"Boy, you're back? Do you still have your badge?"

Cain tossed his badge over.

The elder looked at the piece of metal and gasped. "4th Floor?! Wait, are you the new Disciple of Origin Peak?! Only Elders and their disciples and up can enter the 4th floor!"

"Just let me enter, old man."

The old elder's face turned red. "You! Just because you got a high position now, you think you can talk down to your elders!"

Cain crossed his arms and smirked, "I do."

"..."

The doors to the Library opened.

"Go in. The next time I see you, I hope you fix your attitude."

Cain ignored the elder and entered.

Heading up to the fourth floor, he found it much cleaner and neater than the others. Tables were laid around the room with bookshelves circling them. The tables already had books that hadn't been put away yet.

'Since there are no librarians, it's up to the guests to put away the books... yet no one does... how sad.' Cain ignored the neat messes and reached for the shelves. He took out many books, accumulating a whole mountain.

Some titles were about Immortal techniques like "Heavenly Thunder," "Mountain Seal," or even "Sky Ascension." Other books went into the founding stage and above like "Growing: An Intricate Guide to Progressing Through the Growth Stage" or "Carving Flesh: What to Do and Not to Do when Ascending to the Founding Stage."

Cain grew excited perusing through it all.

'With these, my knowledge should increase by another level! I'll come back whenever I need anything answered, but for now, I should focus on the books I already have in mind and then find Zhao Long.'

With everything before him, Cain dove into his treasure trove of books and didn't stop reading until night.

Yawn!

"I'm so tired. This damn weak body is getting on my nerves. Hopefully, my situation will improve when I reach the founding stage."

With fatigue running rampant in his body, Cain rested his head on his arms and fell asleep on the table.

...

Late into the night, Cain opened his eyes, only they were a deep red, glowing ceaselessly in the dark.

Standing up, he stretched and stealthily headed down to the first floor.

Creaking open the door to the outside, Cain peered out and saw the elder was sleeping soundlessly. He slid through the crack and made his way outside, to which he left the Library pavilion with great speed.

"Hmmm, there aren't many options to get the ball rolling. For now, I should just create some trouble and see how the sect reacts. I'll use this to see the attitude these so-called Immortals will take and then build off from there."

Cain headed towards the student dorms. "Hehehe, I hope for you to be a good guinea pig, my other self. Let's see how far I can go with this!"

He disappeared into the night. It was only until early morning when he returned.

Stealthily reentering the Library, Cain returned to the spot where he was previously sleeping. Entering the same position as before, he snickered to himself before his red eyes dimmed and returned to an emerald green.

...

Cain awoke. He felt a little odd but attributed it to sleeping while sitting.

"Only three more books left! I can do this!"

Suddenly, his jade glowed, so he used some of his spiritual energy to activate it. A message was transmitted to it.

"Oh? Zhao Long deciphered everything? That was quick. I hope we find something good!"

Cain forgot about the books before him as he left the library.

"Where are you going, kid? I thought you would be in there for weeks on end again." The old man questioned. 

"No time to talk, geezer! I got to go!"

Cain grabbed his flying leaf and flew through the air, leaving the pavilion.

The elder grumbled, "Damn pompous inner disciples and their gadgets. This new generation is going into the mud, no respect anymore...."

...

At the edge of the sect, Cain found Zhao Long waiting for him.

"Cain? How did you get a flying leaf? Aren't those only for inner disciples?"

Cain grinned, "They are! I became an inner disciple recently!"

"Oh? That's great! I've been stuck at home deciphering the map so I didn't hear any news. Was there a recruiting event? It's around that time...."

"Indeed! I did well, so I got picked."

Zhao Long smiled. "Well, we might have an easier time now. The map shows the location of a cave deep in the mountain range. I thought we were going to have to scale the mountain, but now we're going to have a much easier time!"

"Then let's leave immediately. I can't wait to find out what treasure the maps hold!" Cain stepped aside to make room on his leaf.

Zhao Long hopped onto Cain's flying leaf, and they flew into the sky, heading for the mountain filled to the brim with inheritances.

...

It was cold and windy, the mountain peaks were filled with ice and snow.

Two figures in robes trekked through the snow as their bodies glowed golden, their spiritual qi keeping them protected from the blistering frost.

Entering a cave, the light on their bodies dimmed.

Zhao Long took out a torch and lit it, illuminating the cave.

"This is it. Deeper in, we should find a wall of obsidian. Next to the wall should be a stalactite that we can push up, and the secret door will open."

Cain nodded, and the two journeyed into the cave.

As Zhao Long said, they eventually came to a giant obsidian wall. Pushing up a nearby stalactite, the obsidian wall crumbled, revealing a large hall illuminated by glowing orbs.

'Just like the ones in the library...'

The two Disciples entered the hall. On either side were weapons and armor lining the wall.

"It's like we're in a blacksmith shop...."

 Zhao Long corrected Cain, "No, this isn't some mortal means but an immortal's handiwork. This must be the work of an External Master. All external masters are similar to blacksmiths, making weapons and objects that sell for thousands of Spiritual Stones."

Spiritual Stones were the currency of cultivators. They came from natural mines or were taken from Spiritual Beasts, also known as Mythical Beasts of the 4th Tier and below. Some can also come from Demon Beasts.

Demonized beasts are the equivalent of weak demons; only until the 6th Tier do they become full-fledged demons with proper intelligence.

They are much more popular being hunted and used as currency due to their lower intelligence and weaker abilities. Demon Beasts especially aren't used much, they can only be seen used for slaves of the Demonic Sect.

"An External Master..." Cain stared at the works of art with great interest.

'No wonder there was a mechanism to enter, this place must be that master's secret hideout! I had plans to fiddle with External Harnessing to fix my weapons. This is perfect!'

At the end of the hall was a large door. Zhao Long quickly pushed it open. On the other side, a giant smithy was built into the cave. Cain could tell it was a smithy because of the hot magma radiating heat, causing the room to become extremely hot.

"This place must be connected to a volcano, but there are no volcanos topside...is there a volcano beneath the earth?"

Zhao Long didn't respond to Cain and stared as the bones lay against the forge.

"Ancestor....."

Cain's ear perked. 'Ancestor? Wait, this is his ancestor's inheritance? Then why was there an ambush before to get the map?'

(Kekeke, this child was born with heaven's fortune! This place must be a catalyst for him to soar! Quickly, kill him and take what belongs to us! Otherwise, we will never get another chance!)

'What?! Why are you talking now? Kill him? But....'

(No buts! Everyone is our enemy; we are outsiders! Kill this miserable wretch now! These coincidences point to fortune beyond our means! We must steal his opportunity!)

Killing intent leaked from Cain as his eyes took on a red hue. The green and red clashed, but green eventually came out on top.

(Hehe, he already felt the killing intent, now you have no choice!)

Indeed, Zhao had turned his head with confusion, a green glow was brewing in his chest.

"Cain? What did I just sense?"

Cain's brain quickly acted, and he came to a stupid idea.

"Ah! Zhao, I don't feel good. I think the heat is doing something to me. Can we leave?"

Cain completely ignored Zhao's question. Even so, Zhao's face loosened upon hearing him, and his eyes turned a little softer.

"Oh? You don't feel good? Is it a trap left by my ancestor? Here I'll help you out."

Zhao Long came to Cain's side and helped him up.

Discreetly, Cain took a sharp stalactite from the ground and held it behind his back.

"Once we reach the end of the hall, I'll set you down. I'll come get you once I'm done getting the rest of the inheritance."

Cain said nothing, continuing to groan and putting on an act.

As they stepped into the hall, Cain waited. Every sound seemed to grow louder in his ears, he began to feel his own heartbeat as his grip tightened on the stalactite, sweat dripping from his wrist.

'I'm sorry. But....he's right; I need everything I can get.'

In one swift motion, an unsuspecting friend found a large stone lodged in his neck. Blood seeped out as his vision became blurry, yet he held on as he stumbled back and watched his friend appear fine, other than their eyes becoming watery.

(What's wrong, this was going to happen. Accept it and get used to it.)

"No....this.....betraying someone. We've never done this, I've....I've never done this....."

Cain's heart strangely ached. Such a feeling only ever came over him when he lost something dear to him. But in this case, he was doing something he never thought he would resort to. 

(But it's needed. Isn't it better to be the one to stab someone in the back for once? Isn't it better to use minimum force to get what you desire!)

"No....No! This, this isn't right. I feel sick, I feel dirty...." He couldn't handle what he had done, clutching his head.

Cain thought even if he became morally grey, he could still keep his ideals. But he simply proved his convictions wrong, taking his own ally's life.

The inner voice grew colder, (This is the say of the world. We're all disgusting creatures deep down. Accept it, for it's one of life's many truths.)

"Cain? Why....what are you saying....are you okay?"

Zhao Long's voice was barely coherent, the gurgling blood making it hard to make anything out.

Even in the end, he thought his friend was being possessed or something similar. He was a fool, a fool who didn't deserve such an end.

Zhao Long's eyes became glossy, but his vitality surged. The light in his chest grew as his consciousness dissipated and a projection of a giant turtle emerged.

"It's his harnessed soul, a Mythical beast!"

(Quickly kill him! We can take the soul and use it! It must be high-level seeing it autonomous, a 5th Tier at the minimum! Since its master is dying it chose to come out and waste its life force!)

Cain readied himself. Without any weapon, this was going to be hard.