After Cain spent what seemed like hours letting everything out, Fang Yuan suggested waiting for a while before attempting to break through. Strong emotions could be the end for a cultivator.

Cain agreed and spent the day sleeping. When he woke up, he felt much better, as if a great weight had been lifted from his soul.

His mood improved even more when he tried to talk to his other self, but was left in silence.

But do not misunderstand; Cain was not a child. He did not fear killing, nor did he care about the consequences of his actions. His other self was simply akin to a night terror, a deep-rooted fear in his mind that had plagued him for years.

The thought of such a terror caused him to shiver, reaching a point where he just wanted it all to be over. The stress was like an ocean.

This is why he simply listened to his inner voice's every word.

Along with that, Cain suddenly came to the realization that many of his memories were foggy, the only shining light in the darkness was the strange memories he believed to be his childhood in his home territory.

Although these visions were strange and scary, he held onto them because they didn't scare him as much as the person in his head.

However now, for the first time in his existence, Cain felt safe; he felt free in his Master's presence. This gave him the resolve to attempt the breakthrough.

Once again, he sat on Origin Peak, readying his spiritual energy as he gathered it in his right arm. He held onto the heavenly jade, taking a wisp of heavenly energy and throwing it into the gathered mixture of qi. The energy began to glow white and pure.

Breaking through to the Founding Stage wasn't difficult; the only requirement was the presence of enough energy and a technique that properly directed that energy. The hard part was concentrating and not messing up the sigils, symbols, or hieroglyphs one required to inscribe on their flesh.

For the Heavenly Body Technique, Cain had to inscribe strange sigils on his arm. The sigils had to be proportionate to his arm with wide spacing and size. Only once this step was done, Cain had to infuse the diluted heavenly energy into his arm and create new veins.

If he succeeded, the sigils would glow red with blood before the veins switched to only cycling spiritual qi from the Dantian.

With the heavenly energy, the laws of his body could warp, allowing for blood not to flow into the sigils thanks to the energy's restrictions. 

Artificial qi tubes would be a more accurate term for them. 

By the end, Cain's arm would be able to house any soul of any tier and even gain a small increase in strength. From there, he could decide if he wished to use the soul's energy to strengthen his arm physically or harness its energy for his personal use.

Thankfully, a spirit was already a type of soul, so it didn't need to be killed. And since it was a spiritual being, Cain would, of course, not use his energy to temper his body but grant himself access to sword energy.

With sword energy, he could now practice his master's sword arts.

The process of inscribing the sigils went smoothly. At the step of creating veins, Cain had a hiccup, but Fang Yuan helped, and gave his qi as a support, at the cost of some more heavenly energy.

In the end, Cain succeeded in forming his arm into a living seal.

Cain then took the 8th Tier Sword Spirit from his master and put it into his arm. Immediately, the strange sigils glowed white before disappearing, then shining a deep blue.

"Congratulations! Now, it's time to test your new abilities as a First Step Founding Stage Cultivator!"

Fang Yuan waved his hand, and a giant rainbow rock appeared before him.

"Even tier 6 beings can barely damage rainbow stone; this is why it's used to create powerful artifacts. Of course, you have little spiritual energy to fully use the spirit's sword energy but don't worry, as time passes, your Dantian will naturally expand."

Cain nodded in excitement. For the first time, he gained power all his own.

Raising his hand, it began to glow blue as a sharp energy surrounded his hand. With a swing, the energy was launched out and hit the rainbow stone, causing a large but shallow mark.

Fang Yuan cheered. "Well done my disciple! Let us celebrate, then I will teach you my sword arts!"

"Yes, Master!"

Fang Yuan brought Cain inside their home and proceeded to cook him a 15-course meal. By the end of it, Cain's stomach was so large he had to cycle his spiritual qi to fasten his metabolism.

...

"Master, why didn't you get him arrested? I told you he's evil!"

Zoe was before her master, holding back her anger, and revealing her frustration.

'I must succeed! Although he's now acting strange, he can't be trusted, he's too powerful. No matter what, he's a plague on the world; he's eventually going to do something terrible. I must urge Master!'

Grand Elder Moon frowned.

"Zoe, I need evidence to convict him. Plus, Fang Yuan is protecting him now; I always knew him to be a madman, but that was only when it came to cultivating. Nonetheless, you don't have to worry; I believe you. I will soon be borrowing an Imperial Arms from a friend. It holds a Mythical Beast that has powers in divination and seeing the past."

"Really?! A 6th Tier Spiritual tool?!" Zoe's eyes lit up with excitement.

Lady Moon smiled; she spoiled her student, to the point she might even make an enemy out of Elder Fang.

"Of course, my Disciple. It should be coming soon, in a few months to a year, I'm sure."

'A few months....that would be a long time if it were before.'

Lifespan to a cultivator wasn't much. By harnessing the souls of creatures that had long lifespans, they too could live long.

Yet even for growth stage cultivators, it was only possible to live for about 500 years maximum. This was why the Immortal Sect's longevity spirits sold like hotcakes. A single longevity spirit could increase the lifespan of a cultivator for hundreds of years; the more high-end ones were in the thousands.

In the end, Zoe thanked her master and left to cultivate; she recently got her soul to harness, so now she was preparing to use her technique.

...

On the top of Origin Peak, a lesson commenced.

"Now, when learning my Sword Art, you must realize the heavens are neutral; only when someone upsets the balance will they act. So when executing the Sword Art, you must not contain even a hint of emotion or it will fail.

"In addition, my sword art focuses on projecting sword energy to create illusionary swords. When you reach a certain level within the technique, even your most basic attacks will hold the will of heaven, suppressing your opponents.

"And if you can reach my level, you can even summon the will of heaven! Besides this technique, I will teach you two others that rely on using a sword. Are you ready to learn?"

Cain became very decisive; his heart pounded. "Yes, Master!"