The hearts of everyone were filled with surprise; all of them were standing, eyes overflowing with visible excitement.
An elder looked up at the sky as if giving thanks.
A warrior at the ninth level stared at the heavens while tears fell down his face.
Viviane hugged Dante and his mother, joy stamped across her expression. Everyone was as happy as they possibly could be.
It felt like this night would be etched into their memories forever.
However, the excitement slowly shifted into silence. Everyone turned toward Ancestral Hai, waiting to hear how they would strike the enemy.
The old Hai smiled as he saw this. The people of the village were survivors, warriors—once they had something capable of holding up the sky, they would gladly soak the ground in blood.
"In five to seven years!" his voice rang out.
"Yes, in that time we will use our resources to cultivate more high-level cultivators, and then we will attack. Our target is Mount He, the only level-3 spiritual vein in this region. That is where we will stride toward the honor and hope of the human race.
"In these years, we will prepare for a great war—talismans, spiritual weapons, formations, pills. And as you can imagine, it will be a difficult war, one that will last a long time. But if we succeed, we will dominate this small region of the forest.
"And perhaps… someday, a true level-3 will rise among us!" the Ancestral finished, looking at Dante with a trace of hope.
Silence washed over the crowd. Everyone was motionless, unsure how to react. Their emotions were indescribable; they simply didn't know what to do.
Dante, feeling his heart pounding with excitement, shouted, breaking the silence:
"LONG LIVE HUMANITY!"
As soon as his words reached the ears of the people, those present couldn't help but follow:
"LONG LIVE HUMANITY!"
"LONG LIVE HUMANITY!"
"LONG LIVE HUMANITY!"
The four cultivators at the front—the four at level 2—looked at Dante in surprise and then at the crowd. The feeling of unity was palpable.
A smile appeared on Tyler's face. He clapped his hands loudly and shouted:
"Well then, let the feast begin!"
...
Hours had passed. Dante was lying in his small house, lost in thought. He was extremely excited about what had happened during the feast, and he deeply desired to cultivate and grow stronger.
He was not alone. Sitting in a chair beside him was Viviane. According to the village's customs, once two people became one, the couple lived together and were already considered husband and wife.
After all, formal weddings were uncommon here—they were seen as a waste of resources and often criticized.
Viviane wore loose shorts and a comfortable sleeping shirt, and she seemed to be finishing her hair.
"Dante, what do you think about this war?" she asked in a slightly strange tone, a hint of worry in her voice.
Dante lifted his head a bit and looked into her eyes.
"I want to participate. I want to fight and kill those evil gods… honor humanity."
As soon as she heard that, a strange expression appeared on her face, and her fingers began lightly tapping the edge of the comb.
"Are you sure? This won't be like fighting beasts. It will be fighting evil gods. In simple terms, they're like human beasts—extremely malicious. Any mistake could be fatal," she said, clearly worried.
"I understand, but this is something I've already decided!" Dante affirmed, as if he would never change his mind.
"Why are you like this?" she asked, approaching him and sitting at the edge of the bed. "Can't you just cultivate peacefully until level 2?"
Dante sat up and pulled her into a hug.
"I think I'm a bit complicated…"
"Maybe…" she sighed.
....
Hours passed, and dawn arrived. Dante was in the small training field, cultivating calmly. Absorbing each strand of mana was a pain.
And Dante still had principles—he wouldn't do dual cultivation just to speed up his cultivation.
His Dantian was constantly stimulated as he tried to absorb a single thread of mana from the surrounding atmosphere.
Inside him, a small vortex swirled, trying to pull in mana. It was hard work, but truly rewarding.
In one day of cultivation, Dante managed to absorb two strands of mana. In addition, with the help of pills, the grade of his physical body increased slightly.
In this world, innate talent is divided into three: physical body grade, spiritual body, and celestial root.
The celestial root allows its user to absorb mana ten times faster. They are extremely rare—one in millions—and the only level of spiritual root.
The spiritual body is a condition where a person is born connected to a spiritual attribute. It's said that each world can have only 3,000 spiritual bodies.
As for the physical body grade: every being is born with a mortal-level body and can gradually evolve it. Its benefits are especially useful for combatants, and no one dares to ignore it.
It is divided into two known levels: the mortal body and the warrior body, both subdivided into normal and peak states.
Dante, being a new combatant, possessed only a normal mortal-grade body—and he still had a long path before reaching its peak.
And strangely, that excited him. Dante saw the foundation as something ideal and necessary. Pushing the weak to their limit was extremely tempting to him.