In the blink of an eye, another week had passed, and the village had begun to forget the battle, though its impact remained etched in everyone's minds.
Lying on a massive bed in a dimly lit room, Dovos slowly opened his eyes. His body was exhausted, and his mind was weighed down by thoughts of his crushing defeat.
How could such a weakling have humiliated him like that? How had he fallen so easily?
Suddenly, amidst his tangled thoughts, a voice beside him spoke:
"Do you want to become stronger?"
Dovos flinched for a moment before turning to search for the source of the voice. There, standing beside his bed, was a young man with piercing blue eyes. His features were calm, yet his gaze cut through the darkness like a blade.
He didn't need to think twice—he recognized the person immediately. It was Rune.
But Dovos showed no reaction; he had lost all hope since that defeat.
Rune smiled faintly and said, "I can make you a cultivator… even stronger than the one who defeated you."
Dovos lifted his gaze to meet Rune's, but his expression remained frozen, as if those words meant nothing to him.
Rune continued confidently, "All you have to do is follow me. You'll become stronger than ever before. When you're ready, come find me in the forest… I'll be waiting."
With those words, Rune turned and left the room, leaving Dovos alone with his thoughts.
Dovos remained in bed, staring into the void, yet inside, a storm raged within him.
That battle had changed him more than he thought.
He had always believed that strength was just hardened muscles and brute force, but that fight had taught him a harsh lesson… True strength wasn't just in the body—it was something deeper, something he had yet to grasp.
Two Weeks Later…
During this time, Rune had been training relentlessly, pushing his body to its absolute limits in preparation for cultivation.
The path of cultivation was merciless, like walking on the edge of a blade. One needed talent, the right techniques, but above all… a body capable of enduring pain—the kind of pain that crushed the weak and elevated the strong.
Rune had the talent and the right path, but he still lacked one thing… a body capable of withstanding cultivation.
As he sat in meditation, he murmured to himself, "Just a little more…"
He sighed, looking away, only to notice someone approaching from a distance.
In the fading sunlight, a staggering figure appeared on the horizon. Their steps were unsteady, their breaths heavy, yet they didn't fall. They didn't stop.
It was Dovos.
When he finally got close enough, he stood before Rune, looked him straight in the eye, and said firmly, "I want to become stronger."
A faint smile appeared on Rune's face as he observed the man standing before him. Though weak, his determination was clear—as if something inside him had ignited.
One Week Later…
Rune and Dovos stood at the edge of the forest, ready to enter.
The towering trees twisted together like sleeping beasts, and the wind carried eerie whispers, as if the place pulsed with an unseen danger.
Back in the village, whispers spread like wildfire.
"Have they lost their minds? Dovos hasn't fully recovered, and Rune… he's just a weak boy. He can't survive in the depths of the forest!"
"That place is crawling with creatures that even experienced cultivators fear!"
The villagers soon learned what Rune and Dovos were about to do.
Rune hadn't tried to hide it.
Wang and lady Hee were completely against the idea. But after some convincing, Wang relented—he knew Rune had the necessary abilitys to survive.
Their goals for entering the forest were clear.
Rune wanted to push his body to its absolute limits and hunt beasts to gain soul points in order to restore the "Moon Steps" technique.
As for Dovos, he had to start understanding cultivation techniques from scratch and fully recover from his injuries.
Rune also wanted to personally oversee Dovos's training—to see his true potential firsthand.
He turned to Dovos, his blue eyes gleaming in the encroaching darkness.
Then he spoke in a calm but resolute voice.
"The journey to the nearest known sect takes three months. That means we have, at most, five months before Shu returns."
"From this point on… there's no turning back."
Dovos responded in a low voice, "Understood."