The Will to live.

'Ahh hah... ahh hah... ahh hah...'

"Dammit, what did this old man give me... it's painful,"

Oasis gritted his teeth, trying to control the intense mana from the wine, his body trembling with the effort.

Leonardo Graymare watched Oasis closely, his expression unreadable.

"Will he be able to make it or not?" he thought. 

He knew the wine, saturated with concentrated mana, was meant for cultivators who had reached the Enlightened Realm.

For someone in the Newborn Realm like Oasis, the survival rate was a mere 5%.

Graymare had assumed Oasis was at the peak of the Foetal Realm, where the survival rate of drinking this wine was only 1%.

In a way, it seemed Leonardo was conducting an experiment, using Oasis as a guinea pig.

Oasis suffered intense pain for hours, which turned into days, and days into weeks.

His screams echoed through his training field as he fought to control the overwhelming mana.

All the while, Leonardo kept a watchful eye, studying Oasis's resilience.

Finally, after a month of relentless agony, a burst of energy erupted from Oasis, destroying his entire abode and slightly disturbing the nearby lake.

"Congrats, Volacris. Well done," Leonardo spoke as Oasis achieved a breakthrough.

Without a word, Oasis fainted, leaving Leonardo amidst the wreckage of his training field.

"This kid is a monster. I can't even gauge his cultivation level, but I'm certain he just broke through to the intermediate Tabula Rasa realm."

"His willpower is extraordinary," Leonardo thought, impressed.

"ha ha ha, you really have been raising a monster huh," Leonardo with excitement and a sinister smile.

He then picked up the unconscious Oasis and carried him away, the moonlight casting a serene glow on the destroyed training field.

---

"I've been studying for almost a year, and it's nearly the fourth month now."

"I'm not even done studying, but that monster has already written and passed the exam, huh!" Zane muttered, sitting in his study area.

His abode was deep in the woods at a mountain peak, and he had spent his time studying for the theory exam since they entered the academy.

He hadn't seen his sworn brother, Oasis, since then.

Thud...

"Huh, what's that?" Zane heard a sound in his training yard outside.

Moving to investigate, he found Leonardo Graymare standing with an unconscious Oasis.

"Great Instructor Graymare!" Zane bowed to the instructor.

"Oasis!" Zane quickly moved to his brother's side. "What happened to him?"

"Worry not, he is fine. He just lost consciousness. He will be staying here in the meantime," Leonardo said.

"I will leave him to you," he added, before flying away without explaining the situation.

"Here, give him this when he wakes." He threw a parchment with a message to Zane.

Zane looked down at Oasis, concern etched on his face.

"What happened to you, brother?" he thought as he carried Oasis inside.

He noticed bloodstains on his clothes and dried blood on his nose, ears, and mouth.

Zane put Oasis on his bed, washed him, and left him sleeping while he went back to continue his studies.

"Wow, he looks stronger," Zane thought as he resumed studying.

---

The sun cast its glow over the mountains, and the shadows of trees played on Zane's abode.

"I'll kill you, old man," Oasis mumbled in his sleep.

"Hey there, who are you killing, huh?" Zane spoke, waking him.

"Huh, Zane, what are you doing here?" Oasis rubbed his eyes, confused.

"This is my place, you brat," Zane replied.

Oasis finally woke up and recalled what happened.

"Dammit, that old man almost killed me."

"Oh, it's been a while, Zane. Hope you're doing great," Oasis said, trying to shake off the remnants of his ordeal.

Zane and Oasis exchanged conversations and caught up from morning till noon, chilling without doing anything else.

After hours of talking and resting, Oasis felt a bit more like himself.

"Here, Great Instructor Graymare said I must give this to you," Zane said as he handed a parchment to Oasis.

Oasis received the parchment and read the message. 

"What? Dammit, that old man... my training has been interrupted," Oasis exclaimed.

"What is it, Oasis?" Zane asked, concerned.

"I'm to start the practical classes with immediate effect, and if I don't, I will fail by the end of the year."

"I have to report to Snow Blossom Hall in order to choose my path," Oasis summarized the message to Zane.

"Oh, congrats, brother," Zane applauded.

"We've caught up enough; let me go and start studying," Zane said as he left Oasis alone to study.

---

"What is going on in this academy?"

"A 9-year-old in the intermediate layer of the Tabula Rasa realm?"

"I've never heard of this in my entire life. Elias, what have you brought us?" Leonardo Graymare muttered, pacing back and forth in his office.

"Dammit, that monster even survived the mana from the crimson lotus," he thought, his mind racing.

"What's going on, sir?" Seraphina asked, entering the office.

"Nothing to worry about, Seraphina. Volacris will start the practicals by tomorrow."

"I have already prepared everything, so continue keeping an eye on him," Leonardo replied.

"Understood," Seraphina nodded, leaving the office.

Leonardo Graymare sat down, pondering the implications of Oasis' rapid growth and the potential he held for the future of the academy.

"The Bluemoon family has really struck a fortune. The power dynamic between the great families will definitely be altered," he mused.

"On one side, there is Zion, and now Volacris," Leonardo thought, contemplating the future of the kingdom.

"I will keep an eye on you, brat. You are a worthy investment," he said, smiling as he released his aura in excitement.

The air in the office seemed to hum with energy, reflecting the Great Instructor's anticipation for what lay ahead.

---

Zane was deeply focused on his studies, surrounded by stacks of books and scrolls.

The quiet rustle of pages turning was the only sound in the room.

Outside, in the training yard, Oasis sat in a lotus position, consolidating his cultivation after his breakthrough.

He was using his Phoenix's Heart cultivation technique, a serene blue-cyan aura radiating from him.

As time flew by, the sun set and darkness enveloped the yard. Oasis, immersed in his cultivation, barely noticed the passage of time.

"Damn, it's already this late," he thought as he finally broke his meditation, the night sky now fully draped over the academy.

"I will go to the Snow Blossom Hall tomorrow morning," he said aloud, standing up and stretching.

He could feel Zane's focused energy in the study area.

"Not bad, he is focused," Oasis thought with a smile, appreciating his brother's dedication.