Hunter's Haven - Central Tavern District
The tavern Vaelor and Kaelith entered buzzed with activity—Hunters celebrating successful dives, guild members boasting about their exploits, merchants negotiating deals over strong alcohol. The atmosphere carried that peculiar energy of people who'd survived another day in the Abyss and intended to celebrate accordingly.
"Three-Beer Jack took down a Tier 2 Magma Serpent solo!"
"Bullshit! That drunk couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat!"
"I'm telling you, I saw it with my own eyes! He literally wrestled it into submission!"
Laughter and arguments created a constant background noise as servers weaved through packed tables with practiced efficiency.
Vaelor and Kaelith claimed a private booth near the back—away from the main crowd, positioned with clear sightlines to all entrances. Professional paranoia from Kaelith's previous life combined with Vaelor's enhanced perception meant neither sat with their back exposed.
A young waitress approached, notepad ready. "What can I get you?"
"Cherry wine," Kaelith said. "And the grilled Thornboar steak, medium rare."
"Flame-grilled Abyssal Bass," Vaelor added. "Devil's Claw Shrimp steamed. And whatever your chef recommends for someone who's been eating ration bars for days."
The waitress grinned. "I'll tell him to surprise you. Be right back with drinks."
As she departed, Kaelith activated a small artifact—pulling it from her dimensional storage and setting it on the table. A translucent barrier shimmered into existence around their booth, warping sound so their conversation would be completely private.
"Privacy ward," she explained at Vaelor's questioning look. "Basic precaution. What we're about to discuss shouldn't be overheard."
Vaelor nodded appreciation. Regressor paranoia has its uses.
Kaelith leaned forward, her ice-blue eyes intense despite lingering exhaustion. "Before we discuss specifics, I need to understand your situation better. Your combat power is absurd for your level, but sustainable growth requires more than raw talent."
"What are your current resource bottlenecks?"
Vaelor considered how much to reveal, then decided honesty served better than deception in this particular alliance. "Martial techniques are largely solved. I can analyze and optimize techniques I observe through combat. But cultivation resources are becoming critical."
He gestured vaguely. "My cultivation method—the Eternal Cosmos Cultivation Scripture—is extremely powerful but equally demanding. Each cell in my body is transforming into an illusory universe capable of storing massive qi quantities. The foundation I'm building is exponentially more solid than normal cultivation, which means..."
"You need vastly more energy to advance each stage," Kaelith finished, comprehension dawning. "Your qi capacity is probably already exceeding most Demigod-tier warriors despite being Foundation Establishment realm."
"Correct." Vaelor's tone carried frustrated acknowledgment. "I can sense that the 9th stage of Foundation Establishment won't be my limit—there might be ten, twelve, even fifteen stages before I can advance to the next major realm. And each stage requires more energy than the last."
He met her gaze directly. "If my foundation isn't absolutely perfect—if I rush advancement without complete stability—my body will simply explode from the pressure. The cells trying to contain universe-scale energy will fail catastrophically."
Kaelith's expression turned thoughtful, fingers drumming against the table as she processed the implications. "So you need energy sources beyond normal cultivation. Lots of energy. Constantly."
"Yes."
"High-tier Abyssal Rifts would help," she mused. "Tier 3 and above zones have ambient energy densities orders of magnitude higher than Tier 1. But accessing them requires either joining established guilds with clearance, or..."
"Leveling up legitimately, which takes time I may not have," Vaelor finished.
Their drinks arrived, providing a natural pause. Both thanked the waitress, who departed after promising food would follow shortly.
Kaelith took a long sip of wine, clearly wrestling with some internal decision. Her ice-blue eyes studied Vaelor with unusual intensity—weighing, calculating, evaluating.
Finally, she seemed to reach a conclusion.
"Lean your head forward," she said quietly.
Vaelor raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Just do it."
A mischievous glint entered his golden eyes. "Academy Beauty Kaelith, why would an old woman like you want to kiss a young, handsome man like me? I'm flattered, but perhaps we should get to know each other bet—"
"I'M TRYING TO PASS A TECHNIQUE TO YOU, YOU IDIOT!" Kaelith's face flushed crimson—though whether from anger or embarrassment was unclear. Her voice rose enough that the privacy ward flickered slightly.
Vaelor's expression shifted to exaggerated shock. "Oh! A technique! Well, why didn't you say so?"
He leaned forward eagerly, all shameless teasing. "Please, honored senior, this junior begs your instruction!"
Kaelith's eye twitched dangerously. I'm going to kill him. I'm definitely going to kill him later.
But she composed herself, placed both hands on either side of his head, and pressed their foreheads together.
The instant contact established, Kaelith's consciousness reached out—projecting a complex stream of information directly into Vaelor's mind. Not words or images, but pure comprehension. The technique's principles, execution methods, energy circulation patterns, all flooding through the connection.
The process took approximately three minutes. When it concluded, Kaelith pulled back, slightly breathless from the mental exertion.
"That was..." she began.
Vaelor's eyes had taken on that distinctive rainbow luminescence—Absolute Insight operating at maximum capacity as it deconstructed what he'd received.
"An energy absorption and purification technique," he murmured, more to himself than her. "Uses spiritual consciousness to interface directly with matter and extract its fundamental energy..."
Kaelith nodded, glad he understood quickly. "I found it in an ancient ruin during my previous life—one of the reasons for my rapid rise to King-Tier. As you know, the standard path to power is killing Abyssal Spawn for experience points. But there are other methods. Other power systems."
She leaned back, organizing her thoughts. "Magic cultivation. Soul cultivation. Body cultivation. Summoning cultivation. Mind cultivation. All these alternative systems existed before the Cataclysm, practiced by ancient civilizations. Most knowledge was lost, but fragments remain."
"The technique I just transmitted was one such fragment. It allows practitioners to use Abyssal Beast cores—specifically from Tier 3 and above—to cultivate. Those cores contain solidified abyssal energy."
Vaelor's expression showed recognition. "Normal warriors can only use cores for crafting equipment and weapons, and even then only after extensive purification processes using specialized tools."
"Exactly. Because abyssal energy inherently corrupts living beings—it's fundamentally incompatible with human physiology. Touch it directly and you'll become spawn yourself." Kaelith's voice carried grim experience. "But this technique includes a purification method. It lets you absorb the energy from cores directly, instantly purifying the corruption and converting it into usable qi."
"The efficiency is incredible," she continued with obvious enthusiasm. "A single Tier 3 core contains energy equivalent to a month of standard cultivation. Tier 4 cores might equal six months. Tier 5 or higher..."
She trailed off, letting imagination fill the gap.
While Kaelith explained, Vaelor's Absolute Insight had been working in overdrive.
The technique she'd transmitted wasn't particularly sophisticated by his standards—maybe 3-Star grade, with numerous inefficiencies and limitations. The purification process was crude, resulting in 40% energy loss. The absorption rate was slow. The range of compatible energy sources was extremely narrow.
But the principles were sound. The foundational concepts were brilliant.
And those principles could be expanded, optimized, perfected...
[Ding! Technique comprehension complete]
[Analyzing core principles...]
[Identifying optimization pathways...]
[Upgrading technique framework...]
Rainbow light blazed in Vaelor's eyes as his consciousness worked at speeds that would have seemed impossible to outside observers.
[Core Absorption Technique (3-Star) → Energy Devouring Scripture (DIVINE-GRADE)]