All living beings could be divided into three groups: mortals, cultivators, and core beings.

Mortals were the largest group. They comprised every living being that was neither cultivator nor beast.

Most mortals had a spirit, and most spirits had dantians. It was a simple and effective design pattern. Mortals required energy to survive, and dantians, connected to spiritual channels, were the easiest way to unconsciously absorb energy from the environment and spread it throughout body and soul.

Cultivators were mortals who learned to use that energy consciously.

They used cultivation methods to refine themselves slowly and reach toward power and immortality. Even when they were on the verge of leveling up, they still had to meditate for hours or even days to take the last step. They had to pull vast amounts of energy into their dantians and correctly apply it to their bodies and souls.

Core beings, commonly called beasts, were usually born at least at level one.

Their entire beings were designed to use specific kinds of energy from birth. Instead of dantians, they had special cores, commonly called beast cores, that used energy with great efficiency. Beasts didn't cultivate. All they needed to do to level up was finding a way to improve the quality of their energy.

So, while it was rare for a beast to gain sudden enlightenment in the middle of a fight, but not unheard of. It had happened to Aaron a few times in the past. The good thing was that they didn't magically recover energy when that happened, or he would be in a tight spot right now.

Beast's skills were a different matter. At lower levels, they developed new skills by using their bodies, spirits, and souls in a way they hadn't thought of before. At higher levels, they had to ponder on the Laws of the Universe and derive skills from them, just like cultivators.

Their cores helped them with that. Beast cores gave beasts an innate affinity to some Laws, so they could develop new skills quite fast.

However, they had no freedom to take a different path. A fire elemental, for instance, could develop new fire skills with ease but would be forever incapable of using water skills.

That limitation was the primary reason cultivators ruled over the universes.

Cultivators could adapt to fight with or against multiple elements; beasts were bound to the energy and elements they had an affinity with. A single cultivator could use water weapons to kill some fire elementals here, then fire formations to kill some water elementals there.

Cultivators could develop and use new weapons, formations, medicine, magical artifacts, and so on; beasts could only use or develop and use objects or technology that matched their affinities. Artificer or formation master beasts were a rare sight, while cultivators walked around with all kinds of magical artifacts to increase their power.

Yet, Aaron always found cultivators that complained about the supposed advantage brought by beast cores. Fools, all of them! To give up freedom and a shot at the peak of power for a small boost in their current power was the peak of stupidity!

Either way, Entropomancer beasts were born to use Time Energy, so it didn't surprise Aaron much when the Mouth-Man developed a new time skill right after leveling up. But when he used a second new skill...

Then, Aaron's smile died.

Something was wrong. The Mouth-Man had developed two skills mere seconds after leveling up, each skill containing completely different applications of Time Laws. A low-level beast shouldn't have enough experience in energy manipulation to do that, much less a beast using the elusive Time Energy.

Aaron had seen it only once before.

The Mouth-Man wasn't leveling up like a common beast. No, he was returning to the level he should be at. Something had suppressed his level, but his current death struggle was propelling it back to what it should be.

Cultivation involved both meditation and accumulating worldly experiences for a reason. Tough battles were significant sources of inspiration. The surviving cultivators often received great gains from it, and beasts were no different.

Which meant that the Mouth-Man would keep developing new skills.

Aaron was only alive in a fight against a Five Star Entropomancer because the Mouth-Man was running out of energy. But who knows if he couldn't develop a cost-effective skill that could kill Aaron with a mere particle of Time Energy?

Aaron had to kill that beast fast.

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When the Mouth-Man dodged Aaron's sword, the latter tried to change the weapon's swing path, but the former had become just too fast, too suddenly. The beast crouched and Aaron's attack missed. Before he could attempt anything else, the carnifex struck back with the ax towards his belly.

Aaron barely defended himself with his dagger and retreated, but the Mouth-Man followed. The ax attack came fast, and part of the blade easily ripped through his leather vest and cut his skin.

While Aaron retreated, he turned his sword's horizontal swing into a vertical chop aimed at the Mouth-Man's skull. Unfortunately, the carnifex retreated right after his attack too. There was now a small gap between them, and the sword just cut through empty air.

"This is true power!" roared the Mouth-Man in his high-pitched voice. "I feel like I can fight—"

Aaron interrupted him with another attack. He was too old to listen to yet another enemy speak bullshit before they died.

He was going to show the Mouth-Man what actual power was.

Qi Martial Arts: Absolute Limit!

His Qi exploded out of his dantian, filling his entire body. He then used all his willpower to compress the Qi so much that he got an instant headache. He carefully — but quickly, thanks to his experience — pushed more of that compressed energy out of his dantian into his every organ, his every cell, every millimeter of his being.

He took his body to its absolute limit!

And it was the literal absolute limit. If he stayed more than a minute in that state, all his cells would explode. There would be no escaping death if that happened.

Yet, more than a body strengthening skill, his absolute limit was also a close-range martial technique.

Aaron had been using the frontal attack skill before, but now his every move would contain all of his close-combat knowledge. Experience and martial arts would mix within one another in a seamless circle of attack and defense, a dance of death with a single aim: to kill his enemy. That was his best martial arts technique, the apex of his battle capability, only limited by his level.

He closed the gap to the Mouth-Man, not wasting even a second. He was running against time. Would his skill run out first, or would the Mouth-Man pull a new skill out of his arse?

The sword cut diagonally, suddenly too fast, to the Mouth-Man's surprise. However, he reacted quickly and blocked it with his ax.

The former immortal didn't stop and attacked the abdomen of the Mouth-Man with the dagger in his other hand. The carnifex used the ax handle to deflect the blade.

Aaron then used his knee to attack the Mouth-Man's right side and, at the same time, pushed the sword that was being blocked by the ax's head. The Mouth-Man was forced to take a step back to dodge the knee. He bumped his back against the spatial blades behind him. They pierced his robe, skin, and some flesh.

"Ahhhhh!" he screamed in pain and concentrated more Time Energy within himself, increasing his speed almost in half! He moved his body to the side, dodging sword and dagger, and swung his ax at Aaron's chest!

It was Aaron who needed to take another step back this time, but once again the sudden increase in speed made the Mouth-Man too quick for a complete dodge. The ax cut through his chest enough to scrape a rib bone and break it.

As he had feared, the Mouth-Man was still improving.

But it wasn't over yet. Even though Aaron wasn't able to get faster than he already was, his techniques were better and the weaponry at his disposal was more versatile.

His dagger turned into light, disappeared into his spatial ring, and was replaced by a round metallic shield. He positioned it in front of his body, while he kept the sword to the side of the shield, positioned for thrusts and short swings.

Aaron thrust with the sword and the Mouth-Man dodged. Midway through his attack, he turned the thrust into a lateral swing, forcing the Mouth-Man to block it with the ax's handle. Then Aaron pulled the sword as little as necessary to pass beside the hilt and lunged at the Man-Mouth again.

Success!

Everything happened quick, and for the first time, his sword pierced the Mouth-Man's skin. The Mouth-Man moved aside in time to prevent the sword from skewering him, but the damage was done.

The robe over his abdomen was torn, his skin was cut, and his bloody flesh was exposed.

He screamed in pain and anger, and tried to attack Aaron, but he easily blocked it with his shield! Aaron required little technique to make the shield effective in this fight. He just had to put it in the right position in time to defend himself.

The Mouth-Man was faster, but his movements had many excesses, were telegraphed for lack of martial ability, and had to travel longer to reach Aaron than the shield had to move to block. That gave Aaron barely enough time to block.

Aaron counter-attacked.

His sword was too slow though. While it was still mid-swing, the Mouth-Man managed to move his ax to the side of Aaron's shield, fit the ax head inside the shield, and pull with all his strength.

That simple act would be enough to leave anyone with similar strength to the Mouth-Man in a precarious position. However, the beast had forgotten that he had only Time Energy at his disposal, while Aaron's Qi made him faster and stronger.

Not only was his attempt ineffective, the Mouth-Man's ax got stuck against the shield! Aaron pulled the shield back, leaving the Mouth-Man on an unstable footing, and cut with the sword horizontally to behead him.

He had already been mid-swing. His sword was just too close. Even with his superior speed, the Mouth-Man couldn't dodge!

Death!

The Mouth-Man saw death approaching!

In that moment of impending crisis, he found a way to increase time even further for himself!

However, as soon as he bent his knees to lower himself, his body failed him.

His leg muscles tore apart, his tendons ripped, his bones break. Incredible pain filled his body, and he had to let go of his ax, but he dodged in time.

He fell to the ground, helpless.

Aaron didn't even think twice before correcting his sword path for the final strike!

There was no honor in letting the Mouth-Man get up, only mortal danger. Once again, that carnifex had instinctively used Time Energy to save himself!

Fortunately, this time the instinctive use caused damage to the Mouth-Man. Not because the skill was incomplete, but because the Mouth-Man was not used to using so much power in such a delicate way and didn't control the skill too well.

Aaron's sword approached the beast's neck.

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The Mouth-Man saw the sword approach his kneeling body.

He wouldn't be able to escape in time.

Reluctance filled his being. He didn't want to die! Not after reaching the Five Star level! Not after breaking free of the king's mind control!

He refused to die like that!

He focused all of his remaining Time Energy on a single point between him and Aaron, and then he blew it up in a glorious whirlwind of colors throughout the room.

Eighth Grade Time Skill: Infinite Temporal Freeze!

Everything stopped.

Everything froze in time.

The entire room, all beings within it, the air itself, and the very earth.

It was the first time that he froze elements as vast as Wind and Earth. It was the first time that he used such a powerful skill.

When everything stopped, he abruptly understood more about Time, about what it really was, its essence, and its place in the universe. He understood his place in the grand scheme of things. He understood how his ability was a special gift and the wonderful things he should have done with it.

He regretted all the harm he caused. He regretted using that gift to torture and hurt others. He regretted the murder that had had him exiled from his people.

But it was too late for regrets.

With the little Time Energy he had left, he could only maintain his infinite temporal freeze for an instant.

The skill ended. The sword resumed its course.

And suddenly, he had an epiphany.

A powerful new skill that hardly needed any Time Energy!

He would survive!

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Aaron felt regret fill the Mouth-Man's aura, but he didn't hesitate to take the carnifex's life.

If even a religion of love like Christianity on Earth proposed that the time of repentance for sins was limited, what's to say about Aaron, who was vindictive!

He accepted negotiations until he decided to settle accounts. After his attack started, nothing could stop him! No regrets, no pleas, no threats! Actions had consequences. If his enemies could save themselves by regretting their actions at the last moment, they would have no reason to fear him at all! They would exploit that weakness to keep attacking him and getting mercy in return!

His decisiveness saved his life.

After repentance, Mouth-Man's aura revealed hope and anxiety. Instinct was giving him one last chance!

But it was too late.

Aaron's sword hit true.

The Mouth-Man's head rolled.

And yet, Time Energy still came out of the beast's body, entered Aaron's body, grasped his essence, and started sucking his lifespan!

The Mouth-Man had had just enough time to activate his new skill. With the death of its caster, the skill should've disappeared for lack of energy to maintain itself. However, that Time skill was sustaining itself using the Time it was stealing from Aaron.

The skill was also pushing the stolen lifespan into the Mouth-Man's corpse. The skill aimed to help the beast recover his Time Energy by using the enemy's lifespan, but with him dead, it was only speeding up the corpse's decomposition rate.

The decomposing process became visible to the naked eye. The smell alone was disgusting.

Aaron used both a bit of Qi and his willpower against the link inside him. If the Mouth-Man had been alive, Aaron might have had a hard time severing the connection, since it was Five Star Time Energy against Three Star Qi. But the beast was dead.

The link was severed, and the time skill dissipated into nothing.

Midway through the dissipation though, it reformed itself into a different attack! The skill the Mouth-Man had used contained a trap in case it was destroyed!

Countless glimpses of Aaron's future appeared in front of him, all of which inevitably led to his death.

This trap, though made with Time Energy, tried to affect Aaron's heart and confidence. If the Mouth-Man had still been alive, he would have gained an advantage over Aaron if the latter lost his concentration or faith in himself for an instant. There was also a touch of petty revenge involved; even if the Mouth-Man died, his opponent's heart would be affected forever.

But Aaron just laughed at it, watching the scenes of his death with disdain. He knew from experience that there was no predetermined destiny in the universe, only that which was forged with his own hands!

In the end, the Time Energy was depleted, and all that was left was the beheaded and semi-decomposed corpse of the Mouth-Man before a triumphant Aaron.

But he hadn't finished spilling blood that day.

He vibrated his sword fast enough to wipe the blood, then sheathed it. His shield became light and entered his spatial ring.

Then he took a dart from his ring and shot it without hesitation at the Soul Machinist.

A man shouldn't punish a dog without being sure who owns it, or there could be unexpected consequences. But at the same time, the dog's bad habits were the owner's responsibility!

Aaron had had no plans of killing the Soul Machinist for Lana, but the moment Aaron realized that the Mouth-Man was being mentally controlled, he himself gained a reason to attack.

The Soul Machinist's sins were two. First, he had allowed the Mouth-Man to attack Aaron the day before, maybe he had even sent the carnifex to begin with. Second, he had allowed the Mouth-Man to defend himself for a while today, which had given the beast enough time to level up and potentially kill Aaron and the others.

Both beast and human were equally guilty of attempt murder against Aaron!

The Soul Machinist was the owner, and the Mouth-Man was the dog with bad habits. The owner might have sided with Aaron in the end, but by then, Aaron had already been punishing the dog by himself!

His final attack had already begun, and the time for regrets had passed.

Aaron's attack was completely unexpected and took the awed Soul Machinist by surprise. It pierced his eye and killed him instantly. Aaron watched the corpse fall with no satisfaction. Killing that man held as much emotional meaning to him as taking the trash out.

As for the king...

The king had apologized and done two things to show goodwill: he had gifted Aaron with the Sky Splitter Sword and ordered the Mouth-Man not to kill Aaron.

Either action held little value by itself. Aaron would get the sword anyway, while the Mouth-Man had already attacked and been marked to die. However, the man had shown the right initiative. Apologizing humbly and asking for parley was especially important.

Aaron would at least listen to what the man had to say.

Maybe, just maybe, the king could give satisfactory excuses for his sins. Then, there was even a slight chance the man would part with enough riches to appease Aaron. Kings had greater value alive than dead. Their economic might was usually in their assets, only rarely stored away in treasuries.

He doubted the man would submit as much as Aaron wanted, but there was always a possibility.

'We'll see,' he thought.

Aaron then canceled his absolute limit and felt a wave of weakness go through his body. The skill had a high cost, no matter if he had used it for less than half the time limit. Qi had caused so much stress on his body, that he couldn't even heal himself using that energy; he would have to ask Lana to treat him using Holy Energy instead.

Once the Soul Machinist died, all golems immediately fell to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. The Soul Machinist had linked the golems to himself to prevent someone from killing him to steal them. Also, that way his continued services became necessary and he could keep charging for them.

Aaron ignored the pain he felt in his entire body and, with practiced motions, plundered the bodies of the Mouth-Man and the Soul Machinist.

After that, he went down the Arcane Pyramid, passing between the bodies of hundreds of golems.

They had died without even being able to defend themselves, just because their master had offended the wrong person.

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[Skill Update: Mind Control]

Your target has leveled up and can no longer be controlled by you.

Original target: Four Star Mouth-Man

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The king barely believed when he received that Heavenly Message, and he became even more shocked when the Soul Machinist's life crystal broke less than a minute later.

What in the seven hells had happened in the caves?! How had the Mouth-Man leveled up?! And who had won the battle, Mouth-Man or Herald of Light?!

In a normal situation, the king would have been sure that the Mouth-Man had been the winner, and that he was now coming to take revenge on the king as well. But this wasn't a normal situation, not when the Herald of Light was involved.

To be honest, the king feared the alternative even more. If Aaron Ironblood had killed even a Five Star Entropomancer, there was nothing at all the king could do to protect himself.

Except praying, maybe.

"Goddess of Light, help me," he pleaded.

His life was now in her hands.