"That thing is nasty!"

Rim scratched his nose furiously in a vain attempt to keep the stench away. She looked at her shoes to make sure there were no bloodstains. It was important at least not to bring that stench back to her room.

"Take it easy. I'm sure you won't complain about having some Poison Qi for your weapons. We may not like them, but it's undeniable that their weapons Qi is not one to throw away," Hector said.

Hector carefully wiped his hands. The objects contaminated with poison Qi were sticky, besides the terrible stench. Until now, members of the Draco clan used Qi of poison or thunder. Despite this, Hector still didn't know for sure what their monster was.

"I will not use this disgusting energy. I'd rather cover myself in monster blood than go near that Qi again," Rim said. She knew that there was no truth in her words. Despite its characteristics, Poison Qi would be very useful for her new weapons.

The smell of poison permeated their nostrils. It was as if a rotting flesh had rotted again.

Around them lay several corpses, with clothes that marked them as members of the Draco clan. Some had part of their bodies frozen, while others carried with them an amount of metal that went beyond medical recommendations.

To distract herself, Rim levitated some metal orbs in his hand. She liked the feeling of knowing that her weapons were always at hand. Since she had ascended to Gold, her limit of metal control had skyrocketed.

She was a prime example that one should never underestimate a woman's purse. Dozens of small orbs were at the cultivator's disposal, should the need arise. From ammunition targeting monsters, to others targeting cultivators.

"We should go now. It won't be long before someone misses them," Hector said as he prepared to leave.

He couldn't say that he felt bad for killing those half-assed cultivators. Of course, maybe in their midst there was someone with a sad story, a victim of fate. But it was hard to apply a value judgment when there was a spear pointed at his face.

The next goal would accept no failure. For the other disciples, it was a normal day. For Hector and Rim, however, it was a day of accountability.

After passing through some Qi environments, they arrived at the agreed place.

It was a cave that exuded metal Qi, with ores overflowing the ground.

The choice of location was, above all, logical. That environment amplified Rim's powers, making it easier to communicate with the outside world.

She took from her belongings an orb different from the others. With antennae, the object resembled a flower with thorns.

Among her inventions, this was one that gave her the most pride. An object that allowed communication over great distances, surpassing even the Qi barrier that permeated the school.

She smiled as she activated the communication mechanism. Now that she possessed Oversoul, the task was as natural as breathing.

The cultivator accessed her Qi carefully, injecting into the object the exact amount needed. To increase her control, she summoned her metal armor where her finger touched the orb.

Encased in the metal armor, Rim felt safe. Even though the armor was covering only a small part of her body, the difference was striking. Qi flowed freely through the ore, enhanced by the cultivator's new core.

An Oversoul could be a blessing or a curse to a cultivator. Despite great potential, the technique could hinder the path followed by the cultivator up to that point. This was definitely not the case with Rim.

The armor offered protection, an aspect of which she had a large deficit until then.

The metal flower sparkled, surrounded by energy. It didn't take long for the connection to be made.

Even in the face of her newfound power, she couldn't let go of her nervousness. Even after years of serving those people, she still didn't know exactly whom to trust. For her, the alliance had been pacted for her own benefit. In exchange for resources, she would work to improve the organization's communication.

Upon entering the school, everything changed. Rim had evolved, and not just on the cultivator's path. She now cared about her peers, and could feel that they cared about her.

Finally, there was something other than revenge working as fuel for her.

"Steel one and steel two," she said in a low voice. Even though she insisted that the communication method was inviolable, they still preferred to communicate in code.

"Iron is here. Requesting updates."

Hector approached. He was the oldest member of the alliance between the two, so communication was his responsibility. She also knew that he did it out of consideration. Rim hated being answerable.

"Things are going as expected. We are maintaining our positions in the ranking, with no major highlights. Things with the Draco clan are getting hotter, I suspect it won't be long before a real fight happens."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Even Hector was nervous while waiting for the other end of the line. The orders he received were always unpredictable.

"All right, stay like that. Remember that the ultimate goal is approval for the next stage. Rim, have you moved up a bit in the rankings?"

"Yes, I'm in position nine." After Rim had learned the Oversoul, the speed with which she earned points had taken a meteoric rise. She just wasn't climbing any higher because she was following orders.

A few seconds passed, marked by silence. Rin moved her hands, restless. She sometimes suspected that the main reason they put up with her was not for her communication skills, but for her help to Hector. After all, it wasn't possible that such a large organization didn't have some cultivator who was at least somewhat skilled in the arts of communication.

"Last thing. I fear you are right, and the Draco clan is up to something. We have noticed some strange activity in the school's vicinity. We could not pinpoint a date yet, but we will let you know as soon as possible. Stay away from the fighting, understand?"

"Understood," said Hector, without blinking. Rin sometimes wondered if Hector was actually human, for his almost robotic responses.

"Understood," she said, with weak intonation.

The practical side of that situation was making her bitter. Something was coming to attack her home. And the worst part? She had been ordered to be silent.

This meant putting her friends in danger.

At that moment, her mind went to a dangerous place. She imagined her friends facing the invasion, unaware. Dante, away from everything and everyone. Succumbing alone.

She looked at Hector, startled. She couldn't let that happen. If he didn't agree, well, at least she would suffer the consequences alone.

"We will help them," Hector said.

Rim looked at him, surprised. Turns out that bald guy wasn't so metallic after all.

She picked up the communication device and put it away carefully. That was worth a lot of points for her player away.

Then she and Hector returned to the castle.

It was time for preparation.

----------------------------------------

The air was heavy with the smell of earth mixed with blood. That scene would be forever marked in Dante's mind.

Soon after recovering from the fight against the Draco clan cultivators, Dante went ahead with his goal. He had taken the spoils of the fight, purified his Qi as much as possible, and headed towards the earth monster, hoping to find his first artifact.

When he arrived at the monster's location, he fought like never before. He did almost found defeat, again.

Luckily for the cultivator, his body was relatively prepared with Nature Qi. Thus, Dante got close enough to the tree and slowly cut down the creature. After a few hours, his new technique, affectionately nicknamed Phoenix Rise, took care of the beast.

The monster's appearance still frightened Dante, even after he had recovered from the fight. The monster was a tree with black, twisted trunks; it looked as if it had come straight from a nightmare.

He sighed deeply, relieved that he had made it.

After further internal analysis, to make sure that he had recovered much of his Qi, he stood up.

The time had come.

Dante picked up the square object from the floor. Supposedly, that was the artifact. Dante threw the object between his hands, to catch some kind of reaction.

Unsuccessfully, he did what he always did in these situations. He shot Qi.

Dante thought he saw the aura around the object tremble, the wood seemed to contract by millimeters until...nothing.

Dante sighed again.

When he took out the Harvester to absorb the essence of the monster, however, something curious happened.

The alpha monster's energy seemed to stick to the boy's body, inviting him in.

Dante got into a cultivation position. Whatever it was, he had learned that he never denied himself a suspicious opportunity to grow stronger.

As Dante cultivated, he clearly felt the Qi of the defeated monster trying to enter his channels. Dante paid attention to that energy, to the manner in which it behaved in contact with his own.

The Qi of monsters was clearly different from that of humans. Perhaps because this monster had a greater amount, the difference was even more evident.

It was as if the Qi of monsters was pure, distilled. Free of intentions. The Qi of the humans, on the other hand, seemed tainted in a way.

To rise to Gold, he would have to unlock the secrets of his ancestral beast. He felt that understanding the Qi circulating through his meridians was the key to this.

Dante internalized his concentration on Core. The orb of energy spun denser than ever. With each level, the difference was palpable.

Not only that, Dante felt Ikarus' presence more and more. The Phoenix, which before was nothing more than a whisper, was now almost solid.

Dante tried to go deeper into concentration. Into the Core, into that energy. He felt the walls of his inner world flexing, almost opening to let the cultivator in.

"You have not been properly instructed, it seems." Ikarus' voice sounded like a gong in Dante's mind. "The time has come for us to have another discussion. Lucky for you, only a monster of my strain is capable of us communicating in this manner."

Dante felt his core spinning faster. His Qi was restless. Something was happening, and Dante would not miss another chance.

He closed his other senses, totally immersed in cultivation. When he opened them, he was no longer in the cave. Darkness surrounded him again in the inner world.

A continuous stream of flames came out of the creature's body, forming a red aura.

"That is a simplistic representation of how I used to be. Not at my peak, of course, but a watered down version so that your head can understand it. The point is that a monster, when it dies, leaves behind its essence."

Before Dante's others, the majestic Phoenix slowly disappeared, leaving behind an energy that danced in the air.

"Essence, in its pure state, can be harnessed in many ways. Cultivators can mold it into pills, weapons, and even use it directly in cultivation. The other way is to condense it into a core. You could say, thus, that a human can take advantage of a monster's essence to become stronger."

The energy in front of Dante condensed into an orb in the center of the landscape. The orb moved from side to side in front of the cultivator.

"That energy, when transformed into a Core and united with the cultivator, becomes processed by the human. In this way, the Qi, which until then was almost purely elemental, is united with the design of the cultivator, so that its essence changes. This principle can also be applied to Oversoul."

Now that made more sense. This meant that the feelings, as well as the cultivator's techniques, directly influenced the nature of the Qi. Theoretically, no two types of Qi would be exactly alike.

It also meant that the ability of the cultivator was somewhat determined by the Monster Core. A monster with weak Qi would not offer enough raw material for a jewel to be formed. Some would live only in fragments.

This brought back to the boy's mind memories of when he possessed his old Monster Core. With it, it would doom Dante to a mediocre life, most likely. How many would not be looking for a chance in the outside world?

It was not a time for lamentation. Now, he understood a little more that he had to stop just accepting the Phoenix's design. He needed to start shaping the nature of his Qi in his own way.

It was time to start forging his path.