I closed my eyes and crossed my legs atop the rock as I began to meditate.
Why was I meditating?
To refine the demonic energy I had gathered.
If I failed to refine it, the energy would run rampant inside my body. It would become unstable, leak away from my meridians, and never truly become my own.
Without refining it...
I would never break through.
So, this king needed a quiet place to cultivate.
The young boy who insisted on becoming my disciple, along with Ella, sat beneath a nearby tree, careful not to disturb me.
Before closing my eyes completely, I spoke to the annoying system.
"System."
"Do not disturb this king."
"I need to meditate."
The system immediately responded.
"But don’t you want to see the reward I prepared for you? The artifact I promised—"
"Wait until this king finishes cultivating."
"Strength comes before artifacts."
Only after saying that did I finally close my eyes.
A cool breeze brushed against my face, carrying the scent of damp earth and leaves.
Inside my body, my demonic energy gradually calmed.
It circled around my core like restless currents, twisting and spiraling as though trying to escape.
I slowly regulated my breathing.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Calm the mind.
Cast aside worldly thoughts.
Cast aside revenge.
Cast aside hatred.
Cast aside every distracting emotion.
For this brief moment...
I became as motionless as a mountain.
With every breath, the violent energy that had tried to escape slowly returned to my core.
One strand after another.
They gathered together, intertwining like countless red and blue threads before gradually merging into one.
The process continued until every trace of scattered energy had become part of me.
Then—
Boom!
A surge of power burst through my body.
The aura surrounding me expanded before quickly settling down again.
I had successfully advanced another level within the Orbit Realm.
"Not bad."
"What painfully slow progress."
If I intended to return to Level Two Hundred...
I still had an incredibly long road ahead of me.
Honestly...
If there were a way to skip several levels at once, this king would gladly take it.
Just as I was about to continue cultivating, the system’s voice suddenly rang inside my head.
[Alert! Alert!]
[Young Hero! A spiritual beast is in danger!]
[Rescue it and receive generous rewards!]
I ignored it.
This king had already warned the system not to disturb him.
Pretending I hadn’t heard a thing, I continued meditating.
My breathing remained steady.
Gradually, my awareness drifted away from the outside world.
My spirit became completely immersed in cultivation, as though everything around me had disappeared.
Then...
I felt something.
Something tiny climbed onto my shoulder.
It crawled across my robe, rustling the fabric as it slowly made its way toward my neck.
I heard a crunching sound.
My eyebrows twitched.
I tried to concentrate, but whatever had climbed onto me kept making noise, making it impossible to stay focused.
I slowly opened my eyes.
A turtle.
A turtle had somehow crawled into my storage pouch and was happily eating my dinner—my carefully saved beef.
The veins on my forehead bulged.
"How dare you interrupt this king’s cultivation and steal my meal?" I grumbled.
The turtle ignored me completely and continued chewing.
I grabbed it by the shell, looked at it with disgust, then casually flung it onto the branches of a nearby tree.
Finally...
Peace.
I closed my eyes, ready to resume cultivating.
Before I could, the annoying system spoke again.
[Young Hero, save the Divine Turtle and you will receive 1,000 Hero Points.]
"Hero points?" I scoffed.
"What use are those to this king?"
"This king isn’t interested."
"My cultivation is far more important."
I ignored the notification and prepared to continue meditating.
Just then, voices echoed from deeper within the forest.
"Hahaha! Where is that Divine Turtle?"
"If we catch it, our cultivation will increase!"
"Hurry! It couldn’t have gone far!"
I frowned but chose to ignore them.
I closed my eyes once more, hoping to continue cultivating and perhaps break through to the second level of the Orbit Realm.
Unfortunately...
The voices kept getting closer.
"Brother, look over there!"
"Those clothes look expensive."
"I bet he’s carrying valuable treasures."
"We’ll rob him and sell everything. Then we can buy spiritual pills."
My eyebrows twitched again.
These fools...
They were actually planning to rob this king.
I remained seated, refusing to move.
The footsteps grew closer and closer.
Then, all of a sudden, their attention shifted away from me.
"Brother!"
"The Divine Turtle! It’s over there!"
They immediately drew their swords and charged toward the turtle.
Startled, the turtle leaped into the air.
A pair of tiny wings suddenly sprouted from its shell.
It flew straight toward me.
"No."
"Get away from this king."
I reached out, trying to throw it aside, but the little creature clung tightly to my robe as if I were its last hope.
"..."
What rotten luck.
The bandits finally turned to me.
"Hey!"
"Hand over the Divine Turtle!"
"It doesn’t belong to you!"
"Trying to steal our prey?"
"Get him!"
Every one of them was filled with killing intent.
Not only did they want the turtle...
They intended to kill this king as well.
How amusing.
They had chosen the wrong target.
"Very well."
"This king was wondering how strong he has become after breaking through."
With a casual snap of my fingers—
A violent gust of wind erupted around me.
Boom!
The bandits were blasted backward as if struck by an invisible hammer, crashing into nearby trees before falling heavily onto the ground.
I slowly rose to my feet, intending to finish them off.
Just then, one of the bandits struggled back onto his feet and turned to flee.
"I said, ’No. My panther meals cannot run away.’
After saying that, I snapped my fingers.
Hellfire erupted from my palm and shot toward the fleeing bandits.
"AAAH!"
Their screams echoed through the forest as the black flames engulfed their bodies. The air filled with the smell of burning flesh as black embers drifted between the trees. Within seconds, the flames devoured everything in their path. Within moments, nothing remained except piles of ash.
Only then did I turn my attention toward the turtle that was still clinging tightly to my clothes.
"Hey, you. Stop clinging to this king."
The turtle ignored me and hugged my robe even tighter. Its tiny claws dug into my sleeve as it rubbed its head against my arm, as though we had been companions for years.
I frowned.
The system suddenly let out a cheerful laugh.
"Young Hero, congratulations! The Divine Turtle has accepted you as its companion."
"It is a Divine Beast whose bloodline has yet to awaken. Although it appears weak now, it will become an extremely powerful companion in the future."
"And besides, your panther will be lonely without another beast to play with."
The corner of my eye twitched.
"I am not taking another useless companion," I scoffed.
"The panther is useless enough."
"Ella is useless enough."
"I don’t need a turtle joining the collection."
"Hey! I’m not useless!" Ella immediately protested.
Before I could mock him again, I suddenly heard him shout.
"There’s someone over there!"
I followed his gaze.
A figure drifted along the river, half-submerged beneath the flowing water. The current carried the unconscious body downstream as it floated helplessly with the stream.
"There’s a body floating in the river!"
At that exact moment, the floating figure suddenly coughed.
"Cough! Cough!"
So...
Still alive.
Ella immediately dashed toward the river.
My expression darkened.
"Hey! Where do you think you’re going?"
"Leave that person alone."
"This has nothing to do with us."
"I have no interest in collecting another piece of trouble."
Without even looking back, Ella ignored every word this king said and continued running toward the river.
But it was already too late.
Ella had already reached the riverbank and jumped in to rescue the stranger.