It proved that Kael's efforts were not in vain. With just a little maneuvering, he sent Yato away and devoured the fox god.
At once, Kael felt his mana boiling inside him, surging at a speed visible to the naked eye. Though the fox god was gravely injured, his divine soul remained intact. For Kael, a god's soul was like a divine pill—far stronger than any thousand-year herb or fruit. This was a god, after all.
Even if the fox god was weak, unable to withstand a single punch from Yato, he was still a god. His rank was high, far stronger than evil spirits or human souls. A hundred evil spirits together couldn't match one god's soul.
So when Kael devoured the fox god's soul, the feedback was unprecedented. His mana easily broke through the barrier between First Grade Lower and First Grade Upper, surging forward. Soon he reached the peak of First Grade Upper. Yet the feedback didn't stop—it kept pushing him onward.
Finally, with the fox god's soul, Kael shattered the bottleneck between First and Second Grade. He not only broke through but climbed another step, becoming a Second Grade Upper cultivator.
He was deeply moved. Just by devouring one fox god's soul, he had risen from First Grade Lower to Second Grade Upper—an entire grade leap. The soul of a god was truly extraordinary.
Now Kael felt his mana had changed beyond recognition. Not only had it increased tenfold, its quality had also strengthened tenfold. If before his mana was fragile like an eggshell, now it was solid like stone.
The gap between First and Second Grade was immense. It showed not only in quantity but in quality. The latter could easily crush the former.
That was why the nine grades were called the Nine Heavens. Each grade was a world apart. One grade, one heaven—truly fitting.
This breakthrough brought Kael immense benefits. Even if the fox god revived, Kael could now crush him without Yato's help. That was the strength of his advancement.
By rank, the fox god's power was about equal to a Second Grade cultivator. Kael could overpower him only because his Soul-Devouring Art produced mana of supreme quality.
When Kael finished absorbing the gains and opened his eyes, Natori Shuuichi was gone from the shrine hall.
Suddenly, Kael thought of something and quickly checked his phone. Damn—it showed Friday. If he remembered correctly, he had gone to the library with Marin and Saki on Saturday, where he met Mai. To help her regain her presence, he had contacted Yato and gone to the shrine.
But now his phone showed Friday. Time couldn't flow backward. This meant that while devouring the fox god's soul and advancing from First Grade Lower to Second Grade Upper, he had spent nearly a week.
In other words, he had skipped class—for a whole week.
Sure enough, his phone was full of messages from teacher Kirisu Mafuyu. At first calm, then angry, then worried, asking if Kael was in trouble. It was touching. She truly was a good teacher.
Kael replied, saying a distant relative had some issues he had to resolve, and he would return to class next week.
Honestly, with his current strength, school didn't matter. Even without college, he could live comfortably. With power, one could do whatever they wanted.
But he didn't drop out. Partly because the school had many beautiful girls, and he had dark thoughts about them. Partly to keep his mindset youthful, resisting the negative effects of demonic arts.
Besides Mafuyu, he found messages from Marin and Saki. They were also worried. After Kael sent them a message last Saturday, he vanished. Of course they were anxious.
Message after message piled up. If he hadn't sent that one text before leaving, they might have called the police.
Kael checked their messages one by one, then called Saki first.
"Renjou-kun, where are you? What happened? Why did you disappear? Are you in trouble?" her words poured out like bullets.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," he waited until she finished, then reassured her.
"I ran into a small problem last Saturday, but it's solved now."
"Really?" Saki was doubtful—Kael had a history.
He knew that, so he comforted her with many words until she calmed down.
Then he called Marin. Like Saki, she bombarded him with questions about his disappearance. He repeated the same reassurances.
But Marin wasn't so easily convinced. She found his words suspicious.
"Where are you now? Let's meet." She wanted to confront him directly.
Seeing her determination, Kael agreed. "Tomorrow, Saturday, let's meet."
"Alright." Marin finally accepted.