P.O.V. Aadi

It has been two months since I was stuck in this dungeon but I have finally completed the beginning setup of my new cultivation. After another three weeks I realized that I'm only able to cleanse using the plant every other day as it uses up to much of the plants energy to purify me and it can only do it when it's energy is full. While waiting for it to be ready I have begun to actively hunt any slimes within a ten minute radius of my cave area in order to lower the chance of being surrounded.

I also have begun to see what some of the plants will be when fully grown to name some there is lettuce, cabbage, potato, carrot, radishes, and onions along with many different types of bean plants.

With two more low grade cores obtained and being fully purified I have all I currently need to begin cultivating and not have to worry about the comm failing. Sitting down in his cave he begins to push the energy in his mind down his body and into his energy system, although uncomfortable at first he slowly start to compact the energy in his body at his dantian to form a rudimentary energy core.

However just as he was about to succeed the energy dissipated through his body leaving him drained and uncertain of what had happened.

He had never heard of someone failing to make a core as long as they had enough energy, was it possible that there wasn't enough energy. However there was little he could do to change the outcome and so laid down on his sleeping bag and slept, waking up 6 hours later refreshed and full of energy he once more attempted condensing a core.

And once more it dispersed through his body.

Worry began to set in as he contemplate whether he would have to absorb outside energy in order to solidify a core, but that would mean corrupting my energy veins again. Hesitant to do so he contemplated how to get more energy while not absorbing it from outside sources, the main reason he won't produce more energy is cause his energy veins are already full. But is there a way to not lower the amount of energy he currently holds while also adding more, people with cores compact the energy in their core to do that but he couldn't do that.

As concepts flew his last thought before drifting off was 'why don't I just compact it while it's in my energy veins.'

Waking up six hours later I get up and go out to start cleaning up any slimes nearby, then pour water in the garden. After doing that I eat and drink some water while going back to contemplating my problem, finally I decide to just experiment with attempting to compact my energy in my veins rather than in a core.

Spreading the energy out through his body as evenly as possible he begins to slowly apply even mental pressure to all of his spirit veins, after a few seconds pain flairs through his body but he continues on slowly he feels the gasses energy in his body begin to gather and slowly begin condensing into small amounts of liquid energy in his veins.

Blinking again and again while feeling both light and heavy at the same time.

He had succeeded, he could now gather more energy so in order to condense a core and officially awaken. Getting up he begins to circulate his energy while also plugging his absorption points using mental energy so as to prevent energy from getting in. Another upside he had discover about awakening what he called his mental sphere, it was sluggish like the nutrient solutions he had seen soldiers drink while on duty.

However unlike before he could feel a small trickle of energy leaving his mental sphere and entering his body, he wouldn't have to constantly sleep anymore in order to refill his energy veins instead all he need to do was sit down and cultivate. Slowly he continued cultivating while listening for any slimes.

As one hour after another slipped away his body slowly began to refill with energy, however unlike just now the pressure caused by the liquid energy caused the gasses energy to gather naturally and slowly turn liquid just like the rest of the energy.

Over 6 hours passed and he wasn't even half full when multiple plop sounds could be heard in the cave, getting up he gets his pots and tarp and heads out.

After dealing with another 6 slimes he returns back to his cave to once more begin practicing and filling up his energy veins.

Like this two days pass and he is finally able to completely fill his energy veins up with liquid energy, however after reaching 90% full a consistently worsening headache appeared and with it reaching a 100% it began to feel like someone was repeatedly stabbing him with a knife in the head.

Laying down and connecting with the plant he begins to drift off into sleep, he is once more in his mental realm and the liquid energy is causing the energy in his mental sphere to also condense and liquify. After the process finishes and his mental sphere energy completely refills he begins to control parts of his body and starts trying to condense a energy core only for it to disperse once more like it did previously, waiting for his body to refill he begins to contemplate the next move. Since the liquid energy isn't enough maybe if he solidifies it more there will be enough.

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And once his energy is full he begins to condense the energy in his veins once more, and once more succeeding in that endeavor. Jolting awake his body and mind feels heavy and dull like it is wading through dense water, gathering himself and looking at his comm he freezes, 2 days, that's how long his mental and physical energy breakthrough had taken.

Shaking himself he begins to stretch and refocus on the situation, he needs to go out and begin hunting the slimes again as he has no doubt without him their numbers had skyrocketed.

Gathering his items he heads out of the cave and towards the closest sound, he had not been expecting twenty slimes together when he checked around the corner. He didn't have enough water on him to deal with that many and even if there was they would surround him faster than he could poor it on them.

Retreating he returns back to his cave to continue cultivating, he needed a way to both defend and attack and that can only be achieved with energy in his current situation.

Over the next 4 days he slowly gathers his energy in his veins feeling the slow but ever growing headache caused by the energy gathering and solidifying, it took two times the length it took to completely condense his energy from gasses to liquid.

Now with solid energy filling his body he once more enters deep meditation to break through his mental sphere, slowly the energy in his mental sphere solidified and began to fill up rapidly. After finishing that he begins to try and condense the energy in his body but can't even gather all of it together before it disperses, once more failing he begins to contemplate how to continue.

For a core you would begin to expand it using the solidified energy to fill in any cracks that occur but he is unsure if you can do the same with energy veins, after all he had heard of what happened to those born with broken energy veins.

All of them died before reaching the age of fifteen. Bodies often skeletal husks of purely skin and bones.

However the alternative was to attempt to meld his mental sphere with his energy and make it his core, but that could leave him brain dead if his mental sphere shattered instead of merging. Comparing the choices he decided to go with the option of expanding his energy veins and filling in the potential cracks, he would rather go down swinging rather than being unable to do anything but lay there stupidly.

With his choice made he began to settle in for what he was sure would be a painful and unforgettable experience.

Taking a deep breath he begins to slowly push his mental energy into the center of his energy veins slowly carving a thin path way, then using his mental energy he begins to push out his solidified regular energy in milliseconds horrific pain shoots through his body and blood begins leaking from his orifices. His actions causes his energy veins which had been as thin as one millimeter to expand slowly pushing and growing the solid energy acting as a filling to the cracks and small tears all through his body as time passes by at a crawl the solidified energy finally fully merges with his energy veins.

Extracting his exhausted mental energy he begins slowly drift off into deep sleep.

Waking he felt like he had been hit by a truck, sore and tired all over with pain blaring form all of his muscles. But his mind felt heavy and muddled despite having refilled his mental sphere his energy veins were still empty, did he have to do the same thing to his mental sphere as he did to his energy veins? If so he rather just have attempted to merge them.

Sighing he contemplated and came to a decision to just get it over with, closing his eyes once more he began to enter deep meditation again.

Sensing his mental sphere and check it's energy was completely filled he once more began the act of pushing out with his mental energy and if he had thought the energy veins hurt it didn't have a quarter on the pain caused by expanding his mental sphere. Bit by bit he merged his hardened mental energy with his mental sphere and began to slowly increase the push, until after what felt like months but at most a day he completely expanded his mental sphere.

Once more claimed by deep sleep, he awoke to a horrific scent and vision so clear he could see everything around him even in the dark. Feeling light headed due to the smell, he rushed to the water cave and began removing his clothes filled with dry blood and black inky gunk throwing his clothes to the ground he began rinsing off using water he gathered using a pot so as not to contaminate the water going to his pond.

After scrubbing himself so hard skin peeled off he turned to look at his clothes and the gunk that had wash to the ground along side the water, there was nothing he could do for his clothes now they were simply beyond salvation if not for having 2 more sets he would feel mortified.

Sighing he sat on the tarp he took out and sat down as far away from the gunk as possible while looking at how long the entire process had took, 4 days, just like how long it took to gather the energy.

If this was a pattern he could already foretell how painful the rest of the steps for this cultivation style will end up being, slowly the color of his skin turns from red to light tan as it had always been when he went to long without sunlight. Circulating energy he begins to feel the changes in his body, his energy veins and mental sphere had doubled in size, and his energy had completely refilled.

Getting up and dressed he headed for his cave when he heard the plop sound of many slimes coming, rushing into my little stream a group of thirty slimes round the corner I need to pass to return to my cave.

Subconsciously he circulates energy to calm down only to sense it lightly covering his body, surprise zips through him as he realizes he's using energy without a core but dies down when he remembers his current situation however with a means of defense and endless amount of water he was in the best position he could hope for.

It was time to fight or die.