Chapter 208: Annoyance

The cave was filled with screams, and Rod’s curses echoed incessantly. Melon, however, paid them no attention—not really, but instead chose to take practical action for revenge.
The battle lasted half a day before finally ending. Sensing the calm inside, Melon was briefly startled before rushing in, worried that those beasts might have injured Rod badly.
Upon entering, he observed carefully before sighing in relief. He secretly admired Rod—unexpectedly, the kid had succeeded in killing five magical beasts with a single strike! An incredible achievement! Though battered and in a pitiful state, Rod had managed to hold on. Smiling in satisfaction, Melon left, relieved.
Unbeknownst to him, Rod was cursing under his breath, muttering angrily. That damned guy had almost gotten him killed. Five magical beasts—an absurd number! Was life even worth living? This feud was settled, but Rod vowed to get revenge someday.
Fueled by anger, he began shouting loudly, seemingly eager to vent all his fury.
“Hehe, kid, keep going! I don’t care. Shout louder—let’s see if you still have energy. How about this? I’ll help you use it up so you don’t waste it!” With that, he grabbed a pitiful magical beast and threw it into the cave. It wasn’t too harsh—just a mid-tier quasi-divine beast, a small lesson.
Sure enough, moments later, Rod’s screams and curses, along with more screams, indicated another battle had begun. Rod endured inhuman treatment.
From then on, Rod dared not speak recklessly. Melon’s cruel tactics had left him humbled. From three beasts a day to five, it seemed Melon had found the right balance. Facing five beasts at once was deadly, but Rod could still hold on.
From time to time, Melon added more “meals”—throwing in another beast after each battle—to ensure Rod suffered enough. In Melon’s words, it was a lesson to teach him not to speak carelessly.
Thus, Rod’s life became hell. Twenty-four hours a day, at least twelve were spent fighting, with the rest used for eating and restoring his combat energy.

Day after day, and in the blink of an eye, a month was about to pass. Today was the last day. Looking at the last five monsters left, all of them were in the late quasi-divine stage. Melon nodded in satisfaction. “Hmm, not bad!”

During this period, the usual combination of monsters was two mid-stage quasi-divine ones plus three late-stage quasi-divine ones. Such a lineup was something even Melon, who had reached the mid-stage quasi-divine level, had never been able to “enjoy.” It was definitely the best treatment Rod could get. Seeing Melon’s sly smile, it was clear he had had an extremely comfortable time.

“Hmm, today is the last day. Kid, I’ll give you a bit more!” Glancing at the newly brought late-stage quasi-divine monster beside him, Melon grinned even wider and shouted at it. Four late-stage quasi-divine monsters plus two mid-stage quasi-divine monsters—such a lineup was so powerful that even Rod, at the peak of his divine-level early-stage strength after being restricted, would find it hard to match.

However, Rod’s abilities during this time always surprised Melon greatly, so he enjoyed continuously increasing the challenges to see just how low Rod’s limits really were.

“Damn old bastard! You’re such a jerk! I’ve killed 108 monsters already, and you still won’t let me out! You bastard!” Rod’s angry shouts came from inside the cave.

In the latter half of the month, with more monsters added, Rod faced significantly more enemies. By the 28th day, he had already killed 98 monsters—he counted them carefully, leaving none behind. Adding the five he killed that day brought the total to 103. He thought he could finally leave that disgusting place, but Melon threw him back in. Then, five more powerful monsters were thrown in, creating a terrifying combination that nearly cost him his life. Even that was one thing, but after killing 108 monsters—already exceeding the target by eight—he thought he should be allowed to leave.

Who would have thought that this untrustworthy guy still wouldn’t let him go, claiming it was only one day left in the month-long training period.

Now, instead, he released six terrifying monsters at once—two magic monsters and four late-stage quasi-divine monsters. Such a lineup drove Rod to the brink of madness.

“Hehe, keep going, kid. If you can’t get out, just keep fighting!” Leaning back casually with his legs crossed, Melon spoke calmly, his voice clearer than ever. He had heard such insults countless times over the past half month and didn’t care at all.

“Damn you…” Another series of curses and fighting sounds followed.

“Save your strength for fighting!” Melon said jokingly, pouting.
The battle lasted a full day. In the darkness, Rod was utterly exhausted and covered in wounds. Looking at the six warm corpses lying beside him, Rod gasped for breath; the pain from his wounds made him shudder.
It took him immense effort to slay those six creatures. His life hung by a thread—on several occasions, he nearly died. The gruesome wounds on his body showed how much blood he had lost. Fortunately, his body had an abnormal healing ability, allowing it to recover rapidly. Otherwise, Rod wasn’t sure he would have survived.
“Damn it!” Drawing out his last magic core, Rod cursed fiercely. He had no idea how much blood he had lost over the past month. Did he really think he wasn’t human? He had killed 114 magical beasts—36 at the early stage of quasi-divine level, 50 at the intermediate stage, 27 at the advanced stage, and even one at the advanced stage of divine level! Such a record was truly impressive and would stand out anywhere.
He wondered where Melon got so many magical beasts and how he could reproduce them. It was simply too absurd.
Sitting in lotus position, he recovered his body while allowing the surrounding demonic energy to flow into him. Through his cultivation here, more and more demonic energy accumulated within him. He felt his body becoming stronger, with a significantly faster recovery rate. His combat energy core had turned pure black, even masking the colors of the other elements. Thankfully, he could still sense their presence, though hidden. Now, his combat energy consisted of five types: fire, fatigue, darkness, demonic energy, and a greenish energy that resembled resentment, though its nature was unclear. In any case, his body had mutated again.
A month had also seen Rod make significant progress, but none of this satisfied him. His ultimate goal hadn’t been achieved—he still hadn’t reached the intermediate stage of divine level. Although he could clearly feel that he was just one step away from that stage, breaking through seemed impossible due to the impenetrable barrier. This troubled him greatly.
His physical strength had increased significantly, though he wasn’t sure by how much. But he could sense that he was close to reaching the fifth stage of his demonic form. He might break through at any time, possibly right after reaching the intermediate stage of divine level.

On the other hand, under the pressure of that set of equipment, Rod could now exert strength at the peak of the mid-stage quasi-divine level. Coupled with his improved explosive power, which could reach the early-stage divine level when unleashed, his progress was enormous and evident. Everything was in place except for one thing—Rod was secretly troubled, feeling the magical energy surrounding him and experiencing an inexplicable irritability. Such feelings hadn’t appeared in a long time. Almost never since he arrived here; even arguments with Melon were merely playful and didn’t affect his mood. But now…

“It still doesn’t work!” He didn’t know how long he had been practicing—at least half a day, probably. His body had mostly recovered; minor wounds had fully healed thanks to his abnormal regenerative ability, and even serious injuries no longer had much impact. Yet he still felt a gap between himself and the mid-stage divine level. He would be leaving here tomorrow to attend a competition. Would his current strength be enough? Could he go without reaching the mid-stage divine level? Everything seemed so uncertain.

“No, this can’t continue. There’s no hope if I go like this!” Gritting his teeth, Rod lowered his head and murmured to himself in deep thought.

He needed an opportunity—a powerful one—to break through that bottleneck. There were only two ways to do this. First, after meeting the requirements for breakthrough, he needed an opportunity to help him make the leap, starting with understanding—comprehending principles and martial arts, leading to a natural breakthrough. Second, he could rely on external forces, using powerful external influences to unleash his full potential and achieve a burst of strength, thereby breaking through the bottleneck and advancing to the next level.

The first method was naturally the best, but it required a long time. Who knew when understanding would come? It was unpredictable—it might arrive suddenly or not at all. Too many uncertainties made it hard to be confident!

The second method was the most suitable for Rod at the moment, but it had drawbacks. Most people wouldn’t choose it, and it couldn’t be used frequently. Perhaps using it a second time would yield no results at all, or forcing it might even leave some lasting consequences.

Previously, Rod had been able to improve steadily because his understanding in the void space had raised his mental state to the early-stage quasi-divine level. Thus, his strength improved naturally—merely a matter of luck and fortune that others couldn’t enjoy.

Now, he finally faced this choice and dilemma.

“I’ll go all in!” After pondering for a long time, Rod took a deep breath and spoke to himself in a firm voice.

“Old man, bring in another batch of monsters for me, stronger ones—preferably a god-level beginner!” he shouted outside. Rod already had a plan in mind. Under these circumstances, he decided to take the risk. If it worked, he’d reap huge gains; if not, he wouldn’t have any regrets. After all, he had tried his best, done everything possible.
As long as one can look up to the sky without shame and look down at the earth without guilt, and can be honest with oneself, that’s enough.