Karma awoke to the quiet morning light filtering through the inn's window. His body, once an aching mess of bruises and fatigue, now felt light and filled with a potent, humming energy. He stood, stretching with a newfound grace. The speed of his cultivation, a truly unbelievable process, had left him with an insatiable hunger for power. He had a single silver coin left, a temporary lifeline from the kind old woman. He knew what he had to do. He would go back to the Greenfang Forest, this time not as a lost boy, but as a predator.
He slipped out of the inn and navigated the awakening city streets. The morning air was cool, carrying the scent of damp earth and distant, strange blossoms. The Greenfang Forest, which had nearly been his grave just a few days ago, now felt less like a monstrous maze and more like a vast, untapped vault of resources. He had a path, a purpose, and a single goal: to get stronger and to make enough money to stop living on the brink of destitution.
He entered the forest, his senses sharpened by the divine scripture. The air hummed with spiritual energy, and the cries of distant beasts, once a terrifying chorus, now felt like a roadmap to his next meal. He ignored the weak, low-level beasts that scurried past, his eyes fixed on the deeper, darker sections of the woods. He was looking for a challenge. He was looking for a test.
He found it in a small, mist-shrouded clearing. A massive serpent, its scales a swirling pattern of black and green, uncoiled itself from a mossy boulder. Its head, held high, was a horrifying, familiar sight. It was a replica of the very beast that had crushed him, the one that had forced him to face the very real possibility of his own death. Its aura, once an incomprehensible, suffocating weight, now registered in his mind as a clear, distinct signature: Early Energy Absorption Realm. The same realm he himself had just reached.
A cold, hard grin spread across Karma's face. "The universe really has a sick sense of humor," he muttered, raising his sword.
He carefully channeled the pure, potent spiritual energy from his dantian, coating the sword's blade. He moved, not with the frenzied, desperate energy of a chased animal, but with the calm, focused intent of a hunter. The serpent lunged, its maw wide, its fangs like daggers. Karma dodged, a single, precise application of the Silent Flowing Steps that brought him within striking distance. He brought his sword down in a clean, powerful arc, aiming for the serpent's head. He didn't just strike; he focused his intent on Devouring, on taking the beast's very essence for his own.
The sword, a simple, unassuming tool, connected with the serpent's skull. There was no resistance, no clang of bone on wood. It was like striking a hollow log. The serpent's head, the one that had looked so powerful, simply crumpled. Its body, still coiled to strike, went limp. It hit the ground with a sickening thud, its vitality draining in a silent, violent gush.
Karma stood over the corpse, speechless. The beast's death was so sudden, so effortless, that he felt a sense of profound shock. He poked the serpent's lifeless body with his foot. "It can't be... did I... did I kill it in one hit?" he mumbled, his voice a disbelieving whisper.
Mira's voice, a soft, triumphant hum in his mind, answered. "Master, I picked up something. I am not sure what it is, but I want you to attack another beast with the same technique. I will confirm what happened."
He found another beast, a hulking, gorilla-like creature with fists the size of small boulders. Its aura was slightly higher than the serpent's, but still within the Energy Absorption realm. Karma used the same technique—a single, focused strike, guided by the Unknown Scripture and his Devour skill. The gorilla's chest collapsed inward with a soft, wet sound, and its body fell to the ground without a whimper.
Mira's voice was full of awe and a triumphant finality. "Master! I figured it out! When you attack, your Devour skill is not just devouring the energy of your enemy on impact, it is simultaneously reducing its defenses. It's almost as if it's devouring everything it came into contact with, including their defensive qi and their will to fight back. The devoured energy is then redirected to your own attack, amplifying it and causing a devastating blow. The scripture has perfected your Devour skill, allowing you to use it in tandem with your other techniques. You are, in essence, a walking black hole that devours and destroys everything it touches."
Karma's eyes widened. The realization hit him with the force of a physical blow. He wasn't just a cultivator; he was a walking calamity, a force of nature that broke the rules of this world. This was why no one followed the Dao of Devour. It was not just a path of cultivation; it was a path of destruction. It was a path that would make him feared and hunted.
He spent the rest of the day in a blur of motion and cultivation. He hunted stronger and stronger beasts, his blade a flash of silent death. Each kill was a new lesson in the sheer, devastating power he wielded. He devoured their energy, not with the chaotic frenzy of before, but with the smooth, precise grace of his new scripture. He felt his body growing stronger, layer by layer. Within an hour, he was at the 4th layer of Energy Absorption. By evening, he was at the 8th layer. He had progressed further in a single day than most cultivators would in a month.
The reality of his situation settled in with the weight of a heavy stone. He was no longer just a lost boy looking for a way home. He was a cultivator with a power that would make him a target. Anyone who knew the truth of his cultivation would try to kill him or enslave him. He had to be careful. He had to be silent. He had to be a ghost. He vowed, in that moment, to never reveal the secret of his Dao of Devour.
He collected the beast cores and the potent herbs he had found, his hands moving with a practiced, efficient rhythm. The weight of his pack was a comfort. He returned to the city and went to the small, cluttered shop of the old woman. She gasped at his haul, her eyes widening as she saw the sheer quantity of valuable items he had collected. He sold them to her for less than what he knew he could get at a bigger shop. He saw the gratitude in her eyes, a silent thank you for his kindness. Her earlier generosity had been repaid ten-fold.
With a heavy pouch of coins now in his possession, Karma felt a quiet sense of triumph. He was no longer broke. He had earned his keep. He walked with a newfound confidence to the Information Guild, the place that had humiliated him just a few days ago. He approached a clerk, his back straight, his gaze steady. He bought scrolls and information, spending his newfound wealth on everything from maps to beast bestiaries, to cultivation lore.
He walked out of the guild an hour later, his pockets empty, his head full of knowledge. He was broke again, but he was also a hundred times smarter and a thousand times more powerful. He wasn't just a player in this world's game; he was a cheat code.