After returning inside the barrier, Wang Wei took a deep breath.
"That was… way harder than I expected."
He sat down on the ground, completely exhausted.
After resting for a while, he opened his inventory and took out the monster's body.
The Poison Worm corpse appeared on the ground, looking just as fresh as when he had killed it.
Wei crouched beside it and began examining it carefully.
"How can I use this…"
He looked at the slime first.
"This monster's poison can melt trees… maybe even iron."
"If that's the case, I can use it to make poison arrows."
Then he touched the worm's thick skin.
"And this hide is incredibly tough."
"I might be able to turn it into armor."
He then looked at the meat.
"If the meat isn't poisonous… it could be food."
Wei nodded to himself.
Nothing should be wasted.
He began separating the monster parts.
The poison slime was carefully stored inside his inventory.
The skin was removed and placed aside.
Then he opened the monster's body and checked the organs.
While searching through the guts, he suddenly noticed something strange.
"Hm?"
Inside the creature's body was a small green stone.
Wei carefully pulled it out and cleaned the blood from it.
The stone emitted a faint glow.
Just then—
Ding!
[Monster Core detected.]
[Monster Core can be absorbed.]
Wei raised an eyebrow.
"Absorbed?"
"How?"
Another notification appeared.
[Absorb Monster Core?]
YES / NO
Wei frowned.
"So the system can help me absorb this thing…"
"But what exactly will it do?"
After thinking for a moment, curiosity won.
"Let's try it."
He selected YES.
Immediately, the green stone burst with light.
A wave of green energy shot straight into Wang Wei's body.
"HYAAAA—!"
Wei screamed in pain.
his body arched violently. Veins bulged across his arms as the burning energy tore through his meridians.
It felt like his entire body was being torn apart.
The energy rushed through his veins like burning fire.
His body began glowing.
Inside him, something started changing.
His meridians began opening one by one.
Then deep inside his abdomen—
A small core slowly began forming.
All the energy from the monster core gathered there.
Wei's vision turned blurry.
Then everything went dark.
He lost consciousness.
…
Some time later—
Wei slowly opened his eyes.
"Ugh…"
His entire body felt hot and sore.
Then he remembered what happened.
"The monster core…"
He quickly called the system.
"System, show my status."
The panel appeared.
Name: Wang Wei
Age: 21 / 50.001
Strength: 13
Stamina: 12
Agility: 12
Ability: Poison Resistance (1/100)
Wei's eyes widened.
"My stats increased…"
"And I gained an ability."
But then he frowned.
"What does (1/100) mean?"
He thought about it for a moment.
"Does that mean I need to kill and absorb at least ninety-nine more monsters to fully develop this ability?"
Just then—
Ding!
A new system message appeared.
[You have discovered a new path for humanity.]
[Path of Immortality Initiated.]
Wei stared at the notification in shock.
Without realizing it—
He had just taken the first step toward creating a cultivation system for humanity.
Then his eyes moved back to his status panel.
Age: 21 / 50.001
Wei blinked.
"…Wait."
"Does that mean I gained a little more lifespan from killing that monster?"
A slow smile appeared on his face.
"So that's it…"
"As long as I grow stronger… my lifespan will also increase."
"Then maybe… humanity still has hope."
Suddenly, Wei noticed something strange around him.
The air felt different.
Tiny particles seemed to float in the atmosphere like invisible mist.
"…What is this?"
He slowly closed his eyes.
"I can feel it…"
"It's like energy."
"Is this Qi… or mana?"
Wei sat down cross-legged and tried to absorb it.
At first, nothing happened.
But after calming his breathing, something changed.
The energy in the air slowly began flowing toward his body.
It entered through his skin and gathered inside the newly formed core in his abdomen.
Wei opened his eyes in surprise.
"It's working…"
But soon he noticed a problem.
The gathering speed was extremely slow.
After thinking about it for a moment, Wei finally understood.
"So that's how monsters become so strong."
"They absorb this energy from the world."
"But humans… can't."
Which meant one terrifying truth.
Without the system—
Humanity would never be able to cultivate.
And that was exactly why monsters ruled this world.
Wei clenched his fists.
"But now…"
"Everything is different."
Because he had already found the first key to humanity's evolution.