Soon, Blade appeared in front of the mouth of the cave after crossing the blood-filled waters...

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Deep inside Blade's abode, or what one would call the mouth of the cave, one can see the naked Blade sitting in seiza style as he braced himself. His system warned of an intense pain that may be even worse than his week of torture. Yet, he did not show even the slightest bit of hesitation.

"Begin!"

Blade ordered with determination clear from the glare in his eyes. It mattered not how much pain he needed to undergo, his short-term goal of revenge would be achieved, and his determination to finish his end goal of becoming eternal would never be deterred.

Urgh!

But, instantly after he agreed for the process to begin, Blade was attacked by an intense pain that came from his chest. To be more precise, he felt as if someone was slowly penetrating his skin with a sharp blade to write words onto the veins of his heart.

But, this pain that came from his chest suddenly increased over time. Yet, even after five minutes of constant pain, Blade's expression did not change from his previous impassive outlook. Compared to the pain he felt when he was tortured, or even the pain of his leg being slowly ripped off were both more painful than what he was currently undergoing.

At the moment, he could say with confidence that the pain he felt was comparable to those heart attacks from his previous world. But, compared to being skinned alive, and then eaten alive, Blade thought of this as child's play.

Yet, before long, such a way of thinking had no other choice but to change since the pain suddenly increased tenfold. He felt as if something inside of him was being forcefully changed by a massive degree as it reached into the depths of his very soul.

Urgh!

Arrrggggghhhhhh!!!

Blade yelled in pain as he suddenly felt as if his vision was growing blurry. Slowly the world began spinning as he felt as if the cave had begun turning upside down. Even during all of this Blade did not feel the pain alleviate at all, as it instead rose to even more unbearable heights.

Shortly thereafter, Blade's consciousness became hazy. The worst part about all of this was the pain that continued to increase throughout. It had grown to such a level that he was unable to even scream.

But, thankfully for him, he soon got what he wanted. Soon his consciousness turned fleeting as it then completely disappeared. Surprisingly though, Blade did not dream of darkness, no, he found himself in an illusionary form of himself floating in what seemed to be an infinite mist.

The pain he felt never ceased, and it shot through the roof as soon as he made his appearance in this mysterious place. Even now, the feeling of being unable to scream felt as if just that fact had somehow raised the pain even more.

"This is our soul form!"

Suddenly, a voice resounded in Blade's head, but the pain he felt coursing through his illusionary body caused him to be unable to even gain the power to shake his head.

But, even when in such intense agony, Blade was still able to discern the feeling of slowly growing more powerful!

He could not understand why, nor did he try to understand how, but all he knew was the fact that during the intense suffering he has and still is undergoing, a strength he had never felt before was coursing through this illusionary body of his.

Right after he realized this fact, Blade also perceived that his illusionary body was suddenly growing taller. Again, he wasn't sure how, but all he knew was that the more it continued, the stronger he became.

And even though the pain felt unbearable, as if thousands of swords were penetrating his body, the feeling of growing more powerful, filled him with a sense of joy. A pained smile formed on his illusionary face. A smile that made him think of himself as a masochistic human. If one were to see it, one would immediately find it kind of creepy.

Thankfully, he was by himself. Well, somewhat by himself, since his system was ever-present as it then said.

"When I am upgraded, not only do my powers slowly return to me, but every time I level up, the person I chose as my host will also have his soul power increase.

And even if you are currently not a soul cultivator, with an increase in soul power, such things as comprehension will be way higher when compared to others." The system said in its normal gender-less voice.

Blade would have been ecstatic hearing this piece of news, especially since he knew that comprehension was rather important to learning techniques. But the pain had seemed to have reached its peak and begun seeping deeper into his illusionary body.

Blade was able to perceive that if before his illusionary body was slightly transparent, now it seems that with the power-ups from the system's level up, his illusionary body had begun taking an ethereal white form.

Compared to before, Blade's body improved to a more exquisite appearance and a refined aura surrounded it.

Yet, Blade knew that this was merely the system's upgrade to level 2, and even though he knew little about Soul cultivation, he was sure that this will have many benefits in the future when he embarks on said Soul cultivation.

As the pain slowly began to subside, Blade's consciousness once more began to fade. But, before it faded and he loses his bearings, Blade was able to perceive his surroundings and the slight change that occurred in them.

Compared to when he had just entered inside this mysterious realm filled with mist, it seemed that with the spike in Blade's soul strength, the mist that had previously blocked his view, albeit still ever so present, had shockingly and significantly lessened.

Thereafter, Blade's consciousness once more blurred, and soon after, it completely faded away.

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Back inside the darkness of the cave, one can see the figure of Blade sitting in seiza style as he slowly opened his eyes. His brows knitted as his eyes then widened in surprise when seeing the contents written on the screen in front of his eyes.

[Upgrade to Level 2-Successful]

[Reward-High-Level Body Forging Pill]

[Notice-The host is advised to follow the techniques of the Chaotic Supreme Body Art soon after swallowing this pill. If not, there is a 23% chance of being on the receiving end of exploding organs from over intake of energy]

Seeing such words written on the holographic screen, Blade was left with excitement. But when he laid eyes upon the last piece, he almost lost consciousness once more due to fear.

The only thing he feared was death, and hearing that his organs could explode if he does not use the techniques of the Chaotic Body manual, Blade couldn't help but momentarily panic. But, soon after, his eyes shone with a determined light. If he didn't take some risk, wouldn't he remain a weakling?

Nodding to his system, a small object then appeared in the palm of his right hand. It was the appearance of a red-colored pill that radiated something unknown and mysterious to the current Blade.

*Inhale*

Blade took a deep breath in his lungs, thereafter, he threw the pill in his mouth as he shot up toward his feet and began using the weird movements of the Chaotic Body manual.

Luckily, he had already grown so accustomed to breathing that he hadn't not been using the breathing technique even when not training.

A few minutes later, Blade could be seen still doing the weird movements of the Chaotic Body manual as a mysterious black smoke began pouring out of his pores.

It was at first incredibly hard to discern, but as the minutes passed, the smoke began transforming into a thicker black smoke that fused with the darkness of the cave, making the depths of the cave seem even darker than what it would normally seem to be.

More minutes passed and soon an hour had gone by. As soon as the hour came by, Blade's movements were mysteriously and forcefully halted as he suddenly felt as if something was crawling out of his body.

*Cough*

Blade knelt on the ground of the cave as a mysterious substance that was similar in color to the smoke that was previously permeating the air suddenly escaped Blade's mouth.

*Splat*

*Sizzle*

The mysterious black liquid substance landed on the ground as a sizzling sound left the ground. A weird mist then suddenly began leaving the area that the liquid landed on.

Blade, on the other hand, got to his feet on the recommendation of the system as he once more began doing the weird movements of the Chaotic Supreme Body Art.

Another three hours passed by as Blade spat another mouthful of such a substance as it was only five hours later, he spat out the substance for the last time.