Lips didn't have much regarding possessions. The cave she lived in had bare minimum essentials. In fact, to call it living was a stretch. She had a wolfbear pelt on the ground, a small fire pit, a table, and a chair. There wasn't any food in the cave nor any personal possessions. She didn't even have a weapon, which wasn't necessary based on her size and skill. She could still muscle her way through most fights if she couldn't use mana.

My guess was Lips was cultivating in seclusion. Perhaps she pursued a spiritual or mental pathway. She could've been refining her mana, similar to what I did in the springs. I'd be revisiting the springs after a few more runs like this. That still left to question what all the wolfbears were doing in the cavern. Lips didn't seem to be watching the herd or caring for them. That led me to believe that there was another part of this dungeon I hadn't discovered.

I cleared the dungeon fifty more times. As far as I could tell, Lip's room was as far as the dungeon went. I could either circle around to the front where the path branched or head back to the den of wolfbears. The mystery made no sense, and I scoured the area for a satisfying conclusion. None were found, and I was left none-the-wiser. Regardless, it was time to move on and live in the light. Over two years was more than enough time for anyone to spend underground, and even mountaineers would agree with that. 'Touch the sun,' they'd say.

I basked in the refreshing air, savoring each breath. The constant grind of each cycle led me to take for granted how much I loved the outdoors. Not even the jungle could compare to the majestic forest sprawled before. It was like seeing the trees for the first time in a long time, or instead, I found my new challenge. If one dungeon hid in this vast forest, perhaps there was another or even something far more rewarding. If my encounter with Lipper wasn't so fresh in my mind, I might've licked my lips in anticipation.

The challenge, however, would have to wait. I had a short list of things I needed to do before I conquered the woods. The first was refining my mana in the spring, the second was upgrading to the next realm, and the third was learning some mental defenses.

I stepped into the hidden spring and relaxed in the calm waters. I pulled mana out of my channel and mixed it with the pure energy pooling around here. After an extended cultivation session, I floated in the water and sank into deep meditation.

The fact that Squids hadn't talked to me in over two years somewhat worried me. What was he doing, or where had he gone? I expected some admonishment for my barbaric approach to cultivation. Past Squids would lament how I spoiled my soul with weaker cultivation techniques. The mind parasite frightened me. At the same time, I kind of missed him. Lips, for more reasons than one, was a terrible friend, and I was pretty sure she'd agree as well.

As nervous as I was, learning mental defenses was still second on my list of priorities. After fighting to survive hundreds of fights against Lips in the dungeon, I finally cultivated my sixth body essence, endurance, which raised me to level fifteen and qualified me to enter the realm of templars.

Much like agility and strength, the second rank in endurance was a transformative change. I wasn't just a little bit healthier. I was five times healthier than the prime of a peak human. My body resisted sickness and toxins. Injuries recovered at an increased rate. I could run at full sprint for miles without tiring. Fighting was easier, as was my ability to use skill after skill. The last benefit came as a surprise in the previous few fights.

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Part of the reason the fights with Lips got one-sided at the end was my increased endurance. The templar also had her strengths, but she was more raw power than practiced skill. Fighting against her was fighting a beast well aware of its strengths and how to use them to kill. She had strength, talent, endurance, and power. It made me curious about what class she had. My inclination was a class like a paladin or a druid... a class that mixed a little strength with either mind or spirit skills. Whatever it was, in the end, my increased endurance gave me the edge in our fights. She no longer posed much of a challenge. I could even change up my tactics and come out victorious.

Now that I'd gained another level in body cultivation, I had completed my fifth layer. I was a surge of mana away from becoming a templar. The next stage of progression was so close, and I had at least another week in this loop before it ended.

I'd finish purifying my mana here, then return to the respawn point and harness the abundant energy there. I spent less than a day in the dungeon. The mana at the graveyard should still be thick and ripe for cultivating.

Before returning to the spawn point, I visited my body frozen in a tree, refreshed the ice, preserving Icey, and added another layer of protection for good measure. The dungeon was clear, so I feared no threat from within. There were probably other threats in the forest that I was unaware of, so taking precautions was just good practice.

The killing grounds were still soaked in mana from the powers that so casually killed. I picked a nice stump, enhanced it with ice, and sat down. For good measure, I created a sizable dome around myself, leaving the top open for mana to flow freely. Once satisfied with my setup, I dived into more cultivation.

Water poured from my channels, manifesting above me. I directed it above me and spun it around. As I fed the funnel energy, it grew in size and intensity. The turquoise mana drew in the surrounding mana, adding it to the cyclone. Inside the spinning vortex, the various energies were stripped of their essences and bonded to my water. The cyclone filled the sky with power, which dripped into my soul. The drips grew to a trickle. Trickle turned into a stream, and the stream became a raging river.

I filled the first layer of my soul, condensed the energy inside, and filled it more. I repeated the process three more times until my prime layer could no longer take more energy. I moved to the second layer, continuing to absorb and condense. By the time I'd reached my fourth layer, the sun and moon had switched places twice. Late into the second day, my final interior core, the fourth layer, was full to bursting, as was the rest of my soul.

I recalled the energy spinning above me and forced it into my channels. My soul expanded and stretched far past levels of comfort. I was a shell packed full of power. I pulled and pulled at the energy, and with a final scream of excitement, anguish, and triumph, my soul expanded. Water burst from my four layers, filling the fifth level of my soul.

In a matter of seconds, my water connection grew to a new, profound height. Much like when I became a knight, I had a deeper understanding of the energy within my soul. Water mana had desires, passions, and fears. It longed to be free while, at the same time, it desired a greater connection. It wanted to come and go as it saw fit, never to be blocked or impeded. The azure mana just wanted to be. The energy felt so much like me; it was a comfortable blanket wrapped around my soul. I shouted in celebration and pounded my fist high into the sky. I felt incredible… powerful.

I had reached the rank of templar.