When Sabrina said that there were some D-class monsters around there, Dante felt excited and worried about the same mount. It would be the perfect time to test his theory.

Looking for a place to protect his back, Dante found a rocky rise that left him relatively protected. Then, he sat down and meditated. For what he was about to test, it was important that he adopt a strict evaluation criteria. His years of study would help him in this. Dante knew the power of trial and error.

Alas, that was exactly what he had studied so hard for. As the resources in his clan were scarce, he always tried to study voraciously all the available materials about cultivation. Although this only gave him a superficial notion of Qi, it was better than wasting time on something else.

In lotus position, he took a deep breath and focused on his Qi. Although tenuous, he still felt a slight burning sensation as his Qi passed through his channels.

This time, instead of focusing on the circulation of Qi, he focused on his core. To do so, he concentrated all the Qi he could on his dantian. The golden energy orb began to rotate, absorbing the Qi.

More than at other times, he felt his core drinking in the solar energy. The heat from the sun, in direct contact with the light from the celestial, made Dante’s channels vibrate.

Trying to simulate the state of absolute focus that made him breakthrough before, Dante tried to condense more and more of the core energy, hoping to get another evolution. However, the attempt proved in vain, so the core remained the same level, albeit a little more condensed.

Making a mental picture of the allocation of his Qi, he stood up. His core was not ready for another cultivation session, so it would be a while before Dante could test his theory. Taking into consideration his surroundings, he picked up his harvester and headed north. As Sabrina had explained, his harvester had a sapphire imbued. It didn’t emit any color, as long as Dante was in Sabrina’s range.

However, if they got close to the maximum distance allowed, the stone would begin to glow, signaling that it was time to get closer again.

After walking a bit, Dante located some animals that looked like sheep. Deciding not to make a mistake twice, he analyzed the group of monsters.

The best strategy would be to lure just one of the monsters so that Dante could measure their power level. So, finding a relatively isolated target, Dante began to emit sounds that in another situation would be laughable.

However, the strange noises did not take long to have the desired effect. Before long, one of the monsters approached Dante, curious. As it got closer, he could see that the sheep’s fur remained inert to the effect of the wind. She had a kind of Qi protection, then.

Dante walked away as he continued to make the sounds. When he thought he was at a satisfactory distance from the other monsters, he prepared to attack.

Since he had not yet trained other techniques, he decided that strengthening his body would have to suffice. When he began to circulate his Qi in his hands, so that a brilliant aura appeared in his fists, the monster reacted aggressively.

With a warning roar, the monster ran with ferocity in Dante’s direction. Adopting a flexible stance, Dante quickly dodged the monster’s attack.

The monster’s advance left a small crack in the ground. Seeing the damage left, Dante was thankful that he hadn’t tried to block the attack with his body. At least for now.

Taking advantage while the monster was recovering, he stepped forward with shining fists and landed a few blows. The sheep’s hair felt stiff, just as Dante had predicted. However, the blows had the desired effect. With a sequence of punches, the animal went into a defensive position, stunned by the blows.

Determined not to let the chance pass him by, he loaded his hands with excessive Qi. Running fast, he delivered a blow with all the agility he could, releasing the charged Qi at the last second. The sheep offered little resistance, going to the ground soon after suffering the blow.

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Taking out his harvester to collect the core’s essence, he saw that it was an E class.

Not bad. At least I am a little stronger than last time.

Swallowing hard, he dreaded the next part of his plan. Now things would get more complicated. Following the same strategy as the first time, Dante again gathered up just one monster in an isolated place.

When the animal prepared to attack, however, the strategy employed was different. Instead of dodging or counter-attacking, Dante just waited. Closing his eyes after making sure that the animal’s headbutt would not hit him on the head, he prepared himself for the pain to come.

And pain it did come.

It was as if every bone hit by the animal’s head was crushed. As he flew from the impact of the attack, he struggled not to lose consciousness.

Bringing one of his hands to the affected area, he could feel its blood, viscous and warm. For a moment, he feared that he had made a terrible mistake in attempting something dangerous without Sabrina.

Remembering her, however, he knew he had made the right decision. Isaac had told him that the main way to force his body to evolve was in battles that went to the ultimate consequences.

That was the reason why resourcefulness did not always mean rapid advances. There were several theories that tried to find the formula for the stages, but it was as impossible a job as sifting through the sea.

The truth was that, besides the particular characteristics of each physique, which were the results of the synergy of the cultivator with the monster core he had chosen, there was still an unknown factor. According to Isaac’s teachings, the best way to try to hit the unknown was with combat experience.

Power was not a mathematical metric. Factual experiences shaped the cultivator.

The sound of rapid footsteps brought Dante back to reality. Holding the region of his stricken belly as if it made any difference, he dodged the next attack while charging his fist with Qi.

Using the same strategy that resulted in the death of the first sheep, he delivered a Qi-charged attack. This time just one was not enough, and he had to repeat the process.

When the monster went down, Dante didn’t even have enough strength to harvest the monster’s essence with his harvester. Going slowly to the place where he had meditated earlier, he sat down and began to concentrate. At least he tried.

Luckily for him, it didn’t take much concentration to feel the abnormal movements of his Qi. The channels connecting his core to the injured area were flooded with Qi, as if the injury was dictating the direction of his energy.

By forcing his core to circulate Qi, Dante felt the pain begin to ease. As his Qi weakened, he moved his body to an area where no shadows would get in the way, so as to be as in touch with the sun’s energy as possible.

Making sure Sabrina was not in the vicinity, he removed his shirt, keeping only his pants and shoes. As the pain became bearable, he adopted a meditation position and focused on circulating his Qi. He absorbed the sun’s energy, sent it to his core, and then to the wound.

After some time, he felt that the wound was completely healed. Although he had spent a lot of Qi, he had to resist the urge to shout in celebration. He felt his core had advanced another stage.

Dante, it turned out, was right. The problem was that being right meant that much, much pain was ahead of his path to power.

Waiting a few more minutes to recover, he did the same with the other monsters in the group of the first ones. There were seven in all.

During the combat and the cultivation that was subsequent, he had noticed something curious. Each cultivation session was less useful than the previous one. The reason was not that his Qi was less potent, but rather that the sheep attacks hurt him less and less.

It seemed that his body created a kind of resistance to the attack as Dante was hit. This meant that he would have to use more complex strategies to continue his advancement.

Still, the hunt was a complete success. In just one day, he had advanced his core again. The dream of becoming gold had never been more real.

“I see someone had a productive day, huh?” Sabrina said as she approached. Her appearance was, unsurprisingly, immaculate. It looked like she hadn’t even put in the effort.

“I bet I couldn’t exterminate even half the monsters you managed,” Dante said. Soon after, he noticed that Sabrina was staring at his bust. Embarrassed, he quickly put on his shirt.

With a surprised face, Sabrina said “no, I wasn’t looking at that.”

Without the usual shyness in her gaze, she complemented “I guess now it’s time for you to explain to me your strange kind of Qi, and how the hell you advanced two stages in just a few hours.”

Two stages? Dante thought he had passed only one. It seems that the training was even more effective than he had thought. Only a few days ago he was at Silver I. Now he was at Silver IV.

He knew that after the halfway point, the advance would become much more difficult. The first half of silver was known as the strengthening by quantity. All that mattered was the absorption of Qi. The more the better.

After that it would get difficult. The cultivator would need to start making his physique ready for the oversoul.

Dante took a deep breath. This would be a long conversation.