After firmly resolving in his heart, Max approached Elder Willie with a question.

"Elder, may I ask you something?" Max inquired.

"Of course, go ahead, little friend," Elder Willie replied.

"I can infuse vital energy into my blood, but I lack knowledge in cultivation. Moreover, I follow the cultivation path of monster races. Could you please enlighten me?" Max earnestly pleaded.

Upon hearing Max's plea, Elder Willie smiled. "Little friend, currently, you are refining vital energies into your blood. To reach the peak of early stage level 2 monster, you must saturate your blood with vital energy until it can no longer be added. Once achieved, the next step is to refine all that vital blood into blood essence. When you successfully convert all your vital blood into blood essence, you will reach the peak of mid-stage level 2 monster realm. The subsequent step involves merging all your refined blood essence with your heart. Upon completion, you will sense an intent. This intent, known as the intent of suppression, signifies reaching the peak late stage level 2 monster realm," explained Elder Willie.

Max rejoiced upon receiving this guidance, as he now had a clear direction to continue his cultivation.

"By the way, Elder, there's something I want to ask, though I'm unsure if I should," Max hesitated.

"You can ask anything, little friend," encouraged Elder Willie.

"If you don't mind, Elder, could you enlighten me on how you can speak? I've never encountered a monster that communicates verbally," Max inquired cautiously.

"Hahaha, little friend, haven't you come across a level 3 monster yet?" Elder Willie chuckled.

"How did you know, Elder?" Max asked in surprise.

"Because any monster at or above level 3 can communicate with humans," Elder Willie replied with a laugh.

Upon hearing this, Max couldn't help but smile with embarrassment. At that moment, Elder Willie stood up and declared, "Little friend, you can stay here as long as you wish. Feel free to use these peaches for your cultivation." With these words, Elder Willie left Max alone in the treehouse.

Feeling a sense of relief, Max reclined but soon sat up, picked a peach, and took a bite. Without wasting any time, he began refining the energies within the peach. With a clear understanding of the cultivation process and the elder's permission to stay, Max immersed himself in the practice.

Three months swiftly passed, during which Max consumed nothing but peaches, continuously refining vital energy to infuse into his blood. Over this period, Max's complexion turned a vibrant red, and his body became noticeably inflated. Concerned about these changes, he sought guidance from Elder Willie. The elder explained that Max's unique breathing and the difference between human and monster bodies led to these side effects. Relieved by this explanation, Max continued his cultivation, though he observed the daily increase in both his cultivation and bodily inflation. Today, however, he discovered that he could no longer add vital energy to his blood, signaling that he had reached his limits. This realization brought relief to Max's worried heart.

Following Elder Willie's advice, Max moved on to the second step of his cultivation—converting all his vital blood into blood essence. With a clear goal in mind, Max diligently refined his blood into this refined essence.

Four months into the process, Max's condition took a drastic turn. He transformed from a robust, red-complexioned individual to a thin figure resembling a dried tree branch. His once-red complexion shifted to a deathly pale, making him appear almost lifeless. Were it not for his rhythmic breathing, others might have mistaken him for a corpse. Just when Max thought he was at the brink, he realized that all his blood had successfully transformed into blood essence. A few drops of this essence flowed through his body, carrying a dense vitality. Now prepared for the final and most challenging step, Max braced himself, knowing that it would be a perilous and painful journey, as Elder Willie had warned him about feeling like needles piercing his heart. With a day of relaxation, Max steeled himself for what lay ahead.

As Max commenced the process of merging his blood essence into his heart, an excruciating pain surged through him, akin to needles piercing his heart. Fully aware that losing focus or passing out was not an option, Max gritted his teeth, recognizing this as the crucial and final step to complete his cultivation for level 2.

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Seven months elapsed in this painstaking process, during which Max meticulously merged all his blood essence with his heart. As he merged the last droplet of blood essence, a peculiar sensation washed over him.

"This must be the intent that Elder Willie spoke of," Max mused internally.

"Congratulations, little friend, for reaching the peak of level 2," a heartfelt voice echoed, and Max turned to see Elder Willie approaching with a smile.

Curious about Max's future plans, Elder Willie inquired, "So, what are your plans, young friend?"

Realizing he had spent over a year in this place, Max considered leaving.

"I was thinking of leaving by tomorrow," Max replied.

However, contrary to his expectations, Elder Willie shook his head and suggested, "Little friend, I think you should relax for today and start breaking into level 3. You should strike while the iron is hot."

Grateful for the advice, Max's heart warmed, and he nodded in agreement. With Elder Willie as his guide, he saw an opportunity to further improve himself.

The following day, Max and Elder Willie sat across from each other as the elder began explaining the intricacies of level 3 cultivation.

"Little friend, the third level of monster cultivation is called the Violet Core Realm. In this realm, we form our core. Let me explain it to you in detail. Do you have any knowledge of human cultivation realms?" Elder Willie inquired.

In response to the question, Max simply shook his head. His understanding of human cultivation realms was limited, especially compared to Elder Willie's vast knowledge. After all, Max had spent most of his life as a mortal and only began cultivation upon entering the forest.

Observing Max's reply, Elder Willie smiled and kindly began to elaborate. "As far as I know, the human cultivation realms include the Body Tempering Realm, Spirit Gathering Realm, Sea Forming Realm, Earth King Realm, Sky King Realm, Golden Core Realm, and Nascent Soul Realm. These are the realms I am familiar with."

"Do you know about the Body Tempering Stage?" Elder Willie continued. "In this realm, humans temper their bodies to bear the burden of spiritual qi inside. Moving on to the Spirit Gathering Realm, humans gather the spiritual qi between heaven and earth into their bodies. However, in this realm, the spiritual qi is in a gaseous form, so humans compress it into a liquid state in their bodies, known as the spirit sea. This is why this realm is called the Sea Forming Realm. In the Earth King Realm, martial artists utilize their comprehension to master the spirit energy in their bodies, grounding it to the earth. The next stage, the Sky King Realm, involves using spirit energy to control both body and environment, allowing practitioners to fly. Finally, there's the Golden Core Realm, where human cultivators condense their core by compressing the liquid spiritual qi inside their bodies into a solid state. This condensed core, with its dense spiritual qi, becomes a power source for cultivators. It's called the Golden Core Realm because the core takes on a golden color. As for the Nascent Soul Realm, let's leave that for now; you'll learn about it in the future."

Max, surprised by the detailed explanation of human cultivation realms from a monster, couldn't contain his curiosity. "Elder Willie, you're a monster. How do you have such detailed knowledge of human realms?" he asked.

"That's because there's a difference between a regular monster and a monster of a tribe. Regular monsters are like independent cultivators among the human race, while a monster of a tribe is akin to a human cultivator in a cultivation clan. There are also mountain monsters that are comparable to sect cultivators," explained Elder Willie, not waiting for Max to respond before continuing.

"And I am a member of the monster tribe. A monster tribe possesses a rich heritage, and it's common for us to be knowledgeable about these matters. Human clans are similar; they often know more about monsters than some monsters know about themselves," Elder Willie explained.

Hearing this, Max realized that just as humans had a rich heritage and knowledge about monsters, monsters could also possess extensive knowledge about humans.

"Listen carefully. Unlike humans, who develop their core at a later stage of cultivation as their power source, we monsters condense our core at earlier stages. For us monsters, the core is not the primary power source; our blood serves that purpose. The core aids in the transmission of energy. Having a core allows us to attack using vital energy in the blood as a medium. It also enables us to cultivate using spiritual energy, making the core a medium for converting spiritual energy into vital energy. Cores are categorized into six grades: low, intermediate, high, top, superb, and divine. Both humans and monsters follow the same grading system," Elder Willie explained while detailing the usage of the core.

"To condense the core, you have to extract vital energy from your blood, compress it, and integrate the intent you've realized into it," Elder Willie informed Max about the process of core condensation.

Armed with this knowledge, Max prepared himself to condense his core. Seating himself in the lotus position, he entered a meditative state. Observing Max's determination, Elder Willie departed, knowing that condensing a core is a time-consuming process. After all, it involves three simultaneous tasks: extracting vital energy, compressing it, and integrating it with intent.

As Max delved into the process, he focused on feeling the vital energy in his blood. After identifying a wisp, he began extracting it while concurrently infusing it with intent. Forming a round shape, he initiated the compression process, realizing that it was more challenging than he had initially thought.