None of that mattered at the moment though, since Minos was currently busy with completing missions. So while Trell was slowly learning more about Merth, Minos was busy saving up for a Three-Moon Lock Pill.
Time passed quickly, the whole world in motion, everyone heading on the path of completing their own goals.
But for Minos, the path was already at its end, and after three and a half months of painstaking work, he finally earned enough.
Heading to the Resource Hall, Minos handed over his badge, feeling no pain as he watched his 15000 contribution points drop back down to 0.
Any sort of pain would immediately vanish once Minos took the three Lock Breaking Pills into his hand, giving them a sniff before tucking them away in his robe, secretly storing them in his spatial ring.
The man at the desk couldn't help but wonder why Minos bought three Lock Breaking Pills at once, after all it took a few months for a person's body to properly adapt after every break through.
That meant that even if someone had all the resources they needed, it would still take years to get stronger.
Of course, depending on one's talent, they would naturally adapt at different speeds. Some take years, and others only need a month.
Regardless though, even those geniuses who could break through every month, wouldn't, after all the more time spent refining each layer, the stronger the foundation, and the better the future achievements.
But despite the man's curiosity, he would receive no answer, only watching enviously as Minos walked away with his three Lock Breaking Pills.
If this wasn't inside the sect, then Minos probably wouldn't be able to take a few steps before being attacked from all sides, but fortunately, no one had the guts to do something so bold within sect grounds.
Leaving peacefully, Minos quickly made his way back home, not wanting to spend a second longer in the Seventh Layer of Mortal Renewal.
After telling his maid to keep quiet, Minos headed to his room. After firmly sealing the door and windows, and leaving traps behind just in case, Minos sat cross-legged on his bed, taking the pills from his spatial ring.
It was always invigorating to break through, so after spending a moment to calm his excited nerves, Minos popped the first pill.
Feeling the pill slowly unravel in his stomach, releasing its tremendous power, Minos immediately began using his Twelve Beast Movement Tome to slowly guide the energy towards his Eighth Life Lock.
Under his guidance, the power from the Lock Breaking Pill came directly in contact with his Eighth Life Lock, the two beginning to fight the second they touched.
But as Minos expected, his Eighth Life Lock was far too strong for one Lock Breaking Pill alone, so without a second doubt, he immediately downed his second pill.
With the power supplied by the second pill, the two forces became somewhat even, but it still wasn't quite enough.
A little piece of him was hoping he could get by with only two pills, but now he realized that was a bit of a naive thought, so he once again swallowed the third pill.
Finally with these three bursts of power attacking at once, the Eighth Life Lock had the tides turned against it, slowly being suppressed under the opposing force.
After a final push by Minos, the Eighth Life Lock finally collapsed, and as per usual, with its destruction came a surge of energy that caused Minos's body to once again go through another metamorphosis.
The Seventh to Ninth Life Lock's were the Sense Locks, with the Eighth Life Lock also being known as the Ear and Touch Lock.
With its breaking, Minos not only gained another massive surge of strength, adding a full 2000 pounds of power, but also gained an incredible boost towards his hearing and sensitivity.
Similar to when he broke his Seventh Life Lock, Minos once again was overwhelmed by a new world, but this time, one of noise and vibrations.
Thanks to his training of the Twelve Beast Movement Tome, Minos's senses were already quite a bit stronger then most cultivators at his realm, but it was nothing compared to the boost that came with breaking his sense locks.
If the world worked at a whisper before, then now it was constantly screaming, every sound and word traveling into Minos's ears, causing his brain to fall into a slight chaos.
This feeling was made even more awkward by the feeling that was constantly hitting his body. With his Touch Lock being opened, every single vibration traveled through his body like an earthquake.
The once soft blow of air was now akin to a fan blowing directly towards him, each gust of wind like a hurricane.
For a normal cultivator, getting used to these new senses would take months at the least, but Minos had an incredibly powerful soul, not to mention his soul splits, which made the process even easier.
With his soul splits all working together, Minos managed to slowly regain control of his senses, mastering this new world.
With his experience at the Seventh Life Lock, Minos was even quicker this time, building a world based on these new senses.
Compared to the world he had built when he unlocked his Nose and Taste Lock, this one was even more vivid.
With both his hearing and touch working together, Minos built a black and white world within his mind, every noise and vibration making the world more detailed.
Similar to echolocation, by hearing how the noise bounced around in the room, Minos could create a map of his surroundings.
This map was made even more intricate when Minos included the information that came with the vibrations that traveled through his body.
By slightly tapping his foot on the ground and waiting for the returning vibrations, Minos could easily 'see' the interiors of objects, letting him sense all nooks and crannies.
With these two evolved senses at play, Minos could create a map of his house with ease, one that was far more detailed than anything he could see with his eyes alone.
Listening in for a moment, Minos noticed his maid working in the living room, mopping the floor clean and wiping tables.
He could hear every step she took, even her slightly accelerated heartbeat, clearly becoming tired from all the work.
After playing around with his new senses for a moment, Minos once again opened his eyes, returning to the world of color.
Regular cultivators would usually seal off their senses to normal levels if they weren't using them, after all, the constant flow of information would overwhelm their brains, breaking their concentration.
But for Minos, this wasn't a problem since he could simply have one of his split souls take charge of some senses, leaving his concentration un-affected.
By doing this, Minos's world was far more brilliant than normal people, one where all his senses seemed to dance in harmony.
The benefit of this went without saying, making it practically impossible to catch Minos off-guard.
Jumping off his bed, Minos slowly flexed his muscles, feeling his new power. From 5000 pounds, it jumped up to 7000, now being three and a half tons, a full ton increase.
A single punch at this strength would burst a mortal into a mist of blood, so it went without saying why mortals feared and revered cultivators so much.
Despite not even having reached the Inner Heaven Realm, one could already slaughter thousands of mortals with ease, so Minos could only begin to imagine the terror of an Inner Heaven cultivator.
Putting away those wild thoughts, Minos began concentrating back on his main goal, which was puppet-refining.
His whole purpose of breaking through was to help his puppet-refining, so naturally with that goal accomplished, it was time to get to work.
Earlier when he bought his Lock Breaking Pills, he had also bought the materials for another attempt at making a Gold-Nibbling Mouse, so he already had everything ready.
Sitting at his desk, Minos pulled out everything he needed. The first job was to make the Puppet-Husk, which was a simple task at this point.
After only an hour, Minos finished, but with that done, it was time for the moment of truth. Pulling out his drilling string, Minos breathed in deeply before beginning.
As he slowly drilled the string inside, Minos immediately noticed the massive difference from before. By feeling the vibrations that traveled through the string, Minos could sense the interior of the Gold-Nibbling Mouse.
The Gold-Nibbling Mouse's interior, which Minos could once only guess at, was now like an open book, revealing all its secrets to him.
With this feeling, Minos's confidence hit a whole new peak, his work not only becoming much faster, but the quality much better as well.
The vessels slowly began spreading through the Gold-Nibbling Mouse, becoming more intricate yet never jumbled like they were in the past.
Each once was placed exactly where it needed to be, flowing with the other vessels to form a beautiful network.
Despite the improvements in speed, this process was still an incredibly delicate one, requiring tremendous patience and discipline.
The hours flew by as Minos worked with full concentration. The sweat slowly dribbled down his forehead onto his nose, before dripping onto the table, each splash like a wave to Minos's ear.
Despite the sound, the noise was completely ignored by Minos, him having long since entered a world where only the Gold-Nibbling Mouse existed.
After five hours or so, Minos finally leaned back in his chair, rubbing the sweat off his brow. Looking at his desk, Minos gently picked up his puppet, the exhilaration traveling through his body as he knew almost instinctively that this time, he did it!