Deep in the Mysterious Forest, Fate Was Taking Shape.
Rune stood with slightly serious eyes, watching Dovos, who seemed to be preparing for something.
Dovos sat cross-legged on the grass, holding a small, blood-red fruit in his hand.
"Are you ready?" Rune asked.
"Yes," Dovos replied calmly.
For the past two months, Dovos had been learning the method of cultivation, while Rune had been refining his body to its limits.
Dovos had understood the cultivation method about a week ago, but Rune advised him not to rush before taking the final step.
It was said that the first breakthrough was the hardest of all, as one interacts with spiritual energy directly for the first time.
Ordinary humans could sense spiritual energy, but they couldn't interact with it directly.
One had to be fully prepared before breaking through—especially since Dovos's breakthrough would be anything but normal.
Typically, cultivators absorb energy from nature when they break through, but Dovos was using the immense power of the Veraxa fruit, which was highly unusual.
"Alright then," Dovos said as he swallowed the Veraxa fruit.
Contrary to Rune's expectations, nothing happened after Dovos consumed the fruit.
A minute passed… and still nothing. After three minutes, Rune began to worry.
"I felt the effects of the fruit immediately after eating it… Is it because it wasn't refined?" Rune wondered.
But Dovos remained vigilant, waiting patiently.
At the five-minute mark, a change finally occurred.
Dovos began to emit a faint red glow, which gradually intensified and spread outward.
The ground beneath him cracked slightly under the pressure of the immense energy. The glow expanded, reaching a radius of about a hundred meters.
Dovos's breakthrough had officially begun.
At this stage, a cultivator had to guide spiritual energy into their bones to strengthen them and open internal channels, allowing the storage and transfer of energy in the future.
One could imagine it as weaving a thin thread of energy through their bones, and with experience, that thread would become a sturdy network spread across their entire skeletal structure.
Dovos began directing the spiritual energy into his bones to fortify them. He was already at the peak of human limits, but now, he had stepped into the realm of mortal cultivators.
Seeing this, Rune finally relaxed.
The hardest part was controlling and guiding spiritual energy initially; after that, it was just a matter of repeating the process over and over.
A cultivator's talent determined how far they could go with this process.
Dovos's talent was unquestionable—he had a natural affinity for the Rule of Strength.
Dovos's breakthrough lasted for about two hours.
After that time, the energy around him settled, and he opened his eyes.
A faint crimson glow flickered within Dovos's gaze.
He stood up and raised his right hand in front of his face, and a terrifying red aura began to form around it.
As it fully materialized, he simply tilted his hand downward, sending a crimson energy blade forward at an incredible speed.
The aura struck the first massive tree in its path, splitting it in half instantly. It continued slicing through tree after tree, only stopping at the thirteenth.
"The Rules…?" Dovos murmured, observing his newfound power.
"Yes, that's the power of the Rules," Rune answered with a surprised expression.
Usually, cultivators could sense, comprehend, summon, and control the Rules only when attempting to enter the Immortal Realm.
Trying to do so before reaching that stage was unheard of because they simply weren't qualified.
Rules were profoundly complex, and understanding them before reaching the fifth stage was nearly impossible.
But Dovos had not only comprehended them—he had partially controlled them.
The Strength Aura was a manifestation of mastery over the Rule of Strength.
Of course, Dovos couldn't control it freely due to its insane energy consumption.
"Well, that was a spectacular success," Rune sighed. "What's your current progress?" he asked curiously.
"28%," Dovos replied after assessing himself.
Rune's eyes widened in shock. Not only had Dovos managed to condense the Strength Aura, but he had also advanced 28% into the Bone Refinement Stage in a single breakthrough!
During a breakthrough, a cultivator naturally progresses within their stage, but the amount depends on their talent.
And usually, this amount remains consistent in future breakthroughs, meaning that every time Dovos broke through to a new stage, he would instantly reach 28% of it!
This meant he would jump straight to the mid-stage with each breakthrough… It was outright cheating.
Each cultivation stage was divided into four levels:
Early stage: 1% – 25%
Mid stage: 26% – 50%
Late stage: 51% – 90%
Peak stage: 91% – 100%
Once someone reached the peak, they could attempt to break through to the next stage without needing to complete 100%.
However, this was extremely risky. The closer a stage was to perfection, the easier the breakthrough would be.
If someone failed a breakthrough, they could suffer severe injuries that took a long time to heal. In some cases, they might never be able to break through to that stage again.
But for aging cultivators, it was the only way to extend their lifespan. If someone reached the end of their natural lifespan before perfecting their stage, they would attempt a breakthrough at any cost.
The natural lifespan of an ordinary human was around 100 years.
In the first stage, they could live up to 250 years.
In the second stage, 1,000 years.
In the third stage, 5,000 years.
In the fourth stage, tens of thousands of years.
In the fifth stage, around 200,000 years.
This huge gap in lifespans was what drove cultivators to take risks and break through.
After breaking through, cultivators were categorized into three groups:
Only 1% could reach the second stage at most—but they were extremely rare.
2-5% could, with effort, reach the fifth stage—this was the most common category among cultivators. 6-15% could challenge the Immortal Realm and become immortals, but they were rarer than the first category.
Because cultivation methods varied across worlds, Rune couldn't determine all the exact criteria. But what he was certain of was that Dovos was completely beyond normal standards.
Rune sighed and said, "Looks like my breakthrough will be a lot less exciting compared to yours."
"Hmm." Dovos nodded.
Dovos nodded, deep in thought. At first, he believed Rune was special in some way, but now he realized that Rune hadn't comprehended the Rules yet, nor had he used a rare fruit in his breakthrough. So he didn't expect anything unusual from Rune's own advancement.
Rune had reached his limit four days ago and had been preparing for his breakthrough.
He hadn't planned to do it today, but after witnessing Dovos's advancement, he was now determined to proceed.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Rune began to prepare himself.
And at that moment, the system screen appeared before him:
[Would the host like to activate Breakthrough Mode?]