Anom tried to imitate the feeling he felt just after coming to this world. His focus was on his soul as he thought about the method Della talked about. The first part of the three realms that Della had explained to him was the method for developing his own energy.

In this step, he had to develop his body by stimulating his internal energy and combining it with his body as a whole. Only when he can gain mastery over his own body and make it suitable enough to accept energy from the external world will he be able to step into the next level.

Suddenly, his soul shivered as Anom sensed something new inside his body. No, it was not new. It was just that he had failed to notice it before.

His soul, or more precisely, his spirit, released some spiritual energy. Anom tried to move it around and make it do his bidding.

It was a bit difficult at the start, but soon he started manipulating this energy.

This spiritual energy, which can also be called mind or mental energy, was the first step in interacting with energy.

Della had told him that any being with a spirit could enter the path of energy cultivation.

Spirit and soul are slightly different in nature.

Spirit is like the will, which is easier to control and is one of the aims of the Chasing Energy level. The spirit is connected to the soul and is in charge of almost all the functions of the body.

The soul is different. It is proof of the existence of any being. As long as the soul is present, the being will exist.

Interacting with your own soul is almost impossible at the lower levels. Only as you move forward on the path of controlling energy can you come into contact with this mysterious thing.

And once you gain control over your soul, it will be like your second body. As long as your soul is unharmed, you can preserve all your memories and everything. You can even use some special techniques to recreate your body.

As the spirit and the soul are connected, with the spirit being reliant on the soul. The more powerful the soul is, the more developed the spirit will become, and it will be easier to gain control.

Anom practiced with his mental energy and moved it to various parts of his body. He soon became proficient enough to move it at will.

Soon, he began to observe the insides of his body. Though it was not like he was really seeing inside his body, he felt like his will could move to any part of it he wanted.

After reaching this step, Anom decided to do a small test.

He focused on his right hand and tried to observe his muscles and bones as he moved it around.

Initially, he found it hard to concentrate while moving his hand. But soon, he got used to the feeling and started moving his hands in various ways. He waved it, punched the air,made picking motions, and lastly, he patted his hand on the floor.

But this proved to be another barrier for him. The impact he felt after hitting the floor made him lose control over his mental energy.

But Anom was not discouraged. He repeated the motions, ending the process by patting the floor each time.

Soon, he got the hang of it as he continued to increase the force in his hand. He continued increasing the force even after his palm turned red.

Finally, he felt something different as his hand hit the floor harder than before—harder than he had intended.

Anom felt as if he had come into contact with some sort of restriction, something that limited the strength his muscles could use. It was done in order to prevent harm to his body.

So these are my limits. Interesting. Anom thought and muttered with his eyes closed, "Then let's break them!"

Anom continued his test even though his palm was red from the repeated collisions. He tried to lift the limitations imposed on his body.

His right hand began to feel like it would break if he continued. Anom didn't force it, as it would not yield any result if he practiced with a broken arm. So he changed his hand.

Just like this, he continued to do this with his hands and then both legs. He tried running, jumping, push-ups, and squats; he did almost all the motions he could with his body. He ran his consciousness all over his body, studying how his muscles worked. Soon, he began to see the various channels inside his body. All these channels were flowing with energy. This energy was from within his body; to be precise, it was emerging from his cells.

Different kinds of tissues use different sources to produce energy. Some use glucose, and some use fatty acids. Anom felt that his body was like a small world. Different components were connected through various arteries, veins, and other energy channels, all of them acting as highways to carry energy throughout his body.

Anom was entranced as he kept studying all the processes his body undertook.

He continued like this for a few hours, and just before the sunrise, he reached the next step.

Anom observed all the processes and gained some knowledge regarding them. Soon, he used his mental and spiritual energy to interfere with these processes and study the results.

Although he succeeded in his interaction on the first try, it was hard to change anything as the flow of energy in these processes was an instinct for his body.

But he was not trying to change anything, so he succeeded after much effort.

He used his consciousness to stimulate some of his tissues in his hands, making his cells work to their full potential.

Anom felt a rush of energy flowing inside his body. He quickly took this chance and used this energy to punch the wall near him.

Thud!

"Grrh!"

Anom felt a severe pain in his arm, but he gritted his teeth and quickly observed the changes.

He could 'see' some of the damaged fibers in his muscles. His arm was fused with more energy than it could handle, and it was fully unleashed against the wall. The resulting impact damaged the already tensed muscles and energy channels.

He had incurred injuries during his training before. But at that time, he was using his under-the-limit energy, which his body was used to. But right now, he has surpassed that limit by a little bit.

Anom took a deep breath and grinned while looking at his swollen arm. The pain couldn't hinder the excitement he felt after he reached this step.

He focused again, controlled his internal energy, and focused a large portion on his injured arm.

And as he was expecting, just after a few minutes, his pain lessened considerably. He could even feel his muscles healing and becoming a little sturdier than before.

It was just like how your body regenerates damage after an intense workout session and makes you stronger. But this was countless times more effective, as you could observe the flow of energy, and the control of energy was in your own hands. It was easier to keep the changes under control and modify them accordingly. Furthermore, although the energy consumption was greater this way, the efficient handling of energy made up for it.

Just as he thought of continuing his training, he frowned.

It was fun to increase his physical strength like this, but first priority should be given to his specialties.

Anom nodded at this thought, as he should prioritize improving the skills he needed as a thief. He can train all the other abilities when he has some spare time or when he is bored with one type of training.

"Let's see. What should I try first? Hmm… That's right! Let's start with that!"

Anom hurriedly sat cross-legged and focused his mind on his senses. That's right! Having sharp senses was a must for a thief.

Senses include sight, hearing, touch, and the like. When these senses are trained to a certain level, they merge to develop an intuition-like sense.

Anom had decent mastery in this regard. But now that he had a chance to take this to the next level, he was more than happy to do so.

Anom closed his eyes and focused on his hearing. His spiritual energy moved and focused on his hearing.

Anom observed the whole process as his brows joined into a frown.

Now he realized why there were different levels of progress in controlling energy. Although he could control the energy inside his body, all the energy external to his body was out of his range of control.

Anom sighed. It was not that easy to develop his senses.

But he was not discouraged. Although it was hard, it was something he specialized in. He just had to train harder, and that was something that Anom never refused.

Anom opened his eyes and stood up. He stretched as he walked outside.

He had decided to postpone the training of his senses for now, as he had a better method for that. And that was training his senses while he was in action.

He arrived outside and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. The sun had started to rise and break through the darkness.

Anom arrived in front of the little caves. He squatted in front of one of the caves and inserted his hand inside.

He grabbed something from inside and pulled it out.

"Gwaa… Chi Chi!"

In his hand was the purple-black leader of the Soul Sniffers.

He was expressing his displeasure at Anom for disturbing his sleep.

"Shut up, or I'll take the meat away."

As soon as it heard these words, its sleepiness disappeared. It stood on Anom's palm with an alert expression.

Anom smiled as he said, "Go and wake up your team. We're going to do some morning practice. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to get some more delicious meat."

The word "meat" always worked like magic when mentioned in front of these little devils.

The leader got to work and woke up the hunting team.

The fifty-plus members gathered and grumbled in dissatisfaction. But the leader said some words, and they all became as alert as monkeys. Surely, the leader must have mentioned meat.

Soon, the group gathered together and got ready to leave.

"Let us go and bring back some delicious meat."

Anom gave the best motivational speech he could think of. And it worked like a charm.

"Hey, we're going there together!"

Anom was speechless as he looked at the little devils running as if their house was on fire.

He shook his head as he followed after them.

"I'm getting good at giving motivational speeches!"