Lucian sat on the edge of his bed, the Spirit Tempering Pill resting in his palm. It was small — no bigger than a marble — and glowed with a soft, pearlescent ligh. Permanently increasing mana capacity by 1,500 MPU was a gift most cultivators would kill for. For Rose, whose Bastion bloodline demanded enormous mana reserves to sustain her barriers, it could be the difference between Mid Core and Peak Core.

He stood up and walked to Rose’s room. He knocked twice.

"Come in," Rose called.

He opened the door. Rose was sitting cross-legged on her bed, her eyes closed, her green mana circulating in visible wisps around her body. She opened one eye.

"Lucian? What’s wrong?"

He held out the pill. "For you."

Rose stared at it. Her eyes went wide. "Is that—"

"Spirit Tempering Pill. Increases mana capacity permanently by 1,500 MPU."

Rose’s hands trembled as she took it.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"After your breakthrough to Core Realm, it’ll give you a bigger foundation."

She nodded, clutching the pill like it was made of diamonds.

Lucian left without another word and returned to his room. He closed the door. Locked it.

The Neophyte Breakthrough Pill sat in his palm. It was golden — a deep, warm gold that radiated mana like a tiny sun. He could feel the compressed energy inside it.

He sat on the floor in a lotus position.

He swallowed the pill.

The effect was immediate.

Heat — a roaring, molten inferno — erupted in his lower dantian. The pill dissolved on contact, releasing a torrent of refined mana that slammed into his Mana Core like a hammer hitting an anvil.

Lucian gritted his teeth. His meridians burned as the mana surged through them, widening, expanding, cracking open channels that had been sealed since birth. His Mana — a dense pool of liquid mana at his lower dantian — began to compress. Spin. Condense.

He activated the Blood Eclipse Art.

The technique responded instantly. Blood energy and mana began to circulate simultaneously through his meridians — two rivers flowing in parallel, each one amplifying the other. The ambient mana in the air was pulled toward him, drawn into his body like water into a drain. The room grew cold as the mana was stripped from the air.

The Blood Eclipse Art’s passive effect kicked in — 20% increased ambient mana absorption. The mana poured into his core, fueling the compression.

His dantian spun faster. The liquid mana grew denser. Heavier. The pool shrank, compressing, compressing, compressing—

BOOM.

A shockwave of mana exploded outward from his body. The windows rattled. The furniture shook. A crack appeared in the wall beside him. His bedsheets whipped into the air and settled in a pile across the room.

The compression continued. His core was almost there — almost at the threshold between Late Neophyte and Peak Neophyte. The barrier was thin. Paper-thin. He could feel it, a membrane of resistance that separated him from the next realm.

He pushed.

The Blood Eclipse Art roared. Blood energy flooded his meridians, merging with mana, creating a hybrid force that hit the barrier like a battering ram.

CRACK.

The barrier shattered.

An even stronger aura exploded outward. The floor beneath him cracked. The light bulb in the ceiling shattered, plunging the room into darkness. The walls groaned. Every piece of furniture in the room slid three inches backward from the sheer pressure of his breakthrough.

Peak Neophyte Realm.

Lucian’s eyes opened. His breath came out in slow, controlled bursts. The mana in his body had transformed — denser, richer, faster. His Mana was no longer a pool. It was a compressed sphere of liquid starlight, spinning like a miniature galaxy in his dantian.

He checked his mana capacity.

6,000 MPU had become 9,000 MPU.

Nine thousand. Comparable to a Core Realm cultivator. The bloodline boost, the cultivation breakthrough, and the Blood Eclipse Art’s passive absorption had compounded together, pushing his mana pool far beyond what any Neophyte should possess.

He exhaled slowly. Then reached into his shadow storage and pulled out two more pills — the Spirit Cleansing Pill and the Body Tempering Pill. He’d purchased them weeks ago from the system shop. There was no point waiting any longer.

He swallowed both simultaneously.

Pain.

The Spirit Cleansing Pill scoured his meridians, stripping away impurities, blockages, and residual mana contamination. The Body Tempering Pill simultaneously reinforced his muscles, bones, and organs, forcing them to adapt to a higher level of physical stress.

His bones cracked. Reformed. Hardened. His muscle fibers tore and rebuilt, denser and stronger. His organs pulsed as they were purified and strengthened. His skin tingled as toxins were expelled through his pores in a thin, foul-smelling sweat.

Lucian clenched his fists and endured. He’d endured worse at the Du Maurier estate. This was nothing.

An hour passed.

The pain subsided. The pills’ effects settled. Lucian sat in a pool of his own sweat, his body cleaner, stronger, and more efficient than it had ever been.

He opened his system.

╔═══════════════════╗

║ ETERNAL NIGHT SYSTEM ║

║ ══════════════════ ║

║ [ HOST ] Lucian Grimaud ║

║ [ RACE ] Vampire ║

║ [ AGE ] 16 ║

║ CULTIVATION BASE ║

║ ├─ Peak Neophyte Realm ║

║ ├─ Star Palaces: 2 ║

║ │ ├─ Light Palace (3/9 Stars) ║

║ │ └─ Crimson Origin (1/9 Stars) ║

║ └─ System Level: 10 ║

║ EXP: 1,650 / 50,000 ║

╠══════════════════╣

║ MANA ║

║ ├─ Capacity: 9,000 / 9,000 MPU ║

╠═══════════════════╣

║ PHYSICAL STATS║

║ ├─ Strength: 250 ║

║ ├─ Agility: 100 ║

║ ├─ Dexterity: 60 ║

║ ├─ Durability: 220 ║

║ ├─ Constitution: 240 ║

║ └─ Perception: 200 ║

╠═══════════════════╣

║ BLOODLINE: THE ANCIENT VAMPIRE ║

║ ├─ Seal: 86% LOCKED ║

║ ├─ Next Evolution: 80% ║

║ Active Abilities: ║

║ ├─ Blood Manipulation — S-Rank ║

║ ├─ Blood Sense — A-Rank (100m) ║

║ └─ Light Control — A-Rank ║

║ Cultivation Technique: ║

║ ├─ Blood Eclipse Art (10% Seal) ║

║ System Credits: 16,600 SC ║

╚════════════════════╝

Peak Neophyte. 9,000 MPU. Stats that would make most Core Realm cultivators jealous.

But Lucian wasn’t satisfied. Neophyte was still Neophyte. The wall between Neophyte and Core was one of the biggest bottleneck in the Astral Vein Ascension System. Crossing it meant compressing liquid mana into a solid core — a Mana Core. The foundation of all future cultivation.

For the first time, Lucian addressed the system directly in his thoughts.

"System. What are the steps to break through to the Core Realm?"

The system responded instantly.

╔═══════════════════════╗

║ ⚠ — CORE REALM BREAKTHROUGH GUIDE ⚠ ║

║ To break through from Peak Neophyte to Early Core Realm, the cultivator must: ║

║ 1. Compress liquid mana in the dantian into a solid Mana Core. ║

║ 2. The compression process requires extreme mana density, a stable meridian network, and a catalyst (typically a Core Condensation Pill or natural mana vein). ║

║ 3. The quality of the formed Core determines the cultivator’s future. ║

║ ════════════════════ ║

║ CORE GRADES: ║

║ 1. STANDARD CORE ║

║ — Formed through basic compression. ║

║ — Mana capacity: +2,000-3,000 MPU ║

║ — Spell casting speed: +10% ║

║ — Future limit: Grand Core Realm ║

║ — Ability affinity increase: Minor ║

║ 2. FLAWLESS CORE ║

║ — Formed through refined compression with high-quality catalysts. ║

║ — Mana capacity: +4,000-5,000 MPU ║

║ — Spell casting speed: +25% ║

║ — Future limit: Domain Realm ║

║ — Ability affinity increase: Moderate║

║ 3. LEGENDARY CORE ║

║ — Formed through extreme compression with rare catalysts and bloodline ║

║ reinforcement. ║

║ — Mana capacity: +6,000-8,000 MPU ║

║ — Spell casting speed: +50% ║

║ — Future limit: ??? ║

║ — Ability affinity increase: Major ║

║ 4. PERFECT CORE ║

║ — Formed through perfect compression with supreme catalysts, bloodline resonance, and elemental harmony. ║

║ — Mana capacity: +10,000-15,000 MPU║

║ — Spell casting speed: +100% ║

║ — Future limit: ???║

║ — Ability affinity increase: Supreme║

║ 5. TRANSCENDENT CORE ║

║ — Formation conditions: ??? ║

║ — Mana capacity: ??? ║

║ — Spell casting speed: ??? ║

║ — Future limit: ??? ║

║ — Ability affinity increase: ??? ║

║ ════════════════════════ ║

║ NOTE: Core grade determines the ceiling of your cultivation. A ║

║ Standard Core cultivator can never exceed Grand Core Realm, regardless of talent or resources unless they encounter some kind of fortune. ║

║ Core grade also permanently increases affinity with your innate abilities. Ability ranks (F through

║ SSS) are based on this affinity. ║

║ Higher affinity = higher ability grade ceiling. ║

║ Example: An A-Rank ability with a Legendary Core may evolve to S-Rank over time due to increased affinity.║

║ The same ability with a Standard Core will remain A-Rank permanently.║

╚═══════════════════════════╝

Lucian read the information twice. Then a third time.

The Core grade determined everything. Mana capacity. Spell casting speed. Future cultivation limits. Ability evolution. Everything.

A Standard Core capped you at Grand Core. A Flawless Core at Domain. A Legendary Core, Perfect Core and a Transcendent Core... the system listed nothing. Just question marks.

Which meant it was beyond anything the system could quantify at his current level.

A Standard Core would give him 2,000-3,000 MPU and a minor affinity increase. Enough for most cultivators. The vast majority of humanity formed Standard Cores. A Flawless Core was the mark of talent and wealth — the product of good genes, expensive pills, and elite training. The top clan heirs aimed for Flawless or Legendary.

Lucian’s lips curved into a cold smile.

He wasn’t aiming for Standard. He wasn’t aiming for Flawless. He wasn’t even aiming for Legendary or Perfect.

The system pulsed.

╔═════════════════════╗

║ ⚠ — QUEST GENERATED — ⚠ ║

║ FORM THE TRANSCENDENT CORE ║

║ Objective: Break through to Core Realm and form a Transcendent Core. ║

║ Conditions: ??? (Will be revealed as host progresses) ║

║ Time Limit: None ║

║ Reward: ??? ║

║ Difficulty: IMPOSSIBLE ║

╚══════════════════════╝

Impossible.

Lucian stared at the word. His smile widened.

"Impossible is just a word," he murmured. "And I’ve never been good at following rules."

He dismissed the notification, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate.