Chapter 3: Sixth Level of Spiritual Warrior

"Even if I've lost the Spirit Flame Bloodline, I still have the Chaos Pagoda. With a hundredfold time flow on my side, even a genius with a top-tier bloodline can't keep up with me!" Archie Cutmore's eyes flashed with sharp light, confidence surging through him. "The Flame Serpent Bloodline is a seventh-grade bloodline. It's strong, sure. But compared to me, with a hundred times the time flow, it's the difference between heaven and mud. Besides, I'm still weak. I can only enter the first level of the Chaos Pagoda. Once my strength improves and I reach the second level, the third… the time flow might get even faster." Archie muttered to himself. He drew a deep breath and forced the excitement down. After sorting through everything he had learned and laying out a training plan, he willed himself back to his room. From under his pillow, Archie pulled out his last remaining hundred taels in banknotes. He left the Cutmore estate and spent it all at once, buying two years' worth of dried rations and a batch of basic medicinal herb seeds. Then he returned to the woodshed. With a thought, he brought the rations, water, and seeds with him into the first level of the pagoda. He planned to go into seclusion for two full years. "When I have money, I can just buy a Fasting Pill. I won't need to haul around this much food and water." Archie let out a helpless sigh. Back when he was the number one genius of the Cutmore family's side branch in Quirby, money had never been an issue. But five days ago, Santiago Cutmore had ripped the Spirit Flame Bloodline out of him and reduced him to a cripple. Everything Archie had accumulated over the years was snatched up by other clan members. He had only managed to hide a single hundred-tael note. He headed into the fields first and planted the herb seeds. Then he moved to the meditation cushion and sat cross-legged. After settling his breathing and centering himself, he formed a set of hand seals and circulated the Fire Cloud Art, slipping into cultivation. On Ninosith, cultivation arts and martial skills were divided into four ranks. From lowest to highest: Yellow, Profound, Earth, and Heaven. Each rank was further split into low, mid, and high grades. The Fire Cloud Art Archie cultivated was a high-grade Yellow-rank art. It was the inherited technique of the Cutmore family's side branch in Quirby, reserved for direct descendants. Whether it was a cultivation art or a martial skill, mastery was divided into five stages: Beginner, Minor Success, Major Success, Great Success, and Perfection. Before his fall, Archie might have been the side branch's top genius, but he had only reached Minor Success in the Fire Cloud Art. The gap between those stages was enormous. If Archie could push the Fire Cloud Art to Major Success, his rate of absorbing spiritual energy would more than double. If he reached Great Success, it would more than triple… Time flew. In the blink of an eye, two years passed. During those two years, Archie did little besides eat, occasionally check on the herbs, and cultivate. His foundation had been repaired, so he could cultivate again. But with the Spirit Flame Bloodline torn away, he had become a bloodline-less waste. His talent had plummeted, and his cultivation speed was painfully slow. Still, his comprehension remained. With his past experience and the herbs to support him, two years of relentless training restored his cultivation to the late stage of the Sixth Level of Spiritual Warrior. On top of that, he raised the Fire Cloud Art to Major Success and pushed the Fire Cloud Palm to Great Success. His overall battle strength was no longer what it once had been, but it was enough to fight a cultivator at the Seventh Level of Spiritual Warrior. "The late stage of the Sixth Level of Spiritual Warrior is nowhere near enough. If I want to kill Flynn Cutmore in a life-and-death duel, I can't just return to my old realm. I have to go beyond it." Archie's voice dropped, heavy with intent. Flynn Cutmore's Purple Flame Bloodline was only third-grade, but as the second son of the clan head, the resources he received were even greater than Archie's had been. Flynn's cultivation might not have matched Archie at his peak, but he had still reached the early stage of the Ninth Level of Spiritual Warrior. So if Archie wanted to beat him, his current strength was far from sufficient. When Archie saw his rations had run dry, he ended his training. He stood and stretched his stiff limbs. "These basic herbs barely help me anymore. With my cultivation, only first-grade herbs and above will have any effect." Archie murmured. On Ninosith, medicinal herbs were divided into nine grades by efficacy: first-grade, second-grade, third-grade… all the way to ninth-grade. The seeds Archie had bought were the most basic kind. They matured in a year or two and did not even qualify as first-grade. Their effects were weak to the point of being negligible. "I need to find a batch of first-grade herbs." He thought it over for a long time. Then, with a thought, he left the first level of the pagoda and returned to the outside world. Although Archie had cultivated for a full two years inside the first level, only seven days had passed outside. "The Chaos Pagoda really is a peerless treasure forged by a supreme sovereign. With it, I'll stand at the very peak one day." A confident curve touched Archie's lips. At that moment, the courtyard gate exploded apart. A young man in embroidered robes stormed in, his face cold and vicious, flanked by two servants. "Archie Cutmore! You actually dared to hide silver notes. Who gave you the nerve?" the youth shouted arrogantly. The intruder was Timothy Cutmore, the son of the third elder of the side branch in Quirby. His cultivation had reached the Sixth Level of Spiritual Warrior. In the past, Timothy had been Archie's little hanger-on, respectful to the point of groveling, obeying every word. But after Archie's bloodline was ripped out and his cultivation ruined, Timothy's attitude flipped overnight. He had even been one of the people who helped loot Archie's belongings. Archie rose and stepped out of the woodshed. He flicked a cool glance at Timothy and said flatly, "Kneel and admit your mistake. Pay for the gate you broke, and I'll let you off." Timothy froze for a beat, then threw his head back and laughed. "Archie Cutmore, do you think you're still the Cutmore family's number one genius? I heard you got scared stupid by the life-and-death duel eight days from now, so you spent a hundred taels buying piles of rations. I didn't believe it. I do now." If Archie hadn't lost his mind, how would he dare speak like that? The two servants beside Timothy also burst out laughing, their eyes full of ridicule as they stared at Archie. Archie ignored them. His voice stayed ice-cold. "I'll count to five." "Five." "Four." "Three." … As the countdown fell, Timothy's expression darkened in an instant. He snapped at his servants, "Looking for death! Josiah, Pete, break his arms and legs!" The two servants on Timothy's left advanced with savage grins. They were only servants, but as Timothy's personal attendants, both had reached the First Level of Spiritual Warrior. In their eyes, dealing with a ruined Archie was as easy as crushing an ant. "Two lowly dogs think they can lay hands on me." Archie's gaze sharpened. "Unforgivable." He stamped the ground with his right foot and shot forward like a hunting leopard, closing the distance in a blink. The two men barely had time to react. Their throats tightened as Archie's hands clamped around their necks, lifting them clean off the ground. "Young master, save-" Josiah never finished. Crack! Archie's fingers tightened, and both throats collapsed at once. He tossed the bodies aside like trash. It happened too fast. From start to finish, it took less than a breath. "Aren't you fa-" Timothy's eyes went wide. Then realization struck. "Your cultivation is crippled, but your body strength is still there!" Before his Spirit Flame Bloodline was torn away, Archie had been at the late stage of the Ninth Level of Spiritual Warrior. Even with only physical strength left, it was still more than two First Level of Spiritual Warrior servants could withstand. Timothy's face sank into something ugly and poisonous. "A cripple dares kill my men? You're asking to die! I'll cripple your limbs and torture you until you beg for death!" In Timothy's mind, even if Archie's body strength remained, it would at most be comparable to the late stage of the First Level of Spiritual Warrior. Timothy himself had reached the Sixth Level of Spiritual Warrior. Killing Archie would be effortless. The moment the words left his mouth, Timothy stomped hard and became a blur, charging straight at Archie with the full force of his Sixth Level of Spiritual Warrior cultivation unleashed. He raised his right hand, fingers together like a blade. A cold gleam flashed at his fingertips as he struck with ruthless precision, chopping straight for Archie's arm, aiming to sever it in a single blow. Archie's eyes stayed calm. He watched Timothy rush in with a detached, almost bored expression. Contempt flickered in his gaze. They might have been at the same realm, both at the Sixth Level of Spiritual Warrior, but Archie had once stood at the late stage of the Ninth Level of Spiritual Warrior. His combat experience and methods were leagues beyond Timothy's. Even if Timothy had been one or two minor stages higher, he still wouldn't have been Archie's match. When Timothy reached him, Archie lifted his right leg and snapped out a lightning-fast kick, driving his foot into Timothy's stomach.