Under the night sky fading beneath the morning sun, an eagle soars high above the clouds. Its golden feathers shimmer with majesty, and its sharp, wise eyes are fixed on a group of people below, dressed in sky-blue uniforms bearing the emblem of a sword—the insignia of the Sky Sword Sect.
The eagle flying overhead is Xialing, who possesses the innate transformation ability of the Dryad clan. This power awakens when a Dryad reaches the Sprout Realm.
The Dryad race follows a unique cultivation method created by the Mother Tree, also known as the Wood Ancestor. The first generation of Dryads were born from the fruits of the Mother Tree. The second generation began through procreation, though it differs from human reproduction.
To produce a child, one of the Dryads—male or female—must first reach the Fruit Realm. If the female has reached the Fruit Realm, the male transmits his innate vitality to form a seed within her fruit. If the male has reached the Fruit Realm, he offers his fruit to the female, who then nourishes it with her vitality until it becomes a seed.
That seed is planted in the earth. As it grows into a tree, it channels all its energy into a single fruit, ultimately dying as the fruit matures. The fruit, once fully grown, holds a human-sized baby within. When it opens, a newborn Dryad emerges, appearing similar to a one-year-old human child, with green hair and eyes.
The Mother Tree structured their cultivation into distinct stages: Seed, Sprout, Growth, Fruit, and finally, the Ancestral Realm.
But the Fruit Realm is often considered the true final realm, as the Ancestral Realm cannot be reached without an ancestral crystal bestowed by the world, and since the birth of the world, only nine such crystals have ever been granted.
The Water and Wood Ancestors were born with these crystals and awakened directly into the Ancestral Realm.
In the Sprout Realm, the Dryads awaken their innate transformation power, but they cannot use their full strength in that form.
This limitation only disappears in the Fruit Realm, where they can unleash their complete power. As a result, most enemies killed by Dryads never even realise who struck them down.
Now in her transformed form, Xialing flies above, her mind troubled.
She doesn't understand why the Sky Sword Sect left Kage Town in the dead of night and why they are heading north at such speed.
The northern region of Mugen is perilous for any citizen of the Owani Kingdom.
The rebel tribes of the Snow Mountains and the beast clans of the Yao Mountain Range are locked in fierce conflict, neither side willing to retreat even an inch.
As she flies further north, she notices another small army unit travelling along a different road, also heading in the same direction.
Suspicion rising, she wonders if something is happening in the north. Her curiosity gets the better of her, and she stops tracking the Sky Sword Sect members, instead darting ahead at full speed.
Deeper into the northern skies, her sharp eyes catch sight of another lone figure racing through the snowy path below. It is Kanoru.
She recognises him instantly, but she does not descend—she has no intention of revealing her identity as a Dryad.
She doesn't trust Kanoru with something as precious as her life.
To her, he is little more than an acquaintance.
The only reason she watches over him is because of the promise she made to Asuna—to protect Kanoru for the duration of his stay in Mugen.
Merin, running toward the north, notices many like him, in groups or alone, heading toward Lotus Lake.
With his late middle-ranking samurai realm and pseudo high-level movement technique, he leaves them all behind when using his full strength.
Though it consumes his inner energy quickly, the natural energy flowing through his energy channels balances it out.
In fact, the exertion speeds up his refinement of natural energy into inner energy.
Merin can feel his cultivation rising, and within a few weeks, he believes he'll reach the peak of the middle-ranking realm.
To break through to the high-ranking samurai realm, he must master the Life Qi cultivation exercise.
He's already sensing the artistic conception of the Life Qi technique, which aligns with the wood element.
This means it progresses naturally without demanding his full focus, and barring unexpected obstacles, he'll reach the next realm soon.
Once he achieves that, he'll switch to cultivating another technique.
The Life Qi method is a middle-ranking technique that can only support cultivation up to the threshold of high-ranking samurai.
Thankfully, before he became a wanted man, he had earned enough military merit to exchange for a high-level technique.
Had he not made that exchange in time, all his hard-earned merit would've been wasted.
Now, no military headquarters would allow him near—if he appeared, he'd be arrested or killed on sight.
So thankfully, he exchanged his merit when it crossed 300 for a high-level technique and didn't wait to gather more for a superior-level technique.
Superior-level techniques can be cultivated even in the Great Samurai Realm, while high-level techniques only support cultivation up to the breakthrough into it.
The technique he exchanged for is the Nine Yang Life Meridian Technique.
He doesn't carry the manual with him—it was left behind in his room at Miji Town.
But it doesn't matter, as he remembers the technique clearly.
He also remembers the four steps needed to reach the Great Samurai Realm from the beginning of the realm.
The first step is called the Opening Step.
In the middle-ranking samurai realm, he must open nine of the eighty-one total main acupoints in the energy channel.
Eventually, he has to open all seventy-two of them, and with increased and refined inner energy, this part becomes much easier.
The second step is to open twenty-seven spiritual acupoints—mystical points that are both real and virtual.
Once opened, these allow the release of mental energy from within the spiritual space.
His mental energy is already free, so the second step is redundant, and his twenty-seven spiritual acupoints are already open.
The third step is to nourish that mental energy and spread it through every part of the body.
The fourth and final step is harmonizing with the world—sensing the spiritual machine hidden in natural energy and comprehending it.
Only then can one transform inner energy into a spiritual machine.
When all his inner energy transforms into True Energy, he will officially become a Great Samurai.
But before that, he has to reach the limit of the middle-ranking samurai realm.
He has already opened seven of the required nine acupoints, with only two remaining—one in the middle of his chest, and the other at his forehead.
The acupoint in his forehead is dangerous, as even the slightest mistake could lead to brain injuries.
So, he must proceed carefully, because one misstep could end his journey in this world.
The reason for opening this acupoint is that the nine acupoints are positioned in such a way that they connect through the energy channel to form an array within the body.
This array is simple and primitive, yet it slowly absorbs natural energy even without requiring an artistic conception.
Not everyone in the world possesses his level of talent.
Only a few are capable of comprehending an artistic conception, and he has already grasped two.
The array not only absorbs natural energy but also helps in sensing fluctuations of artistic conception.
To break through into the high-ranking samurai realm, one must slightly understand an artistic conception—just a trace, even as little as 0.1%.
That part doesn't worry him—what truly concerns him is the final acupoint on his forehead.
But he will proceed with caution, and with his mental energy already awakened, the chance of making a mistake is negligible.
Still, if an error does occur, he will accept it as bad luck and end his life, returning to his main body with his mission incomplete.
There is little choice—if his brain is damaged, healing would be difficult.
His cultivation could suffer a permanent setback, or worse, come to a complete halt.
In that case, the best course would be to end his life immediately.
He sighs and comes to a halt as he spots a camp up ahead.
It's faint, but he knows without doubt—it's a military camp.
He decides not to approach it and scans his surroundings for the tallest tree.
Finding one, he climbs it and stands on the highest branch.
From there, he gazes down and sees Lotus Lake, and around it, three separate camps.
Xialing, flying high above, observes the same camps and has spotted them even before Merin.
The human camp is the most orderly, with a large tent at the centre, surrounded by hundreds of small and medium-sized tents, all enclosed within a wooden perimeter wall.
The rebel camp to the north has a similar structure, but it's far more chaotic in arrangement.
On the western side, there is no defined camp, only a wild region teeming with beasts—predators and prey coexisting in unnatural harmony.
Among them, a few beasts seem to maintain order—clans known for their strength and authority.
The Iron Monkey, the Snow Wolf, the Dark Lizard, and the Storm Eagle clans stand out as the four dominant beast powers capable of challenging humans, Xialing thinks to herself.
She scans the area carefully, searching for a hidden spot where she can land and transform into her human form to meet Kanoru.
But before she can act, a voice echoes in her mind, calm and clear—"Come here."
Without hesitation or question, she turns and flies toward the Yao Mountain range.
As she approaches, she sees a tall mountain standing isolated among the peaks.
She passes through a transparent barrier surrounding the peak, like slipping through still water.
At the summit, two male Dryads await, standing silently beneath the rising sun.
She lands before them and shifts into her Dryad form, her green hair fluttering in the breeze.
In surprise, she says, "Father, Uncle Xue, why are you both here?"
Her father replies calmly, "That's not important—what are *you* doing here?"
Xialing answers, "To meet a friend."
Her father's eyes narrow slightly.
"What is your relationship with that boy?" he asks.
She doesn't ask which boy, knowing her father and uncle, both in the Fruit Realm, would easily sense her trailing Kanoru.
"Father, he's my friend's lover," she answers evenly.
"He got into some trouble, so I came to help him."
Her father responds firmly, "There's no need to help—return home immediately."
But Xialing doesn't want to leave.
She had brought a map for Kanoru, one that would guide him through the Yao Mountain Range into the Yao Region.
That map was given to her by Bai Yanli—Kanoru's arranged fiancée.
The Bai family had sent Kanoru to the Yao Region precisely so he wouldn't return before Bai Yanli turned nineteen.
If he didn't meet her while she was still eighteen, the Bai family could annul the engagement.
Her father repeats, "You don't need to know why—just go back home now."
Xialing feels something strange in his tone, as though he doesn't want her to stay even a moment longer.
"Let me see my friend just once," she pleads.
Before her father can respond, her uncle speaks up.
"It's too late—he's already here," Uncle Xue says quietly.
"If she leaves the barrier now, he'll notice us."
"Let her stay. If our plan succeeds, the massive energy released will help her advance into the Growth Realm."
"It'll strengthen her foundation when she reaches the Fruit Realm," he adds.
Xialing grows more confused, unsure of what plan they're referring to.
Before she can ask, her father says softly, "Stay beside us."
Still bewildered, she turns around and looks down the mountain.
Below, the three camps are on the move, charging at one another with no sign of hesitation.
From their positioning, it's clear they won't fight around the frozen Lotus Lake but directly over it.
She hears the cries of both humans and beasts as they surge forward in a chaotic clash.