Mira Labellan

Their constant breakthroughs would have caused a small ruckus in the district if not for the runes in their room concealing their activities.

[Congratulations, Ash! You have successfully broken through to the Natal Realm.]

[For achieving the Natal Realm, you have received a skill.

Hail Strike: Deliver rapid succession of punches infused with a tiny hint of the ice element to the opponent.]

Ash tilted his head and muttered, "Eh, not bad! The infused ice must be because of my physique. Though, it reminds me of a certain someone with a somewhat similar skill…"

"Also, when do I awaken my elements, system?"

[You will unlock your elements in the 4th realm of the cultivation path, the Elemental Fusion Realm.]

Ash nodded, "Still quite a long way to go."

"Status, please." Ash called out to the system.

[Name: Ash

Age: 17

Race: Human

Title: None

Cultivation Realm: Natal Realm (Apex Points - 1)

Energy Points: 4510/400

Bloodline: None

Physique: Heavenly Frost Physique

Element Affinities: None

Passive Skills: Heavenly Ice Body (1st Level), Heavenly Hailstorm (1st Level), Heavenly Frost Veins, Heavenly Ice Laws (Locked)

Skills: Hail Strike]

Meanwhile in the 3rd floor, Ray also officially entered the Natal Realm.

[Congratulations, Ray! You have successfully broken through to the Natal Realm.]

[For achieving the Natal Realm, you have received a skill.

Behind the Veil (1st Stage): Use this skill on a specific target and display the cultivation realm of the target. Can be currently used on cultivators with one cultivation realm above you.]

*Phoo*

Ray let out a deep breath and smiled, "That's a handy skill. This should help us mitigate most of the dangers we will be facing in the future."

"I wonder if-"

*UGH*

Out of nowhere, his face suddenly contorted from the pain he was feeling all over his body. His eyes shone a brilliant light and there were golden symbols flickering on his skin. An ancient-like aura appeared around him, filling the room with its grandiose.

"A-Argh! What the…hell is going on?!"

Regardless of the pain, he sat still and withstood the pain with his body trembling every now and then. He knew it was the doing of his bloodline and felt that he was going to receive something.

Soon enough, the pain subsided and he panted heavily. In his mind, details about a new skill flooded his brain.

"Lightning Wings?"

"It can increase my speed and help me defend myself?" Ray slowly smiled.

He asked the system, "Why did my bloodline give me a skill?"

[The Eternal Lightning Bloodline has gifted you with a skill for successfully reaching the Natal Realm.

Lightning Wings (1st Stage): Increases speed by 30% and defense by 1%. A healthy amount of natural energy is needed to use the skill.]

"Oh, that makes sense." Ray nodded.

"I can disregard the defense aspect but, it increases my speed by a whole 30%? That's fucking insane."

Ray put a finger on his chin and muttered, "If I couple that with my Eternal Speed, then I literally would be untouchable."

"Display my status, system."

[Name: Ray

Age: 17

Race: Eternal Human

Title: None

Cultivation Realm: Natal Realm (Apex Points - 1))

Energy Points: 4600/400

Bloodline: Eternal Lightning Bloodline

Physique: None

Element Affinities: None

Passive Skills: Eternal Body

Skills: Eternal Speed (1st Stage), Bloodline Transformation (1st Stage), Lightning Wings (1st Stage), Behind the Veil (1st Stage)]

Ray nodded with glee, "Cool!"

-After several hours-

The three gathered in the living room again after their 'intense' cultivation session.

Ash patted his stomach and said, "Alright, first things first, how many apex points have you guys unlocked?"

Ray smiled and replied, "A total of seven."

Bryan raised his hand, "Seven here too."

"Oh, that makes the three of us then." Ash unlocked seven apex points as well.

"All I gotta say is I feel fucking fantastic." Ash stated.

"Did you guys experience the weird black goo stuff?" Ray hesitantly asked.

Bryan nodded and said, "I did and it was fucking disgusting. I shivered at the thought of all of that black substance was once in my body."

"What about you, Ash?"

"Hm?"

"Did you experience-"

"I don't know what you're talking about, okay?" Ash said with a weird smile.

Ray tilted his head and insisted, "But it should have happened to-"

"Nothing happened, okay?" Ash said with a menacing tone. Ray pulled himself back and slowly nodded.

Bryan leaned and whispered to Ray, "Did you forget that he likes his cleanliness?"

Ray's eyes slowly widened and smacked his head, "Fuck, how could I forget?"

Bryan shook his head and proposed, "We need to learn more about this world. Let's go and find the library?"

The other two agreed but Ash suddenly mentioned, "There's a purple robe in my room along with shoes and other stuff. I'm sure there is one for you guys too. Why don't we wear that? I don't wanna go out looking like I lived in the forest for 3 years."

Bryan looked down at this shirt and pants and saw the holes marring his clothes. He instantly nodded and they all three went to change.

-After a few minutes-

The door to the Zero Mansion opened and out came three graceful purple-robed figures. Just like before, they saw the district was empty.

"Let's go." Ray said.

Walking out of their district, they eventually saw a few blue-robed fellow disciples roaming about. With their distinctive coloured traits, they posed a striking look to the outside.

What was confusing them were the intense shock and confusion the other disciples were expressing after seeing them. This reaction just came out of nowhere. They observed some of them were discussing in hushed voices and some of them took out some kind of crystal ball and communicated with it.

The three didn't know what was going on nor they did they care much as they went on their way to the library.

"Speaking of the library, do you know where it is?" Ray spoke up. Bryan stopped prompting the other two to stop as well.

Bryan replied, "Uh, no."

"Great, now what?"

"Let's ask someone." Bryan suggested.

Just as if the Great Beyond heard them, a peach-coloured hair young girl donning a blue robe, approached them.

"Sorry for overhearing your conversation and overstepping my boundaries, but I heard that you needed directions for the library?" The young girl spoke with a respectful tone.

Bryan perked his eyebrow and was about to respond but Ray beat him to it, "It's all good, you don't have to apologize. And yeah, it would be great if you could lead us to the library."

The young girl lightly smiled and said, "Follow me then."

They followed the young girl and the discussions around them were intensified. Nevertheless, the four didn't care and went on their way.

To break the ice, the young girl introduced herself to them. Her name was Mira Labellan and she's an inner disciple. Likewise, they introduced themselves as well.

"Mira, are the blue robes an indication that you're an inner disciple?" Ray asked.

"Yes, whenever someone becomes an inner disciple, they are automatically assigned the blue robes and a few other things." Mira nodded. She didn't know it yet but the fact that she could talk comfortably with a Prime Disciple would distort her mind later on. Every disciple in the sect knew that approaching most of the Prime Disciples was difficult much less having a conversation with them.

"Then what about our purple robes?" Bryan was curious about their robes.

This time, Mira was slightly stunned. She slowly responded, "You don't know the significance of the purple robe?"

"Wait, do you guys even know your statuses?"

The three shook their head in confusion.

Mira didn't understand what was going on. She knew they were Prime Disciples from their robes but she hasn't seen them before in the sect. It was obvious of her to assume that if they were assigned the purple robes, they would have some knowledge about their status in the sect.

But right now, it seemed as if they knew nothing about the significance of their purple robes. For some reason, she also couldn't see through their cultivation bases.

She sighed and explained to them, "There are three types of disciples in the sect. Outer Disciples, Inner Disciples, and lastly, Prime Disciples. Outer Disciples wear brown robes and are normally between the Mortal Cleansing Realm and the Natal Realm. A few of them though are in the Shattering Sea Realm."

"Moving on, like me, Inner Disciples wear blue robes. The minimum threshold to be an Inner Disciple is to reach the Shattering Sea Realm but that is just one of two ways. There are yearly competitions between the outer disciples and the bottom 50 inner disciples. They duke it out and whoever wins either gets promoted or retains their position."

*Cough Cough*

"So, most of the Inner Disciples are at the Shattering Sea Realm and higher?" Ash carefully asked.

Mira nodded, "Yeah, that's right."

The three simply looked at each other and waited for Mira to continue.

"And then there are the Prime Disciples like you three. There are a total of 12 Prime Disciples and they represent the entire sect's fame and strength. They lead the younger generation and are considered as the 12 monsters of our sect by the outside world. Each one of them have their own special moniker that best depict themselves. But now including you three, the number has bumped up to 15." Mira briefed.

"Speaking of which, what cultivation realms have you three reached?" Mira was unnaturally curious. This was a first for her considering all the other Prime Disciples were hard to interact with due to their pride and their intense cultivation sessions.

"Uh…" Ash simply opened his mouth.

Bryan didn't see any harm in revealing their cultivation bases and replied, "We three are currently at the Natal Realm."

"Huh?" Mira was once again gobsmacked.

Mira shook his head in disbelief. She thought he was joking but judging from his serious expression, she was inclined to believe him.

'I wonder how the other Prime Disciples will react…'

Ash noticed six golden little stars etched on to her cuffs. With curiosity, he asked Mira, "What do the little stars mean?"

"Oh, you mean this?" Mira lifted her cuffs and replied, "They represent my strength amongst my other fellow inner disciples."

Then Mira excitedly continued, "Currently, I'm ranked 6th but soon, I have high hopes that I will be ranked higher. For now, I'm just waiting for the competition."

The three were surprised, not to the point of shock, at her rank. This meant that she was pretty strong despite her friendly demeanour.

"We wish you the best." Ray smiled and wished her.

"Thank you." Mira didn't expect that and chuckled.

-Somewhere on a tall mountain peak-

Loud shockwaves echoed the peak as a thick powerful beam made of fire was seen shooting through the air. The surrounding air cracked and the ground dried up as a result of the beam.

The target in question was a young woman. She emitted an ethereal aura and had a pale white skin tone. Pure obsidian black hair covered her head and draped to her hips with its long length. A pair of silver bracelets wrapped her hands and her greenish eyes displayed a sense of calmness even in the face of the powerful beam.

She slowly rose up in the air, and her purple robes fluttered as a result of the shockwave. She joined her hands and slowly spread them outwards. A thick translucent screen formed right in front of her and the incoming fire beam crashed into the screen.

Despite the screen being thin, it absorbed the entirety of the beam and just like that, the young woman completely negated the attack.

The young woman smiled and said in a cool tone, "Better than last time but not enough power."

"Ugh!"

On the opposite end, a young man wearing the same purple robe stood and lamented in frustration.

"Well, at least I'm improving. Isn't that right, sis?"

The young woman chuckled and said, "Yes, you have my praise."

The two in question were siblings and from their robes, they were both Prime Disciples.