After leaving the stadium, Gabriel wasted no time and headed straight back to the sect.
Right now, he had amassed an overwhelming number of points—enough to guarantee his breakthrough to the Golden Rank. The only question that remained was whether he could push his physical strength to the Nascent Soul level!
...
Gabriel sat cross-legged on the floor of his living quarters, deep in meditation.
"System!" he called out to the Extreme Power System.
Name: Gabriel
Cultivation Level: 7th Layer of Qi Condensation
Power Boost: 2,759,410/1,000
"Nearly three million points! This is the result of the rage and disappointment of over a hundred thousand people!" Gabriel laughed, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
With this, he could power boost himself over two thousand times!
"I can't even begin to imagine the sheer intensity of two thousand power boosts all at once!" he thought, his heart pounding with anticipation.
"System! Boost me two thousand times at once!"
Ding! Task established!
2,000,000 Power Boost Points deducted!
Boosting in progress…
A scorching-hot energy erupted from within Gabriel's core, far more intense than anything he had ever felt before. For a brief moment, he regretted it—it was as if his body would melt under the overwhelming heat.
But just a second later, an ecstatic, almost maddening euphoria crashed into him like a tidal wave.
Endless, searing energy surged through his veins, purifying his body, refining it, strengthening it, and elevating it to unfathomable heights. His muscles trembled, his bones crackled, and every fiber of his being transformed under the relentless, divine energy.
The pleasure was intoxicating—so overwhelming that Gabriel lost all sense of time.
...
He drowned in the blissful torment of his own evolution for twelve long hours. His body greedily devoured every last drop of the raging power, absorbing it into his essence.
When the storm finally settled, he lay motionless on the ground, blinking slowly.
It took him more than ten minutes to fully regain his senses.
"…That was too intense. Terrifying." Gabriel muttered, his breath still ragged. "Never again."
That scorching sensation… it was like molten lava coursing through his veins. Too dangerous.
Shaking his head, he slowly sat up. "Alright, let's see just how powerful I've become."
He stood, stretched his rejuvenated body, and without wasting any time, left his living quarters—then the sect entirely.
Even though he had returned earlier, his ten-day holiday still hadn't run out.
He couldn't test his newfound strength within the sect. No. The best way to measure his power... was in Darkdragon National Park.
...
Back at Darkdragon National Park, Gabriel wasted no time and directly paid for entry into the Foundation Establishment – Mid section.
After boosting his power 2,000 times, he no longer feared mid-grade Foundation Establishment beasts.
"I still have over 700 power boosts left… but I shouldn't use them carelessly. Let's save them. Whenever I'm feeling down, I can use them to lift my spirits!"
That thought lingered in his mind for only a moment before he shook his head.
"No. This euphoria… it's affecting me."
A chilling realization struck him—he couldn't allow himself to become mentally addicted to the overwhelming pleasure that came with power boosts.
"I must not use them like a drug. I don't know what will happen if I become dependent on that high… I should only use them in bulk and never on impulse."
Determined to keep his mind sharp and his willpower unshaken, Gabriel resolved to tread carefully.
Standing before the Mid-Foundation Establishment Section, he pulled out 3,000 spirit stones and paid the fee without hesitation.
Then, without looking back—he stepped inside the portal.
...
Each section of Darkdragon National Park existed within a First-Grade Semi-Plane—the lowest rank possible.
Planes were independent spaces, possessing their own unique laws of time, space, and power systems.
Semi-planes, by contrast, lacked an exclusive power system, and their time and space remained dependent on the larger world they were connected to.
It was crucial to understand the difference between planes and worlds.
Worlds floated freely in the endless void, existing independently, while planes were nested within greater worlds, unable to exist on their own.
Higher-grade semi-planes were incredibly valuable. For example, a Ninth-Grade Semi-Plane was vast and complex enough to sustain an entire hidden civilization, with landmasses comparable to an entire nation.
However, the First-Grade Semi-Planes used in Darkdragon National Park were far less advanced. They provided large, open spaces, but their flow of time remained perfectly synchronized with the greater world. Even though they had artificial suns, rain, and weather, they were incapable of sustaining independent growth.
As for a power system? A First-Grade Semi-Plane was nowhere near advanced enough to develop one of its own.
...
Gabriel stepped into the Mid-Level Foundation Semi-Plane and took a moment to look around.
The landscape was vast and open—a sprawling flatland under a clear blue sky. The sun shone brightly above, casting warm light over the land.
Strangely, nothing attacked him immediately.
"This… is amazing," Gabriel thought. "Semi-Planes are truly fascinating."
The last two times he had entered, he had found himself deep within dense forests, where the thick canopy had blocked his view of the sky. This time, however, he could finally see the sun and the endless horizon—even if he knew it wasn't real.
"That here sun must be condensed light, shining from a formation they set up." His eyes gleamed with curiosity. "I should purchase a Semi-Plane in the future… playing around with one would be incredibly fun!"
But that thought quickly faded.
Even the lowest-grade Semi-Plane was absurdly expensive. Even Core Formation cultivators had to save for a long time before they could afford one, and the cost of maintaining it was another matter entirely.
Suddenly, a sharp cry pierced through the air.
CAWWWW!
Gabriel's gaze snapped upward.
A massive black hawk circled high in the sky, its dark wings outstretched as it watched him from above.
"Hmm?" Gabriel narrowed his eyes.
"How high is the sky here?" he wondered, intrigued.
Just as the thought crossed his mind—
The hawk dove.
It folded its wings, plummeting downward at terrifying speed, its sharp talons gleaming under the artificial sun.
"Too slow!" Gabriel laughed.
From its aura, the hawk seemed to be a Fifth-Level Foundation Establishment beast, roughly on par with that berserk gorilla he had faced before.
But at this point… Gabriel no longer cared.
The hawk's size grew larger in his vision in an instant. Estimating based on its dimensions, Gabriel calculated that it had been flying at an altitude of around 1,000 meters.
"I wonder if that's the maximum height this semi-world allows?" he mused calmly.
Just as he finished his thought, the hawk closed the distance—its razor-sharp talons reaching for him, attempting to snatch him up.
The hawk's speed was nothing short of astonishing—even most Sixth-Level Foundation Establishment beasts would struggle to reach such velocity. But Gabriel's normal movement speed, without even trying, was already far beyond that.
He crouched low.
And then—he jumped.
The very instant his feet left the ground, the earth beneath him caved in, creating a massive crater over 25 meters deep. Molten lava bubbled up from the fissures, formed by the sheer pressure of his launch.
BOOM!
Gabriel shot upward like a comet—so fast that the very air trembled in his wake.
SQUAAAAWK!
Before the hawk could react, Gabriel's head smashed straight through its chest.
He pierced through its body entirely—and yet, even after such an impact, he barely lost any speed. His momentum carried him straight toward the semi-plane's ceiling.
Only then did he realize—
"Too fast!"
He hurriedly activated a spell, trying to slow himself down, but it barely made a difference.
CRACK!
His body slammed into the ceiling of the semi-plane, the force rattling through him. Though the impact injured his head slightly, it wasn't enough to truly harm him.
Stabilizing himself midair, Gabriel finally descended, landing gracefully on the ground.
The hawk, however, wasn't as fortunate.
After crashing down, it lay in a pool of its own blood, its massive body trembling. Even a Fifth-Level Foundation Establishment beast couldn't endure a direct hit to the chest like that.
Yet, despite its grievous wounds, the hawk refused to die.
It struggled.
It clawed at the ground.
And after several painful minutes, it staggered to its feet and began limping away, desperately trying to escape.
Gabriel watched it go, touching the small wound on his forehead.
"So, the ceiling is over five kilometers high."
Even at Seventh-Layer Qi Condensation, his spells hadn't been enough to counteract his overwhelming speed, which was why he had slammed straight into the ceiling like an arrow loosed from a divine bow.
It wasn't the hawk's body that injured him.
It was his power—and the unforgiving ceiling, which was as hard as the toughest diamond and steel, utterly unbreakable.
Shaking his head, Gabriel exhaled.
"There's no point in killing this hawk."
The sheer disparity in strength between them was so great that killing it felt like bullying the weak. While he had no problem crushing the weak when necessary, he wasn't the type to do so without reason.
Besides, nothing he obtained here could be taken outside, so there was no benefit in wasting time.
"I should move on to the Late Foundation Establishment portal."
With that thought, Gabriel turned away, leaving the wounded hawk behind.
Since Gabriel had yet to use up his full hour in the Mid-Foundation Establishment section, he might be able to transfer the remaining time to the Late-Stage Foundation section—potentially reducing the cost.
...
Meanwhile, the hawk had long since disappeared into the distance.
It took a full ten months for the beast to recover completely from its near-fatal wound.
From that day forward, it became far more cautious of the strange, two-legged creatures that walked this land.
...
Unlike the wild, untamed lands outside, not many cultivators ventured into these controlled semi-planes to hunt beasts and monsters.
More importantly—these semi-planes weren't created solely for battle.
These controlled training environments were just one of many purposes for which these portals were designed…
...
Gabriel stared at the Late Foundation Establishment portal, sighing as he pulled out 8,300 spiritual stones.
The formation activated, and the portal began to open.
"These trips are getting more expensive…" Gabriel thought, watching the swirling energies with a touch of frustration.
He still had two hundred thousand spiritual stones left, but lately, he had been spending them carelessly.
"But if I'm not wrong, my strength right now is at least on par with an early Core Formation cultivator. A few hundred thousand spiritual stones don't mean much at this point."
A Peak Qi Condensation cultivator could earn up to 10,000 spiritual stones a year by working normal jobs for the sect. If they were willing to take on riskier tasks, the rewards could soar to 50,000 spiritual stones.
For a Peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, the earnings were much higher. They could earn 1 million spiritual stones annually from regular work—and if they embraced danger, 10 million spiritual stones wasn't difficult to achieve.
Overall, spiritual stones were not difficult to obtain these days—at least for cultivators.
However, for ordinary people, it was a different story.
A hard-working commoner might not be able to earn even one spiritual stone after an entire year of labor. Their average income barely reached 8 gold coins annually, which was less than the cost of a single spiritual stone—which was priced at about 10 gold coins.
The situation with spiritual stones today was a far cry from the ancient times.
Back then, spiritual stones were extremely rare—the only way to obtain them was through arduous mining.
But in modern times, things had changed.
Thanks to a special alchemy technique, spiritual stones could now be artificially generated, fusing natural energy from the air into ordinary stones, making them much more accessible to cultivators and sects.
This was why spiritual stones were so much more common today.
However, the increased availability of spiritual stones didn't equate to more resources—it merely caused inflation.
Though the higher availability of spiritual stones made it easier and more cost-effective to use various formations—especially those that accelerated the growth of spiritual items, which could then be used to craft cultivation pills and potions—the increase in productivity was still far outpaced by the growing volume of currency circulating in the world.
If an ancient Nascent Soul cultivator were to suddenly awaken in the present age, they would likely be considered poor compared to even a Core Formation cultivator. The number of spiritual stones they'd possess would be laughable in comparison.
While spiritual stones could still be used directly for cultivation, they were much less effective than pills, medicines, spirit-gathering formations, or other specialized objects.
In the ancient times, spiritual stones were highly valued because they were not only useful for cultivation—in formations, pill creation, and more—but they were also extremely rare. The only way to obtain them was by mining them from spiritual stone veins, and their energy was so well-preserved that they wouldn't expire, even after tens of thousands of years.
The combination of rarity, usefulness, and the fact that they were sought after by many cultivators made spiritual stones the ideal currency. Moreover, their authenticity was nearly impossible to fake, which solidified their status as the main currency of the cultivation world.
But now, things had changed. Spiritual stones were no longer rare.
Because of this, many sects had begun to adopt alternative currencies, such as elemental stones, which were still naturally found and could not be artificially created.
Despite this, spiritual stones still held immense historical significance. They were still widely accepted due to their longstanding tradition in cultivation and commerce. In fact, it was rare for a sect to outright reject them as currency.
...
Gabriel took a deep breath and stepped through the Late Foundation Establishment portal, preparing for what lay beyond.