"These Knight Techniques suck!" Cara roared as she slammed down one of the manuals left behind by the expedition. Her nostrils flared and her sword-like brows angled down to the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were wild.

Cara's rage was partly justified. When she returned with her spoils she expected to find grand truths about this new world of magic, instead she found something terrible instead. 'Knight Techniques,' as this world called them, were simple Outer Cultivation techniques designed by emulating Magic Beasts. To be more specific, Cara learned exactly why this forest was named the 'Soldier Garden'.

It was from copying the Crocodile-Apes that the Knight Techniques of the Tin City were born.

They were crude, rough, full of fatal flaws, and they provided literally no new information for Cara. They did clarify that, in this world, Outer Cultivation seemed to be a common method to garner strength.

Cara was also able to now classify her own Jade-Dragon Body Cultivation Technique using terms from this world. She practiced a Heaven Tier Knight Technique, which meant she could reach the rank of Heaven Knight..

Cara wanted to bang her head against a wall. She didn't like changing her lexicon to fit other cultures, but she couldn't go around telling people of this world she was an Outer Body Cultivator at the peak of the Xantian Rungs.

Instead, she needed to tell them that she was a peak-level Grand Knight. Though, her strength probably well exceeded any ordinary Grand Knight by several leagues due to the quality of her cultivation and her excessive control of mana.

Turning her back on the Knight Techniques, Cara found herself embracing the alchemy manuals and books instead. She rubbed them with gentle hands and her expression softened. Her greatest spoils~

Unfortunately she couldn't recover a mage technique. It seemed the magicians in the expedition were prepared to retreat or they didn't bring their techniques out with them.

The second option seemed more likely. Considering the ratio of Knights to Magicians and the attitudes of the parties involved, the social status hierarchy laid itself out nicely, to some degree.

At the very least, Cara surmised that Knights were less valuable than Magicians. Though that was probably due to how absolute trash their Cultivation Techniques were.

The heart of the Sage wept.

Cara felt an innate desire to enlighten this poor world of the wasted potential; she wanted to teach them just how insane Magic Power was when used with a proper 'Knight Technique'.

-

Cara stopped her moping and instead started preparing. Due to her contract with the Earth Spirit, her mana was overflowing. She could start breaking through to the Third Level, Zong, at any time.. But she was worried. Without pills or potions to better her chances and to heal her in the aftermath, she would be left completely vulnerable for about a full day. The breakthrough to Zong wasn't easy for an outer cultivator.

When an Internal Dantian Cultivator breaks through to the Zong realm, they would form a Golden Core in the center of their being, replacing the loose Qi in their dantian with a solid sphere. This process was known as 'Laying the Egg'. Advancement to and through the Golden Core realm would be straightforward for an internal cultivator..

Cara wanted to cry. To breakthrough to the Zong realm as an Outer Cultivator, due to her lacking a dantian to build a Golden Core in, she would need to turn her entire *body* into a Golden Core.

Rather than compress loose mana only in the center of her body, she would infuse solid mana throughout her bones and form a system with them, essentially transforming all of her flesh into a dantian.

It was a dangerous process, but extremely rewarding. The reaction time of a Zong realm Outer Cultivator was their strongest attribute. Where an Internal Cultivator would have to cycle energy to their attacks from their Dantian, an Outer Cultivator would be able to send out energy to their attacks from any point on their body.

Of course there was a downside, too. Outer Cultivators tended to lack in total quantity of energy available due to it being spread thin. Faster but ultimately weaker Qi attacks. Faster but ultimately weaker Qi defenses..

They made up for it with stronger, faster, and tougher bodies, but their firepower was definitely lower.

-

Cara didn't want to undertake her breakthrough without proper healing pills. While her Spirit Contract abilities could supply her mana, it probably couldn't help her bear the raw physical torture she'd need to undertake.

She decided to suppress her cultivation for now and hold off on her breakthrough. She didn't know if there were other monsters as strong or stronger than the Crocodile-Ape within the Soldier Garden.

She also worried that, after her display, stronger humans would come into the forest from the Tin City.

One lesson Cara learned well in her three lifetimes was that humans could be far more terrifying than any beast.

-

Weeks passed. Cara's alchemical studies showed fruit at an unprecedented pace. She started churning out recipes for pills using ingredients from this Magic World. One after another she recreated effective tools for Houtian and Xantian cultivators. She still needed to improve further to reach her goal, but she took pride in her craft.

Every hour she inched closer and closer towards her goal. She memorized the effects and interactions of every ingredient, she relearned her concoction techniques and altered them to work with mana as an impetus, and she changed recipes based upon inherent properties and chemical bonds.

Her years on Earth shined during this process. She used the scientific method to streamline her research, and she created documentation whenever possible of all the results she learned.

Due to the lack of writing materials, Cara took to carving her formulas and runes on the wooden walls of her home, the interior of the giant tree, whenever she ran out of papyrus or slate. She tore apart several of the knight technique books to make more, but she managed to stay her hand for the rest. To destroy books to make books didn't sit well with her.

Soon, all the walls were covered with carved writings, and no open space remained.

-

One month. It took Cara a full month to recreate pills that could satisfy her. She had several fatigue restorative pills, three healing pills that targeted internal injuries and could protect the organs, and at least two grand healing pills that, for the time being, could rebuild her skeleton and muscles without altering their physiology.

The final piece was a lone red pill. Its surface glistened in the morning sunlight. Cara grinned from ear to ear. It was a 'Mana Gathering Pill'. She didn't know if her stored mana and the mana battery Earth Spirit would be enough for her to breakthrough, so she packed some insurance.

-

The morning air held a wintry chill. Spring scents filled the air and the stars still shined, showing auspicious signs. A lone red line streaked across the Heavens, its aura one of intense probability and longing. Cara looked over her alarm systems one last time and sighed. Her crude array skills were, hopefully, enough to keep any curious creatures back. She couldn't do much better. She needed the sunlight to assist in her breakthrough, so she couldn't just tunnel down into the ground to do it, unfortunately.

Cara sat on the dirt and crossed her legs. Her soul shook a bit under the day's first light. She hummed the mantra to her Jade-Dragon Body Technique and her skin started to glow a dull green. Earth energies swirled around her, forming a whirlpool. The nearby leylines redirected their flows, and the forest itself offered Cara its full protection.

Cara felt a tremendous pain blossom from deep within her. Her bones rattled and her joints popped. Mana flowed faster and faster inside her body and her muscles clenched hard enough to shatter iron.

She screamed, letting her shrill voice carry over the glade and down the dale, where the river waters rippled. Bubbles and droplets popped up. The earth shivered and quaked. A mighty beacon of energy lifted up to the sky and shattered the clouds above.

Cara's aura grew. Her mana filled her and overflowed. Her bones groaned and creaked under the pressure as they were reforged. Her Jade Body burned like plasma and her skin turned dark green. Higher and higher still her energies ascended, until they reached a locked door, a harsh chain.

Cara grit her teeth and bellowed aloud. Her mana formed a spiral and drilled up, piercing the locks on her cultivation and smashing her directly into the Zong realm. She let out one more shrill cry, part joy and part pain, before her body collapsed in a heap, unconscious.

On her soul, another of the rainbow-shield's stripes started to fade, its energy held on by just a thread, its dull azure color refusing to go out like a stubborn candle. It pulsed and flickered, but its light marched on.

-

On a distant world a lone swordsman cut down the 50th and final beast required for his quest. His blade dripped with blue blood and he looked up to the sky, his eyes seeing further than any other immortal's could. He grinned and spoke,

"It's not yet time for my mark to fade, Teacher."