Mirror Dream Tree

Five days later, Sato and his group slip into Saisei City one by one, blending into the crowd as they regroup anonymously.

By the time they arrive, the plan to exterminate the Cui family is already a failure.

During the last moments of the battle, one of the Cui clan advanced to the Ascension Realm, creating another Ascension-level half-yao and tipping the scales in their favour.

Despite this, Sato's side had been winning until then; they had the strength to overpower cultivators of the same realm equipped only with external treasures.

Yet, with this new Ascension Realm member, several Cui escaped, ruining Sato's plan to wipe them out entirely.

That night, Sato and his people gather at their designated meeting spot to drink in silence and numb their disappointment.

A few minutes later, the official joins them and reports that his attempt to kill Cui Ying, the last Cui in Saisei City, failed as well.

He adds that someone must have been secretly protecting Cui Ying.

The room falls silent as everyone's thoughts darken with worry and unease.

They planned to eradicate the Cui clan, loot all their treasure, and buy up their properties once the government nationalised them.

Although they successfully raided the outer treasuries, they never reached the clan's inner vaults.

More troubling, as long as Cui Ying and other Cui family members remain alive, the clan cannot be declared extinct, and the government cannot nationalise their assets.

Sato sighs and says he will consult his master to find whoever is shielding Cui Ying.

He tells the group to return home and lie low for the time being.

Sato reminds them that even without acquiring the Cui property, they have already profited from the looted treasures.

With that, Sato forces a smile, steps out of the room, and as soon as the door shuts behind him, his hands clench into fists and the smile disappears.

He quickly departs the Silver Moon Pavilion beneath the night sky and walks in silence.

After some time, he reaches one of the towers, pushes the door open, and enters.

Inside the tower, a chill bites into his skin, making him shiver as he stands still, waiting.

Footsteps echo through the dim halls, and a figure soon emerges.

The figure looks pale as a corpse with no trace of vitality, yet his bright eyes reveal he is very much alive.

Seeing him, Sato bows deeply and says, "Elder brother, I want to see the teacher."

His elder brother's lips do not move, but a voice rings out, "Master is busy with an experiment and has shut himself away. Tell me what you need him for."

Sato quickly explains that some Cui family members escaped, and Cui Ying in the city is protected by someone unknown.

His elder brother responds, "I'll see what I can do. You may leave now—remaining here will drain your vitality."

Sato nods and hastens out of the tower, and as the door closes behind him, he exhales in relief and draws in the surrounding energy to recover the vitality he lost inside.

The tower belongs to the Decay Master, who has turned the concept of Decay into a rule, and all who enter lose their vitality every passing minute while inside.

His elder brother can endure the tower's power because he practises a secret technique created by their teacher.

Sato himself was given the technique too, but he never dared to practise it.

The teacher had devised it after gaining inspiration from the Transformation technique, calling it the Corpse Transformation technique, which could be cultivated up to the True Core Realm.

Yet the technique's greatest price is losing all joy of life, which Sato cannot accept.

He sighs quietly and walks away into the dark.

----

Merin leans back in his chair in the lab, eyes closed as he runs through the Water Python transformation from start to finish in his mental scene, mastering it entirely without lifting a finger in reality.

The process is easy for him because the Water Python's life origin is highly similar to the Red Jade Python's.

He's already perfected the Red Jade Python's transformation, so only the Water Python's unique ability requires his attention.

With his mastery of water energy from lizard beasts, it takes him only a day to master the ability, and two days total to master the Water Python's transformation.

Having perfected three snake-type beasts' transformation techniques, Merin's goal is to master at least seventy per cent of all snake-type beasts.

From these, he will draw inspiration to create a Level Three peak Snake-Dragon transformation technique.

He's already created a Level Three peak Lizard-Dragon transformation technique.

Once the Snake-Dragon technique is complete, he plans to move on to scaled water beasts and craft a Level Three peak Fish-Dragon transformation technique.

Combining all three will allow him to finally produce a Level Four Dragon transformation technique, or so he wishes.

More than anything, Merin wishes he could leave the academy to roam the world and hunt every snake-type beast himself.

But he cannot, as obligations keep him where he is.

He rises and walks to one side of his lab, where countless glass cages house different snakes.

He opens the cage of an Ice Poison Cobra and lets the snake strike him.

Its fangs snap against his skin without leaving a scratch, and the cobra writhes in pain.

Merin picks it up calmly and carries it to his experimental table.

This is why he stays at the academy — every kind of snake beast is sent to him, and he never needs to leave his research.

The next day, Nora and Kuro stand among the crowd, watching the ranking fight in the arena.

Esil, ranked 86th, faces Maze, ranked 80th, and she's clearly winning.

Her upper body and arms have fully transformed according to the lizard body technique.

Every one of Maze's spell attacks is blocked by the mist swirling around Esil, which solidifies into a water shield whenever something comes too close.

Finally, Esil defeats Maze with a powerful blow that knocks him out of the arena.

Kuro hears a classmate say, "Kuro, your elder brother is the Dragon Master — why don't you just learn the transformation technique from him? You could easily make it into the top 10."

Kuro stays silent and simply walks away as it's time for the next class.

After all the lessons end, Nora and Kuro find themselves facing each other at the mouth of the corridor leading to Merin's lab.

They smile at one another and head to their elder brother's lab together.

Ignoring the guards hidden in the halls, they knock on the lab's door.

A few moments pass before the door automatically opens, allowing them inside.

They enter and see Merin standing calmly behind an experimental table.

On the table lies the corpse of a snake, but they hardly pay it any attention.

Nora rushes over and hugs him.

After greeting his brother and sister, Merin asks, "Why have you both come to see me?"

Nora looks up and grins, "Brother, you don't like us visiting you?"

Merin smiles faintly. "Why wouldn't I like my lovely sister coming to see me? But I can sense you two want something."

Nora leans closer and says, "Brother, among your thirty students, ten have already entered the academy ranking."

Merin tilts his head. "So, you want to learn the transformation technique, too."

Nora nods eagerly like a chicken pecking rice, her bangs bouncing. "Yes, brother! Can I?"

Merin doesn't answer her directly and turns to Kuro. "And you? The same reason?"

Kuro nods.

Nora glances at him and asks, "You're already ranked 15. Why do you need the transformation technique?"

Kuro answers calmly, "I want to enter the top ten, maybe even take first place before I graduate. Plus, the youth competition is coming."

Merin nods and asks, "Then tell me — how well do you two understand the human body?"

He questions them thoroughly about the bones, muscles, meridians, and vital points.

At first they answer confidently, but as the questions grow more detailed and complex, they begin to hesitate, then give up entirely.

Merin says calmly, "If you want to learn the transformation technique from me, then first, you must truly understand the human body."

They both look dejected.

Nora pouts, eyes turning misty as she looks up at him.

"Brother, it would take months to learn all that knowledge," she whines. "Can't you help us?"

Merin sighs. "How can I help you?"

Nora's face brightens. "Brother, I heard you can transfer knowledge directly into someone's mind. Why don't you give it to us that way?"

Merin looks at them for a moment and finally relents. "Alright."

Nora cheers, and Kuro allows himself a small smile.

Nora clasps her hands together. "Brother, what do we have to do?"

Merin waves his hand toward the chairs. "Go sit down and close your eyes."

They do as instructed.

Merin then divides his knowledge of the human body into three parts and sends them the first part, enough to help them master the transformation technique up to the second stage.

He streams that knowledge into their minds.

Both slump unconscious as the information floods in.

Merin watches them thoughtfully.

He had already decided he would not let them learn the lizard, snake, or fish techniques.

If they followed those paths, they'd never grow beyond his shadow — and that wouldn't help him.

His Rule of Vitality is only at 0.19%, and reaching 10% will take a long time.

He needs help, and for that, they must cultivate techniques outside of his existing lineage.

Several minutes pass before they finally stir.

They wake up groaning, hands pressing against their temples as waves of pain subside.

Merin infuses a trace of vitality energy into them to soothe the headache.

When they recover, Merin looks at them seriously and asks, "What beast do you want to transform into?"

Both look puzzled.

Nora blinks. "You mean… we can choose a different beast? Not the Lizard Body transformation technique?"

Merin nods.

Nora brightens and begins listing one beast after another, her excitement evident.

Kuro interrupts gently, "You have to choose one beast."

Nora's face falls.

She looks at Merin and says, "Brother, we have to choose only one?"

Merin replies, "At the beginning, yes — you must master one transformation first. Once you do, you can add other beasts and eventually combine them."

Nora thinks for a moment and says, "Then I choose Gryphon."

Merin answers, "All Gryphons are at least level two beasts. To reach that stage, you must first master a level one beast — either a lion-type or eagle-type."

Nora nods slowly, a thoughtful expression on her face.

Merin then looks to Kuro.

Kuro meets his gaze. "Brother, can I choose to transform into an Iron Ant?"

Merin smiles faintly. "That will be a challenge, but yes — why not?"

He continues, "Both of you take one of my men to the market. Buy the beast you intend to practice with and come back tomorrow after class."

They nod and rise to leave.

As they reach the door, a knock sounds.

Merin, already aware of who it is, opens the door with a thought.

Yanli steps inside, graceful and lovely as always.

Seeing her, Nora grins. "Sister-in-law."

Yanli smiles warmly. "I'm not married to your brother yet."

Nora giggles. "It doesn't matter — there are only five months left."

Merin waves them off.

Nora throws him a playful look before she and Kuro slip out, the door closing behind them.

Merin's gaze settles calmly on Yanli.

He arches a brow and asks, "Why are you here?"

Yanli replies, "After advancing to the Ascending Realm, my practice slowed."

Merin says, "The academy now offers the practice for half-yao to control their bloodline. It can be exchanged with merit."

Yanli raises her hand, and a faint mist of blood gathers in her palm.

Merin observes. "So, you've already mastered the Blood Control Technique."

Yanli answers, "Xialing helped me."

Merin tilts his head. "Xialing is here in the city. She hasn't come to see me."

Yanli says, "She isn't here, but we exchange letters."

Merin remarks, "I didn't think you two were friends."

Yanli replies, "We're not. But she's friends with Asuna, and Asuna and I are friends. Asuna helped me get Vitality Fruits through her."

Merin asks, "When did you become friends with Asuna?"

Yanli says, "Four years ago, when we met at your home."

Yanli asks, "And when are you going to marry Asuna?"

Merin looks at her calmly. "I thought women don't like sharing their man."

Yanli replies, "My thoughts don't matter to you. Besides, Asuna is my friend. If you don't marry her, she'll never marry anyone."

Merin nods. "Then a year after ours."

Yanli smiles. "I'll send her a letter telling her that."

Merin asks, "Is that why you came?"

Yanli shakes her head. "No. I heard you were creating a technique for half-yao to become spiritualists."

Merin's thoughts drift to the technique. Its concept is clear; all that's left is someone strong enough to practice it. Yanli is perfect — with her strength and his support, it will be safe.

He says, "Let's go downstairs."

And he turns, already walking.