But then, the excitement on Clayne’s face slowly disappeared.

His expression stiffened.

The memories and understanding Zi Yue gave him were incredibly useful, but the more he sorted through them inside his mind, the more helpless he began to feel.

Because he realized something important.

Flying swords... were still useless to him right now.

Clayne slowly sat back against the desk while rubbing his forehead tiredly.

In Zi Yue’s memories, cultivators below Foundation Establishment could not truly release their spiritual Qi freely away from their bodies for long periods of time.

The Qi Infusion Realm only strengthened the body itself; Muscles, bones, organs and senses.

For short, at this stage, spiritual Qi remained mostly inside the cultivator’s body.

The Qi Condensation Realm allowed spiritual Qi to be projected slightly outside the body, strengthening attacks or coating weapons temporarily, but even then, the energy still needed contact.

Only after stepping into Foundation Establishment could a cultivator freely release spiritual Qi outward and control it properly at a distance.

That was the true requirement for controlling flying swords.

Which meant...

Even if Clayne completely understood the technique now...

He still could not use it.

At least not yet.

This realization made him feel strangely helpless.

Even though he had stepped onto the path of cultivation... even though he could bend metal with his hands... even though his senses and body had become far stronger than before...

He was still vulnerable, still trapped, and still hungry.

That last thought made his stomach growl immediately.

Clayne stared blankly ahead.

"...Right."

He was still human.

An immortal cultivator maybe...

But still human.

He still needed food, water, and most of all... rest.

And eventually, if he stayed trapped here without resources, cultivation alone would not save him.

For the first time since obtaining the cultivation method, Clayne felt slightly overwhelmed.

The excitement slowly faded, reality returned immediately.

Outside the classroom were zombies and some mutated zombies now too. Like the other strange one earlier.

Inside the room, his clothes smelled horrible. And he still had no real long term solution for survival.

Clayne sighed deeply.

Then slowly looked down at himself.

The dirty school uniform clung to him unpleasantly while the dried black impurities continued releasing a terrible smell.

"...What should I even do now?"

His gaze slowly drifted toward the Tiny Forest.

Then suddenly...

A thought came in his head.

Clayne’s eyes slowly widened.

"This is a fake world..."

He leaned closer toward the miniature.

At first, it was just a project.

Fake trees.

Fake grass.

Fake rivers.

Fake mountains.

But now...

It is clearly connected to a real cultivation world somehow.

And if that world existed...

Then wildlife should exist too.

Beasts, animals, fish and maybe insects.

If he could somehow attract them into the miniature...

Then maybe... just maybe... he could eat.

The moment the idea appeared, Clayne immediately looked toward the nearly empty water bottle beside him.

The mysterious water.

The water that somehow transformed ordinary things.

Clayne swallowed slightly.

"I’m not sure this will work..."

Still...

He could feel something telling him it would.

Without hesitation, he carefully poured a little water into his palm. Then slowly sprinkled it across one section of the miniature grasslands.

The moment the droplets landed—

Clayne froze.

The fake grass moved, not because of the wind, it actually moved.

The artificial green fibers he glued onto the cardboard ground slowly softened and straightened naturally like real living grass awakening from deep sleep.

Then—

Light appeared.

Tiny glowing particles rose from the grass itself.

The air above the miniature stirred faintly while strands of spiritual Qi flowed toward the grassy field from all directions.

The entire patch of land began glowing softly beneath the classroom light.

The fake grass transformed completely.

Each blade became livelier and looking more like natural grasses.

The spiritual Qi gathering around it became visible even to Clayne’s untrained eyes now.

Tiny lights drifted above the grasslands continuously like fireflies dancing through a mystical world.

Clayne stared blankly.

"...Holy shit."

He slowly reached down and touched the transformed grass.

He calf feel it softer, cooler and likely more real.

The sensation immediately made his scalp tingle. Then suddenly, he checked beneath the miniature carefully.

The bottom was still cardboard.

Hard cardboard.

Exactly like before... but strangely... the moment the glowing grass above swayed with spiritual Qi, the cardboard underneath softened slightly as though it had become living earth somehow.

Yet it was not wet.

Not muddy.

Just... just... somehow alive...?

Clayne’s eyes widened more and more.

"...Holy moly shit..."

His heart started pounding heavily. Then suddenly, excitement exploded inside him.

Without hesitation, he sprinkled more water.

This time, across the miniature hills, the droplets landed gently. Then the entire landscape trembled. The previously dull painted hills suddenly transformed.

The rocky surfaces became textured. Real soil spreads naturally.

Tiny cracks formed across the ground while spiritual Qi surged wildly around the mountains. The painted green coloring faded completely and transformed into actual living vegetation. The hills became real miniature mountains. Mist slowly formed around their peaks.

The spiritual Qi flowing around them thickened continuously.

Clayne nearly stopped breathing.

Then he immediately sprinkled more water onto the tiny trees.

The reaction became even more dramatic, the fake plastic trees suddenly grew, branches stretched outward rapidly, leaves thickened ans roots spread downward into the softened earth below.

The entire miniature forest transformed into a true mystical forest filled with spiritual energy.

The trees themselves began glowing faintly.

Tiny spiritual winds blew through the leaves while the surrounding air filled with fresh life.

Even the classroom around Clayne felt colder and richer from the spiritual Qi leaking outward.

Clayne almost jumped in excitement.

He quickly covered his mouth before accidentally laughing too loudly.

"It’s real..."

His eyes shone brightly.

"There’s actually a chance..."

Then suddenly...

A crazy idea appeared inside his head.

Clayne slowly looked toward the fake river running through the miniature world.

Earlier, it was nothing more than painted resin, artificial water.

But if the grass and trees became real...

Then what about the river?

His heartbeat sped up immediately.

"...No way..."

Still... He had to try.

Carefully, Clayne poured several more droplets directly into the fake river.

For one second—Nothing happened. Then suddenly—The river moved.

Real water surged through the miniature riverbed instantly.

The fake painted surface shattered apart beneath flowing currents while clear spiritual water rushed naturally through the valley. The sound of flowing water echoed faintly from the miniature itself.

Clayne’s mouth slowly opened.

The river... actually became real.

Even more shocking—The river continued flowing beyond the edges of the miniature itself.

One end disappeared toward distant mountains.

The other vanished into unseen horizons.

Like the river truly connected to a larger cultivation world beyond the boundaries of his project.

Clayne’s entire body trembled from excitement.

"Yes..."

"Yes!"

He nearly shouted.

If not for the zombies outside, he absolutely would have laughed loudly already.

His eyes remained locked onto the miniature world.

Then suddenly—

Movement appeared.

Tiny birds flew through the sky. Real birds... not fake decorations but actual living creatures. Several fish leaped from the river water next.

Clayne nearly lost his mind.

"There’s life..."

His voice came out weakly.

"There’s actual life..."

Then—

The forest shook.

Large trees bent apart. Heavy footsteps echoed through the miniature valley. And suddenly, unrealistically, a massive gorilla emerged.

Compared to the tiny world, the creature looked enormous.

Its body was covered with thick dark fur while spiritual Qi faintly flowed around its muscles.

The gorilla beat its chest proudly while roaring toward the heavens.

Clayne almost cried from happiness.

"Food...

"Actual food...

"Finally..."

Without wasting another second, Clayne immediately reached toward the miniature world carefully.

...

Meanwhile, inside the cultivation world...

The gorilla was currently experiencing the happiest moment of its life.

As a Second Realm Demon Beast, it already possessed basic intelligence far beyond ordinary beasts.

The moment it entered this newly transformed valley, it immediately sensed the difference.

The spiritual Qi here was unbelievably rich. Every breath filled its body with energy. The grass itself contained spiritual essence. The water flowing through the river strengthened its bloodline slightly with every drink.

Even the trees carried traces of spiritual energy.

The gorilla became ecstatic.

It had never encountered such a blessed place before. In the surrounding regions outside the valley, demon beasts constantly fought over territories rich in spiritual Qi.

Yet this place...?

This place felt like paradise for it.

The gorilla excitedly pounded its chest again while roaring proudly.

It was certain.

As long as it remained here...

It would continue breaking through.

Third Realm? Fourth Realm? Or maybe even higher!

The gorilla became so happy that it began running wildly around the valley in excitement.

Then suddenly, right above it, the sky darkened.

A massive shadow covered the land below.

The gorilla froze instantly.

Its instincts screamed at it.

Slowly... very slowly... it looked upward.

And it saw something it couldn’t believe, even if it told its gorilla ancestors.

A gigantic hand descending from the heavens.

The happiness in the gorilla’s eyes instantly turned into despair.

The demon beast did not even have time to react before the massive hand seized it completely.