Night had fully descended over Flamedale City by the time Daniel returned to his apartment.
The outer district remained lively despite the late hour. Loud laughter echoed faintly from nearby taverns while awakened hunters argued over mission rewards somewhere down the street. Mana-powered transport vehicles occasionally crossed overhead, their pale blue lights briefly illuminating the cracked apartment walls outside.
Daniel ignored all of it.
The moment he entered the apartment, he calmly locked the door before pulling the curtains shut completely.
The tiny room fell silent afterward.
Shadow rested quietly against the wall near the window while Daniel sat cross-legged in the center of the floor.
The dull gray spatial ring on his finger flickered faintly.
Then—
THUD.
A massive wolf corpse appeared beside him.
THUD.
One after another, twelve Iron Fang Wolf corpses materialized throughout the apartment until the cramped room was almost completely filled.
Even after remaining inside the pocket space for hours, every corpse looked freshly killed. Blood still lingered warm beneath their fur while faint traces of mana continued circulating through their flesh.
Temporal suspension, one of the few higher-level functions Daniel could still barely maintain through Space Paragon despite the world's restrictions. Without it, the biological mana inside the corpses would have already begun dispersing naturally.
Daniel silently observed the wolves for several moments, 'Twelve… Barely enough. Still, it will suffice for my current stage.'
His body was simply too weak right now. Devouring Paragon could strengthen him rapidly, but if he relied solely on devouring mana directly into his cultivation, his physical foundation would eventually fail to keep up.
That was unacceptable. No matter how powerful one became, the body remained the foundation for everything else. A weak vessel could never sustain higher existence.
Daniel slowly closed his eyes.
Then— Dark cracks spread faintly across his right arm once more. A terrifying aura leaked into the apartment for the briefest instant before being suppressed completely.
(Restricted) EX Talent — Devouring Paragon.
Earlier, Daniel had used the talent crudely.
Direct devouring, Consuming and absorbing the essence of the beast, splitting it into three parts to strengthen— his body, his soul and his mana rank. But that was merely the most primitive application of Devouring Paragon.
At its true peak, the talent could refine all existence itself into pure origin energy. Matter, Souls, Concepts, Even entire worlds.
Right now, however, Daniel only required something far simpler— Body refinement.
Thin strands of black energy slowly emerged from his fingertips before spreading outward toward the surrounding wolf corpses.
The process began silently. Unlike before, the wolves did not immediately dissolve. Instead, their bodies slowly withered.
Crimson particles emerged faintly from beneath their fur while their flesh began drying rapidly.
Blood essence. Pure biological vitality extracted directly from mana beast flesh, blood, bones, marrow, and life force itself.
Daniel controlled everything with frightening precision. Every strand of energy moved exactly where he desired.
The room temperature gradually rose. Crimson mist slowly filled the apartment while the corpses continued collapsing inward.
Fur decayed into ash, bones cracked apart, muscles shriveled, yet the blood essence only grew denser.
One corpse after another became nothing more than dry remains while a floating sphere of crimson energy gradually formed above Daniel's outstretched palm. The amount of vitality condensed within it was astonishing for Novice Rank beasts.
A faint pressure spread throughout the apartment. The nearby walls even trembled slightly beneath the density of the gathered energy.
Daniel's expression remained calm throughout the entire process.
More importantly— His mana core remained completely isolated.
Deep within his body, layers of black energy wrapped tightly around the mana core near the center of his chest.
Protected and Sealed. Separate from the blood refinement entirely.
This step was absolutely necessary. Body refinement and mana cultivation were two completely different systems.
Mixing violent beast vitality directly into the mana core without proper refinement could corrupt a cultivator permanently. At best, their future potential would collapse. At worst, the mana core itself would explode. Ordinary awakened lacked the control necessary to separate such energies properly.
However, in his past life Daniel had refined his control to the point that not even a single sliver of mana escaped from his mana core.
The final wolf corpse collapsed completely into gray ash. Now only the floating crimson sphere remained.
Daniel slowly opened his eyes. The dense blood energy reflected within his dark pupils silently.
Then—
He moved. The crimson sphere exploded instantly into dozens of streams before piercing directly into his body through every pore simultaneously.
Pain erupted across his entire body.
CRACK.
Several muscles tore immediately beneath the overwhelming vitality flooding through them, however Daniel's expression did not change.
The blood essence surged violently through his meridians like molten metal, repeatedly tempering flesh, muscles, organs, veins, and bones. His skin split faintly in several places as impurities were forcibly expelled outward.
The process was brutal. Yet compared to the body refinements Daniel had endured in previous lifetimes, this level of pain was insignificant.
The blood essence continued rampaging through his body relentlessly. Each circulation strengthened him further. His muscles became denser. Bones hardened gradually. Meridians widened slightly beneath the pressure. Even the flow of mana throughout his body became smoother and more stable afterward.
Hours passed silently. Outside the apartment, the city slowly grew quieter as midnight approached.
Inside, crimson mist continued swirling around Daniel's body while the refinement process reached its peak.
Then suddenly— BOOM.
A faint tremor spread through his body. Deep inside his chest, the First Origin Vein pulsed brightly.
One star after another started to illuminate slowly along the vein.
A few seconds later…
The Sixth Star ignited completely. A surge of mana erupted outward briefly before Daniel suppressed it instantly. The apartment floor cracked faintly beneath the pressure.
Silence followed.
The remaining crimson mist gradually faded into nothingness afterward.
Daniel slowly opened his eyes. A faint golden glow lingered within his pupils momentarily before disappearing completely.
Sixth Star of the First Origin Vein, equivalent to the Sixth Stage of Novice Rank.
Daniel quietly observed his body. The difference was obvious immediately.
His physical strength had increased dramatically compared to earlier that morning. The mana flow throughout his body felt smoother while his endurance and durability had risen substantially.
More importantly— His body could now tolerate slightly greater usage of both Devouring Paragon and Space Paragon.
That mattered far more than simple physical strength.
Still, Daniel lowered his gaze toward the piles of gray ash scattered throughout the apartment floor, 'Far too inefficient.'
The amount of vitality lost during the refinement process remained enormous because of his current body's limitations.
His control remained perfect, however the problem was the vessel itself. A stronger body could withstand denser refinement, absorb more efficiently and handle more power.
Right now, Daniel remained far from satisfied.
Even so, progress was still progress.
Daniel slowly stood up afterward.
CRACK.
The floor beneath his feet fractured faintly before stabilizing again.
His gaze shifted toward Shadow resting quietly near the wall. The black blade remained completely silent within its sheath.
Yet Daniel could faintly sense the dormant soul sleeping within it. Weak and incomplete but alive with surprising vitality.
Then his gaze shifted toward the dark sky outside the apartment window.
---
Beyond Flamedale City…
The beast tide was still approaching silently through Greyback Forest.
The Flameberry Butterfly, illuminating the path for the thousands of beasts that were gonna reap the lives of Flamedale's residents.