That night, Yun Qiang entered into a dream.
Yun Qiang looked at the setting of the dream. The protagonist of the dream was situated in a training ground. However, this training ground was quite different from the one in Zone 5 that Yun Qiang used in his daily "lessons." This training ground was clearly top class. The floor and the protective walls were made out of marble, the weapon racks were filled with top-quality weapons that exuded a mesmerizing aura, and a puppet made from a strange metal was positioned at the center of the training ground.
A commanding voice came from behind him, not giving him a chance to see its owner.
"Yun Qiang, you are up next. Prepare yourself."
"Yes, Instructor."
Dream Yun Qiang didn't even flinch and calmly approached the metal puppet.
Wait—Dream Yun Qiang isn't dead? And he's a cultivator?
Yun Qiang didn't even have time to process the thought before his dream self had already reached the center and assumed an offensive stance in front of the puppet.
The voice came again:
"Ready? Start."
When the voice fell, Dream Yun Qiang made his move. His speed was extreme, and he reached the puppet in less than a second. However, just as the spear was about to hit the mannequin, it suddenly moved its head, dodging the attack and counterattacking with a kick to the side. Dream Yun Qiang seemed to expect this and firmly planted his spear to the ground. When the kick connected with the spear, the entirety of Dream Yun Qiang's body felt the impact, pushing him back a meter. Just as he was steadying himself, another kick came, this time aimed at his head; once again,Dream Yun Qiang defended with his spear.
But anyone watching could see that he had lost the momentum of the fight. Now, all he could do was defend against the mannequin's relentless assault.
After ten rounds of defense, Dream Yun Qiang lost his patience and attempted a counterattack. The puppet seized the opening and landed a solid punch to his face, sending him flying into a wall two meters away.
The wall didn't even shake at the impact, but Yun Qiang, who could feel the pain of his dream counterpart, knew that he would have died on the spot if he took a hit like that.
However, Dream Yun Qiang not only didn't die, but he even managed to get up after the hit.
"Stop! Yun Qiang lost. Next is Fan Leng."
Another voice responded:
"Yes, Instructor."
Finally, Dream Yun Qiang turned towards the entrance of the training ground. At the entrance of the training ground, there was a line of about 20 people. They all wore light blue robes with a cloud insignia sewn on the lower half, which gave them a noble and righteous appearance.
A middle-aged man stood on the side, making sure nobody strayed out of line. He was clearly the instructor that had called Dream Yun Qiang before.
As Dream Yun Qiang got up and exited the training ground, no one spared him a glance. He was about to head to the back of the line when a man approached him.
The man wore a white robe richly decorated with golden cloud patterns. Even though the different color of his robe signaled a high status, his calm expression and carefully trimmed gray beard gave him a humble and amicable appearance.
"I greet Master."
"There is no need for formalities," he shook his head. "Come with me, let's go for a walk."
Dream Yun Qiang followed his master, who had started walking at a leisurely pace. As they walked, Yun Qiang was surprised by the beauty of the place. The sect they were in looked perfect. Every building was made of clean and smooth stones. The road was paved with marble, and it cleanly reflected the sun, making everything look shinier and cleaner than normal. On the horizon, no walls or forests could be seen—only the blue sky dominated the background.
As they walked, the man started talking, his voice was soft and hopeful like a father talking to his favourite son.
"You don't have to worry, I'm sure you will soon manage to beat the puppet."
"But Master, it's been a month since I've been stuck at this test. Can't I change my training? Maybe combat isn't my talent, maybe I should focus on medicine or arrays."
The man sighed. "Yun Qiang, you need to have patience. If you constantly jump between subjects, then you won't master any of them."
"I... understand, Master..." Dream Yun Qiang didn't sound convinced.
After this, they walked in silence for a while before the man spoke again.
"I will show you something." Then he patted Dream Yun Qiang's shoulder as they teleported to another training ground. Here, a group of disciples was in line waiting to challenge the mannequin.
"We are invisible, so don't make much noise," announced the man.
He then opened a mind link, permitting them to talk using their thoughts instead of speaking.
"Which one of them caught master's attention?" there was an hint of envy in his voice
"The sixth one in line, Yan Kai" he paused "But my interest is purely didactic"
"Didactic? Can he teach something to master?" Dream Yun Qiang became curious
"Not to me but to you... Now stay silent and watch"
The duo then watched the disciples try their hands at the test, however without exception they were mercilly beaten up by the manuquin, the best of them only managed to last two exchanges with it before being thrown against the wall.
"Yan Kai, you are up"
"Yes Sir!"
As Dream Yun Qiang watched curiosly the frail and fragile looking Yan Kai took his spot at the center of the ground and started his attack on the manequin.
"This..." Dream Yun Qiang was shocked
Yan Kai's style of combat was something different from the others. He mixed traditional spear techniques with hand-to-hand combat. Sometimes he would even abandon defense entirely just to trade blows with the mannequin, making his fighting style appear reckless and fast paced. However Yan Kai's wild approach carried a strange charm, making it surprisingly enjoyable to watch.
When Dream Yun Qiang recovered from the shock, Yan Kai had already won against the mannequin and was proudly walking to the back of the line. His master spoke again:
"Now watch carefully."
The instructor of the training ground spoke again. His tone was somewhat strange; it sounded both proud and anxious.
"Yan Kai, return to the front again. I want the others to see how the exercise should be executed."
"Yes, sir," pride could be heard in his voice.
Yan Kai stepped to the center of the ground again. Just as he arrived at the center, Dream Yun Qiang spotted his master moving his hands towards the mannequin.
"Master, are you—" He wanted to say "cheating," but his master cut him off.
"Just watch. You will learn a lot from this."
Hearing this, Dream Yun Qiang stopped talking and started to pay attention to the combat.
The combat looked exactly like the one before. Even though it was clear that the mannequin was strong, Yan Kai's strange way of fighting made it difficult to react, and sometimes it even took hits from him without being able to defend. Then the final moment of the fight arrived. Yan Kai put his spear into the ground, gripping it with one hand while placing his foot behind it to brace for stability. With his balance secured, he defended a kick from the mannequin while using his free hand to throw a punch at it.
However, just as the punch was about to land, the mannequin's speed increased, allowing it to dodge the attack. With the increase in speed came a rise in aggression, as the mannequin changed its style to match its opponent, making its attack pattern more random and aggressive.
Yan Kai looked stunned by this and was initially suppressed, but just when everyone thought the fight would end in Yan Kai's loss, another change occurred. Yan Kai's veins started to bulge, and his speed slowly increased, bringing the fight to a standstill.
Dream Yun Qiang felt that something was not right. Without the use of a special technique, no human could increase their speed and strength during a fight, and Dream Yun Qiang didn't see any Qi movement, so Yan Kai wasn't relying on Qi to boost his speed. His master seemed to know what he was thinking and gave him the answer directly.
"Blood cultivation," his tone was grave, clearly marking the seriousness of the matter. "With it, even the most untalented individual can cultivate faster and grow stronger at an incredible rate. However, the drawbacks are many. Just watch."
Dream Yun Qiang looked at the ongoing fight again. Yan Kai was slowly getting the upper hand, but his look had completely changed from before. Now Yan Kai's face was completely red, and huge purple veins were slowly expanding and covering his face and body. But this wasn't the only change. His fighting style had changed too—now it was more brutal. Yan Kai didn't hesitate to exchange hits with the mannequin, and he had slowly phased out the spear from the fight. Now he only fought using punches and kicks. Only a madman that had nothing to lose would fight like this, and every onlooker knew that Yan Kai had lost his reason.
"This is what happens when you practice blood cultivation. You lose your reason and become nothing more than a beast that knows only how to fight," he said, turning to his disciple. "Besides that, blood cultivators rely on the blood of others to grow stronger—killing innocents as they cultivate. Powerful individuals might hold on to their sanity for a while, but in the end, they all share the same fate: losing themselves completely and becoming mindless monsters."
As his words fell, the mannequin sped up again and directly pierced Yan Kai's heart, killing him on the spot. The disciples that saw the scene looked on in shock, as they didn't know what had happened. Seeing this, the instructor chimed in to explain and calm them down.
"Yan Kai was a blood cultivator. These cultivators follow a vile path; they won't hesitate to kill even their allies for power," the instructor said, his voice taking on a righteous tone. "Our sect does not tolerate blood cultivators among our ranks. That's why the mannequins are specially designed to detect and eliminate them."
Upon hearing this, most of the disciples calmed down, reassured that they were not in danger. Still, it was clear that witnessing Yan Kai's death had deeply shocked them, since it was the first time they had seen someone killed before their eyes.
After the instructor used Qi to clean off the blood, the lesson went on normally. The master-disciple duo continued to watch silently until the master broke the silence.
"So, do you understand now?"
Dream Yun Qiang looked and sounded serious.
"Yes, Master," his tone became serious. "I will never practice blood cultivation. I will never be blinded by it, even if it can make me cultivate faster."
The master looked pleased by this. He then added,
"Remember, natural treasures, pills, and other such things can help with cultivation, but they always come with a cost—drawbacks, hidden side effects. This lesson doesn't only apply to blood cultivation. It applies to everything."
When those words fell, the dream ended.
Yun Qiang was walking toward the training ground. The dream he had received the night before was longer than usual, which shortened his actual sleeping time, making him extremely sleepy.
Whoever you are, I got it. I won't use blood cultivation, so please let me sleep tonight. He inwardly cursed the one sending him dreams.
When he arrived in front of the training ground, he stopped. Brook had promised to take his place so he could skip practice today. However, when he thought of how badly Jin would beat him up, he felt a little guilty so he reluctantly stepped inside.
Luckily, Jin was in a good mood today, so Yun Qiang wasn't in a bad state after training. Still, the lack of sleep was killing him, and all he wanted was to collapse into bed. He didn't feel like talking to anyone or doing anything that might delay his rest. He almost cursed when Sun caught up with him after dinner and started walking alongside him.
"You don't look good. Are you alright?" Sun sounded concerned.
"I didn't sleep well. I had..." he hesitated, "I had some strange dreams."
"Dreams and instinct are important to cultivators. You should listen to them, even if they seem like nonsense—you never know." Sun's tone changed, sounding both regretful and concerned. "One act of carelessness can ruin your future."
The duo continued to walk in silence. Since he had already said some strange things, Yun Qiang decided to ask Sun about blood cultivation. Worst-case scenario, he could say that the cultivator who gave him his method told him never to practice it.
Hearing his question, Sun put a hand on Yun Qiang's shoulder and forced him to look into his eyes. Sun's eyes seemed to shine under the moonlight, and firmness could be seen in them. Yun Qiang felt small when he looked into them.
"Yun Qiang, you should never, ever practice blood cultivation," Sun said. His tone was firm, and his words left no room for discussion. "Understand? Under any circumstance, you should never practice it."
He paused for a second.
"You should never ask this to anyone. Knowledge about blood cultivation is taboo. You will be killed on the spot if the instructors find out."
A chill ran down Yun Qiang's spine. Luckily, he had asked Sun—other disciples might have snitched to the instructors, and he would've ended up dead.
"I'm sorry. It's just that the wandering cultivator who taught me my cultivation method said I should never practice it. I just wanted to ask if you knew more."
Hearing this, Sun nodded; the duo then proceeded to silently walk home together. Only when they arrived and Sun saw Wuji in front of Yun Qiang's home did he excuse himself and leave for his shack.
Yun Qiang frowned in confusion. It was already late—most outer disciples were either asleep or deep in meditation.
"Hey, what are you doing here? It's kind of late."
"I was waiting for you," Wuji smiled. "I just wanted to tell you that I'll probably become a cultivator before you."
Yun Qiang's face darkened. "And how? Even if you have a 2nd level root, you'll need at least two years to become one," he continued. "Cultivation isn't something we can achieve in the short term."
Yun Qiang's voice sounded disheartened. After spending two weeks in the sect, he had already accepted the harsh reality: low-talent disciples like them could only bitterly cultivate and wait for their moment of glory, when the sect would finally recognize their value as cultivators.
Wuji gave a mischievous smile, like that of a child hiding something from their parents, then he took out a small wooden box.
"I can because I have this," he said, slowly opening the box.