"A bestial core?" I asked while raising my eyes to ire''s face.


    "Yeah," the girl nodded, hardly paying me any mind as if I just asked for a definition of an apple. "It''s akin to our spiritual core, although it''s an element of the bestial cultivation that persists throughout the ranks, as opposed to how we, human cultivators, constantly change its shape and use."


    ''So, it is…''


    I gulped my saliva down.


    "Would it be correct to im that as the main element of their cultivation, it''s the source of the immense strength and size of those beasts?"


    By now, it wasn''t even a suspicion… but more of a certainty.


    Even though ire had yet to confirm any of my guesses, somehow made me feel as if I was right on the money with this guess!


    "Yeah," surprise surprise, ire went ahead and confirmed my theory, only further solidifying my idea in the realm of reality.


    "So, what if that AI… infected the spiritual core that those beasts then absorbed? And what if…" I bit down on my lips, holding myself at the veryst moment from throwing a suspicious, wary nce all over the ce as if to check if any of the staff was listening in on our conversation.


    The staff, however, was too busy with their tasks around the kitchen to care… Only by acting extremely off myself could I strike their curiosity hard enough to make them actually interested in the details of my conversation with ire.


    "Would we be able to procure everyst thing that one can get from a hunt? Every tiniest thing? And by that, I mean the spoils of hunt conducted over the beasts that survived within that zone…"


    There was no point in me mentioning the exact name of the location I had in mind. There was only one zone I was familiar with anyway, so just by putting an emphasis on its selection, I made it pretty obvious which ce I was talking about.


    "I mean, you would have to take part in the hunt to get an easier time figuring out your next enlightenment," ire quickly pointed out, as if worried I didn''t understand her lecture from before.


    "Yeah, that I''m fully aware of, I just need to take a look at all the items you source from those beasts. Its bestial core included," I added just to make sure it was spelled out before moving on and forgetting about this detail until it became relevant again.


    ''And on that note, it really won''t be that bad of an idea to start figuring out what the next rank is all about…''


    Previously, I opted not to even try doing so in hopes of receiving further instructions from Chihiro, given how he already ovee all of the trials of my current cultivation stage.


    But after giving it some thought… If I kept going, then at this rate, what was I to do once I reached the level beyond ire''s father? Or how could I ever grow stronger than Chihiro if I always relied on his expertise to figure out the hurdles ahead? .


    ''This stage… I think I will try going through all on my own,'' I thought only to finally grab a fork from the table and pierce three different pieces of heavily sauced, grilled veggies.


    Then again, this wasn''t the right time to try to analyze it. Not when all I knew about the process of breaking through to the seventh stage of cultivation was limited to just a few of ire''s and then a few of Chihiro''s words!


    That''s why, I put the grilled delicacy in my mouth, as I turned my thoughts to the idea of butchering the bestial carcass - all for the sake of obtaining that sweet, sweet energetic meat that I could turn into a proper cultivator''s meal, as opposed to those energy-less delicacies ire''s chefs were serving us.


    "Are you really sure you don''t want to hunt a beast yourself?" ire insisted, hooked on the idea of having me hunt for some reason I couldn''t really see.


    "I''m sorry, but after thest time?" Iughed out a bit only to then shake my head. "Nah, I think I''m good. Let''s say I don''t have many good memories of that ce," I added in a slightly joking manner.


    "That''s…" Nigh instantly after my words sounded out, ire''s face contorted as a mixture of grief, guilt, and sadness popped up all over her face.


    "Ah!" I uttered a small cry as I reflected upon how this poor girl was likely to interpret myst sentence. "I''m sorry, that''s not what I meant!


    So, hold your horses and listen to me for just a little bit longer, okay?" I asked while reaching out to grab ire''s hands… and just hold them, with no intention of going any further than that as I simply stared into her eyes with a pleading expression painted all over my face.


    I shook my head only to then break off my hand-holding with ire as I leaned slightly to the back of my chair, all to gain ess to more space that would fit within the girl''s vision.


    "All I meant is that all the time it takes to get there, get through all the control points, reception, reservation, payment, tipping, and the likes, to then spend as long as it takes to execute a proper hunt and then… repeat all the previous steps in reverse…"


    I let my words hang in the air for a while while slowly shaking my head to the sides. "It just feels like one hell of a big waste of time!"


    "I mean…" ire groaned a bit while leaning to the back and looking away with her entire face, only to end up looking fully away as if she couldn''t bear the sight of me anymore.


    A momentter, however, her chest suddenly jumped up and down a bit, only to then do it again… and again, only for ire to then break outughing, as she turned right back to me with a massive grin on her face.


    "Time, time and time… I''m not sure if you''ve realized, but isn''t it a word you bring up quite often?"