After a while, as Stirling felt drowsy, the stone platform beneath him trembled slightly.

  Here it comes!

  Stirling's pupils shrank, and he glanced at the stone platform at once. There, he spotted a faint light flashing on the runes.

  The faint light flickered on and off, rising and falling like a breath. Soon, it spread to the outer layer like a tide, creeping along the stone wall into the darkness above.

  Moments later, a hidden aura burst forth from under the stone platform, surrounding the area with the thirteen statues.

  [You have refined a wisp of Yearning Malice, lifespan +1 day]

  [You have refined a wisp of Yearning Malice, lifespan +0.5 days]

  [You have refined a wisp of Yearning Malice, lifespan +0.5 days]

  ...

  Three lines of notifications popped up in front of Stirling, brightening his eyes.

  The first line came from his use of the Malice-Converting Technique. The second and third lines were alerts from the oil lamp's refining process. This meant he could gain a full two - day lifespan increase in just one second.

  Stirling regretted that the sudden surge of Malice was much more that it showed. Both he and the oil lamp had limited conversion capacity. A lot of malice flowed into the air. Then, it was absorbed back into the array on the stone platform and sent to other statues. The nine statues on the other side quickly absorbed the returning Malice, leaving no trace.

  Even so, Stirling had never felt such abundance before. He increased his Aether flow straight away, trying to take in as much Malice as he could.

  Time crawled by. After two hours, a faint light flickered back on the walls. This time, the light rose from the dome and quickly spread to the stone platform beneath Stirling.

  In one breath, the light vanished into the stone platform. At the same time, the notification flashing before Stirling's eyes disappeared.

  Is it over?

  Stirling felt startled. He looked around but saw nothing unusual. Then, checking the clepsydra, he realized it was about time. He promptly got up, blew out both oil lamps, and put them away.

  Stirling gently wiped the spot where he had been sitting and where the lamps stood. He used his sleeve to erase the marks on the surface. Then, he stepped out of the array's range and into the outer area.

  Tonight's cultivation session probably added forty or fifty years to his life—a truly amazing pace.

  After all, Stirling's Malice-Converting Technique was only at the beginner level. Once he returned, he needed only to improve it, raising it to a high level. Returning next month, his lifespan would undoubtedly increase even further.

  Just then, footsteps sounded behind Stirling. Turning around, he saw Lance hurrying towards him with a torch.

  "Master, is the matter settled?" Lance approached Stirling, looking at him with a humble demeanor and asking.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "Hmm." Stirling hummed in agreement, then looked at the array ahead and asked,

  "Will there be any problems?"

  "Don't worry, Master. I'll fill the three empty slots right now, making sure everything is foolproof." Lance said, then he stuck the torch in the ground. He rushed forward and pulled three new statues out of the hole in the stone wall. He marked the bottoms of the statues and then placed them back into the array.

  In this way, the entire array was restored to its original state, and nothing seemed amiss.

  "We have been in here for so long, won't that arouse their suspicion?"

  Stirling looked at Lance approaching and asked again.

  "Master, you can rest assured about that. I come down at the beginning of each month to observe the entire operation of the array. It was time-consuming." Lance said.

  Seeing this, Stirling nodded, then carefully examined the scene again. Finding no traces missing, he said to Lance, "Let's go."

  The two fell back into formation, with Lance in front and Stirling behind, retracing their steps.

  Stirling poured the lamp oil from the two lamps onto the ground. Besides, he used the stone wall to rub away the breaking-Malice runes on them.

  Upon exiting the cave, the sky outside was still pitch black. The two didn't linger, heading towards the entrance of Patrol Shaman.

  At the entrance to Patrol Shaman, the same squad of black-armored guards was still there. After a routine check, they were easily let through.

  Stirling stepped out of the gate and felt relieved. The trip was thrilling, but the gains were enormous.

  In one night, he gained a lifespan like refining two white statues or killing three Monk Greens.

  By the way, this journey made Stirling see that many hidden masters of worship were in Patrol Shaman. His own samurai, only a Viscera-Refining Realm, felt not worth a dime.

  Standing beside the carriage, Stirling felt a strange sensation.

  He didn't feel dissatisfied with his cultivation level. Instead, he lacked confidence in his synthesized strength.

  After all, Stirling had had only a few actual combat experiences. He faced the well-trained black-armored guards. No matter his cultivation level, he was already at a disadvantage in momentum.

  In the next moment, the carriage clattered away from Patrol Shaman. Soon, the street fell quiet again.

  Back at Lance's residence, Stirling followed Lance back to the room they had arrived in.

  "Master, please make do here for the night. This servant will not disturb you any longer."

  Lance tactfully left. Through his observation, he realized Stirling preferred solitude.

  One of Lance's strengths was his quick grasp of his master's thoughts. He could act as a glove in various situations.

  After Lance left, Stirling dressed and lay down on the bed.

  Tonight was far too tiring, and no hematopoietic pill with him. He would deal with everything tomorrow when he returned to his house in the inner city.

  The night passed uneventfully. The next day, Stirling dressed neatly. Then, he headed straight from Lance's place to Night Watch for his shift.

  Upon arriving at the Night Watch's post, Stirling found everything to be normal. As plain as day, no one had noticed the theft of Yearning Malice the previous night.

  This made Stirling even more eager for the beginning of next month.

  Soon, another day passed. After his shift, Stirling grabbed his badge, and in a jiffy, left the office. He headed home in the inner city.

  In the courtyard, Stirling often checked the few strands of hair he had left by the door and windows. He found nothing wrong, so he sat at the table. He took out his hematopoietic pill, along with some paper, and strengthened his skills.

  Now, Stirling's viscera-refinement progress was seventy percent. Next month, he will achieve perfection. After that, when he finished refining the viscera, he could try blood boiling.

  Samurai needed a top-notch fist technique for his blood boiling. So, perfecting King Kong boxing became urgent.

  Stirling, using what he had learned before, poured out the rest of the hematopoietic pill. He copied the picture of the python coiling around King Kong. Then, he tore it up and stuffed the pieces into a porcelain bottle. He wrote on the bottle, "Achieve perfect harmony with King Kong Boxing."

  [Current enhancement required lifespan: 10 years and 2 months. Continuing to enhance?]

  Stirling felt speechless upon seeing this message. He thought to himself,

  But then Stirling thought about it. He thought the Samurai's title of Grandmaster must connect to how hard it is to clear the gates. Perhaps there were some secrets hidden within the perfection-level fist techniques.

  With this in mind, Stirling immediately selected The next moment, the porcelain bottle in his hand trembled slightly.