Without warning, another horned rabbit burst from the underbrush, its horn aimed directly at Caelum.
Caelum noticed it as soon as it entered his field of view but he was a bit late on the reaction since he was psychologically surprised. Still, the upgraded stats of his body were nothing to scoff at.
Apparently, Caelum's increased speed stat did not just increase his body's acceleration and raw speed. It also enhanced his perception and reaction times to a certain extent. He even felt that he was able to think slightly faster now.
Thanks to this, he was able to muster an imperfect response to the surprise attack. Judging that he was not in a suitable position to deflect the horn, he tried to block it with his sword instead. Unfortunately, his block wasn't flawless. The horn slid along the blade, scraping the side of his arm and leaving a shallow wound.
"Do not interfere!" Caelum showed great presence of mind by shouting to Saya who had woken up from her stupor and was about to obliterate the existence of the horned rabbit that dared to hurt her Young Master.
Caelum had a clear reason for asking Saya not to interfere. Beyond just wanting to accumulate Combat Contribution, he wanted this experience to serve as a lesson for himself. Allowing distractions in a dangerous place like this—even with Saya observing—was a mistake on his part.
As the rabbit's horn pushed past Caelum's blade, it lunged to bite his hand. This time, however, Caelum was fully prepared.
Using his enhanced speed, he delivered a powerful kick, sending the horned rabbit crashing into a nearby tree. The impact left the beast dazed, giving Caelum an opening he would not miss.
Without hesitation, he sprinted forward and drove his sword into the rabbit's body, killing it instantly. Wasting no time, he touched the lifeless body and activated [Devour] once more.
As the process concluded, Saya rushed toward him, her expression filled with both worry and guilt.
"Young Master! I've committed a grave mistake. Please punish me however you see fit! I won't complain even if you kill me right now!" she said, bowing deeply in front of him.
To Saya, her mistake was inexcusable. How could she let herself become distracted from her most basic duty at that moment?
Caelum, however, was preoccupied with something else entirely—a prompt from the System.
[You have successfully devoured your target.]
[Would you like to divert a portion of the devoured energy to heal yourself?]
[Yes / No]
'Wait, I can do that?' Caelum thought, surprised. Without hesitation, he selected "Yes." He was fully aware that Saya was watching and that she would see him heal without the use of medicine. This was intentional—Caelum wanted her to witness this.
As soon as he made his choice, a warm current surged through his body. More golden specks appeared in his eyes as his injuries healed in real time. Along with the visible recovery, he felt his strength increase further.
[You have fully recovered. The remaining energy will be used to increase your power.]
[Your Strength has increased by 1.]
[Your Speed has increased by 2.]
[Your cultivation has increased.]
[You have accumulated Madness.]
Saya, who was looking at Caelum while awaiting his response, was shocked to say the least. Caelum finally addressed her with naughty smile.
"You want to be punished, do you? Don't worry, I'll punish you all you want… tonight…"
Saya immediately blushed at Caelum's words. She had been worried that Caelum would be very upset with her, but she did not expect his reaction. Thanks to his joking tone, the tension in her body eased.
Caelum continued, "On a side note, you shouldn't be so eager to get me to kill you. Did I not tell you that you were only supposed to intervene under serious circumstances? A little scrape on the side of my hand is hardly a life-threatening injury."
"And as you can see – I am perfectly fine now."
Saya meekly nodded at Caelum's words and asked the question on her mind, "Young Master, how did you do that? How did your injury heal so quickly?"
Obviously, Caelum had no intention of telling Saya about the World Devouring System. That being said, he had no intention of leaving her wondering forever either. He would provide her with a suitable excuse after some time.
For now though, in response to Saya's question Caelum just chuckled, "Hehehe."
'Hehehe?? What kind of an answer is that? Does he not want to tell me? Well… that's understandable…'
Cultivators were often quite secretive about their strength and means. It was very common for even close friends to not know the exact cultivation levels of each other. There were also many Heaven-Chosen who kept the details of their Heavenly Gifts a secret.
Although Saya was slightly disappointed that Caelum did not confide in her, she still found it perfectly reasonable. After all, they had only started getting to know each other for about a day – even if a lot happened in that single day."
The next few hours flew by quickly as Caelum continued his hunt. Two hours ago, the overhead sun had marked noon. Since morning, his understanding of [Devour] had grown significantly.
i) The increase in his stats after using [Devour] was directly tied to the power level of the target. Stronger opponents yielded more substantial gains.
ii) He also discovered that his actual strength did not grow linearly with his stat increases. For instance, when his speed stat reached 20, he was not merely twice as fast as when his speed was 10. Instead, he was approximately five to six times faster.
iii) As his stats grew higher, it became significantly harder to achieve further increases. For example, devouring the same horned rabbit now would likely provide no additional stat boosts, though it might slightly enhance his cultivation. To continue growing stronger, he needed to seek out progressively tougher enemies.
iv) The distribution of stat increases after using [Devour] depended on the attributes of the target. Devouring a swift creature, for example, resulted in a greater boost to his speed stat.
v) The amount of Madness he accumulated did not depend on the strength of the enemy he devoured.
Armed with these realizations, Caelum became far more selective in how he used [Devour]. With Saya's assistance, he focused on identifying the most powerful targets he had a realistic chance of defeating and only devoured these targets.
If he encountered any other beasts, he only killed them for combat practice and did not use [Devour] at the end of the fight.
Currently, Caelum stood atop the lifeless body of a pseudo-magical beast that resembled a massive gorilla. His regular mortal sword lay in pieces nearby, shattered during the fight against it. The creature's body had proven unbelievably tough.
Left with no other choice, Caelum had resorted to pummeling the Blackearth Gorilla to death with his bare fists. Now, he was inspecting his stats after finishing the devouring process.
***[Basic Stats]***
[Cultivation]:
[Realm]: Body Tempering Realm
[Stage]: Bone Strengthening Stage (Previously Muscle Refinement)
[Progress]: 1%
[Health]: OK
[Qi]: 0 / 0
[Strength]: 24
[Speed]: 22
[Defense]: 20
[Dexterity]: 15
[Regeneration]: 1
[Qi Regeneration]: 0
[Dao Comprehension Talent]: 60.0 (max 100)
[Devourer's Madness]: 15.0%
[Madness deterioration rate]: 1.2% / day
His cultivation had advanced from the Muscle Refinement stage to the Bone Strengthening stage of the Body Tempering Realm. The relatively high rate of Madness deterioration reflected his jolly mood.
Saya, standing a short distance away, observed the scene with a dry expression. Though she had thought herself immune to shock after spending the morning with Caelum, she couldn't stop herself from commenting.
"Young Master, you do realize that the beast you just killed would've given most peak Body Tempering cultivators a run for their money, don't you?"
Saya's surprise was understandable. Caelum hadn't really explained anything to her. From her perspective, her Young Master was someone who could become stronger by fighting. One word dominated every conjecture she had regarding Caelum – "Heaven-Chosen".
But even that word was insufficient to explain what she was witnessing. She was someone who read and heard many stories when she was younger. Even the legendary figures of the Mystical Wilderness Minor Realm did not improve as quickly as Caelum did during their early days.
No, what Saya was witnessing was no mere legend. She was witnessing the beginning of an epic that would shake the very fabric of the Cosmos. And she too would have a role to play in it.