Rain watched Damian moving toward the two zombies. He observed Damian's energy gloves and noticed that, rather than looking like regular energy constructs, they resembled actual metal gloves.
Lily remarked, "Damian's gloves look like metal."
Sky nodded. "He's a step away from breaking through to the True Body Realm, and the black pond here might aid him."
Siobhan turned to Sky, curious. "Teacher Sky, how would the pond help?"
Rain kept an ear on their conversation, eyes fixed on the scene ahead as Damian engaged one of the zombies. The other stood on guard, occasionally glancing between the fight and the group, seeming alert to their presence.
Sky explained, "The black pond is formed by dark iron essence. It allows one to comprehend the energy of dark iron."
Rain asked, "So we can comprehend it too?"
"Yes," Sky replied. "Anyone can attempt it, but it's most suitable for those with a metal affinity, like Damian."
Rain continued to observe Damian's intense battle, noticing each time their fists collided, the sound of metal against metal echoed through the cavern. He wondered why Damian hadn't yet reached the True Body Realm, especially given that his energy gloves seemed indistinguishable from real metal—similar to Sky's ice sword from earlier. *Just how much understanding of an energy form does it take to break through?* Rain mused.
As the grueling match wore on, half an hour passed. Rain noticed subtle changes: the bronze glow on Damian's gloves was flickering, and at times, portions of the gloves seemed to waver, the glow dimming as if they would dissolve. 'This must be why Sky said he's only a step away from the True Body Realm,' Rain thought. Damian's control over the metal energy was impressive, yet in a prolonged fight, the gloves couldn't maintain their full form indefinitely, gradually reverting to genetic energy.
Rain considered Damian's situation, realizing that without a new technique, Damian might struggle to defeat even one of these zombies, let alone two. His attention then drifted briefly to his clone in the Star Immortal World. After Rain reclaimed his consciousness, the clone had spent the night at the inn, returning to the cave at dawn with enough supplies to last around ten days.
Once back, the clone focused on further preparations, first constructing another chip within his soul space, then localizing his E-rank practice technique. This technique gathered energy from each cell with the chip's assistance, allowing him to efficiently harness his body's reserves. Each night, the clone would send his progress back to Rain. Utilizing both the chip and the energy pond, he adapted the main world's practice method to the Star World, concentrating on gathering energy from all cells. This approach didn't increase his raw strength but significantly enhanced his energy reserves, as he realized that the Star World's warrior training specifically targeted the body's core strength centres. Remarkably, all of this was accomplished within just two days.
However, it didn't facilitate a breakthrough to the next realm. So, he turned to the immortal practice methods for insight and discovered an approach: some people, instead of intense practice, reached the peak of gathering strength quickly by relying on medicines. This shortcut, however, made their energy disperse more easily and much harder to control. To address this, a technique had been developed to condense and stabilize the lost energy. He learned it and began practicing the condensing technique over the next five days. Now, he could feel his true energy nearing a state of evolution or metamorphosis. Rain also counted himself lucky to have found the energy pond—without it, reaching this stage would have taken him months.
Rain, lost in thought but still keeping his eyes on Damian's fight, noticed that after a solid punch to the zombie's face, Damian's energy-constructed glove collapsed. Forced to fall back, Damian quickly reformed the boxing gloves on his fists to continue the battle. Though the fight appeared evenly matched, It was clear Damian had the upper hand, as the zombie hadn't managed to land a single hit.
However, Damian's punches also had little effect on the zombie's tough exterior. Each time Damian tried to build momentum with repeated strikes, aiming to unleash a stronger blow, the zombie would immediately counterattack, seeming immune to pain. This forced Damian to disperse his momentum at the last moment to avoid being struck by the zombie's metal-like fists, knowing he couldn't risk taking a direct hit despite his strong defense.
When another one of Damian's energy-constructed boxing gloves dispersed, he had to halt his momentum and retreat momentarily to reform it again.Rain noticed that once both boxing gloves were reformed, Damian re-engaged without hesitation. Each punch landed harder, the clash of metal resounding louder, and the zombie was driven back, unable to interrupt Damian's gathering momentum. Finally, Damian delivered a powerful uppercut under the zombie's jaw, lifting it off the ground, and a sharp snap of metal echoed as the zombie collapsed onto the ground.
They all, including the second zombie, turned their gaze to the fallen one. Rain noticed the snapped metal-like skin around its neck, though whether it was truly dead was uncertain. The second zombie growled at its fallen companion but received no response, confirming that Damian's strike had at least immobilized it. The remaining zombie roared at Damian and charged, but it was no match—within 15 minutes, Damian finished it off in the same manner as the first.
Seeing the fight conclude, they all jumped down. Damian approached the fallen zombie and dispersed his energy gloves to form a knife. However, the blade barely penetrated the zombie's skin, only sparking on contact. Determined, Damian gripped the knife with both hands, attempting to slice through its chest. Meanwhile, Sky moved to the other zombie and, with a swift swipe of her ice sword, effortlessly cut open the chest and extracted the heart. After considerable effort, Damian finally managed to carve through the tough skin, muscle, and bone to retrieve the heart. This display highlighted the strength difference of a peak D-rank Genetic Warrior in the True Body realm. If Sky had fought these zombies, the battle would have ended in seconds.
Lily said, "Damian, you're so close to True Body realm."
Damian offered a calm smile. "I've been one step away for two years now, yet the gap still feels insurmountable."
For the first time, Rain saw a side of Damian that wasn't his usual cheerful self. After three years of being stuck at peak D-rank, it was understandable how this might cause someone to question his path forward.
Sky encouraged him, "Don't be discouraged. Every step you take brings you closer. Remember, I asked you what path you'd choose, and you were certain about taking the True Body path. This dark iron condensed essence will bring you even closer to that goal."
Damian nodded, his cheerful demeanour returning as determination reignited in his eyes. "You're right," he said, though there was a hint of doubt in his tone. "But I've only comprehended the energy of bronze until now, and this pool holds the essence of dark iron."
Sky replied confidently, "It won't be an issue. Since both are from the metal element, combining your bronze energy with dark iron may push the bronze to a higher level."
"I hope so," Damian murmured as he approached the dark iron pool and sat cross-legged beside it, closing his eyes.
Sky addressed the group, "If any of you want to understand the mysteries of dark iron energy, you can join. It could benefit you in the future." She sat beside Damian. One by one, Rain, Lily, and Siobhan followed, each preparing to comprehend the mysteries of dark iron energy.