The Path To Strength Is Lonely [ISEKAI/CULTIVATION PROGRESSION]

The air thickens, heavy with an unnatural charge.

The spirit beast stands before them, its frame towering over the forest floor, silver-black fur rippling like a living storm.

Its eyes glow—not with mindless hunger, but with cunning intelligence.

And power.

Because this is no ordinary beast.

This is an elemental attuned predator, born from the fusion of qi and the natural world itself.

A true test of whether De and Kalia are ready for what comes next.

The beast moves first.

And it does not lunge.

It does not charge.

It unleashes.

A sudden roar shakes the night, a crescendo of sound that tears through the trees, scattering leaves like a violent storm.

Lightning crackles along its fur, tendrils of electricity spiraling outward before surging toward them.

Kalia moves instantly, rolling to the side, her blade carving into the dirt to slow her momentum.

De, already prepared, twists his body, the air tingling with static as the lightning scorches the ground where he had just stood.

This is not a normal battle.

This is a force of nature.

And they must break it.

De doesn't hesitate.

The moment his feet touch solid ground, he launches forward.

Shadow Phantom Steps.

He flickers through the air, closing the distance in an instant, his fist coiling with raw, compressed qi.

Domineering Demon Palm.

The impact lands clean, striking the beast's ribs with an eruption of force that splinters the ground beneath them.

But the beast does not crumble.

Instead, it turns its head.

And smiles.

A pulse of energy erupts from its body—electric, raw, untamed.

De's eyes narrow.

The beast had absorbed his attack.

While De engages, Kalia studies the enemy.

She watches the way it moves. The way the lightning courses through its body.

The way it doesn't attack blindly, but strategically.

Her grip tightens around her saber.

Then—she moves.

A sharp step forward—low, controlled, refined.

She vanishes into the creature's blind spot, her blade slicing upward in a perfectly timed strike.

Not for the legs.

Not for the body.

For the joints.

Her saber carves through the tendons near its left shoulder, a burst of energy following the movement—not enough to sever, but enough to weaken.

The beast snarls, its movement disrupted for the first time.

And De doesn't waste the opening.

The moment Kalia lands her strike, De moves in again.

But this time—he does not simply strike with force.

He redirects.

He feints low, forcing the beast to shift its weight—exposing its core for just a second.

And that second is all he needs.

A full-powered Domineering Demon Palm crashes into its exposed chest, sending it skidding backward, its claws tearing trenches into the earth.

Its control over its element wavers—the storm falters.

And in that moment, they know.

It can be killed.

The beast roars, shaking the sky itself.

It summons the last of its power, the storm intensifying, wind howling through the trees, the ground vibrating with raw, unrestrained energy.

But De and Kalia do not back down.

Kalia strikes first, her saber flashing through the chaos, cutting through the remnants of the beast's defense.

And then—De follows.

A final, unrelenting strike, his palm colliding with the beast's core, his qi forcing through its defenses, crushing it from within.

For a second, time slows.

Then—

The beast collapses.

Its storm fades.

And the world is silent once more.

The remains of the elemental beast grow cold, its once-majestic form now reduced to lifeless stillness. The energy it left behind is already gone, absorbed the moment its existence ended.

De-Reece stands at the edge of the battlefield, his breathing steady despite the fight's intensity. The energy he gained from the battle has already begun reinforcing his meridians, sinking into his foundation like molten steel cooling into tempered iron. This is not a breakthrough for him—it is refinement.

Kalia, however, remains still, her fingers curling slightly as she processes the raw power now surging through her body. Then, she exhales.

"This is enough."

De-Reece glances at her. "Enough for what?"

Kalia rolls her shoulders, testing the changes in her circulation before giving a sharp nod. "My 7th node."

A flicker of approval crosses De-Reece's expression, but before he can respond, she seats herself on the ground, centering her breath, already preparing for the process.

There is no hesitation.

De-Reece steps back, shifting into a stance that allows him to guard their surroundings.

He doesn't need to be asked.

No one will disturb her.

The energy within Kalia churns, eager to break free, yet she does not force it forward.

De-Reece watches carefully, sensing the shift in her qi flow. It's different from his own process.

He had always approached breakthroughs with sheer force—an overwhelming surge of power shattering through barriers, taking what was his with undeniable will.

But Kalia…

She does not attack the node's barrier.

She fills it.

Slowly, methodically, she directs her qi toward her spleen, letting it press gently against the node's limit.

Then—she stops.

The energy fades, dissipating back into her meridians.

De-Reece narrows his eyes. This isn't how he's ever done it.

He had always assumed breakthroughs happened in a single violent moment—pushing until the barrier shattered.

Yet Kalia does not break anything.

She repeats the process.

Again.

And again.

Each time, her qi presses forward and recedes, wearing down the node's resistance bit by bit, as if she were dissolving it rather than destroying it.

De-Reece senses it happening—a long, drawn-out refinement rather than a forceful invasion.

And then, after what seems like an eternity—

The node unblocks.

The energy doesn't explode outward.

It simply flows.

Her meridians adjust seamlessly, absorbing the new circulation path as though it was always meant to be there.

When she opens her eyes, she is already stable.

There is no turbulence. No adjustment period.

She had done it properly.

Yet De-Reece doesn't understand why.

Not yet.

While Kalia had been breaking through, De-Reece had not been idle.

The energy he absorbed from the battle still lingers in his body, but he does not need it for a breakthrough.

His 8th node is already open.

Instead, he focuses on reinforcing what he already has, guiding the qi through his meridians, stabilizing his power so that none of it is wasted.

He strengthens the existing pathways, making them more resilient, more refined.

Power is not just about obtaining more—it is about wielding it flawlessly.

By the time Kalia rises, his refinement is complete.

She stretches, adjusting to the shift in her body, and smirks. "That's done."

De-Reece studies her, still contemplating what he just witnessed.

Her qi is perfectly balanced. It doesn't have the raw instability that normally follows a breakthrough.

He doesn't say anything about it.

But he remembers.

Because one day, he will find the answer.

Kalia rolls her shoulders, feeling the power settle into her limbs. She exhales, tapping the hilt of her saber against her palm.

he turns toward the road ahead.

Because now, the final step is before them.

The Sect Selection awaits.

And they are ready.