Ruminas continued her daily training, she had already grasped the basics and had a foundation so now she just needed to practice until she was proficient.
From using it to lift light to heavy objects and then lifting multiple objects at once to using chi to launch attacks, constantly changing posture and force to produce the most desired results.
"I have a feeling I'm almost there…"
Ruminas had this feeling once when fighting Answosa, when she died for the 99th time she knew that her "qi" in her "violent" state was complete and now this feeling was about to come again.
Another week has passed.
Ruminas entered her familiar training area, feeling the "qi" within her become more and more flexible. She tested out what she had learned so far.
First, use the "qi" to lift five different objects at once. Change the shape of the "qi" to cover each object in a unique way. And finally, combine the "qi" with body movements to optimize power and speed.
Exercises that used to take her hours to do well now take her only minutes to complete.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let the "qi" envelop her body. There was no longer any tension. The "qi" not only enveloped her, but also became one with her body, automatically adjusting to her every movement, every breath.
A familiar feeling rose within Ruminas , the feeling of completion approaching.
One week later.
She stood still, her body relaxed. There was no need to control the "qi" anymore, it operated on its own. When she lifted her hand, the "qi" automatically followed the movement, creating a soft protective layer. When she walked, the "qi" spread gently around her like an invisible wave.
No command required, no concentration of will required—it all happens as naturally as breathing.
Ruminas raised her hand, gently swinging it in mid-air. A transparent stream of "air" spread out with her movement, creating a light shockwave that swept across the ground, not destroying anything but causing the surrounding space to fluctuate slightly.
"This is it…"
She chuckled.
Now, she could not only control "qi", but also truly understand it. If "violence" was suppression, explosion, then "gentleness" was regulation, harmony.
In addition, she can also use "qi" to replace her senses, "qi" gives her images, sounds, smells and even the feeling of touch, she can even clearly see extremely small movements that normal eyes cannot see.
"Here it is! This is it!"
The feeling of mastery reappeared.
Ruminas had completely grasped the "gentle" state in her hands.
"Yatta!"
"Finally! Two months of my life…" Ruminas was so happy she almost cried.
[The Heroic Queen gives you credit for being able to complete this in just two months, you are now in a balanced state and it will help you a lot]
"What is equilibrium?" Ruminas asked back.
[Balance is the balance between 'gentleness' and 'violence'. Once achieved, it can never be lost. In a state of balance, your 'qi' carries only neutrality, but you can also instantly switch to any state if you want without having to go through any movement]
[When it changes to "gentle", the "qi" will be extremely soft and friendly, unable to cause harm to either side, but if it changes to "violent", a light touch can still injure the other party. The nature of the "qi" will also change based on that]
"Oh, I see. Let's try it."
Ruminas chose a rock and placed her hand on it, then used her chi in a gentle state, as expected nothing happened but just one thought later, her chi immediately changed to a violent state and a small explosion immediately occurred, destroying part of the rock.
"This is really convenient…"
[The Heroic Queen has a reminder for you: Achieving balance is not easy so she advises you to use it for a while before moving on to the next stage]
"Alright, thank you very much for your guidance," Ruminas stretched. "Where should we go next?" She thought to herself.
"The clown's mission still has one more condition but I don't have any clue, this time it was just luck. The same goes for the little one's mission. It looks like there's only the main mission left, which means it's time to head to the first gathering point."
"Well, let's go. A seven-month delay is unexpected…"
Ruminas stood up and started to warm up. She left the makeshift cellar she had been in since the dungeon. After leaving, she had to return here to train for two months straight.
"I wonder what the situation is like outside now…" Ruminas suddenly felt anxious. "No matter what, don't forget that it's the end of the world."
Ruminas tried spreading her aura around to check but found no monsters around before she started moving. Currently, Ruminas always maintained the aura surrounding herself and expanding five meters in all directions.
Doing so would help her detect nearby enemies in time, but there was no guarantee that the monsters would evolve new species or new abilities.
After moving for a while, she suddenly heard a sound coming from a direction not far away. Out of curiosity, she went there to check it out.
As a result, when Ruminas arrived, she saw an extremely large herd of monsters, their number must have been more than 50, and there were also many strange species that she saw for the first time.
"Everything is possible."
Ruminas sighed and quickly used appraisal on these new monsters.
"Appraisal!"
[Intermediate Chaos Monster]
[Description: The next stage of the lower Chaos Monster, after it has devoured enough creatures to evolve. Its body has adapted to the environment, become more intelligent, and most importantly, it no longer hunts purely on instinct—but can plan and set simple traps to lure its prey into its trap]
[Characteristic]
+Body structure changes: The body becomes larger, the surface becomes smoother and can change its texture at will, helping it adapt to the environment.
+No longer dependent on sound: While it can still use sound waves to sense its surroundings, it has developed a kind of "chaos sense"—allowing it to sense life within a certain range without needing to see or hear.
+Spined tentacles: Not only are they longer, they can also shoot out from the body at high speed, piercing the target before retracting immediately.
+ Flexible mouth: No longer fixed, it can now open its mouth in any direction on its body to bite and tear at its prey.
+ Superior recovery: Minor wounds can regenerate immediately, severe wounds can self-seal within minutes.
[Special Ability]
+Self-division: When seriously injured, it can divide part of its body to escape and continue growing, then reassemble if conditions are suitable.
[Weakness]
+Still afraid of fire, but more resistant than before—it can resist weak heat sources, only extremely strong fire can cause serious damage.
+The heart is still the weak point, but now it is no longer fixed in one place, the position of the heart can change continuously according to will.
"There's a tentacle, it's evolved too… sounds like it's hard to eat. Besides that, there should be a few more, let's check them out," Ruminas said.
[Second stage parasite]
[Description: The next stage of a creature parasitized by a chaos monster. At this stage, the body begins to change more strongly, the ability to control itself almost completely disappears. It not only attacks by instinct but also shows signs of developing a basic intelligence, knowing how to ambush and react more flexibly than before]
[Characteristic]
+Increased body strength: The muscles develop more, helping to significantly increase physical strength. The skin surface gradually changes to a semi-crustacean form, with high elasticity to help absorb impact force.
+Transformed claws: Longer, sharper, can extend up to 50cm to perform surprise attacks.
+Ventral tentacles: They can now automatically react, reaching out to attack or defend when needed without active control.
+Produces poison: The body begins to produce a corrosive poison, not only in the oral fluid but also secreted from the claws and tentacles.
[Weakness]
+Still weak to fire, but needs a larger amount of fire to deal significant damage.
+The heart is still the main weak point, but it has begun to develop a protective layer around it, making it harder to destroy.
[Dog parasite stage two]
[Description: Evolved from the first stage of the Dog Parasite, this creature has changed drastically in both its physical and combat abilities. Not only is it faster, but it also has a sharper intelligence, can coordinate hunting with its own kind and formulate simple tactics]
[Characteristic]
+Superior speed: Significantly increases mobility, can reach maximum speeds of up to 120 km/h in a short time.
+Evolved four tails: Not only longer (up to 8m) but also can split in two at the end, giving it more ability to grasp or squeeze prey.
+Thicker Spiked Armor: Defense continues to increase, now it can withstand stronger attacks without taking significant damage.
+Evolved Poisonous Thorns: The spines on its back are not only poisonous but can also create small shockwaves when embedded in the target, causing paralysis or extreme pain.
+The teeth have a locking mechanism: Once bitten into the target, the jaw will lock tightly, the more you struggle, the deeper the wound will be, and it can only be removed when it wants to let go.
[Weakness]
+The right eye is still the weak point, but it has developed a thin protective membrane, making it more difficult to aim at.
+The left leg is still weaker than the rest, but if not hit in the right joint, it can still move normally.
"Well, it seems like they're all tough opponents… After evolving, they've almost fully developed their strengths and partially overcome their weaknesses. So if we let them continue to evolve, there's a chance that one day they won't have any weaknesses left!"
Ruminas' mood suddenly became a little tense at the thought of that prospect.
"Something has to be done… but with these numbers…"
[Intermediate Chaos Monster x14]
[Second Stage Parasite x16]
[Dog Parasite Stage Two x7]
[Low-level Chaos Monster x17]
[Parasite Stage One x21]
"Can't wait any longer!"