Due to Sword Aura covering the blade, Shinku no Sabi couldn't consume the blood of the trolls properly.

I stabbed one of the trolls in its guts, letting the katana absorb as much blood as it wanted.

"Vivi, show me the amount of my Yin-Yang energy."

"Yin energy: 10110/10500

Yang energy: 5500/10500"

"Hmm, I can either rest for the next three and a half hours or kill two more trolls for the next breakthrough," I murmured inwardly, looking at the screen.

"Was it really true that you were in a coma for five years just a month ago?" Alex asked, emerging from the darkness, his eyes fixed on the headless corpses of trolls.

Instead of replying, my face was tugged into an uncontrollable smile.

"W-why are you smiling like that?" Alex asked, feeling agitated, as it was the same smile I gave him before throwing him around the tunnel.

"I'm glad that you're actually initiating a conversation by yourself," I said, rubbing his head. "You were too silent when we entered the dungeon that I couldn't even sense your presence."

A faint blush of embarrassment appeared on his face as he quickly removed my hand from his head.

"The trolls in the right path have turned back and are about to come out of the tunnel," Alex informed, his hands folded and his back facing me.

"It's fine. Twenty-five are manageable," I said before plucking out Shinku no Sabi from the troll's body, which had turned into a shrunken pile of skin and bones.

"Hehehe! Its blade has turned even sharper than when it drank Rudra's blood," I snickered, gazing at the ultra-sharp blade of the katana.

"Alex, stay here. I'll be back in a minute," I informed him, running toward the junction of tunnels.

When I reached closer to the junction, the trolls were already out, moving toward the path where Payal and the others were staying.

This time, instead of attacking them head-on, I moved in silence, letting the thunder of their heavy footsteps swallow the sound of my own.

When I closed in on the troll at the rear of the line, I struck in a single silent motion, my blade flashing from behind and beheading it with one clean slash.

"Yin energy +300"

I grabbed the troll's head in one hand and carefully placed its body backward with the other, making sure no sound occurred.

The good thing was that I didn't even have to use the Pseudo Sword Aura to kill them, as the blade of the katana had become sharp enough to do the job.

In a similar way, I killed the next one, but the moment the head of this troll was severed, I shouted loudly, "Look behind you, idiots!"

The instant the trolls turned, I used Void Step, already reaching hundreds of feet into the middle tunnel.

"Yin energy +90"

Ding…

"Maximum limit to absorb Yin energy reached.

Yin energy: 10500/10500

To absorb Yin energy further, the Host must break through to the next stage!"

"Hey, what have you done?" Alex demanded, worried. "The monsters are rushing toward this path. They seem very angry."

"Haha, don't worry," I replied, quickly absorbing the Yang energy from the Soul Stone—obviously through the inventory hole inside my blazer to hide it from Alex.

Ding…

"You have absorbed enough Yin-Yang energy for a breakthrough."

With a sudden breeze of cozy wind inside me, my body became stronger and my Soulforce turned deeper.

"Congratulations! The Host has successfully broken through! The Host's realm has increased.

Early-Stage Spirit Warrior Realm → Mid-Stage Spirit Warrior Realm

All stats +10"

"The maximum capacity of Yin-Yang energy has increased!

Yin energy: 10500/22000

Yang energy: 10500/22000"

"Di-did you just ascend in realm?" Alex asked, his mouth widening in shock.

"Yeah! But why so shocked? Everyone ascends in their realm. It's not like I've done something extraordinary."

"Everyone does, but not at this rate," Alex countered, annoyance in his voice. "You ascended just a few hours ago after killing those goblins."

"Haha! I'm a bit special," I chuckled, my focus still on absorbing as much Yang energy as possible from the Soul Stones before the trolls arrived.

Sensing the presence of trolls getting closer, Alex moved back again, hiding himself, while I stayed at the center of the beheaded corpses of trolls.

"Yu… humann… why… kill… trolls… and… goblins?" one of the trolls at the front demanded. The creatures had already drawn their weapons, their crude grips tightening as they spread out, clearly prepared to fight.

"Vivi, stop the absorption of Yang energy," I said inwardly.

"The absorption of Yang energy has stopped."

"Yang energy: 18245/22000"

"Are all of you trolls programmed with the same damn dialogue?" I sighed, rising to my feet. "You want me to meet your king, right?"

The trolls' expressions changed upon hearing my question, and they nodded in unison.

"Alright then, let's go."

I began moving forward, but strangely, the trolls remained in their positions, not giving me the way at all.

"What? Your king must be waiting. Let's move fast."

"No… need," the troll muttered, his expression dark. "Yu… killed… trolls… yu die!"

Along with the declaration, all the trolls jolted forward, their weapons coming straight for my life.

"So you're not that stupid."

Before the trolls could even react, the sword in my hand swung in a circular motion, slicing all the weapons that came my way like butter.

In the next instant, I activated Pseudo Sword Aura, letting my katana cut through the bodies of trolls without much resistance.

Ding…

"Crimson Wound is activated!

The target will continuously lose blood."

Ding…

"Blood Tempering is activated.

Shinku no Sabi is absorbing the blood of the target…"

This time, I decided not to use Void Step while fighting these monsters because I wanted to grind maximum Yin energy from this battle.

As a result, I did receive a couple of unblockable blows from the trolls, but they weren't enough to make me bleed.

It took me eighty seconds to deal with all the trolls despite using Pseudo Sword Aura, as some of them kept regenerating from wounds that should have killed normal monsters.

---

Slash!

Shinku no Sabi descended in a vertical motion, splitting the body of the last remaining troll into two.

"Huff… finally!" I shouted, slightly out of breath as I canceled the Pseudo Sword Aura.

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