When hunting a different kind of monster, Dante felt his body move much faster than before. It was as if gravity had abandoned its effects on him, who moved as he was a wind cultivator.

Today, he would hunt a very special kind of monster. Those who wore purple deserved nothing less.

"Who knew you were right, huh," Dante said to Ikarus.

"By now you should know that I am always right. You think I got to my position how?" retorted Ikarus. "Don't forget, I've been through this before. You are not my first cultivator."

Dante had never thought about that before. "What do you mean? When the cultivator dies, can the essence of the monster pass on to someone else?"

"It depends on the class of the monster. I was an S-Class, so my essence transcends the concept of longevity that you recognize. My death is just like that of a star, across the eons."

Dante needed to pause for a moment to absorb the information. Now he finally had confirmation that Ikarus had been an S-Class monster. The advantage he had been given by Zay seemed even more unfair.

"I know what you were thinking," Ikarus said. "It's hard to conceive of the true strength of an S-Class. It wouldn't help if I tried to show it. It's like describing the heat of the sun. We try to form a mental picture of what it's like, but nothing replaces the disintegration of when one first steps on a star. But, I was not that powerful. There must be a hundred S-Class monsters, and there is a gulf between those at the top and others like me."

Dante swallowed dryly. If there were monsters that powerful, why did they let humanity live the way they did?

Maybe, just maybe, there were cultivators as strong as the monsters. In a way, this hypothesis was even more frightening. Those who fought with dragons looked at other humans as mere ants.

These ramblings only made Dante more distressed. Faced with all this, his progress so far had been negligible.

Ikarus sensed the cultivator's distress. "Don't worry, Dante. You are doing very well. Only a little chicken meat is missing, perhaps. You may not be my first cultivator, but I wish you will be my last," Ikarus said. "When we put ourselves in perspective of something bigger, and our reality is shattered, it is always a painful process. When you are a Bronze, all you imagine is a Silver. When you get to the top of the metal realm, all you want is to advance to the sovereign realm. Life is like that. We always covet what is beyond. In a way, that's the core of cultivation."

Dante's cheeks turned red. Although he didn't like to admit it, he was also enjoying the Phoenix's company much more recently. Since they had left the cave, the conversation between them had been frequent.

Either way, it was time to stop complaining and focus on the present.

Dante looked at his map, wondering where he should go. Maybe going back to the training room would be a good idea.

Confident in this, he rushed through the cave, feeling the effects of the Qi in his body.

It was as if he were a locomotive powered by another fuel. What pulsed through his channels was pure, condensed Qi, giving him a strength never felt before.

As Dante rushed into the training room, he encountered a strange sensation. The smell of blood filled his nostrils. It was a distinct odor than the monster's blood. The smell could only be human.

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Dante approached slowly. Even his senses had improved with the recent transformation. When he got closer, Dante noticed that a member of the Draco clan lay dying on the ground, immersed in a pool of blood that grew larger by the second.

"You!" Dante heard the cultivator say.

He approached cautiously. He would never trust a Draco. When he got close to the dying man, Dante felt the cultivator accumulating Qi in his left hand.

Typical.

Dante leaped with ferocity, crushing the man's hand.

"Now, tell me, have you seen a girl with black hair? She wears black too," Dante said. Then he squeezed the man's hand until he heard the bones crack. "Please," Dante added.

"That devil! We were about to capture her, but suddenly everything went dark. Before we could do anything, she almost killed us, and we ended up in this deplorable state."

Dante let a slight smile escape. Sabrina had come to him because of the attack. It was a relief to know that she was all right.

"What are you laughing at? That bitch is going to die slowly, the way she deserves to die," the cultivator said, coughing up blood and smiling at the same time. It was a guttural mix of moods.

Dante's Qi vibrated in his meridians. He felt strength invading his limbs. Quickly, he brought his hand to the cultivator's arm that was still reasonably intact. Slowly, he let his Qi find a way through the man's arm. The smell of burning skin reached Dante before cries of pain could be heard.

After leaving the man's arm in a well-done state, he stopped releasing his Qi.

"Fuck! She's in the alpha nature room. That's all I know, please," the man bellowed, desperate.

"Thank you," said Dante.

He stood up, looking at the cultivator. He turned his back and started walking around the room, ready to leave.

Only one detail was missing.

Charging his right arm with Qi until his meridians begged for mercy, Dante turned and released the energy. An incandescent fireball sliced through the air like an arrow, until it exploded at the Draco clan member.

Now he could continue the search for Sabrina.

As Dante approached the nature room, he slowed his pace. He couldn't believe that cultivator's words. Sabrina would never lose, especially now that she possessed an Oversoul.

As he examined his surroundings with his senses, watching for any other Qi, he couldn't help but feel nostalgic. That was the environment he first fought against the tree monsters, his first Class C. Then, there was where he had defeated the first alpha. In a way, his actual progress began there, with that Qi so vulnerable against fire.

After searching most of the area, Dante felt something different. Approaching the spot where he had fought the alpha, Dante spotted Sabrina.

His heart raced. She was tied up in a field crowded with members of the Draco clan. It seemed that this was really true.

The clan cultivators didn't seem worried about being discovered. They were laughing and singing, almost as if they were expecting something.

At that moment, Dante realized that this was probably a trap. He focused his intent on the mental connection with Ikarus.

"I think it's time for a barbecue. What do you think?" the cultivator asked. Even in the face of danger, he would need to save Sabrina.

Ikarus' laughter echoed in his head. "Don't forget the chicken. I don't like Draco's meat that much."

"Do you think we have a chance?" asked Dante. "There are too many of them. Despite my recent advancement, I am still not a Gold. And they may have cultivators who have already passed to the next stage."

"I don't see much of an option. In fact, even though you've pushed to the limits, you still don't have an Oversoul. But perhaps we can, even partially, force our connection. Let's concentrate everything on one attack. It's our best chance."

Dante agreed with the strategy.

From what he understood, Oversoul was the cumulation of the affinity between monster and cultivator. Thus, even cultivators of the same family with the same monster species could have slightly different Oversouls.

He didn't know how a partial Oversoul would work, but all he could do was rely on Ikarus.

Soon after, Dante internalized his senses, focusing even more on the connection with the Phoenix. When he felt Ikaru's intent join with his own, Dante passed the command to his companion.

He felt Sunfire Qi taking over his arms like a hurricane. The Qi, which was now golden with scrambles of red and white, rose to the cultivator's shoulders, leaving Dante's arms stronger than ever before.

Then he felt the monster act. His claws, previously made of pure energy, took on took on a real appearance, as if the energy claws had been replaced by one of a phoenix. Among the flames on his arms, golden feathers with red appeared and flitted out, as if was spring.

Finally, Dante felt a colossal amount of Qi flood his meridians.

He was ready.

"Our best chance is the first," said Ikarus.

Dante knew that.

That was not his best chance. It was his only one.