases in lethality with proximity and concealment.
---
A surge of power come through Lin Xuan's bones.
His meridians pulsed, and a tingle spread to his fingertips. When he flexed, a faint green shimmer danced along his nails—curved like claws, silent as mist.
He stood and extended one hand toward a nearby tree.
In a whisper, Qi coiled outward—not in a flash, but in a tendril, silent and hidden, like a vine in moonlight. The tip arched, then struck the trunk—
Slice!
A clean gouge tore through the bark, half a palm deep.
No wind. No force. No visible blast.
Lin Xuan inhaled sharply.
A silent, curved strike. A claw that grows from the void.
He tested it again.
With two fingers, he lashed forward—and the Qi bent midair, striking from the side as if guided by instinct.
It didn't roar or explode like the techniques of arrogant outer sect disciples.
It grew.
Patient. Flexible. Lethal.
---
> [Verdant Beast Claw: Skill Level – Beginner (0.0%)]
[Next Upgrade (Mid Grade): 1.8 Years or high-level usage proficiency]
Lin Xuan smiled and dismissed the interface.
Then he sat, took out a spirit stone, and began meditating again.
---
Three Days Later
The garden buzzed with strange energy.
A notice had been posted on the main sect board:
> Outer Sect Challenge Tournament: Three Days from Now.
Participants may issue duels. Winner advances rank. Loser is expelled from the sect.
Spectators are welcome to watch .Rewards issued by Inner Pavilion.
It was not time at for the outer sect competition
Usually Outer Sect tournaments were held in shedule time—and usually monitored closely.
Which meant someone had pushed for it. Lin Xuan didn't have to guess who.
Zhao Chen had many friends. Rich ones. Proud ones. Dangerous ones.
Word had spread that someone had "shamed him publicly," and now an outer sect genius wanted revenge. A disciple by the name of Duan Mu Qian—Zhao Chen's cousin and 5th Layer Qi Refining cultivator with a mid-grade Fire Root.
His cultivation was solid,has great Reputation,he is very strong. And he was known to crush weaklings brutally to "teach lessons."Rumor has it that an inner sect elder intent to take him as a disciple.
He must thought that the person who humiliated Zhao Chen ,is a outer disciple ,so to find him he should have advanced the time for outer sect competition, using his influence.
Lin Xuan wasn't impressed.because he is not a outer sect disciple.
But he wasn't afraid either.
---
That night, in the same secluded cliffside grove, Lin Xuan tested his new technique again—this time with a target that could fight back.
A Spirit-Winged Mongoose—a Rank 1 beast known for its agility and evasive movement—had wandered into the garden perimeter.
It was small, fast, and glowing with faint golden Qi.
He struck once, missed.
Twice, dodged.
On the third strike, the Qi curved sharply midair and slashed across the mongoose's shoulder, drawing blood.
> [Lifespan Absorbed: 0.6 Years]
[Beast Vitality Recorded – Tail Acceleration Technique]
Skill Unlocked (Fragmentary): Windlash Step (10%)
– Swift directional movement using beast instincts.
Lin Xuan's lips parted in amazement.
Not just techniques now—fragments of movement arts.
Beasts were walking libraries of technique.
And with Life Devourer, he could read their pages.
---
He took a moment to reflect on his current path:
Qi Refining, 2nd Layer, with near-breakthrough to 3rd.
Lifespan Reserve: +5.3 years.
Technique:
Verdant Beast Claw (High Human Tier)
Ironbone Pulse (Passive, Beast)
Windlash Step (10%)
Most outer disciples trained for years to gather this.
Lin Xuan had done it in weeks.
And no one knew.
That was the point.
He would not be a rising star. He would be a growing shadow.
---
Meanwhile…
Far from the outer sect, in a high chamber atop the Inner Palace tower, Xuan Ruo sat by an open window, staring into the night.
A paper crane fluttered into her hand—a message from her personal guard.
She opened it and read silently.
Then smiled.
> "Lin Xuan… defeated ambushers.
She folded the crane and looked out at the stars.
"Keep hiding, little weed," she whispered. "The deeper your roots, the stronger your bloom."
---
End of Chapter 5