Michael didn't think it was a problem to consider himself the gardener of the Untamed Jungle. At some point, the entire Untamed Jungle would be part of his territory. Taking care of it until then--and even after that--was part of his job as a good Lord.
He continued guiding Jason through Arx, but not long before he found Lilica and the other Forest Elven Adventurers. He told them to show Jason around and added a slight warning with Whispering Energy.
["Tell Jason that I will take his Soultrait and give it to one of you guys if he acts up."]
Michael winked at the Forest Elves, which was enough for Jason to shudder. He had a bad feeling and decided to stay low profile until he got a better view of the territory's overall situation.
The Forest Elves left Michael alone, giving him enough time to complete the other tasks that had to be completed before the Interdimensional Flag War started.
These 'tasks' included taking care of his Soul Sphere. After all, some things inside it had changed again.
At this point, Danny's Living Soul could barely fit into the Soul Grimoire. It was time to strengthen the Soul Grimoire and upgrade it to 7-Star. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Soul Grimoire.
But that didn't stop him from upgrading Superior Constitution to 7-Star, and that was precisely what he did over the last ten days.
Michael used tens of thousands of SoulStar Fragments daily to slowly upgrade Superior Constituion. He remembered from upgrading Extraction that a significant difference existed between a 6-Star Soultrait and a 7-Star Soultrait. It would be not very smart to rush the upgrade, especially since he wasn't a Higher Lifeform yet. Maybe his body would break apart because it couldn't endure the toll of multiple 7-Star Soultraits alongside a bunch of 6-Star Soultraits.
He had too many Soultraits, and it was near-impossible to determine whether his vessel could overcome the increasing toll or if his body would be torn apart.
Michael was still at the mid-tier of the 3rd Tier, but he was close to advancing to the Late rank. His progress was as slow as a snail, even though he had more resources to use than 99% of Lords. However, that made sense. His Soultraits were powerful and increased the energy required to refine the War Rune.
Michael also chose to upgrade Superior Constitution because of his slowed progress. After all, Superior Constitution could regulate the speed at which his War Rune could be refined.
After investing a vast fortune in SoulStar Fragments for ten days, Michael spent 350,000 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Superior Consitution. That was the entire fortune he'd acquired after draining all SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits from half a year's worth of criminals.
At first, Michael didn't sense any major differences, but he quickly realized that his nutrients and energy reserves were drained. To upgrade his physique, he had to retrieve thousands of Common Energy Stones and prepare a large medical bath filled with Nutrition Solutions, which were usually only used by Higher Lifeforms due to their high potency.
Now that Superior Constitution was about to reach 7-Star, Michael could use the High Nutrition Solutions as well. He absorbed the nutrients and purified origin energy from the surroundings at a rapid pace, accelerating his physique's evolution. Superior Constitution's Soultrait Symbol glowed brightly. It transformed, inserting a massive flood of information straight into Michael's mind.
'Sacred Constitution.'
Superior Constitution evolved into the Sacred Constitution as the seventh star formed on the Soultrait Symbol.
As the evolution was initiated, Michael felt like his body, mind, and soul were starving. His entire being lusted for origin energy and nutrients.
Following that uncontrollable desire, Michael ended up retrieving most of the Energy Stones and Nutrition Solutions stored inside his War Rune. More than ten thousand Common Energy Stones – each worth a hundred Inferior Energy Stones – emerged around Michael alongside enough High Nutrition Solutions to fill a large swimming pool.
Everything together was worth more than two months of the profits made by his business deals and his territory. It was a lot, but Michael felt that it was worth it.
His body devoured the energy that filled the perimeter. He consumed everything rapidly, stimulating the changes that happened to his body.
Time passed much faster than He had expected. At one point, his skin burst open and peeled like a snake. Badly reeking impurities—far more than Michael had ever seen when he extracted his impurities when he advanced to the next Tier— flushed out of his body. Every cell in his body was purified and refined. His physique improved drastically, his energy veins were cleansed and expanded, and his organs were reinforced.
His bones grew sturdier, and his skin became more flexible while also growing tougher.
But the most apparent changes were not visible. His senses enhanced by leaps and bounds and both his mental power and Soul expanded.
In no time, 30 days passed, and He was supposed to travel to meet the Chieftain and the War Priestess before entering the portal leading to the isolated dimension of the Interdimensional Flag War.
Michael's body creaked and groaned as if protesting against his movements as he got up from the ground. He smiled through the pain and punched lightly in the air. The wind around him howled loudly as his fist cut through it, releasing air pressure strong enough to carve deep marks into the bark of a towering tree.
Not only did he manage to improve his 6-Star Superior Consitution to 7-Star Sacred Constitution, but the great flood of energy he'd absorbed over the last 30 days had been enough to reach the Late rank of the 3rd Tier.
He was not that far from ascending to a Higher Lifeform at this point!
Michael sensed the energy in his surroundings and greedily absorbed it. Now that his Soultrait evolved, he could absorb a lot more energy at a time.
Even though Michael had many Soul features now, he was certain to reach Tier-4 in a year or two—if he didn't hunt monsters or greedy Lords for their energy influxes. All he needed was enough resources, which were bound to be expensive. Fortunately, Michael was wealthy enough to pay for the cost of ascending to a Higher Lifeform, which was one of his next goals.
Now that he had two 7-Star Soultraits, seven 6-Star Soultraits, and two 5-Star Soultraits, Michael's was on the verge of breaking apart. His body, the physical vessel of his being, was at its limit. Only his Soul and Mind had some space thanks to upgrading Superior Constituion and the Curse that had been constantly refining Michael's Soul…since the day he was born.
Upgrading Soul Grimoire to 7-Star should be possible without dying a gruesome death, but after that…Michael would have to ascend to a Higher Lifeform to improve his Soul features or fuse with more Soultraits.
Neither upgrading Soul Grimoire nor ascending to a Higher Lifeform should be a problem at this point.
Obtaining the Sacred Constitution accelerated his plans. He wouldn't have an issue ascending.
As for the Interdimensional Flag War against the Tekur, He wasn't scared. If anything, Michael was excited about the massive mountains of Soultrait Symbols and SoulStar Fragments that awaited him in the isolated dimension!
He was ready to end the Flag War once and for all!
