Shifting into a wyvern's form, Clifford flapped his wings before taking off into the skies, heading west toward the capital city of the empire, which was his destination.
Seven hours later, Clifford flew above a relatively large swamp, confirming he was on the right path to the capital city. A few more hours passed, and as night approached, he found himself flying above the Grand Plains, which had a long paved road leading to the capital city.
Noticing the city in the distance, Clifford slowed down and gradually transformed into his human form before diving toward the grass. Landing, he stood up and made his way to the road. Following it, Clifford reached the main city gates by dawn.
"Bring out your identity card or pay the entrance fee." Standing at the gates, Clifford realized he couldn't enter since he didn't have an identity card, but he didn't mind paying. Although he could have used any of the cards he had taken from cultivators along with their forms, he knew that their soul mark would eventually disappear once a person met their demise. In his case, it vanished immediately.
Clifford was allowed in after giving the guards three hundred spirit stones. They recommended he request an ID so he wouldn't have to pay the entrance fee the next time he came. On his way to the registration office, Clifford was mesmerized by how clean the houses and roads were compared to Spiral City, acknowledging the city as worthy of being the center of the empire.
After an hour of leisurely walking through the streets, Clifford arrived at the building. Finding a young girl at a desk next to the door, Clifford approached her to inquire about the procedure for obtaining an identity card.
"Please fill in your first name in this field and your last name here, then sign using your soul mark next to it." Handing him a paper, she requested fifty spirit stones as a fee and some information to proceed. Agreeing right away, Clifford paid the fee and started filling in his information.
"Sir, you might not want to use a noble name," she warned, pausing for a second as she saw his name. "Unless you can handle the trouble it might bring."
Partner, since you are becoming a devil soon. Why don't you come up with a name that suits you better? Thinking deeply, Clifford considered whether he should use that name, which drew the devil core's attention to him. Hearing the core's thoughts, Clifford asked the girl for another paper while contemplating a name that suited his character best.
Once he made up his mind, Clifford proceeded to write Archdevil in the first name field and Predatoria in the last name field. Since he would be a devil soon, he decided to use his first name as a title.
Although he chose 'arch' referring to his strength and 'devil' referring to his race, Clifford didn't know that 'Archdevil' was a title referring to creatures that stood on the top of this world. Remembering the hundreds he had devoured and those he had hunted down, he acknowledged that his true nature was that of a predator, so he chose 'Predatoria' as his last name.
Reading the information he wrote, the girl didn't seem to care much about his name, given that she was used to cultivators using titles instead of their true names. After signing the paper, she handed it back to him and guided him to continue his procedure. A couple of minutes later, upon entering a room, he was asked to place his hand on an artifact to determine his age.
Once done, he was given a receipt and told to return three days later to receive his identity card. Leaving the building, Clifford looked for a safe place to spend the night. Soon enough, he found an inn that rented rooms to cultivators using spirit stones as payment. After paying, Clifford was given a room key.
Having heard a couple of cultivators talking about the academy registration coming in three months, Clifford decided to resume his cultivation to have a higher chance, as he had changed his mind and aimed for the royal academy instead of the main branch he came from.
Apparently, he could strengthen and expand it, and attuning it to elements was fine too, but the core didn't recommend it since it had a plan for him.
Starting with his meridians, Clifford continued making paths that connected to his dantian. Time passed quickly, and seven more paths were created. Knowing that only two months were left before the admission, he decided to work on expanding his dantian.
His understanding of how this process worked allowed him to finish relatively quickly. All he had to do was to push his Qi, located in his stomach, in all directions to forcibly expand it. Although painful, he didn't care, as he was numb by now.
One and a half months later, Clifford successfully pushed his dantian to its limit, increasing its diameter by five inches, reaching twelve inches in total.