On the following day, Isshin was called to an open trial along with the disciple that attacked him. The mood was tense, and the news spread like fire among people. Disciples swarmed out of curiosity, and the three elders—Elder Shen from Soul Peak, Elder Liang from Red Valley Peak, and Elder Han from Zyn Peak—stood in front, presiding over the scene.
Elder Liang crossed his arms, looking at Isshin. "And this, I presume, is the new disciple. Causing trouble on his second day… not precisely the most auspicious beginning."
The sect master and the two sect leaders were absent, deeming the issue beneath their notice. Elder Shen, who had witnessed personally what had transpired, stepped forward to oversee the trial.
He turned towards the attacker. "Speak. What do you have to say for yourself?" He commanded.
The disciple waved his arms frantically at Isshin, his eyes wide with hysteria. "He's not human! I saw it! He's a demon—look for yourself!"
The crowd broke into murmurs. Elder Shen let out a heavy sigh, his voice low but firm. "You're accusing a fellow disciple of being a demon without proof. Do you have any logical reason?"
He could not respond before the disciple shouted once more. "He has spirits! Evil spirits! I—I saw them in the room!"
Elder Shen shifted his attention to Isshin. "Isshin, what do you have to say for yourself?"
"I don't know what he's going on about," Isshin replied, his voice level. "He snuck into my room at midnight and attempted to kill me. I defended myself. This is his way of trying to justify it by claiming I'm a demon."
The assailant yelled over him again. "No! It's not a lie—he has a demonic spirit!"
Elder Shen glanced down briefly. "We lack a priest here to confirm any accusations of spiritual possession… but Isshin, would you like to explain?
Isshin hesitated for a moment before providing a composed response. "I do have spirit contracts. Two or more of them. That's why I'm able to use so many kinds of qi. But nothing demon-related. That charge is a cover-up for what he did."
The courtyard was again filled with whispering voices.
"Multiple spirits?"
"How's that even possible?"
"I thought one was already rare…"
With no proof and witnesses placing him at the scene, the attacker had no defense. He was taken into custody, his punishment to be decided later.
The day went on. Isshin, Rune, and Karin readily chose to head out and hunt beasts in the outer wild. They required beast cores to exchange for credits—such things as pills, equipment, and cultivation scriptures did not come cheap.
Golden Core Realm creatures ranged from 10 credits for Stage 1 cores to 100 credits at Stage 4 and beyond. Nascent Soul Realm creatures started at 2,000 credits per core but were notoriously hard to kill, typically stronger than cultivators of the same stage.
They followed a winding woodland trail by the gates of the sect, amidst the whisper of trees and far-off growls.
Isshin, do you want to take the left section with us?" Rune asked.
Isshin shook his head. "I'll diverge for a little while. There's something I want to check out a bit, i will talk to you guys later"
Rune's eyebrow rose. "You sure you'll be alright on your own?"
"Aye. I shall not go far."
Karin nodded. "Alright. Be careful."
When he was far enough out of sight, Isshin stopped and closed his eyes. He called upon his inner world, requesting the Skeleton King and the undead soldiers to materialize. They appeared one by one silently, all of them eager to stretch their limbs after weeks being confined.
I need you all to disperse and hunt," ordered Isshin. "Hunt only Golden Core and Nascent Soul beasts. I need the cores.".
The Skeleton King grinned. "With pleasure, my lord. This should be… entertaining."
Although his undead did most of the work, Isshin contributed where he could, killing some of the higher-stage creatures with thunder-based spells. But the true strength was in the synergy—every kill by his army earned him experience, leveling him up.
Within a few hours, the army collected more than 200 Golden Core cores—mostly stage 7 to 9—and 30 Nascent Soul 1st Stage cores. Isshin filled them into a gigantic spirit bag and came back to Rune and Karin.
They stared in amazement at the bulging pouch.
"What the hell did you find in there?" Rune asked.
Karin's eyebrow rose. "That's more than the three of us would've earned in a week."
Isshin shrugged. "Guess I was lucky. Must've wandered into a migration zone or something."
They did not push it, even though curiosity was present in their eyes. After returning, Isshin went straight to the trade center of the sect and turned in half of the Nascent Soul cores and all the Golden Core ones.
The clerk blinked a number of times. "Two hundred twenty thousand credits?"
Even the sect's inventory system paused for a second. Isshin was speechless.
He utilized the credits to purchase quality cultivation pills, nice attire, and some talismans. He went back to his room and placed everything Isshin did not need an alchemy lab. Raijin's thunder-style cultivation allowed him to inject raw cores directly into his body—dangerous for most cultivators, but his peculiar spirit synergy allowed him to do this. He set the pills aside, then opened the packet of Nascent Soul beast cores that he reserved for himself. The cores glowed softly with spiritual power, each containing the condensed essence of mighty creatures. The room was dark, aside from the soft glow of a qi lantern on the wall. The sect outside was dispersing, but Isshin's true work had only just started. He sat cross-legged on the floor, calmed his breathing, and concentrated. Thunder qi flickered at his fingertips as Raijin did his work. He looked at the cores again. "This has to get me going… if only a bit." With that, he aimed at the first core