The monkeys walked up to the sacrificial altar — though that was not its official designation just yet — and placed their comrade on top of it. Their comrade did not resist this even knowing fully well what would happen. He had seen it happen time and time again as I was fed their precious life force.

I am still unsure as to why they acquiesced to such a thing, but I do not pretend to understand the limited minds of primitive creatures. Perhaps they think I am their God or Master, or any number of things. Unfortunately, their opinion of me does not change my opinion of them. My place is not in the hands of primitive creatures and though I harbor no malevolent will toward them, the nature of our hierarchy is set in stone.

At the very least, I can exalt their legacy by living up to my potential.

It becomes very clear when the monkey is laid on top of the altar that he is seriously wounded. Perhaps that is also why it does not resist.

I study the monkey with my spiritual senses and immediately find the culprit of his state. A broken dantian. I know that even if the monkey were to survive, that he would lose his will to live. A cultivator — even a demonic beast — cannot live with the thought of being unable to cultivate.

As Wukong raises me over the monkey’s chest, I uncharacteristically feel a pang of pity. The thought occurs to me of a future where the demonic ape society and I live side-by-side — naturally, not as equals — braving the challenges of the future together.

For a moment, I imagine bestowing them with the spoils and cultivation manuals of the many immortals we would slaughter on our path to the Heavens, and raising their foundations to the levels of Nascent Soul or even beyond — perhaps even true immortality.

I feel the heat in my core; a warm feeling of hope and determination to attempt this path.

I imagine us developing a language and an efficient system of coexistence — again, not as equals.

But such dreams and such heat is immediately crushed when Wukong plows me through the monkey’s chest, and I devour its life.

There can be no coexistence and no future. To begin with, the demonic ape society lacks the intelligence to even comprehend such a thing as coexistence or harmony. Their basic animal instincts should not be misinterpreted as some divine inspiration and desire for evolution. They do not kill to become stronger; they kill because that is all they know how to do.

We are not the same. We are not even similar.

There is no grounds to even consider coexistence.

They will be my sacrifice and I will carry their life force to the apex.

The monkey’s body dissolves into black fog and disappears into the green jade gem on my guard.

The other monkeys cheer, and even Wukong roars, as if they know that I have reached the bottleneck.

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[ Early Vessel Refining progress: 100% ]

At first, I feel nothing. There is a long moment where nothing feels different and I wonder if perhaps I had missed a step.

But then, I feel something like pressure inside me. Then I feel motion. No, I am not moving, but the blood inside me is. For nearly one hundred days, I had been compressing the life force inside me, crushing it to a smaller volume, so to speak, and repeating the process over and over again.

When the so-called blood inside me moves, I finally feel its weight. I realize immediately that I must weigh over 100 kilograms. That might be an exaggeration, but it feels that way.

I feel heavy. Every time the blood moves inside me, circulating powerfully, I feel the inertia within me almost overcome Wukong’s grasp. I jitter and shudder in his hand, violently attempting to overthrow his force over me, but he dutifully and devotedly holds me steady.

The two monkeys stare at me in awe, and now more and more monkeys are approaching to see their God or Master — whichever it is — transform. This is the literal product of their blood and they howl to call everyone of their comrades to watch something that they have accomplished together — through the convenient sacrifices of others.

My blood makes a full rotation around my body once. Then twice. Then three times.

[ Current stage: Vessel Hardening (Mid Vessel Refining) ]

[ Mid Vessel Refining progress: 33% ]

As the blood completes its fourth revolution inside me, it smashes into my insides, knocking off pieces of metal and jade. Cracks form on my body, even as they heal directly from absorbing the monkey’s life force.

Five revolutions.

This time the blood impacts so hard that it knocks the gems out of my vessel, scattering them onto the ground so hard that they bounce off and fly off into the forest.

Six revolutions.

For the first time in my existence — both of them — I feel pain. It is not a physical sensation, but one I feel within my soul. I feel like I am being torn apart and split open.

[ Mid Vessel Refining Progress: 66% ]

I do not understand what is happening to me. I thought I understood the principles of cultivation, but this is completely beyond the reach of the understanding of my Dao. What should have happened is that I would break through to the Vessel Hardening stage and began to cultivate my body from the beginning. But now my body cultivation base keeps increasing so fast that it is killing me faster than I can heal.

And I cannot stop it.

Seven revolutions.

Eight revolutions.

The latest impact crushes me so hard that my blade snaps in half. At the fracture line where my blade breaks, the metal explodes into a thousand little fragments that are so small they look like particles of glitter hovering in the air.

The monkeys howl triumphantly and cheer for me.

I realize that they really are stupid.

I am not going to survive this.