Leon was quite satisfied with the amount of Causality he had gotten after killing the monster, especially considering how many mana potions it had cost him during their brutal confrontation outside. Those potions were bought directly from the cosmic shop—the cheapest ones he could find there—and still they’d cost a fortune considering how little Causality he usually received when killing monsters up until now.
However, this ti it was a pleasant surprise that more than made up for his expenses.
Five million Causality. That’s... incredible.
He didn’t dwell too much on the financial aspect, though. His focus was mainly on the giant green core that the monster had left behind after its body disintegrated into ash.
Besides that core, he didn’t see any skill scroll or technique manual left behind as loot, which was a bit frustrating. Typically, powerful enemies dropped sothing—knowledge, abilities, weapons.
Nothing? Really? After all that?
But the five million Causality he’d received made him decide not to brood over the missing drops too much. He’d gotten plenty of value from this fight already.
With a thought, the core teleported directly from the ground into his waiting hands.
Leon gripped it firmly with both hands, his fingers wrapping around the smooth surface.
"Heavy," he comnted aloud, surprised by the weight.
The thing was dense—far heavier than its size suggested, like holding a sphere of compressed tal rather than crystallized energy. But more importantly, the amount of raw power he could feel radiating from this mana core was absolutely astronomical.
This is... this is more energy than I’ve ever felt in one place.
Leon couldn’t help but smile as he felt the pure, refined mana pulsing against his palms. Without wasting another mont of thought—it had been so long since he’d properly leveled up—Leon began the absorption process.
He activated his natural ability to consu mana cores, the sa technique he’d used on beast cores before, but never on sothing of this magnitude.
WHUMMM!
An absurd amount of pure, refined mana traveled straight through his body, flowing like a river of liquid light. It entered directly into his own mana core, which sat just below his heart, expanding the taphysical container in the process.
The sensation was overwhelming.
"Ahhh..."
Leon couldn’t help but release a sound sowhere between a gasp and a moan as the process sent waves of pleasure through his entire nervous system. The feeling was so exhilarating, so intensely satisfying, that it bordered on addictive.
This is... incredible. I could get used to this.
From the corner of his vision, he could see golden transparent pop-ups appearing one after another, each one accompanied by a soft chi.
DING!
[You have leveled up!]
DING!
[You have leveled up!]
He didn’t even need to read the ssages to understand what was happening. He could feel it himself—the increase in Strength, stamina, agility, everything. The changes were sowhat subtle in those physical stats, not dramatically noticeable in the mont.
But when it ca to his mana capacity and intelligence? The difference was crystal clear, impossible to miss. He could feel his mind sharpening, his magical reservoir expanding like a balloon being inflated.
After two consecutive level-up notifications, there was a pause of a few seconds.
Leon thought that might be the end of it—that the core had been fully absorbed.
Already? That seems like—
But then the next ssage ca.
DING!
[You have leveled up!]
And he felt a change in his body this ti—sothing more fundantal than the previous increases. This wasn’t just numbers going up. This was a qualitative transformation.
Level 10. I’ve crossed the threshold.
He knew imdiately what this ant. He had officially entered the Journeyman cultivation rank, leaving the Apprentice rank behind permanently.
He didn’t feel dramatically different on the outside, but internally, he could sense the shift. His mana pathways felt wider, more refined. His connection to the elents felt more stable, more responsive.
So this is what advancing a cultivation rank feels like.
But the green core in his hands was nowhere near depleted. It was still absolutely full of energy, barely diminished despite granting him three level-ups already.
The absorption continued at a rapid rate, that euphoric feeling washing over him in continuous waves.
DING!
[You have leveled up!]
This ti, he felt the difference much more clearly. The increase in his stats was substantially greater than before—not just with this single level-up, but as a baseline moving forward now that he’d advanced his cultivation rank.
Also, he felt his mind beco much clearer and much stronger, thoughts flowing with unprecedented speed and clarity. His intelligence stat was very close to breaking the 1000 mark; he could sense it.
This might be it. This level might push over that threshold.
He opened his status screen with a thought, and the familiar interface materialized in front of him in the form of a transparent golden display.
[Character Information]
[Na: Prim Leo’el Divaneth]
[Level: 11]
[Class: Elental Paragon (SSS)]
[Age: 18 (Soul Age: 34)]
[Race: Divinordial]
[Title: Hope Breaker (Common), Anomaly (Divine), Myth Breaker (Mythical)]
[Cultivation: Journeyman Rank]
[Affinity: All (Rank 8) (Temporary)]
[Strength: ☆]
[Agility: ☆]
[Stamina: ☆]
[Mana: 2600]
[Intelligence: 1015]
Leon’s eyes scanned the information rapidly, his enhanced mind processing the numbers in milliseconds.
Mana at 2600. I was at 2400 when I was level 8, so that’s 200 points for three levels. Which ans...
He calculated quickly. Before crossing into Journeyman rank, his mana had increased by 50 points per level. But after crossing level 10, it had jumped to 100 points per level—exactly double the previous rate.
Double the mana gain per level. That’s... that’s exactly what I needed.
And his intelligence had been at 975 before absorbing the core. Now it stood at 1015, which ant 20 points per level instead of the previous 10.
Also doubled. So cultivation rank advancent doubles the stat gains per level. Good to know.
As for Strength, agility, and stamina, he could feel their increase, a subtle but definite improvent in his physical capabilities. But they were still represented by a single hollow star symbol, aning he hadn’t crossed whatever threshold was required to fill that star or advance to the next one.
Physical stats work differently. Probably need a much larger increase to see visible changes.
Leon calculated all of this in just a couple of milliseconds, his enhanced intelligence making the ntal math trivial.
But the leveling didn’t stop at all.
The core was still going strong, pouring energy into him without any sign of slowing down.
DING! DING! DING!
Leon simply closed his eyes and allowed himself to enjoy the euphoric sensation completely, surrendering to the feeling while hearing the constant notifications from the system.
The world faded away. There was only the flow of mana, the expansion of his core, the sharpening of his mind, and that indescribable pleasure that ca with rapid growth.
This is what power feels like. This is what it ans to truly advance.
Only after a couple of minutes did the absorption finally stop.
The stream of energy cut off suddenly, and Leon could feel the core in his hands crumble to dust, completely depleted of every last drop of mana it had contained.
As he opened his eyes, the core was gone—nothing remaining except fine particles that scattered in the dinsional breeze.
He looked at the status screen still floating in front of him, his gaze imdiately drawn to the level indicator.
[Level: 19]
Leon was beyond thrilled.
Eleven full levels from a single core. Eleven!
That was absolutely wild for soone like him, who struggled with leveling up due to his significantly harder energy requirents. His SSS-class and unique race ant he needed far more experience than normal cultivators to advance.
Yet this single core had pushed him up an entire cultivation rank and then so.
He stood there in the quiet aftermath... and the surge of new power roared beneath his skin.
He flexed his hand slowly, and the frostmail around his gauntlet cracked softly from the pressure—thin lines of shimring ice spiderwebbing across the tal before fading.
His exhale ca out long and steady, and tiny wind currents curled around him in response, as if even the dinsion itself acknowledged the rise in his existence.
Stronger—not just in numbers, but in presence.
The strength coiled inside his limbs felt endless, waiting to be unleashed.
His thoughts moved with razor precision, so fast and clear that the world itself seed slower—more readable, more fragile.
His eyes drifted to his mana stat, and a satisfied smile spread across his face.
[Mana: 3400]
So close to the Frost Kirin I t before, which had 3700 mana.
That Mythic summoned spirit beast had seed impossibly powerful in terms of mana when he’d first encountered it, yet now he was approaching that sa level at which it probably excels the most, and he was only level 19.
It won’t be long before I surpass even that.
A quiet confidence pulsed in his chest now—like the subdued hum of a storm waiting to be summoned.
He was no longer chasing after strength.
He was becoming the kind of being others would look up to...
Or fear.
Leon stood there in his dinsion, covered in frost armor that shimred in the ambient light, holding the remnants of Morpheus’s core as they drifted away on the wind.
He had won.
He had grown stronger.
And this was only the beginning.
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