The journey back to the Jade Capital was a long crawl through the heart of the Northern Empire. As the Royal carriage moved Xuan Ye watched the world through the silk curtains. In every village and city they passed he saw the same sight: commoners sweating under the weight of their own mortality while young nobles practiced their stances in the courtyards of gated manors.
In the Finite World the path to the heavens was a ladder that everyone tried to climb but few ever saw the top of. For a normal cultivator the journey began with the Qi Awakening. This was the moment the spiritual roots finally opened and allowed the body to taste the essence of the universe.
Once awakened a cultivator entered the Qi Gathering Realm. This realm was divided into nine steps. Most common soldiers spent their entire lives struggling to reach the 5th Step while geniuses like Xuan Feng cruised toward the 9th Step before they hit their twenties. Above the Gathering lay the Foundation Establishment where the gaseous Qi was compressed into a liquid sea within the dantian. Beyond that was the Core Formation also known as golden core the stage of the True Masters who could fly through the sky and command the weather.
These were the steps the Elemental Heroes had once walked. These were the steps the Ancestors had perfected before reaching the mysterious higher realms that were kept secret from the masses. To the people of the all the five hundred nations in the four empires this was the only way to power.
Xuan Ye sat in the corner of the transport carriage his eyes closed. He could feel the Qi in the air—the thick vibrant energy that everyone else was fighting to absorb. To him it felt like ash. It was a foreign substance that his body instinctively rejected.
The Transcendent Mortal Physique did not have a dantian. It did not have meridians. It was a solid unified vessel.
They build a house and fill it with furniture, Xuan Ye thought. I am turning the very bricks of the house into gold.
Inside his soul the Book of Fate flipped to the first page of his own unique progression. He didn't use the nine steps of Qi Gathering. His path was the Unwritten Ascension.
The bottom of his cultivation ladder was divided into three stages:
First The Mortal Vessel This was the stage of physical reconstruction. He had already completed the first level by absorbing the Stone Body and the Eternal Life bloodline. To the world he looked like a mortal but his physical strength and durability were already equivalent to a 9th Step Qi Gathering expert.
After that The Ink-Wash Heart This would be his next stage. Instead of gathering Qi in a sea he would begin to replace his own life essence with the Unwritten Ink This would allow him to process the laws of the world directly without needing the permission of the Heavens and after the second stage is the third stage which is called The Sovereign Script The final stage of the bottom tier. This would allow him to manifest the powers he had absorbed like the Jade Pillar or the Void Step without any physical strain or time limit.
[Current Realm: Transcendent Mortal Vessel — Level 1]
[Progress toward Level 2: 0%]
"Ye-er."
The voice interrupted his thoughts. Xuan Ye opened his eyes to see a middle-aged man sitting across from him. It was Xuan Ming the Third Elder of the Xuan family and one of the men who had signed the order for Xuan Ye's exile.
"The Princess has taken an interest in your survival" the Elder said and his eyes were sharp like a hawk "She believes you have a strong spirit despite your lack of roots When we return to the Capital you will not return to the granary. You will be assigned as a page in the Royal Library."
Xuan Ye bowed his head and let a look of grateful relief wash over his face. "The Elder is merciful. I will serve with all my heart."
"Hmph. Don't get arrogant. A page is still just a servant. But the Princess has a soft heart for tragedies. Don't embarrass the Xuan name any further."
The Elder went back to his meditation. He was a Foundation Establishment expert and the humming of his liquid Qi was like a small engine in the room.
Xuan Ye looked back out the window. The Jade Capital was finally appearing on the horizon a city made of white marble and gold that stretched as far as the eye could see. It was the heart of the Northern Empire.
The Royal Library, Xuan Ye mused. A place filled with ancient records and the private scrolls of the Royal Family.
To the Elder this was a pity appointment. To the Princess this was an act of charity. But to Xuan Ye it was like a predator being given the keys to the pantry.
The Royal Family held the history of the Elemental Heroes. They held the maps of the all the nations in the northern empire and other empires They held the descriptions of the most powerful unique bodies and bloodlines that appeared in the empire.
He didn't need to cultivate Qi like a normal person. He didn't need to sit for years in a cave trying to condense a Core. He just needed to read the world and then take the parts he liked.
As the carriage passed through the massive gates of the capital the Book of Fate pulsed.
[Connection to 'Book of Forbidden Records—5%]
Xuan Ye felt the ink in his veins grow cold. The Jade Capital was a place of millions of people but for him it was just a collection of potential pages.
The Heroes and the hidden Ancestors thought they were the masters of this universe. They thought their Qi and their Pillars were the peak of existence. They didn't know that a twelve year old page was about to enter their most sacred halls and start editing their reality.
"Welcome home Xuan Ye," he whispered to himself.
He stepped out of the carriage as it reached the Xuan Manor. He was the Trash who had returned from the dead. He was the Mortal who had survived a Demon. He was the Page who would eventually unwrite the world.
The game of the Jade Capital was about to begin. And Xuan Ye was the only player who didn't have to follow the rules of the board.