With a sweep of his Divine Sense, he stored everything related to the beast inside his ring—its broken parts, bloodied remains, and most importantly, the cracked demonic core.

It was all valuable. ‘Even if I can’t use it myself, at worst I can sell it for a petty penny, so there’s that.’

“Argh.” A pained grunt slipped from his lips. Now that he was relatively safe, the full brunt of his injuries hit him like a truck. He nearly collapsed but remained upright through sheer willpower.

‘Half the internal organs in my chest are pierced, I have serious slashes across my body, and two of my toes were torn off. For something this severe, recovery won’t be fast.’

‘Especially since its shadowy qi is still lingering inside the wounds. I’d say three or four days of recovery at least?’

His gaze wandered over the shattered forest. ‘The most time-consuming part will undoubtedly be regrowing the toes. It would be easier to just reattach them but unfortunately…’

He let out a quiet breath as he stared at the ruined landscape again. “They were entirely vaporized by my attack… genius me,” he muttered dryly.

Thud.

Mikael let himself drop to the ground and settled into a seated lotus position. Without hesitation, he began refining the lingering shadowy qi while running the Ninefold Physique Method. Now that he was injured, it would be wasteful not to take advantage of the damage. Pushing his body to its limit during the healing process could further temper it, and who knew—maybe he’d reach the second transformation like this?

To an outsider, Mikael’s choice to recuperate right in the middle of a demolished clearing—ground zero of a devastating Celestial Moon’s Embrace—might have seemed reckless. With the sheer force of that attack, the noise alone would alert every living thing in the vicinity. Wouldn’t others come running?

No.

Demonic beasts were creatures of instinct. They could sense power—real, lethal power—and this one had annihilated a Mid-stage Spiritual Foundation Realm beast in a single blow. That kind of overwhelming force wasn’t something they’d approach lightly.

In part of the Savagefang Mountain Range, a Mid-stage Spiritual Foundation Realm beast was considered an overlord. And when a presence capable of obliterating such a creature revealed itself, their instincts screamed at them to avoid it at all costs.

Demonic beasts weren’t human. They didn’t let curiosity override fear. They felt danger and backed away. That was their nature. 

Ironically, this ruined battlefield was now one of the safest places around.

Or so it seemed—until Mikael remembered something else. His brow furrowed slightly. ‘There are still cultivators exploring the Savagefang Mountain Range. Even if demonic beasts won’t come sightseeing… there’s a high chance some cultivators will. And in my condition…’

“Ahh…” A weary sigh escaped him as he forced himself upright. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he began limping away, step by step, toward the outer layers of the Savagefang Mountain Range.

His lone, wounded figure slowly disappeared into the dense foliage, each unsteady step leaving a faint trail of red behind him.

Only minutes after Mikael vanished from the scene, a group of five cultivators in the Spiritual Foundation Realm arrived at the edge of the ruined clearing. Each of them wore the recognizable robes of Inner or Core Disciples from the Flame Sovereign Sect.

Their movements were relatively sneaky—it was clear they didn’t want to be discovered. One of them hesitantly spoke, “S-senior brother, are you sure it’s a good idea to come here? The power of the explosion was really off the charts. It could be dangerous.”

“Tsk,” a female voice full of disdain responded, “Junior Brother, you’re always so hesitant. Real cultivators don’t retreat from power—they chase it. Isn’t that right, Brother Liang?”

The speaker was a Core Disciple of the Flame Sovereign Sect, her beautiful features accompanied by a flirtatious air. As she spoke, she batted her eyelashes at Brother Liang and pressed her generous curves lightly against him.

Brother Liang’s expression reddened as he felt her soft contact. “Sister Qiu is right. No need to be cowardly. While this attack was undoubtedly powerful, in this region the strongest demonic beasts are only at the Mid-stage of the Spiritual Foundation Realm. All of us are either at Mid-stage or Late-stage, so there’s no need to worry too much.”

The Junior Brother who had been berated was only an Inner Disciple. He could only follow helplessly behind his Senior Brothers and Sisters as the group stepped into the clearing. ‘These bastards are too fucking arrogant. I hope whatever caused this explosion kills them all,’ he thought darkly, though his face remained calm.

As they investigated, Sister Qiu’s previously coy demeanor shifted to shock. “What could’ve caused an explosion this powerful? The force is too much. Even a Late-stage demonic beast couldn’t do this, right?”

The others nodded grimly. Even Senior Brother Liang, who had just been confidently boasting of their group’s strength, lost his assurance. His eyes scanned the clearing with growing wariness.

Another female Inner Disciple spoke, her voice tense. “There doesn’t seem to be anything here. I think we should leave.”

The others agreed, and the group quickly departed—not so much because they found nothing, but more because they feared that they might find something…

As they turned to leave, none of them noticed the faint, half-dried blood trail that vanished into the woods behind them.

***

Far from the ruined clearing, Mikael sat cross-legged in the shadowed stillness of a narrow cave. The stone beneath him was rough but warm from the sunlight filtering through a narrow crack above. The air was damp and quiet—broken only by the slow rhythm of his breathing.

His wounds had mostly vanished. The gash across his side was gone, leaving behind only smooth skin. The hole that had torn through his foot no longer existed, and even the two toes he’d lost had fully regrown. Only his internal injuries remained—deep, lingering—but they were healing, gradually knitting themselves back together with each cycle of qi.

More importantly, his body was changing.

With each silent breath, something beneath the surface contracted—then loosened. Bone, muscle, tendon—shifting. As if the very framework of his body was refining itself. Veins pulsed faintly with energy, and a dense warmth stirred in his dantian, spreading outward like a low tide rising. The Ninefold Physique Method

was approaching its second transformation, and Mikael could feel it—an unseen line being crossed one breath at a time.

Time flowed unnoticed in this silent evolution, each moment healing him further and drawing his body one step closer to that next threshold.

Eventually—

Crack.

A sharp sound echoed through the cave as Mikael’s body crossed the barrier and began to transform. This time, there were no herbs to fuel the process. What his body devoured was the last of his lingering injuries.

With every passing second, his body grew healthier—faster than reason should allow. Internal damage vanished at a pace that defied comprehension. In exchange, his body changed, transformed, optimized.

Because that’s what this was about—optimization. The body shedding imperfection to pursue a higher form. The air grew subtly warmer around him as his skin gained a faint luster, a quiet glow beneath the surface—as though light had begun to nest beneath his flesh. Muscles compacted. Bone density adjusted. His already sharp frame grew tighter, more refined. It wasn’t a transformation that added mass. It condensed it.

The second transformation wasn’t centered on raw strength. It focused on vitality and recovery. This optimization didn’t grant a dramatic boost in power, but Mikael could clearly feel it—his recovery ability had increased, easily two to three times beyond what it was before.

Every cell in his body pulsed with energy, their regeneration time drastically shortened.

Mikael opened his eyes and exhaled a slow breath. He flexed his fingers, feeling the vitality coursing through his body. ‘Second transformation… completed.’

A faint grin touched his lips as he stood. Stripping off his black-and-silver taoist robes, he stepped toward a small lake tucked deeper within the cave—a quiet space where he had spent the past four days healing and tempering.

In the reflection that greeted him, his naked figure stood sharper than before, his body once again a step closer to perfection. His toned frame had drawn tighter, and his eight-pack was now one step closer to completion.

WHISH WHISH WHISH!

Mikael threw a few jabs into the air before shifting into shadow boxing. He didn’t continue long—just enough to verify. His body responded exactly as it should.

‘The panther demonic beast was truly a friend. It allowed me to reach the second transformation in the Ninefold Physique Method

, and my Divine Sense Refining Method also took a step forward toward the Small Success Realm.’

He shook his head with mock regret. ‘It’s a pity it couldn’t handle our friendly sparring… I wouldn’t have minded doing a couple more rounds like that.’

With that thought, he redonned his robes and slid Sangrelia into place across his back, then turned and exited the cave.

The first things that greeted him were the rays of the sun and the bite of high-altitude air. Looking downward, he could see the forest stretched thousands of meters below.

Which was normal. The cave he had chosen for recuperation sat high atop a peak—perched far above the forest canopy of the Savagefang Mountain Range.

“Well then. Time to kill some demonic beasts again.”

With those words, Mikael jumped from the cliff’s edge and began to freefall toward the ground. Wind howled in his ears as he accelerated, the pressure building quickly as the world blurred around him.

His descent grew faster by the second. The forest below rushed up to meet him in a blur of green and shadow.

It didn’t take long before the treetops were only meters away. Even with the branches and leaves to soften the impact, a normal human would’ve been reduced to a mangled heap of flesh and shattered bones the moment they hit.

But just as Mikael burst through the canopy and was about to crash into the ground—he stopped.

There was no transition, no slowing. One instant, he was falling. The next, he wasn’t. It was a complete halt—ignoring inertia, physics, and all else.

Thud.

Mikael’s feet touched the ground. A few leaves scattered from the impact, rustling gently before settling back down.

He began to walk, calm and unhurried, heading once again into the deeper section of the Savagefang Mountain Range. ‘Returning to where my “helper,” the panther-type demonic beast, was should be a good idea. Mid-stage demonic beasts are just enough.’

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— End of Chapter —