Death Hall Master was looking at all the children. All of them were filled with fear except one, except Sharv.

  ‘This boy… his eyes…’

  When the Death Hall Master had stared into his eyes for a few moments earlier, he hadn’t found even a trace of fear or panic in them.

  Killing someone is not easy.

  When Sharv had killed those guards earlier in the Death Hall, Death Hall Master had assumed that maybe this boy simply didn’t feel any hesitation about killing people.

  But to kill someone like that? With that much brutality, to completely smash someone’s head open?

  That wasn’t normal at all. Especially for an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old boy… this kind of brutality felt nearly impossible!

  ‘Only a psychopath could do such a thing!’

  A psychopath; Someone who enjoys killing people. Someone who feels no fear while murdering. Someone who does not fear anyone or anything!

  “This motherfucker... Surendranath… what kind of being has he brought into the Crimson Heaven Society…?”

  The Death Hall Master glanced at Sharv.

  He was sitting calmly under a tree, his face covered by the white strip of cloth through which only his eyes were visible.

  “Haa!... No matter. Even if he is a psychopath, so what? He’s not strong. He can’t do much. Just one more day… and then I’ll personally send him to the grave.”

  The Death Hall Master muttered to himself, and shifted his gaze to others.

  ***

  ‘Hey, disciple... let me out for a moment.’

  Sharv’s master spoke, and Sharv replied:

  - What?

  Vijay, who had been silent until now, also spoke up and said,

  ‘The hell? If you get caught, then what?’

  ‘Humph! I'm talking to you, lowly spirit. Disciple, just let me out. And don’t worry, he won’t sense me. I’m skilled at hiding my negative energy. No human here can detect me. Trust me.’

  Clench!

  Vijay clenched his jaw, inside the sacred thread. He didn't like how that women always called him as a lowly spirit.

  - But the one who brought me here could sense both your and Vijay’s negative energy. His internal energy was as strong as this Death Hall Master’s. What if he feels you? Then?

  Sharv’s concern was valid.

  If a powerful martial artist sensed a spirit near him, they might figure out that Sharv could communicate with souls.

  ‘Oh, don’t worry. Even if that Death Hall Master has strong internal energy, it doesn’t matter. A person can only see spirits if their Third Eye is open. Without that, they can’t see us. And sensing a spirit is different for everyone. Some people can feel negative energy clearly, while others can’t sense it at all.’

  “…”

  ‘That man who brought you here must have some special trait that lets him feel a bit of negative energy. That has nothing to do with internal energy. Just let me out once. I guarantee no one here will sense me, except another spirit.’

  Sharv fell into deep thought. He couldn’t decide what to do. Should he release the woman’s spirit or not? What if the Death Hall Master sensed her by mistake?

  ‘Sharv, I think it’s better if she stays inside.’

  Vijay suggested. Hearing that, the woman flared up at him in anger:

  ‘You!... Didn't I tell you to just shut up?! Don’t interfere in my work!’

  - Fine. I’ll let you out. But if anyone senses you even slightly, I will immediately pull you back inside.

  Sharv said at last.

  It was risky, but if he could release spirits without anyone detecting them, it would help him greatly and make things much easier.

  ‘Yes, fine by me. If anyone senses me, I’ll return to my vessel instantly.’

  Sharv’s master replied, and moments later, Sharv released her from the sacred thread.

  ‘Haa…!’

  The woman took a long breath the moment she emerged, as if she had just escaped from a prison.

  As soon as she appeared, Sharv’s eyes immediately went toward the Death Hall Master.

  ‘He… isn’t reacting at all.’

  Sharv thought.

  Despite the large amount of negative energy radiating from the women's spirit beside him, the Death Hall Master didn’t seem to sense anything.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  ‘See? I told you nothing would happen! You were scared for no reason!’

  Sharv’s master said.

  - I wasn’t scared. I just wanted to be cautious.

  Sharv replied, though his eyes were still fixed on the Death Hall Master.

  Death Hall Master didn’t react strangely at all. In fact, he wasn’t even looking at Sharv, his attention was on the other children undergoing their trials.

  - Perfect. This means he really can’t sense you. That’ll make things easier for us here.

  Sharv’s master was about to say something when her eyes suddenly fell on Sharv’s hand.

  ‘What is that on your hand?’

  Sharv looked at his own hand and replied,

  - Oh! This? These are just some pieces of flesh I got after smashing that boy’s head.

  ‘Alright… but what exactly are you going to do with them?’

  - Just watch…

  Sharv said and then closed his eyes, using Samavesh.

  ‘?!’

  After a moment, the woman understood what Sharv was trying to do. Sharv was absorbing the Life Prana inside that flesh.

  After a human's death, their charka gets broken and their internal energy i,e; prana leaks out through the different part of the body.

  Life Prana after death becomes corrupt and turns into Death Prana. Sharv is now using Samavesh to absorb that Death Prana, into his chakra.

  Within moments, the color of the flesh turned strange, and a foul smell began to rise from it.

  - Done.

  Sharv had achieved what he wanted. His internal energy had increased.

  However, the piece of flesh was too small, so the increase wasn’t much barely equal to a handful of rice.

  ‘Well, well, that's such a good trick to increase your internal energy fastly... but if you had the entire body, it would've been even better. You could have completely drained all of his internal energy.’

  - Yeah.

  Sharv said, tossing the piece aside, and then took out another small piece, which looked like a part of the human brain.

  ‘You have another one?’

  - I have three pieces. When I smashed his head, I grabbed whatever I could between my fingers. In the end, these three chunks were the only ones left that still contained internal energy.

  Sharv closed his eyes, and began using Samavesh on the second piece. But…

  ‘?!’

  - Why isn’t it working?

  This time, nothing happened when he attempted Samavesh.

  ‘I think there’s something wrong with that piece of flesh.’

  Sharv’s master said. Sharv also agreed to it, maybe the remaining internal energy residing in it may be very less. So less that it already got scattered into the air.

  - Could be.

  Sharv tossed it aside and took the third and last piece.

  He closed his eyes again to use Samavesh, but once again, nothing happened.

  - How is this possible?

  He could clearly sense a bit of internal energy still lingering inside this piece, yet he couldn’t absorb it.

  Sharv was confused, but then his master spoke:

  ‘I think, I know what happened to you.’

  - What happened to me?

  ‘Do one thing, let me feel your Chakra.’

  - But why?

  ‘Stop asking questions. I’m saying this for your own good.’

  - Fine.

  Sharv agreed.

  The woman placed her hand on Sharv’s back, closing her eyes and focusing her attention on his body.

  After some time, she withdrew her hand.

  - So? Did you find out? What happened to me? I’ve never faced this kind of blockage while using Samavesh. Why today of all days?

  ‘There’s nothing for you to worry about. Nothing abnormal has happened to you. This is simply a part of cultivation.’

  - ...

  ‘Your Muladhara (Root) Chakra is completely filled with Death Prana.’

  ‘?!’

  - Completely…?

  ‘Yes, completely full. Your Muladhara (Root) Chakra has no space left to contain any more internal energy. That is why even though you used Samavesh, nothing happened.’

  - I see.

  Now Sharv understood.

  A human body has seven chakras: Muladhara (Root), Swadhisthana (Sacral), Manipura (Solar Plexus), Anahata (Heart), Vishuddha (Throat), Ajna (Third Eye), and Sahasrara (Crown).

  Each chakra stores internal energy. But everyone must begin from the Muladhara (Root) Chakra and slowly cultivate their internal energy to progress further.

  When a person’s internal energy fills a chakra to the point that it can no longer take in any more energy, it means the person has reached a wall. A big massive wall that stops the progress of the Cultivator, or simply said; a bottleneck.

  ‘And to break through this bottleneck, there is only one path.’

  Sharv thought to himself.

  He had heard and read about this long ago when he was a child. He didn't focused much on that thing before, because at that time he didn't had internal energy.

  But now, it's different.

  There was only one way to advance from this point, that is to open the next chakra.

  ‘Which means… I must open the Swadhisthana (Sacral) Chakra.’

  Opening the next chakra means rising one realm higher and with that, a person’s strength and combat ability increases drastically.

  From the Cultivator's perspective who does Martial Arts: Someone who has only opened the Muladhara (Root) Chakra is considered a Third-Rate Martial Artist.

  The one who opens the next chakra becomes Second-Rate, then First-Rate, and progressing further, those few who unlock all seven chakras are known as Mystic Realm Martial Artist.

  ‘My dear disciple~ I assume you already understand your current situation.’

  Sharv’s master said to which Sharv replied,

  - Yes. I know.

  ‘Then you also know what you must do next?’

  - Yes… I need to cultivate and refine my internal energy; death prana until it becomes so pure and dense that it reaches my next chakra, and opens it.

  Sharv's Master chuckled, and lightly patted his head saying,

  ‘Very good. This is what I like about you; I barely need to explain anything. Hehe!’

  “Haa…”

  Sharv let out a long breath.

  Opening the second chakra meant stepping into the next realm. But opening the next chakra was far from easy, it was also dangerous.

  The most terrifying part was…

  If he made a mistake during the process, his previous chakra might lose its internal energy that he has stored in his chakra until now. And in the worst-case scenario, he could even fall into Prana Deviation, causing damage to his chakra.

  For Sharv, the risk was even greater because he only had one chakra open; the Muladhara (Root) Chakra. If he attempted to open the next chakra and and somehow mess up, then he will end up damaging his Muladhara (Root) Chakra.

  And if that happens...

  ‘Then... If I’m lucky, I might be able to start all over again, from the very beginning. But if not… I’ll lose the ability to cultivate internal energy forever…’

  Since the Muladhara was the very first chakra, it acted as the foundation for the entire cultivation process.

  ‘Cultivation is like constructing a building. If the foundation is weak or broken, the entire structure collapses. I think you should wait for now. Being able to reach this stage is pretty good, especially for someone who only started cultivating just few days ago.’

  Sharv's Master; that women's spirit said. And she wasn't wrong.

  Sharv had only started a few days ago. If this news were to spread, everyone would think that he was a absolute genius—a prodigy that appears only once in an era.

  A normal person might enjoy this, believing that such fame would make them popular and grant immense reputation.

  But for Sharv, it would be his worst nightmare. Because if he suddenly gained fame and reputation, it could lead to his downfall.

  ‘Reputation is good… but also a pain in the ass.’

  People might try to uncover his background, his foundation. Some would definitely search for the secret behind his rapid progress.

  Other martial arts factions would surely spy on him. Only a fool would allow themselves to be watched.

  If a martial artist trains while constantly being spied on, the enemy would eventually learn their fighting style, their martial techniques, and even their trump cards.

  If Sharv’s reputation rose too quickly, it would severely hinder his plans for revenge.

  Grip!

  Sharv gripped his fist tightly.

  In the worst case, if his Muladhara (Root) Chakra damage or broke… he would return to being a normal person, someone who could never use internal energy.

  Sharv had already lived 18 years of his life without internal energy. Nobody understood the importance of internal energy and cultivation better than him.

  “I will not rush… I'll wait.”

  He finally decided.

  Haste leads to waste.

  Cultivation is like constructing a building; If you rush, the results can be fatal.

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