The next day, Merin looks back from the carriage as the rows of tents slowly vanish into the horizon.
He had chosen to leave after dawn.
A few hours earlier, he visited the cocoon and found it devouring natural energy like a whale.
That explained why he hadn't been able to absorb natural energy minutes ago.
Through his soul vision, he saw that the cocoon would take at least a year to fill with natural energy.
Only then might Xue Sangyi be born from within it.
He isn't certain if the cocoon must be completely filled or if Xue Sangyi could awaken at any moment.
Still, the birth of an Ancestor Realm cultivator is a historical event for the human race.
Staying might help others curry favour with the future ancestor, but Merin sees no need.
He was one of the few who helped Xue Sangyi become an ancestor.
That debt is enough to ensure a favour, should he ever ask.
So, there's no reason for him to remain by the lake.
But he does have a reason to return home.
Merin pulls his head back into the carriage and opens the book he acquired from Jinhai, the same general from the Owani Kingdom.
It was through this man's influence that some Sky Sword Sect elders had managed to make him a wanted man.
He had learned the full truth from someone named Zhen Qi—how the Sky Sword Sect and another faction under the First Prince had targeted him.
Zhen Qi, who worked for the Second Prince, was the one responsible for leaking information.
A day ago, Merin might have killed him without hesitation.
But now, his mindset has changed.
Zhen Qi can no longer harm him; killing him would offer little gain.
Even without Zhen Qi, the radical elders of the Sky Sword Sect and the First Prince would have acted.
After hearing that Asuna had stayed alone in a room with Merin for a month, they wouldn't believe that nothing had happened between them.
To protect their pride and goals, the elders would have sought to eliminate him, and the First Prince would try to erase the stain on his honour—that his future bride had lived under the same roof with another man for months.
So, he spared Zhen Qi's life, but the price was that Zhen Qi would now work under him.
He also took Zhen Qi's spiritual cultivation method.
Alongside that, he received another technique—an ultimate-level Samurai cultivation method capable of reaching the Ascension Realm.
This technique came from Jinhai, who had begged for forgiveness on behalf of himself and his army, acknowledging that their influence helped turn Merin into a wanted man.
Merin forgave them without issue.
It wasn't their fault—they couldn't defy the First Prince, not even someone like Jinhai, a powerful general of the kingdom.
Now, as the carriage rolls forward, he opens the Samurai technique book.
He studies it, then begins contemplating how to adapt his Life Qi cultivation technique to reach the peak of the Second Turn Realm.
He knows he can't cultivate the original version of this technique—the method is made for those with golden lion blood.
As a human with no beast bloodline, it's inaccessible to him.
Still, he learns the cultivation path from the first turn of the Great Samurai Realm up to the early Ascension Realm.
He knows no human has ever reached the third turn of the Great Samurai Realm.
But that only sharpens his desire to understand why.
Creating his own technique might not be enough—he must dig deeper.
First, he must cross the initial step: to cultivate from the early First Turn to the Second Turn of the Great Samurai Realm.
According to the book, he must sense the hidden vitality within his body and form a new vitality circulation channel.
This channel would intersect with his true energy channel inside the dantian, where the two merge into the spiritual machine.
Their fusion would trigger an evolution of the spiritual machine.
The first evolution would mark his breakthrough to the Second Turn.
The second evolution would lead to the Third Turn.
The final evolution would take him to the Ascension Realm.
He closes his eyes and focuses.
He doesn't even need to use soul energy—he already knows where the hidden vitality lies.
It rests within every cell of his body.
He connects this vitality, guiding it into a channel that slowly forms and passes through his spiritual machine.
A few hours after Merin left the Lotus Lake, Bai Yanli arrived with her cousins and Uncle Bai Ju.
The lake—soon to be renamed—had changed from its clear state to a deep blood-red.
Floating above it was the massive cocoon, pulsing gently, and near the water's edge, they saw cultivators harvesting the remains of the fallen Blood Ancestor.
But the person they came to find—Kanoru—was nowhere in sight.
He had already departed for his home.
They might've passed his carriage on the way, unaware of who was inside.
Now, faced with this unexpected turn, they had two options: return the way they came in hopes of catching up to Kanoru, or go home and prepare their next steps.
After some discussion, they agreed—Bai Yanli and her cousin Bai Jun would ride back the road to find Kanoru.
Uncle Bai Ju would stay at the lake, and the remaining cousins would return to their clan.
With a few guards accompanying them, Bai Yanli and Bai Jun mounted their beasts and rode out.
As they travelled, Bai Jun remarked, "Your marriage with Kanoru likely won't be cancelled."
Bai Yanli replied, "It can be—if he chooses to."
Bai Jun shouted, "He dares?"
Bai Yanli said calmly, "Why wouldn't he? He's already reached the Dharma Realm. And according to the spiritual masters from the Western Continent, he'll soon match their strength in a few years."
"Our family's strongest," she continued, "is Great-Great Grandfather, at the peak of the Ascension Realm. And even then, no word from him in years. He went to the Yao region, hoping to find a chance to reach the Dharma Realm. We don't even know if he's alive."
Bai Jun fell silent, unaccustomed to imagining anyone capable of saying no to their family.
And now, he might have to hear it from someone who never thought much of their status.
But then Bai Jun wonders—before his cousin spoke about the family cancelling the marriage, she never said she wanted it cancelled herself.
He asks, "What about you? Do you want to marry him or not?"
Bai Yanli answers instantly while riding, "It doesn't matter to me whether I marry or not."
Bai Jun is confused.
All his sisters and female cousins gossip endlessly about whom they want to marry, dreaming of their wedding days with excitement.
But Yanli's response is entirely different.
"Why?" he asks.
Bai Yanli replies, "My focus is cultivation. I want to reach the peak of the Ascension Realm—and break the blood limit that stops descendants like us from going further."
Bai Jun frowns. "But everyone says you'll reach the Dharma Realm."
"It's only theoretical," Bai Yanli says. "No one's ever done it. Throughout history, many humans with extremely pure ancestral blood reached peak Ascension, but they all stopped there. Even our ancestors, remember?"
Of course, Bai Jun remembers.
Just minutes ago, Yanli had mentioned their great-great-grandfather—her ancestor, too—stuck at the same bottleneck.
According to the family records, he reached the peak of the Ascension Realm twenty-five years ago.
Now, at one hundred twenty years old, he might only have sixty years left to live.
Sixty years might seem long enough to do many things.
But not enough to guarantee a breakthrough across a cultivation boundary.
Bai Jun thinks of his friend's granduncle, who reached a high-ranking samurai at sixteen, then never advanced further.
The man died just two months ago, at ninety-six, never stepping into the Great Samurai Realm.
One missing key—one incomplete understanding—and the door stays shut forever.
Bai Jun asks, "Did the ancestor find out why?"
Finding the reason, after all, is still a step in the right direction.
Bai Yanli replies, "No, he couldn't find it."
Bai Jun says, "Then you need to find a way to make Kanoru disagree to marry you. With his current power, breaking a marriage contract means nothing to him."
Bai Yanli understands why Bai Jun wants her to marry Kanoru.
It isn't because their family needs Kanoru's strength—after all, their clan is powerful on its own, backed by the Rimefang Beast Clan on the Yao side.
The Rimefang Beast Clan holds multiple Dharma Realm experts, both Yao and Beast, and few would dare challenge their family without considering the consequences.
No—her cousin wants her to marry Kanoru for her own benefit.
He believes Kanoru, already in the Dharma Realm, might be the key to helping her break through once she reaches the peak of Ascension.
But that also means he doesn't believe she can do it alone.
Yanli looks at her cousin and asks, "Cousin, do you not have confidence that I can break through the Dharma Realm without anyone's help?"
Bai Jun answers, "Of course, I have confidence. Why wouldn't I? I'm your cousin. But finding the reason and solving the problem will take time, and if Kanoru finds the method first, that only helps you. Even if he doesn't, his strength alone might push you past the bottleneck."
Bai Yanli says, "But that all depends on whether Kanoru keeps the marriage contract. Don't forget—he now has a lover from the Sky Sword Sect."
Bai Jun replies, "I met him—he's not the type to break a marriage contract. And you'll have to accept that strong men often have multiple wives."
Bai Yanli steadies her ride and says, "I don't care about that. Not every man is like my father—I learned that many years ago."
Bai Jun nods.
Uncle is a rare man—the head of a powerful family, yet married only to one woman, Yanli's mother.
His own father, despite being only a peak Spirit Realm cultivator, has three wives.
And Bai Jun himself is already set to marry two: one from the Snow Pine Sect of the Rigen Kingdom, and another from the Tori family.
So Kanoru shouldn't be like their uncle.
If he is, then the risk of him cancelling the marriage is very real.
But Bai Jun doesn't mention this thought aloud.
Instead, he urges his mount faster toward Bora City.
Ahead of them, Merin rides in a magical carriage drawn by horses with thunder pegasus blood.
According to the driver, they would reach Bora City before sunset.
The city lies on the border between Mugen and Higane.
They plan to rest briefly, eat, and then cross into Higane Prefecture.
By the next day, they should reach Blackstone Fortress—one of the many strongholds guarding the road to Owani's capital.
But they're not headed to the capital.
They will instead pass through the Evergreen Hills, enter Ouchi, reach the Jade Buddha Temple, and then cross the Ouchi River to arrive in Susa City.
If Merin's family is there, the journey ends.
If not, the last stop will be Yellowwind Town.
This was Merin's plan—
—But fate has already taken an unexpected turn.
From Susa City, a prison carriage sets off, carrying four prisoners: Merin's father, mother, younger brother, and sister.
Merin's sister cries softly in their mother's arms.
His mother gently consoles her, tears streaking down her own face.
She asks her husband, "Did you find out why they captured us like criminals—and where they're taking us?"
Her husband shakes his head, straining to hear any sound from outside, but the carriage is sealed under a heavy tarp.
Merin's brother says, "I pretended to be unconscious and heard them say they captured us to threaten Brother—and they're taking us to Ryokuzan."
His mother's voice tightens with worry, "Is Kanoru okay?"
His father replies, "He must be. If he weren't, they wouldn't need to capture us to threaten him."
His mother whispers, "But what will happen to him when he comes to rescue us?"
His father says, "He's smart. He'll find a way to save us—and keep himself safe."