Bloodline Evolution: I Can Choose Opposing Paths-Chapter 8: Under Water’s Fall

Aren didn’t hesitate for long after making his decision.

Once he returned home, he emptied what little money he had left onto the table and counted it twice. The number didn’t change. It was barely enough, but he wasn’t planning on leaving himself any room for comfort anyway.

The next morning, he went straight to the department store.

The clerk gave him a strange look when he asked for thick copper wire, the industrial grade kind, the ones usually used for grounding large equipment.

Not to mention the kid was only buying one bundle. Nonetheless, Aren didn’t explain himself, he simply paid, shoved it under his arms, and left.

By the time he stepped back onto the street, his wallet was empty.

The wire was heavier than he expected and awkward to carry.

Good. If it felt convenient now, then it would matter later.

"A fool prays for an easier road while a wise man prays for stronger legs, right?" Aren muttered.

He didn’t rush into things.

Over the next few days, Aren traveled into the nearby wilderness, moving farther each time. He wasn’t training yet, just observing the best spot to carry out his experiment.

He avoided wooded areas first. Too many trees, too much risk of fire. Then rocky ridges, where the ground was uneven and the stone too shallow to properly anchor anything. Some hills were tall but exposed, visible from far too many directions.

He discarded them all.

Eventually, he found it.

The highest hill in the area, standing alone from the others, flat at the top, clear of trees, and had firm soil that sank just deep enough to hold the metal securely.

Aren stood there for a long moment, the wind tugging lightly at his clothes.

This would work.

When he returned home that evening, his father barely looked up from what he was doing.

"I’ll be heading out for a few days," Aren said casually. "Camping. Training a bit."

His father paused, then glanced over. "By yourself?"

"No," Aren replied. "CEO Wright will be there. He invited me."

It was obviously a lie, but it worked.

His father’s shoulders relaxed almost immediately. "Ah... if it’s with him, that’s fine. Don’t overdo it."

"I won’t."

***

The weather didn’t cooperate at first.

For several days, the sky remained stubbornly clear. Clouds drifted lazily overhead, offering no sign of the storm he was waiting for.

Aren didn’t force it.

Until then, there was something more immediate he needed to deal with.

The tournament.

It sat at the back of his mind constantly. It happened at the end of the month, and he was supposed to compete with Lin’er.

Aren knew the baseline.

Most competitors wouldn’t be impressive in terms of Lines. One Line, maybe two at most. But that wasn’t what decided fights at this level.

It was refinement.

Anyone who was even a tiniest bit noteworthy would have their element refined to Early Stage 3.

So he set a clear goal for himself: to reach Early Stage 3 in Water refinement before the end of the month.

The nearby waterfall was perfect.

A natural source of dense Water ether, steady and unyielding, ideal for absorbing, circulating, and tempering his element.

When Aren stepped beneath it for the first time, the impact knocked the breath from his lungs. The weight of the water slammed against his shoulders, forcing him to brace his legs just to remain standing.

The water was cold.

His teeth clenched.

This body was still weak.

Even something as simple as enduring the flow was difficult now. He could feel it immediately—how much cultivation he’d lost and how fragile his foundation still was.

But he had to endure.

Aren knew how important Elemental Refinement was. A Bloodline was just the shape of power, a manifestation of a person’s lineage. Elements were the main driving power.

A Mystic who could draw two Lines but had low refinement would still lose miserably to someone with a single Line, but higher refinement.

He steadied his breathing beneath the falling water.

If Aren wanted to survive the tournament...

This was where it started.

Days began to blur together after that.

Each morning, Aren climbed the path to the waterfall. Each evening, he returned the same way...soaked, shivering, and barely steady on his feet.

Some days, he made it home sniffing, fingers numb and unresponsive. Other days, he collapsed into his bed without even bothering to dry his clothes first.

Sometimes he’d even skip his meals.

Still, he went back.

Again and again.

Beneath the waterfall, he forced himself to circulate ether through his ether channels that resisted at every turn. The golden pathways inside his Canvas were still clogged with impurities, refusing to carry power cleanly.

So he guided it manually.

Thread by thread.

Where most novices let ether flow naturally and hoped refinement would come with time, Aren didn’t have that luxury.

Though his understanding of his ether channels was far deeper than most at this level, thankfully, he kept his years of knowledge from being one of the top Hunters.

After a week, he’d done it.

Aren had reached Early Stage 2.

He didn’t celebrate.

He went back the next day.

Another week passed.

By then, the cold no longer shocked him when he stepped beneath the waterfall. His breathing fell into rhythm almost immediately, ether circulating with far less effort than before.

When the shift came this time, it was unmistakable.

Early Stage 3.

Aren exhaled slowly and stepped back from the waterfall. Slowly, he descended into his Inner Canvas again to check his progress.

He picked up his Internal Brush and wrote one single word in the blank space.

Record.

Ink started shifting from the pen, condensing and forming information about himself.

Name: Aren

Bloodline: Azure Flood Dragon

Lines: 1

Elements: Water (Early Stage 3)

Arts: [Dragon’s Claw]

He returned to the outside world, looking around and spotting a nearby tree.

Aren flexed his fingers once.

"Dragon’s Claw."

Ether surged.

Three arcs of compressed water snapped into existence in front of him in the shape of a claw. The slashes crossed the distance in an instant.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then—

Three clean lines appeared across the trunk.

The upper section slid forward, followed by the middle, then the base, each segment separating perfectly, falling to the ground.

Aren lowered his hand.

"This will do."