While Tom walked through the city, he took out the two other cores keeping them in a sack so they wouldn't draw any attention to him. While he studied them, he realized that the feeling he got of their properties was clearer? He could tell that one of them was just heavy. He realized that the fact that something was valuable didn't mean that it was useful for him. Of course, it was possible that he just couldn't figure out everything it could do. However, if he understood how body cultivation worked, he wouldn't have any use for it, as who would want his body to just become heavier?

The other one was a bit better, but not by much. It felt like it was a tough metal that would keep its shape even under heavy duress. He could see why this one would be valuable, but it just wasn't something he wanted for his body. He was starting to get a better understanding of what he was doing and was starting to plan ahead. He wasn't anymore in a position where he had to take every opportunity that he stumbled upon, he finally had the privilege of choice.

Then again, none of the golem cores would have been that useful after he had gotten the bigger one's core.

His friend Harry wasn't yet at their agreed-upon meeting place in front of the trader's ship, as their agreed-upon time was still a while away. Tom had wanted to give himself enough time, so if he could have gone and fought some water elementals, he wouldn't have had to rush here, possibly leaving cores unclaimed.

Tom walked into the trader's ship and was faced with a robot. He greeted it and asked for a corrosive substance that he could use to destroy his skin. And to his relief, the prices weren't that bad. Because as the trader put it, he only needed the most basic materials, not even tier 0 materials, as his skin was still purely on the basic human level.

Tom wasn't yet sure about the differences between the material, so he asked the traders. And to his relief, the trader told him that tier 0 was the bare minimum of the cultivation world, anything that had any mana would be counted as a tier 0 material.

If any living being was born on a planet with mana, they would be born on at least the tier 0 level, as mana encompassed everything and penetrated into everything. It was almost rarer to find material without mana.

The trader had countless options that could melt his skin and do so much more than that. Most of them could be considered biological weapons that could be bought only for pittances. This more than anything else, made him realize how badly humanity would have been destroyed if they had tried to stand up to the Empire. If a casual cheap liquid could eat through most organic things under tier 0. what would happen if they actually tried? He could imagine the Earth completely void of all organic materials, completely purged by a single weapon.

Tom bought a similar product, one that was much cheaper and a lot less deadly. Then in a moment of inspiration, he remembered that inside the traders' ships, one was always alone. So he asked if he could have space to cultivate and a container that could handle the chemical mix he had bought. And to his surprise, the answer was positive, and the trader told him that he could use it for free as there were so few people currently doing any business with him, as none could earn anything that was worth anything in small volumes.

The next moment, he found himself in two meters by two meters room with a basin big enough for him to sit in its center.

Tom didn't waste any time, wanting to get his body in the best possible shape before he braved the forest.

He poured the liquid into the basin and added some water so that it could fill up a bit more. Then he started dipping different parts of his body into it, gritting his teeth while his skin dissolved, and the water turned redder and redder. After thirty minutes only thing left was his head, and he had a bad premonition about it. What about his eyes, nose, and ears? Wouldn't they also dissolve? So what would happen to his senses?

So he called the trader and asked just that. The trader appeared out of nowhere already holding a vial full of clear liquid. Then the trader answered, "this liquid will just dissolve your skin, nothing more, only for 0.10 credits"

But before Tom jumped at the opportunity, he asked how the bigger golems core energy would affect his senses and how it would interact with him when he finally got a core for himself.

And to his dismay, the trader answered, "that will cost you 0.2 credits"

Tom cursed the traders and their creed, but still, he begrudgingly accepted the trade. He had to sell the core that felt like nothing could affect its shape, as it was worth much more, and he was immediately one credit richer, well 0.8 after he paid the trader.

The trader told him that his predictions about the core were almost on the spot. However, there was also a small empowering effect in it, so if he channeled mana into his legs, they would become harder but also stronger offsetting the stiffness that came with making the skin tougher. And the answer to the question about his senses was that it would be an almost complete waste, as the only thing it would do was make them tougher to destroy. But the trader informed him helpfully that there were a lot of better options that would make them actually better.

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Then Tom coughed up another 0.1 credits and purchased the liquid. Then he shortly finished upgrading his skin, pouring the liquid over his head and guiding the energy from the core into his skin. He had finally brought his body's muscles, bones, and skin into the cultivation realm. And at the same time, he was glad to see that his awakened body had gone up to rank 6.

Then he left the trader's ship. Now all he needed to do was hopefully get some information about the forest, and he would be ready for another adventure. He had readied himself as well as he could. Of course, he could destroy his organs and use the cores he had on them, but he wasn't going to sacrifice his future potential for short-term gains.

He had to only stand outside the spaceship for five minutes before he saw a tall slim man approaching him, and sure enough, it was Harry.

As they walked toward a more peaceful spot near the edge of the forest, they traded pleasantries and exchanged their experiences so far under the Empire's rule. Their conversation naturally moved towards cultivation as it had become public knowledge once people gained access to the starting town. It had become a popular topic as who wouldn't want to become powerful?

Tom tenderly asked no one in particular," Sooooo, how much can I actually talk about cultivation." He wasn't actually expecting an answer. However, to his surprise, the system answered that sharing one's own information is allowed, but sharing others' guides and manuals are forbidden.

Then Tom started telling Harry the cliff notes about how he cultivated, mostly focusing on the fact that he drew energy from the cores and used it on his body, as it was the cultivation method he understood the most about.

I can't actually do any of that yet, as normal people cultivate quite differently." Harry told him once he stopped sharing his experiences.

Then his voice just cut off, and his mouth stopped moving.

After a while, he was speaking again. "Sorry, apparently my explanation was too close to what the guide said. Give me a while, I am pretty sure that I can do something about this, as there are literally thousands of guides for this."

"So what I am doing is am collecting mana from the air and gently guiding it into my body using ..." His voice cut off, and then he tried again." Using certain tecnique. So that is how a normal person starts cultivation, and then they could use the energy in their core to awaken their minds, and only then can they control mana that isn't theirs, like the one in the cores."

Tom felt like he had gotten away with murder, as he had skipped the first and most time-consuming step in the process of becoming a cultivator, and it made him realize that his position wasn't nearly as bad as he thought.

Tom tried asking more clarifying questions, but he only got that the energy is somehow stored in one's body, and quiet all the times he tried to get any more than the most basic information.

Tom was getting frustrated with the AI, so he asked, "What is there to stop us from sharing this knowledge in the real world?" And the answer was swift and efficient." How do you think that we can make an exactly identical copy of your body without first knowing everything about it." Tom took the hint and decided that just maybe he shouldn't try to push the AI's limits.

Both were relatively happy with their conversation, even if neither of them had gotten more than just nuggets of information out of the conversation. However, they were particularly valuable nuggets.

Then Tom asked." So what's the deal with the forest? How dangerous is it?"

"You actually plan on going there?!?! You know that no one has made it back from there. After they go past the river everyone has shortly died. The monsters around that point are apparently truly terrifying. The people who had gone there told stories about how some monster just jumped out of trees and ate their heads off, even before they could react to it. And if they saw them coming, they could barely damage them, as their skin was ridiculously hard.

So I would recommend just staying in the zones and maybe joining a faction so that you can use their resources to progress. Well, at least that's what I planned to do after I become a cultivar, as I will be immediately promoted to a higher position

I think that if you tried, they would be fighting over you, as your cultivation is just ridiculously high. You would probably be set for life if you did that, the salaries they are offering, are just ridiculous. And the top officers are even paid in shares, so it's a perfect opportunity." Harry explained, like a machine gun, once he got started, he just continued excitedly spewing out knowledge. Meanwhile, Tom just nodded along, familiar enough with his friend to know that once he got excited about a topic, there would be no stopping him.

And to be completely honest, the idea of being a top officer in a faction that was basically just a country didn't sound that bad. But Tom still had a bad taste from his last job, as he had been forced to just follow orders, and wasn't given permission to run his own experiments. And now that he had been enjoying his newfound freedom, thanks to the Empire's arrival, he wasn't just going to put himself into the same position just ten days later.

He trusted in himself enough that he was able to persuade himself that the offer would always be open to him, as all he had to do was stay ahead of the rest of humanity.

" Nah, at least not yet. I want to see what I can do on my own. So about the forest?" Tom replied.

"Fair enough, it's your funeral. The forest continues for one kilometer, and then it runs into the river as it circles the city. There isn't much of anything known from beyond the river, but we can presume that it continues as somewhat similar to the forest before it. But much more deadly. MUCH MORE."

After that, they chatted some more about what faction would be the best one to join, and Tom shared his honest option, that the Americans would probably be the best choice, as they controlled the wooden zones center. It looked like one of the better ones as it wasn't in a hard-to-reach point like a bottom of a lake, and you could actually get real combat experience out from there. But then again, he knew nothing of the plain zone, so he could only make an educated ques.

Then they said their byes. Harry started making his way toward the Main City 1, planning to make his way there while he took breaks from cultivation.

Tom, on the other hand, started heading for the forest.