Any chance of ending his first mission early was out the window. The black sarcophagus had left of its own accord, which had some uncomfortable implications. Finding it would take much more time.

 

Before that, he needed to get more leviathan veins and cultivate his mind like crypto to the moon. He was also behind Danete and needed to reach the natal realm quickly; even if it was fast and dirty, he had to do it.

 

The leviathan vein realm was a rocky gray region filled with eldritch beasts. Tunnels sheered into the rock covered the land mass from psions searching for the leviathan veins. No one removed the veins from the grey rock because the gray rock somewhat absorbed the signals leviathan rocks produced.

 

Vergil had dug up the vein only to find a paper white finger with a long black nail still bleeding from its stump. The purple glow came from the crystalline purple bone sticking out of the finger’s end. The finger itself was a little longer than 10ft at the knuckle. Even if a storage ring couldn’t handle the energy output, it wouldn't be difficult to transport. Vergil was confident he could use a sack made from ape leather with little rocks inside.

 

The only thing stopping him from snatching the finger was Lily’s resting bitch face.

 

Lily glared at him and tried not to look at the bloody spot where he had eaten Su Charity. “Do you know how we rank monsters?” Lily asked.

 

Before he said anything like what that had to do with the finger, she smacked her forehead.

 

“What am I saying? You’re a human; how could you have a basic education. Monsters are ranked from 10 to 1; the lower the number, the more powerful. There are 10s like the Tri-eyed apes, Rape Dolphins, locust starfish, pseudo 9s like the ghost jellyfish swarms, Colossal Tormentors, and the rare sea dragons. A pseudo-nine takes 3 silver ranks to win without casualties but take that leviathan vein out of the ground, and an 8 could appear. Can you even conceive of the power of an 8?” Lily asked.

 

He knew what an 8 was; she didn’t have to treat him like an idiot. An 8 was a realm stronger than a 9 or 100 times stronger than a 10. The apes would be considered solid 10s or even mid-high level 10s. Psions weren’t unique in the categorization of monsters.

 

Apes were cannon fodder, and Vergil hadn’t taken on a pseudo 9 before. He hadn’t tried taking on the other 10s either. Perhaps they produced resources that could prove beneficial. If that were true, an 8 would produce even more valuable resources.

 

“Maybe pulling a leviathan vein out of the ground is too much,” Vergil said and kept quiet about the, for now, part of that sentence.

 

“I can hear your thoughts when you think too loudly. If an 8 appeared, the elders would interfere with gathering the leviathan veins.” His familiar said.

 

“What resources can I get from walking rape dolphins and locust starfish?” Vergil asked.

 

Lily tossed her tentacle hair before sighing. “They both contain psi extract in their blood from living in a leviathan vein. Drain their blood and take their psi for yourself to cultivate. If you have the right technique, it's faster than standard cultivation. I happen to know one if you’re willing to make an exchange.” Lily said.

 

Vergil was ecstatic; a technique that let him cultivate ki, psi, fear, and vital energy would be amazing. However, while the technique would only help psi, the rest would come from actively massacring enemies.

 

“I’m willing to pay you four void stones for it,” Vergil said, producing the stones on the spot. 80 human lives were surely worth a technique, except if he learned one from her, it wouldn’t fill up a slot, and it would be psi based.

 

Lily seemed taken about by his reaction. “That wasn’t what I had in mind when I said I wanted an exchange.” She grabbed her breasts and pinched her nipples. “I have this human body, but you haven’t even broken it. Stop neglecting me, and I will give you the technique.”

 

Oh, that’s how it was. “Lily, you’re a good girl.”  

 

Vergil had planned to move the finger, but if it was going to cause him more trouble than it was worth, he had a plan B. His ki strands numbered 10 after his latest breakthrough in mind and ki cultivation. After stringing them together, they went from being ki strands to being a ki string. The rotating string consistently absorbed twice as much psi as all 10 strands alone, and that wasn’t all. Before he sent the string over, he admitted to himself he was about to do something dumb.

 

Instead of rotating around his mind to absorb psi, he reached out with it. His qi string touched the finger, and he felt its diamond rank psi flood his system. Then, like sticking a fork in a power socket, he received a shock, and it was just what he needed.

 

Jumping a realm from prenatal to natal had a requirement that was simple in practice but difficult in application. Vergil needed to craft his mind node. Below the foundation-building realm was the natal realm, where nodes of zones where foundations were built. He needed to condense his cultivation into a node to step from the prenatal realm to the natal realm.

 

Normally a cultivator would require vast quantities of psi stored away to be used simultaneously. There were techniques to do so, like Tyson’s control technique. Tyson could quickly gain the energy needed to reach the natal realm if he sought out psychic power. After all, he had the technique needed to complete the hardest step.

 

Vergil, on the other hand, took a different approach. There was already a perfectly good source of psychic energy in the leviathan vein. So he harnessed the power to head into the next rank.

 

The power hit him like a truck, and he immediately got to work condensing the power. At this point, the incredible psychic power flowing into him acted as pressure. So Vergil used it to push against the psychic power already in his mind and began condensing.

 

Black veins covered his skin, and he felt his body shrink as he struggled to protect his mind. Vital energy and ki went to work, keeping him on a knife’s edge from catastrophic brain death. Shapeshifting helped him shrink his body and shove more vital energy into his brain to act as a buffer.

 

There was so much psionic energy passing through his string it had become visible. Vergil could feel the 10 strands melt together as more power poured into his mind.

 

It felt like the hands of a giant were pushing down on his mind trying to crush his brain into paste. This was exactly the force he needed to reach the natal realm.

 

Blood flowed from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as he struggled against the incredible force of the leviathan vein. All the while, he could feel his psionic energy condense. Vergil tried to estimate the progress through the pain, but he couldn’t figure out which would give his mind or body first.

 

What felt like hours of pain passed in seconds while he struggled to condense his psi. That’s when he felt Lily’s hands touch either side of his head, and another force pushed down on his mind.

 

She seemed to get what he needed intuitively. She lent her control to direct the vast flow of energy from the leviathan vein. Once she helped, he handed off the reins of keeping the energy even and pushed with all his might.

 

His psi condensed under the incredible power of the leviathan vein. Vergil could feel the node grow ever brighter as it formed until it glowed like a star. Still, he pushed; he had to push until he couldn’t any longer. That was the only way to ensure his node was the most stable. Size didn’t matter; only density was worth anything in the natal realm. The leviathan vein was the best possible resource for this venture.

 

Blood continued to pool down his body, staining his white drone robe red as sparks of psionic energy danced across his skin. That was the sign he had entered the realm, but he hadn’t reached his limit. Vergil continued to push with all his might.

 

It was time for the real test. The denser Vergil could make his node, the better off he would be. So he had to press down and hope his body could handle it because once the node settled, that was it. His potential would be set from then on. He would have to destroy his mind cultivation and start over to improve it.

 

He pushed with all his might and hoped it would be enough. It shrank another degree, and more purple sparks of static danced across his skin as his node became what’s known as a 3^rd rate. He might make it two more realms if he stopped, but that was it. A 3^rd rate node had a rickety foundation like a house built on sand.

 

He wasn’t giving up even as he widened his veins and arteries and shrank his body while thickening it in places until he looked like a dwarf. His mind needed more energy if he was going to survive. A human body couldn’t handle the strain of this level of cultivation. Humans weren’t built for mind cultivation, or at least not without better preparation. In hindsight, he would rather have had Gwen and Lily with him to help contain the power.

 

His short-sighted decision had made the transition to the natal realm much more difficult. Still, he wouldn’t give up.

 

His node condensed further until it shined with 10,000 lumens, and random bolts of psionic energy blasted across the cave. Vergil continued to alter his body to support the pressure and felt another lurch. Vergil had reached the 1st rate node at the latest lurch, but he wouldn’t stop. It was like building a house with a concrete foundation. Sure, it was sturdy, but he needed something stronger.

 

Feeling left his legs, and his heartbeat was slowing down. The same power he had cultivated was on the verge of destroying him. Unfortunately, Vergil felt he was only halfway to where he wanted to be. To reach the top, he would have to take a gamble.

 

Surviving a storm like a human wasn’t going to work. He fused his legs and arms together and felt his head sink into his neck.

 

His node jumped to the greater rank, but that was still insufficient. Vergil felt his body drying up and dying. He wanted, no needed to be great, and this wasn’t his limit. Maybe if he had waited to reach the peak stage in ki and body refinement, he would be stronger, but he wanted to win. Dante was already intermediate stage in the natal realm. The only way Vergil could see himself catching up was with the strongest foundation possible.

 

Another jump brought him to the legendary rank of nodes, one of the highest ranks possible and a sign of an extreme talent like a seedling of a powerful sect. His body was mostly dried up and on the verge of death; even his vital energy was only embers. If he stopped here, he would be considered incredibly talented.

 

To Vergil, who had already suffered almost complete destruction, it wasn’t enough. Even when his node illuminated his mind with the light of a million lumens, it wasn’t his goal. He wasn’t aiming for a skyscraper; he wanted an orbital elevator.

 

His body shrank in until his skin was paper thin, and the last sparks of life fled from his body. All his blood dried in his veins before it reached his brain. Any moment his spirit would collapse into particles.

 

“Vergil, stop, pull back,” Lily said.

 

A shining light brighter than he had ever seen appeared in his vision, smaller than a needle’s eye but brighter than a billion lumens.

 

He opened the way and let power rush into the new Deified node. It drank in the energy, and Vergil quickly activated Black Goat’s Embryo hoping it would be enough to save his life.

 

Vergil felt Lily flee while his branches reached out. Natal realm psi flowed through his Black Goat’s Ebyro skill, enhancing it beyond its original power.

 

After only a few hours, he was more or less conscious and in the womb of a tree kaiju.