When he'd used the first shard and felt his soul being attacked, Ronan had panicked. However, persevering through the entire shard he had discovered the secret to his new cultivation art.

It turned the shard energy hostile and attacked his soul, wearing it away from the outside in. Once all of the energy in a given shard was consumed to erode his soul's integrity, it would suddenly revert and heal all of the damage, and then expand his soul beyond what it had been before he started to use the shard. It was a rather unique experience, but the more shards he used the less scary it became.

He did wonder what would happen if his soul was 'destroyed' before he managed to consume all of the energy in a given shard. Maybe it would just… pop? He wouldn't be surprised. No legendary art would come without its share of risks.

The rewards were well worth those potential risks and the pain of having his soul constantly eroded, though. After just two days, Ronan hit a temporary wall in his cultivation, feeling as though his soul was struggling to expand.

He had just finished a shard, so he decided to take out another and when he began, he realised why his progress had slowed.

You are attempting to break through the second threshold in Prismatic Soul Cultivation!

Ronan felt an overwhelming pressure weigh down on his soul. It felt as though an eldritch deity was peering into the depths of his innermost self.

Challenger possesses sufficient soul weight!

Congratulations! Your hard work and effort have allowed you to reach the twelfth realm of Prismatic Soul Cultivation!

Prismatic Soul Cultivation has advanced from [Orange ★★★★★★] to [Yellow ★]!

Soul weight is increased by 11.7%

Cultivation talent is increased by 157%

When you defeat an enemy in a soul-based trial, claim a portion of their soul's power for your own.

The feeling passed once the message appeared stating that his soul was sufficiently heavy, but the lingering fear clung to his spine like a nasty sweat that couldn't be wiped away. Whatever that thing was, it had been on par with his overpowered ancestor, if not even more terrifying.

It reminded Ronan that he still had a ridiculously long way to go in order to consider himself truly powerful. It was one thing to slap down some aliens that were a little way over level 100, and another to be truly free in the new multiverse he found himself a part of.

He didn't stop after breaking through the second threshold. For an entire week he continued to burn through gladiator shards and push his soul cultivation forwards. The difficulty in raising his cultivation realm had increased quantitatively once more, and it was slowing by the end of his push, but he had made solid progress.

Congratulations! Your hard work and effort have allowed you to reach the fifteenth realm of Prismatic Soul Cultivation!

Prismatic Soul Cultivation has advanced from [Yellow ★★★] to [Yellow ★★★★]!

Soul weight is increased by 24%

Cultivation talent is increased by 265%

When you defeat an enemy in a soul-based trial, claim a portion of their soul's power for your own.

While the difficulty had gone up, the benefits were increased in kind. Ronan only had half a week left until the second step started.

He decided that rather than focusing on one single path, he would try to raise all three of the remaining paths as far as they would go. Ronan hoped that with his new multipliers and increased soul cultivation he might be able to get them all far enough that he would have the required chronos merits to get his second sub-class once this iteration was over.

At the very least he should be able to get them all over the second threshold, thanks to learning that it happened from the eleventh to the twelfth realm. He wondered if the third threshold would be reached between the eighteenth and nineteenth. It would make sense.

Ronan was a little disappointed with his progress. He knew that was being ridiculously strict, given that he had only had a little over three days to cultivate after reaching the fifteenth realm of soul cultivation, but he had expected more from himself.

I guess I spent too much time trying to analyse my energy and body cultivation arts instead of actually cultivating. The improvements I found were totally worth it, though, even if neither of them went up a rank. Ronan had managed to find some flaws in both the Nine Mouths Delta Mystic Energy Art and the Diamondback Gorilla Tempered Body Art, improving the efficiency of both arts.

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You are attempting to break through the second threshold in Crystalline Mind Cultivation!

Challenger possesses at least one mind-based mastery at tier II or higher!

Challenger possesses wisdom, acuity, and intelligence of at least 125 points or higher!

Congratulations! Your hard work and effort have allowed you to reach the twelfth realm of Crystalline Mind Cultivation!

…

Congratulations! Your hard work and effort have allowed you to reach the fourteenth realm of Crystalline Mind Cultivation!

Crystalline Mind Cultivation has advanced from [Opal ★★] to [Opal ★★★]!

Mental processing speed +60%

Nerve processing speed +140%

Mental damage resistance +150%

Efficacy of wisdom, dexterity, acuity, and charisma +190%

Potency of wisdom, dexterity, acuity, and charisma +55%

You are far more resilient against mental intrusions and attempted mind control attacks.

You are attempting to break through the second threshold in Mystic Energy Cultivation!

Challenger possesses at least two energy-based masteries at tier III or higher!

Challenger has at least one energy resource at a quantity of 2,000 or higher!

Congratulations! Your hard work and effort have allowed you to reach the twelfth realm of Mystic Energy Cultivation!

Mystic Energy Cultivation has advanced from [Pulsing ★★★★★★] to [Vibrating ★]!

All forms of energy regenerate 200% faster

Energy costs are reduced by 75%

Efficacy of endurance and regeneration +150%

Potency of endurance and regeneration +35%

There is a 1% chance to regain 50% of the expended energy when using a skill, spell, or other applicable process that costs energy to activate. Only works on one-time costs and not channeled or long-term energy expenditures.

You are attempting to break through the second threshold in Tempered Body Cultivation!

Challenger possesses at least one body-related mastery at tier II or higher, and two body-related masteries at tier II or higher!

Congratulations! Your hard work and effort have allowed you to reach the twelfth realm of Tempered Body Cultivation!

…

Congratulations! Your hard work and effort have allowed you to reach the thirteenth realm of Tempered Body Cultivation!

Tempered Body Cultivation has advanced from [Iron ★] to [Iron ★★]!

Greatly reduces chance of tendon, joint, and muscle damage during movement and combat. Efficiency of bodily functions is greatly increased. Durability, muscle memory, and bodily independence are moderately increased.

Physical damage reduction +140%

Efficacy of vitality, strength, agility, and resistance +170%

Potency of vitality, strength, agility, and resistance +45%

Annoyingly, Ronan had only managed to earn a total of one realm's worth of credits. He hoped that this time around he would be able to get some recreational time in the prison to cultivate. He still had plenty of gladiator shards left, after all.

Then again, I don't have to kill everything I see when I get there. I can just kill a few of the fuckers to assert my dominance and then gather information about the prison's layout. That way I can bide my time cultivating and then start killing once I know how to break out. He felt his new plan was a little more reasonable than the strategy he'd employed the last time around.

Ronan had opted for the same difficulty start as the last time. Increasing it when he hadn't even made that much progress the last time seemed foolish. There was an argument to be made for information gathering by using the different difficulties, but right now he felt it would be best to be in the place with the most prisoners he could squeeze for knowledge.

He arrived and went through the uncomfortable showering process once more before being hauled through the prison by the guards. He tried his best to remember the route, but given that every wall was just a featureless metal surface it was quite difficult.

When he was tossed into the general population area once more, he was approached by the same aggressively ravenous prisoners. It seemed that this was their standard greeting towards new prisoners. Ronan didn't plan to play nice.

He slaughtered the first three who had charged at him, going completely overboard with his use of force and practically dicing them into chunks of quivering flesh. It was a necessary show of strength to prevent the same thing from happening again while he was trying to gather information.

"All of you fuckers listen up! I'm here to serve my sentence and keep to myself. I'm happy to make friends, but if you try me again, you'll end up just like these pieces of shit. Is that clear?" He addressed the large crowd that had gathered to witness his arrival and the subsequent fight.

Most of them didn't even bother replying and simply walked back to whatever they'd been up to before. A few even laughed and hollered at him. One particularly strange looking alien shouted back, "Alright, tough guy! We get it."

All in all, his little show had paid off. Now, where the fuck is my cell? Ronan called out to a nearby inmate. "Hey, which of these morons had the nicest cell? It's mine now."

The alien snorted and pointed towards a distant opening. "Skabadash had the least defiled cell of the three. I doubt anyone will complain if you occupy it."

Ronan nodded. "Thanks. Is everyone here housed on this first floor? How do the inmates at the top even get food and water?"

The alien tapped a tentacle against its head. "You're a curious one, aren't you? I'd recommend asking less questions if you really want to keep your head down. General population is split into four factions, and the stronger you are the higher up your cell is. The guards give better treatment to those at the top, because they can afford to pay for it. Everyone down here is either broke, an idiot, or insane. Now, go and settle into your new cell and don't bother me again."

"I appreciate the information. I'm Ronan, by the way."

"I don't give a shit. Have a nice sentence."

Ronan shook his head and laughed. Nice guy. The cell that now belonged to him was a metal cube with a sort of hard fabric bed mat on the ground. There was nothing in the way of personal possessions and as far as he could tell, the sanitised hole in the corner was his toilet. Delightful. I think I would rather have fought to the death again than live in this place.

Sitting down on the bed mat, Ronan took out a gladiator shard after making sure no one was looking his way, and began to cultivate once more.

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