Dante internalized his senses. He could feel his core, totally shattered.

Still, he reached out. He felt every diameter of his core, of his meridians, searching for something different.

And then, a whisper. As if a trace of air had entered a sealed room, Dante felt something.

He took this spark, and brought it to his core. His intention was apparent. The quest for perfection could not wait. Slowly, the energy solidified in his core broke the sword. The energy that formed his old core was still there, fighting. White sparks flickered where the sword was before breaking.

Piece by piece, the sword dissolved, like a sugar stone dropped into tea. The energy of the blade mixed with the core faded, creating a sun of white gold.

Dante prepared to create his new core. The orb of energy spun harmonically, free of impurities.

"Did you miss me?" a familiar voice echoed inside Dante's head. "Looks like you finally did something worthwhile, little wolf."

"Always a pleasure, Ikarus," the wolf retorted.

As Dante recovered, he looked at the wolf.

During that conversation, it was easy to see that Dante didn't really know any of the monsters present. In fact, many of the questions remained a mystery.

The existence of the Phoenix, the wolf, and even Zay. Everything caused the cultivator great strangeness.

A growl from the wolf brought Dante back to reality.

"Don't shift your focus just yet. Sit and cultivate. The solidification part of your core needs more cultivation. The big difference in your new core is we molded it together with your intent. Normally, very strong monsters are to some extent incompatible with cultivators, because there is too big a difference in intent. That is no longer the case with you, with your core formation bathed in your intent."

"You mean I won't have to listen to Ikarus's crazy antics anymore?" asked Dante.

"Cut the nonsense, boy," Dante heard from his core.

Going into meditation, Dante cultivated.

"Many cultivators throw away all progress to start in the right way. The way we are doing now. By forming the core together, you and I, we can both materialize our intent, making the compatibility much higher than before. Concentrate," said Ikarus.

For Dante, the first sensation he felt when he saw his core was fear. In less than a year, it was the third different core he had.

First, the Flaming Falcon. Then the Phoenix. Now, yet another one.

Dante took a deep breath. He needed to concentrate.

The first step was to observe the energy that hovered near his chest.

Most of it was sunfire, striking by its golden color. Next in line were stirrings of silver fire, courtesy of the wolf. After observing the core for some time, Dante also noticed a small swirl of crimson red.

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"The falcon!" said Dante, surprised. He thought his old monster was gone forever.

"No Qi inside you disappears. Things just transform," said Phoenix.

He was relieved. Although weak, he knew falcons had bonded with his family for generations. There was something about that red energy that reminded him of his family, of all the sacrifices they had made for him.

Then he focused on the silver energy. The wolf fire was volatile, almost seeming to be non-solid. As he focused on the energy, a question came into Dante's mind.

"What will happen to you, wolf?"

"I will finally rest," said the creature.

A void took over Dante. "What? You mean I am effectively killing you? How so?"

"Don't worry, child. My physical body is long gone. Only part of my essence remains. Make good use of it, and finally let me retire," said the wolf, his voice calm.

Finally, Dante looked at the sunfire.

The energy was undoubtedly the most solid of all. When he touched the intricacies of the energy, Dante felt a myriad of feelings.

Anger, envy, grief. Various feelings took over Dante, as if they were his.

He absorbed the sensations by paying attention to them.

"Now is the time when things get tough. Don't forget that this needs to be a joint effort. Remember when you witnessed Sabrina's advance into Gold, and her new Oversoul. Although this is not exactly what we will do, the principle is the same. You need to exercise your will over mine as well, otherwise the Qi will not obey you," the Phoenix said.

And that is what Dante did.

Every drop of his will was directed solely to the formation of the core. Since the Qi was already inside, all that was left to do was to integrate it with his physical body.

It was a strange feeling. The region of his core seemed to be anesthetized, as if it were not completely his own.

All the energies present in the core region danced, as if finding a common rhythm.

Little by little, the orb of energy was solidifying, a mixture of everything Dante had experienced so far.

His family's heritage, the red energy, brought consistency. Solidity.

The white flames brought volatility, adaptability.

Finally, the sunfire. The vortex of destruction potentiated all the other energies, completing Dante's core.

When he felt his orb of energy again nourishing his meridians, Dante opened his eyes. He felt his pupils burning, as if something had changed.

"Congratulations, child. Your new eyes mark a new perspective on your path from now on," added the wolf.

After a while, Dante felt the core stable. At the same moment, his concentration gave way, and he fell with his body to the ground, absolutely exhausted.

Strange cracks appeared on the cave walls. Soon the air itself seemed to break, as if it were made of glass.

"Goodbye. Enjoy your new core. I'm sure it won't take long to put it to work."

Thus, Dante's last memory was of a completely cracked cave. In the next second, he woke up back where he had left the original cave.

"That shit better have worked," Dante said, while still taking a deep breath lying on the floor.

"Don't forget that 'this' is where I live. It worked. I can feel the difference from here. It won't be long before your physique will feel the difference. You should be able to control your Qi better now, even channel it, like you couldn't before."

Dante knew it was true. "I already know that something is different. Can you tell me any other changes that you know will happen?"

"Your Qi was strengthened by the injection of the wolf fire, your body more toned by the mortal wound you suffered, and your core more customized than almost any other cultivator,” summarized the Phoenix. “The problem with these changes is that, although you are certainly a little stronger, they will be noticed over time. The actual power, or the most important thing is that I can feel our bond much stronger. I am sure that in the next fight, you will feel the difference in our techniques."

From now on, he would be a new cultivator.

To test the theory, he summoned his claws. This time, as a pleasant surprise, there was a layer of a redder, more physical energy on them.

Flexing his fingers, he felt his claws were undoubtedly stronger. The energy of his new core was well represented there, ready to be used.

He stared into the dimly lit caverns with determination burning in his gaze.

Everything that has happened in the last few months. All the training. He lost count of how many times he looked at death and smiled back.

It would not be a triviality of fate that would leave Dante able to deal with the adversity that loomed.

He had prepared himself well enough through effort and hard work. It was time to put it all into practice.