Clayne finally understood now.

The reason why he could move so calmly under pressure. The reason why he adapted so quickly inside the zombie apocalypse. The reason why his body reacted naturally against danger despite being an ordinary student just yesterday. It was because of the instinct he devoured earlier.

The soul inside the ring.

The laughing soul cultivator.

When Clayne crushed that soul to death inside his consciousness earlier, fragments of instinct and battle experience must have remained behind unconsciously.

That was why everything felt strangely natural now.

Why throwing weapons became easier. Why moving silently through danger felt instinctive. Why his body seemed calmer than his mind during life and death situations.

Realizing this, Clayne slowly inhaled deeply. Then nodded toward Zi Yue.

Zi Yue respectfully lowered her head slightly.

"I will leave now, Senior."

Her voice remained weak, but determination filled her eyes once more.

Clayne quietly nodded.

Then...

Zi Yue left.

Her figure slowly disappeared deeper into the miniature cultivation world until eventually, only the glowing spiritual forest remained behind.

For several moments, Clayne remained silent while staring at the sword she left behind.

Then slowly...

He picked it up carefully.

The sword looked tiny within his fingers. Yet despite its size, spiritual Qi faintly flowed around it continuously.

Clayne no longer wasted time.

Without hesitation—

Crack.

He broke the sword apart with his fingers.

Immediately, swoosh! Spiritual Crawled all the way up through his arms like a snake, until it passed through his shoulder, neck, and reached his head.

Boom!

Something exploded directly inside his consciousness.

Clayne’s vision blurred instantly.

Then suddenly—

Words.

Endless words.

Massive streams of information flooded into his mind continuously like rivers pouring endlessly through his consciousness, including cultivation methods, breathing techniques, meridian circulation paths, sword movement arts, qi control methods, and body strengthening principles.

The amount of information entering his mind became enormous.

Then slowly...

The inheritances began organizing themselves.

First...

The basic cultivation methods for ordinary disciples appeared.

Outer disciple cultivation arts, including breathing methods focused on stabilizing spiritual Qi, sword stance foundations, body conditioning exercises, and beginner qi circulation techniques for entering the Qi Infusion Realm.

Then came techniques for Upper Outer Disciples.

These methods became more refined.

Spiritual Qi circulation grew faster, sword control techniques became sharper, and movement arts that allowed cultivators to step lightly across terrain appeared continuously within his consciousness.

Then—

Inner disciple inheritances, lower inner disciple techniques, middle inner disciple methods, upper inner disciple arts, deeper and more complicated information, sword projection techniques, qi reinforcement methods, sword resonance principles, spiritual pressure release techniques, and meditation methods for sharpening spiritual senses all accumulated in his mind.

Then came—

Core Disciple inheritances.

Lower Core Disciple methods.

Middle Core Disciple arts.

Upper Core Disciple cultivation techniques.

These methods already surpassed ordinary cultivation entirely.

Clayne could see techniques capable of splitting boulders apart through sword Qi.

Movement methods allowing cultivators to leap across forests effortlessly.

Sword arts focused entirely upon killing speed.

Even spiritual techniques capable of manipulating multiple swords simultaneously appeared, followed by elder inheritances including lower elder, middle elder, and upper elder techniques, until finally high elder techniques emerged.

The moment these appeared, Clayne’s breathing slightly quickened.

The High Elder methods felt completely different from everything before.

They were deeper, sharper, and far more dangerous.

The cultivation circulation paths became unbelievably complicated while sword arts inside the inheritance felt capable of destroying entire groups of enemies effortlessly.

There were sword formations.

Mental sword control techniques.

Methods capable of condensing sword intent itself.

Some techniques even required understanding emotions, killing intent, and mental clarity simultaneously.

The amount of information entering Clayne’s head became absurdly vast.

Yet strangely...

He could understand it.

Not perfectly.

But enough.

The inheritance felt like organized memories instead of random information.

Eventually...

The flood of knowledge slowly stopped.

Clayne finally opened his eyes again.

Then immediately—

A satisfied expression appeared on his face.

No...

Satisfied was not enough.

He felt incredibly satisfied.

Because now...

He truly possessed a complete cultivation inheritance.

Not random scraps.

Not incomplete methods.

A real sect inheritance.

An actual cultivation path.

And more importantly...

He finally knew how to cultivate properly now.

Clayne slowly nodded to himself.

Then immediately attempted using the Silent Sword Sect cultivation method inside his consciousness.

But suddenly—

His expression froze.

Because a restriction appeared.

Inside his mind itself, a spiritual restriction blocked his access toward the deeper cultivation methods.

Words appeared clearly within his consciousness.

Only members of the Silent Sword Sect may cultivate these methods.

Clayne blinked.

Then stared blankly ahead.

"...What the?"

He genuinely became speechless.

Even cultivation methods had membership restrictions?

For several moments, Clayne simply sat there quietly before sighing deeply.

Then he shook his head.

"Fine."

Slowly...

Clayne closed his eyes again.

Then quietly whispered.

"From now on..."

His voice remained soft inside the restroom.

"...I am a member of the Silent Sword Sect."

He paused briefly.

Then continued more seriously.

"I, Clayne..."

"...accept the inheritance of the Silent Sword Sect."

"I will cultivate its methods."

"I will carry its teachings."

"I will not intentionally betray its inheritance."

His voice echoed quietly inside the empty restroom.

The surrounding spiritual Qi lightly stirred.

Still...

Nothing happened.

The restriction remained completely unmoved.

Clayne slowly opened one eye.

"...Seriously?"

Then he frowned slightly.

"Am I not sincere enough?"

He thought briefly afterward.

Honestly...

Earlier, he only wanted access to the cultivation methods.

That was all.

But now that he thought about it carefully...

The Silent Sword Sect had genuinely helped him greatly already.

Zi Yue helped him repeatedly despite her own dangers.

The inheritance itself gave him a path to survive.

Without cultivation...

He probably would already be dead inside the zombie apocalypse.

Thinking this far...

Clayne slowly inhaled again.

This time...

His expression became much more serious.

Then quietly—

He spoke once more.

"From this moment onward..."

"...I sincerely acknowledge myself as a member of the Silent Sword Sect."

His voice became calmer.

"I accept its cultivation."

"I accept its inheritance."

"I accept its path."

"If I possess the ability in the future..."

"...I will not allow the Silent Sword Sect’s teachings to disappear."

His breathing slowed.

"I will cultivate seriously."

"I will not disgrace the inheritance granted to me."

"And if the sect faces danger someday..."

"...I will help if I possess the strength."

The moment those words ended—

Buzz.

Something inside his consciousness trembled lightly.

Then suddenly—

The restriction disappeared completely.

Immediately afterward—

The cultivation methods fully opened before him.

Clayne’s eyes widened slightly.

"...It worked."

Without wasting another second, he immediately sat down cross legged properly inside the restroom.

Then slowly...

He began cultivating.

The Silent Sword Sect cultivation method started circulating automatically within his body according to the inheritance inside his consciousness.

Unlike before...

This cultivation method felt cleaner.

Sharper.

More stable.

Spiritual Qi slowly entered his body through breathing.

Then carefully flowed through specific meridian paths inside him.

Every circulation route became extremely organized.

The spiritual Qi no longer moved chaotically like before.

Instead, it traveled like flowing rivers through established channels.

Clayne could clearly feel the difference immediately.

Earlier cultivation felt rough.

Primitive.

Like blindly absorbing power.

But now...

The Silent Sword Sect method refined everything carefully.

Spiritual Qi entered through breathing.

Passed through the lungs.

Then slowly circulated toward specific meridians before gathering into his dantian.

The process felt smooth.

Controlled.

Natural.

Gradually...

The surrounding spiritual Qi inside the restroom began gathering around him continuously.

Even the tiny cultivation world nearby reacted.

The grasses glowed brighter.

The spiritual river flowed faster.

Spiritual mist slowly drifted toward Clayne continuously.

And because the restroom still contained traces of spiritualized water nearby...

The amount of spiritual Qi entering his body became even greater.

Clayne’s breathing slowed further.

Then—

His body suddenly trembled lightly.

Warmth spread throughout his entire body.

Not painful warmth.

Refreshing warmth.

His muscles became lighter.

His senses sharper.

His vision clearer.

The Silent Sword Sect cultivation method continuously purified spiritual Qi before integrating it into his body.

Impurities slowly emerged again from his skin.

Dark substances seeped outward continuously.

But compared to earlier, the amount became much smaller now.

Because the cultivation method itself already refined spiritual Qi more efficiently.

Then slowly...

Clayne began understanding something else.

The Silent Sword Sect cultivation emphasized sharpness.

Precision.

Focus.

Sword cultivators refined not only spiritual Qi...

But intent itself.

That was why during cultivation, Clayne could feel his mind becoming calmer and more focused naturally.

His hearing sharpened further.

His reaction speed improved slightly.

Even his awareness of danger became more sensitive.

The longer he cultivated...

The more obvious the transformation became.

Spiritual Qi continuously accumulated within his dantian little by little.

The cultivation method repeatedly compressed and refined the energy carefully.

Time slowly passed.

Outside the restroom, faint zombie growls occasionally echoed again.

But now...

Clayne barely paid attention anymore.

His concentration completely immersed itself within cultivation.

Then eventually—

Clayne slowly opened his eyes again.

A faint smile appeared across his face.

Success.

He truly succeeded.

But then—

His gaze casually drifted toward the tiny cultivation world nearby.

And immediately—

He froze.

"...Huh?"