Early morning, inside Caelum's room...
Caelum sat on his chair in front of the table with his left leg crossed over his right. Under the dim light emitted by the Qi-Lamp, he was reading a book.
'Goldheart Estate Training Grounds Rift Beast Encyclopedia' it was called.
As he read, the sheets on his bed rustled. Looking over, he saw Saya sitting up straight like an arrow. After their act of intimacy late in the night, she hadn't bothered putting on any clothes.
Thanks to this, Caelum got a clear view of her bare chest. Not that it was the first time, but he had to admit they were amazing each time he saw them.
He whistled playfully while staring. "Good morning, sleepyhead," he said.
Saya first looked at her Young Master, then outside the window, and finally at the clock. It was already 6:30!
Realizing Caelum had wished her good morning, she responded, "Good morning, Young Master! Sorry for waking up so late," she said, somewhat apologetically.
Normally, she would wake up, make herself presentable, and stand in front of Caelum's door at four in the morning. For her, this was definitely considered late.
Caelum laughed. "You aren't going to ask me to punish you or kill you for your grave error this time?" he joked.
"Hehe," Saya chuckled. Then, with a soft smile, she asked, "Last night wasn't a dream, was it?"
Caelum, in a mischievous mood, put on his best confused expression and tilted his head. "Last night? Did something happen last night?"
Unfortunately, his acting was so good that Saya genuinely looked concerned for a moment.
"Silly! Of course, it wasn't a dream. How else do you think you're waking up in my bed, naked?"
Saya pouted at his words. "Young Master!" she exclaimed.
"I brought some tea," Caelum said. "Heat it up and pour us both a cup after you get dressed."
Saya gasped. "Why did you bring the tea? You should've woken me up for this!"
Practically shouting, she looked scandalized. To her, it was unacceptable for her Young Master to do something she considered her responsibility.
"Calm down. I only brought it from outside the door to inside the door. I just asked the servants in the dining hall to bring it here," he explained.
Saya sighed in relief at his clarification. While putting her clothes on, she asked, "You went outside so early in the morning?"
"Yes. In fact, the dining hall wasn't the only place I visited. I stopped by the library to get this book," Caelum said, holding it up. "Then I visited the Weapon Selection Hall to get myself a better sword. And finally, I paid the dungeon a visit."
"The dungeon!?" Saya exclaimed.
"Yes. I just wanted to confirm something. Don't worry about it." Although curious, Saya didn't press further.
Caelum had indeed verified something interesting during his dungeon visit. He had asked the warden for the register of prisoners. Mira's cell number was 43, meaning the cell opposite hers should've been 42.
However, the register showed no record of any prisoner in cell 42.
After confirming this, Caelum left the dungeon without elaborating, leaving a very confused warden behind.
Back in his room, Caelum closed the encyclopedia shut. 'Choosing the correct beasts to hunt is going to be very important today. I think I know what to do.'
The problem was that he needed to kill a single enemy powerful enough to break through his bottleneck. But the snake-like magical beast he fought yesterday had already pushed him to his limit.
'The answer lies in my physical stats. Although my cultivation cannot improve for now, my body's stats still can.'
Saya, now dressed in her maid outfit, poured two cups of tea. Once they finished drinking, the pair made their way toward the training grounds.
Caelum was determined to reach the Qi Gathering Realm that day.
* * *
Inside the Rift...
"Saya, today I need you to look out for Aqualisks. Only Aqualisks."
"But Young Master… most of them are underwater. Don't tell me you plan on diving to fight them?"
"Although I've come to respect your strength a great deal over the last two days, I don't think that'll work—not before you reach Qi Gathering, at least."
Most Aqualisks were in the upper levels of the Qi Gathering realm. For someone who couldn't use Qi, fighting them underwater was suicide.
"Of course, I'm not that stupid. I also wouldn't need you to do the scouting if I were going after the underwater ones, would I?"
"What I need you to do is find me the Aqualisks that are wandering on land."
Aqualisks were strong, fast, and had good defense. The World Devouring System wouldn't care about the terrain where he killed his enemy. This was Caelum's plan to increase his body stats quickly.
This wasn't the first strange scouting request Saya had received from Caelum.
"Got it, Young Master. Although I must warn you in advance, we might just be running around looking for them for a while."
"No problem. And from what I read in the encyclopedia, we'll have higher chances of finding the overland ones if we head east."
Although there was no sun inside the Rift Space, the Goldheart family had created a map by assuming that the Rift entrance was somewhere near the southernmost point.
Now that she had a general direction, Saya led the way while spreading her Qi in search of the target her Young Master desired.
It took more than an hour for them to find the first Aqualisk. Aqualisks were one of the strongest magical beasts in the outer regions of the Rift Space.
Even when they were outside water, they couldn't be taken lightly. Caelum had to spend a considerable amount of effort to defeat the first one.
However, as they say, 'The first time is the hardest.'
With the first victory secured under his belt, Caelum, along with Saya, went on to terrorize all the Aqualisks that were enjoying a stroll in the locality.
By afternoon, the three stats Caelum cared about had reached 50.
[Strength]: 50
[Speed]: 50
[Defense]: 50
However, the stats would not increase beyond this point. When he tried to devour his last Aqualisk, for example, he received a system message:
[Your strength stat has reached the upper limit for your cultivation level.]
The same thing happened with his speed and defense.