Morning sunlight streamed through the window as Darwin opened his eyes and yawned. He felt energized and immediately got up, planning to visit the clan's library to acquire a cultivation manual so he could begin his journey properly.
However, the moment he stepped outside his room, he encountered an annoying and familiar face. "Garwin," he muttered under his breath.
The patriarch of the Azure clan had six children. Garwin, barely ten years old and the youngest of the six, was one of the people who tormented Darwin the most. At age ten, he was already at Qi Refining Stage 7, thanks to the abundant resources the family provided. At that level, he could easily defeat Darwin with both eyes closed.
"Where have you been for the past two days? And what's with the black hair? It looks disgusting. I came by to vent my frustration on you, but you were absent. Are you planning a rebellion?" Garwin said with a smug look, folding his hands behind his back.
Darwin wanted to say, "Get out of my way, brat," but before he could speak, a sharp pain exploded in his stomach. He spat out blood. If not for his Body Refining Stage 3 cultivation, he might have passed out already.
"Anyway, I only came here to tell you that Father said you should prepare for the trial. Although trash like you should be expelled, it seems you'll die soon instead," Garwin said before turning to leave.
"I swear you'll be the first person I kill in this world. Just wait a few months," Darwin cursed inwardly as he picked himself up.
As he continued walking, he noticed a message from the system indicating he had two unclaimed daily gifts, which made him smile. "It seems there are daily gifts as well. I'll check those when I get back to my room. For now, let's find a cultivation manual."
After several minutes of walking, he arrived at the library, where he was greeted by the librarian, who asked what he needed.
"Good morning, Elder. I came to see if I could borrow a cultivation manual from the library," Darwin asked pleasantly. The man before him was one of the few people who actually treated him with respect.
"I'm sorry, Young Master, but the clan only gives out one manual per person. If you want something else, you can exchange it using clan points. I believe you received the clan's Grade 2 cultivation technique when you were eight years old," the librarian said.
Darwin frowned. He vaguely remembered burning that manual in frustration when he couldn't even draw in qi. It had been at least three years since he'd last tried to cultivate, and he'd long forgotten the technique.
The librarian, aware of Darwin's circumstances and inability to cultivate, decided to help him. "Here, kid. You can have mine," he said, waving his hand and producing a book from his storage ring.
Darwin hesitated. "Don't worry. It's of no use to me anymore. I hit a bottleneck in my cultivation years ago, so keeping it with me is a waste of precious resources," the librarian insisted.
Darwin couldn't refuse anymore, especially after realizing it was actually a Grade 3 manual—far better than what he'd planned to acquire. In this world, treasures, artifacts, skills, techniques, and manuals were divided into grades. The higher the grade, the higher the value. Grade 1 was classified as Mundane, Grade 2 as Common, Grade 3 as Uncommon, Grade 4 as Rare, Grade 5 as Super Rare, and Grade 6 as Epic. The differences between grades were like night and day.
He immediately took the manual and rushed back to his room, eager to cultivate. But first, he decided to check the daily gifts. He focused on the notification.
[Ding! Daily gift boxes opened: 2]
[Reward 1: Upgrade Points x2]
[Reward 2: Upgrade Points x3]
[Total Upgrade Points: 5]
[Note: Upgrade points can be used to upgrade anything]
This was a huge jackpot. Including his two daily upgrades, he had a total of seven upgrades—practically a cheat code. He decided to use three upgrade points on his meridians, three on his roots, and the last one on his manual.
[Ding! Upgrade successful]
[Basic Meridian → Intermediate Meridian]
[Intermediate Meridian → Advanced Meridian]
[Advanced Meridian → Refined Meridian]
[Low Spirit Root of Wind → Mid Spirit Root of Wind]
[Mid Spirit Root of Wind → High Spirit Root of Wind]
[High Spirit Root of Wind → Peak Spirit Root of Wind]
The change was so dramatic that Darwin immediately broke through just by breathing. He felt a hundred times better than before. His qi channels were broader, his body felt like it truly belonged to him, everything flowed smoothly, and each breath carried abundant qi. He could sense an almost endless well of power within his meridian. At this point, he could be called the greatest genius of his clan. Even his elder sister, hailed as an unparalleled genius, only had a refined meridian and a high spirit root of wind. His qi was now purer than hers.
[Grade 3 Azure Sky Cultivation Manual (Uncommon) → Grade 4 Celestial Azure Cultivation Manual (Rare)]