The System's instructions once again gave me a target. Based on the countdown I had a few days before I would fail the quest. Which was good because I had no idea where this thing was. Since it was an area quest I assumed it was near me but that was all I had to go on. Since all directions were equal I headed straight ahead.

I made it less than a hundred feet before I was attacked. This time it was a large millipede beast. It was the size of a car with dark black scales and it spit acid. Unfortunately for the beast, its soul was pathetic. I only had to use one blade to take it out. It also gave a large amount of spiritual energy so it was more than worth it.

I was attacked several more times. I was starting to worry that this was another birth of a natural treasure-like event but it wasn't. The monsters were predominantly coming from one direction. As if they were trying to keep me from a place. A place that was starting to feel like the place I needed to be. The monsters only grew more vicious as I traveled until I had to start taking them seriously.

The largest millipede by far appeared to stop me just as I found the entrance to the cave. This millipede was a dark muddy red color. I activated Psychic Aegis as the beast launched itself at me. I leaped into the air just in time to avoid its attempt at crushing me. Only for a stinger to erupt from its mouth. The stinger shot forward like a spear aimed at my throat. Psychic Aegis lasted just long enough to knock the stinger off course.

I gritted my teeth and created three psychic blades. I unleashed my attack before I hit the ground. The millipede wasn't to be outdone. It contorted its body and dodged all three before launching itself at me again. My aura exploded out of me like a bomb. The world was bathed in my killing intent and the monster hesitated for a moment. Just long enough for me to activate Psionic Rain.

Not even the millipede was fast enough to avoid those blades. Before it had a chance to recover I created another trio of blades and imbued them with the Tao of Lucidity. All three slammed through the beast's exoskeleton. I mentally prepared myself for a follow-up attack when I received a surge of spiritual energy. I gasped as a wave of bliss passed through me. The nub drained around twenty percent of the energy but that left plenty for me.

I knelt and examined the corpse. It was disgusting but its exoskeleton was amazing. I couldn't damage it with my bare hands which made me think it would make strong armor. I would let the craftspeople look into it when I got back. I collected the corpse into the ring and entered the cave. As soon as I did I regretted my choice. The entire cave smelled horrible. The further I walked the more corpses I came across. Most of them were various monster parts but a few were human. What was left of their bodies made it impossible to identify them.

"I hope you all didn't suffer," I muttered. I condensed my aura inside and brought my Tao field to a radius of three feet. I didn't think the field would make much of a difference but better safe than sorry. The deeper into the cave I went the worse my mood got. It was like walking through a graveyard. A graveyard filled with bug materials. I walked for nearly thirty minutes before I entered an underground chamber.

The chamber was massive, about the size of a basketball court, and had mining equipment against a side wall. That only took my attention for a second. The real point of interest was the creature currently coiled around a softly pulsing gemstone. It was a millipede or at least it was at one point. Now that thing was the size of a house. It wasn't hard to put together what the beast was doing. Or why it was named that. It was absorbing metals from here and whatever the Gemstone was sped up the process.

The question was whether or not it would be beneficial to me to take it or if I should just destroy it along with the beast. I activated Psychic Aegis as the beast uncoiled itself. Once it was at its full twenty feet of height I let out a low whistle. I wasn't sure if evolution meant becoming a new beast or reaching the next realm. Its size and aura made me lean toward the latter. I imbued the aegis with Tao of adamance as the massive creature rushed me.

I leaped out of the way just as it massive head slammed into the ground. Instead of stopping, the beast burrowed into the ground. I unleashed three psychic blades and fired them before they could disappear. I wasn't sure if the blades had any effect. I looked around for any sign of where it would reappear but the cavern had become eerily silent.

A scream of danger made me dive to the right just before the monster ripped a sinkhole into the ground. Even with the warning I was barely fast enough to avoid being this thing's next meal. I activated Psionic Rain and imbued it with the Tao of lucidity before I hit the ground. The indigo emerged in the center of the cavern. Before I could give it the order to break the ground began to shake. Metal spikes erupted from the ground.

Each one was the side of a sword. Their edges glimmered with a power that felt like it could cut my very soul. I was forced to dodge to avoid being impaled. I nearly lost my ear when a spike emerged just as I was dodging. I activated Psionic Rain and let the attack fall onto the battle. Several of which cut into me. Which caused **Intellect Fortress** to activate. The beast made a sound that I felt in my bones. It was as if it had taken metal claws and dragged them across a chalkboard at high speed.

The sound crashed into me a like wave and it felt like every part of me was being scoured. I screamed in pain and forced the Tao of Adamance through my mind. It was barely enough to stop me from being drowned in agony. Another scream of danger gave me enough time to dodge another metal spike. I threw myself to the side and reoriented on the beast.

I unleashed a Psionic Blast in its beam form. The attack bathed the chamber in Indigo light. The monster recoiled from it before turning and burying itself into the earth. I wasn't sure if it had taken damage from the attack or not. Nor did I have the time to think about it. I activated Psychic Aegis and rushed the gem. The ground erupted and the beast reappeared. I triggered Realm of Consciousness. Grey mist flowed out of me just as the monster unleashed another round of spikes.

The spike broke against my barrier just before I hid myself in the fog. I unleashed psychic blade after psychic blade but either the confusing property of the spell didn't work. Or this monster had some other way of knowing where I was? It dodged the beginnings of my onslaught before going straight for me. Just before it crashed into me I expanded Psychic Aegis into its wall form.

The massive millepede slammed into like a freight train. The wall held but just barely. I immediately formed another three blades, imbued with each of my Tao, and launched them. Before the attacks could reach their target the monster's stinger shot forward and shattered the wall like glass. I was too slow to dodge and it shot through my left shoulder. The pain made my vision blur and I dropped to one knee.

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I bit back a scream as it ripped the stinger back. I summoned an antidote pill and swallowed it. I had no idea if it would work on whatever this thing had but it was the best I could do. I conjured another trio of blades this time I aimed for its eyes. The red pinpoints were ominous to look at but from what I could tell weren't protected. I had no idea if that would matter for a mental attack but why not?

No sooner did I unleash the three blades did the beast unleash another screech. This time I was better prepared. I kept my feet while the Tao of Lucidity worked to keep my mind clear. I drew on the mental energy from the domain to rapidly conjure more blades. The beast dove back beneath the Earth to avoid the onslaught and an idea began to sprout. An idea that felt more and more insane the more I considered it.

I summoned my sword from the ring and gripped it with both hands. I imbued it with the Tao of Lucidity and waited. The few seconds felt like an eternity. Finally, a scream of danger in the back of my mind told me it was time to move. Instead of moving out of the way, I leaped straight up. The ground beneath me erupted in a shower of dirt and stone.

The maw of the beast felt like an abyss as it shot up and after me. I angled myself straight down blade gripped so tight my knuckles turned white. The next few seconds felt like they stretched into forever. I fell into the beast's maw blade tearing into its throat. The beast's pain was both physical and mental. Acidic blood burned at my skin as I roared.

A surge of kill energy flooded my dantian just as I landed in the beast's stomach. I went to pull my blade out of whatever part of the body this was only to find it gone. Specifically, only the hilt had survived. As fast as I could I climbed out of its body and swallowed a healing pill. If I thought the sensation of bones healing was unpleasant this was something else entirely.

It felt like the burned skin was being removed with a cheese grater while also growing back. The entire process took around ten minutes and by the end of it, I wasn't sure if it would have been better to just suffer. When I came back to the moment I had two things waiting for me. The first was a white box that I assumed held my Tao treasure. I placed it in my ring and moved on to the gemstone.

Now that I wasn't concerned for my life I could appreciate its beauty. The gemstone looked like a diamond, the kind you would see in movies or cartoons. Only it was green like an emerald. It passively gave off a lot of spiritual energy. It reminded me a bit of the Lotus I found earlier. Of a resource that would make a cultivation chamber better. Which was more than fine with me. I sent it into the ring before the System's voice returned.

Supreme Predator: Solo Kill an enemy one whole realm above you: Reward: Potency of Attributes +10%

Road of Kings unlocked

I tried to get more information on whatever the Road of Kings was but nothing came up. It wasn't hard to make a few assumptions, it would either make me a king in the eyes of the System instead of a Governor or it would make me king of earth. Or it would do both. I suppose it was possible that it would give me a Kingdom somehow but that seemed very unlikely. The System didn't give stuff away for free and a "Road" that would give me things to do to complete seemed much more likely.

Regardless that was a question for tomorrow. Today was about collecting the rest of my loot. I rubbed my hands together and turned my attention to the big beast's body. Everything about it seemed valuable from its mandibles and exoskeleton to its stinger. Everything went into the ring to be dealt with by the craftspeople.

I considered using the cave as a temp base but that went out the window. The corpses around here made it feel drab and unpleasant. It would be like sleeping in a graveyard. I went through everything a second time but there was nothing of interest. I stepped out of the cave and back into the storm. Even the damp air and dirt smelled better than the cave. "The next monster I fight will be in a flower bed."

The next question was what should I do now? There was no pull in any direction nor did I get another quest. Which meant I could either advance or return. It wasn't much of a question. Despite all the battling, I wasn't making a lot of progress on the energy front. I was close to level 36 after the last fight but I needed to focus on psychic energy manipulation instead of spiritual. Either that or my net energy gain would be zero.

I decided to head west in search of a dry spot to rest for the evening. I was attacked four more times before I succeeded. The beasts this time were winged scorpions which were equal part frightening and fucked up. I had no idea why nature or the System rather would let something like that be able to fly.

I had just killed the fourth one when I came across a literal shack in the woods. The thing looked like a textbook serial killer's and my gut said to pass it by. The need for shelter and rest said to give it a try. The latter won. I pushed the door open and found it surprisingly pleasant. It was rustic with that "I live off the grid kind of vibe". The house had seen better days though.

The roof leaked in several places and the rug was covered in mold. I figured that the owner hadn't been here in a while. "Home sweet home?" I said to no one as I looked around. The energy was a bit denser here than in the last zone which made it good enough. I picked an empty corner and sat down. It took me a few seconds to relax enough to start the codex. When I settled into a pattern I let my mind drift deeper inside me.

I spent the next three days hunting the various monsters. The process was nowhere near as interesting as the big bug but it did what I needed it to do. Psychic Master reached the Advanced stage which led to another set of teaching instructions. I didn't need the spell for basic mental attacks. The upgrade did provide new knowledge. I could more directly interact with the minds of monsters. For example, I could make them ignore me.

It wasn't quite the same as being invisible but it was pretty close. It was closer to misdirection, unfortunately, it failed if hit anyone or unleashed my aura. It would likely be amazing for an Assassin build but I had no interest in that. If anything I wanted more attention on me not less. That wasn't the only thing that improved. **Apportation** also reached the next tier. It was the better upgrade by far.

Not only had the range of the portal almost doubled but it had a second function. I no longer had to step through it. I could open the portal and pull things through. Which would save me a few seconds not to mention it would let me save people who couldn't move. The final benefit was less flashy but still pretty good. I finally reached level 37. Altogether the short training session was amazing but it was starting to mess with my head.

I was starting to have a conversation with myself and either there was someone invisible here. Or I was in desperate need of actual conversation. On top of that, I needed to use the Tao treasure. Which meant I needed to speak with Desbera about how to maximize it. With my affinities, it should guarantee me a new strand. That didn't mean I wouldn't try to squeeze out every last drop.

I gave the cabin one last look before I headed out. I wouldn't call the cabin a "home" but it had become comfortable. I decided to leave the furniture inside. It wasn't worth much and if someone else found their way here this place could be a haven for them. Pay it forward and all that.

I activated Apportation and reappeared ten miles away. Which brought me to the entrance of the rainy zone. From there I broke out into a sprint. My aura exploded out of me as I tore through the forest. I wasn't in the mood to fight anything right now. With any luck it would stop any attacks before they happened. My luck held out for about two hours before the sounds of battle filled the air.

I glanced around to make sure it wasn't some sort of ambush. Instead what I found was arguably more shocking. There was a group of people from the expedition locked in battle with one of the monkeys. There were five of them in total, none of which were researchers. Furthermore, they all looked to be around level 10. I debated whether or not I should help them but when a second monkey arrived my mind was made up. There was no rest for the wicked. I activated Psychic Aegis in its wall form to protect the group.

The barrier's sudden appearance cut both parties off guard just in time for three psychic blades to embed themselves in the monkey's heads. The amount of energy I got from the kills was minuscule. None of that was the interesting part, however. As soon as I stepped into the clearing, the researchers looked at me and then launched attacks.