Ten days later.
"Your Majesty, shall we head straight to the Desert... or?"
"The Desert? Are you an idiot? You don't even know how strong they are there, and you want to charge right in?"
"Your Majesty... my strength is-"
"Shut up! You think you're so strong?!"
"I'm telling you, if anything happens to this avatar of mine, you'll be the first one I butcher!"
"No, I'll kill all 3,542 orcs in your family!"
Within the Bukelin Duchy, the Orc Emperor and his entourage traveled along a woodland trail in disguise.
The Orc Emperor was furious at his personal guard's careless attitude.
That was what he hated most about orcs: all brute strength and no brains!
Unlike him... and Little Twenty-Eighth, who had both brains and a measure of strength.
Of course, Little Twenty-Eighth still had a long way to go in terms of strength.
Scolded by the Orc Emperor, his personal guard lowered his head, not daring to look at the emperor's furious face.
His strength had surpassed spirit infusion and reached body tempering.
Body tempering, like spirit forging, was neither superior nor inferior to its counterpart; both were realms of Beyond Spirit Infusion.
The difference was that [body tempering] was generally chosen by professionals who relied on their bodies, such as warriors, while [spirit forging] was usually chosen by mages, warlocks, and similar professions.
These were the two branches after spirit infusion, a choice that determined one's future path.
Of course, some greedy individuals cultivated both [body tempering] and [spirit forging]. Unfortunately, doing so accomplished nothing beyond slowing their cultivation.
Moreover, like spirit infusion, cultivating [body tempering/spirit forging] brought all manner of unforeseen dangers.
Those who chose to walk both paths at once would die in an "accident," even if their cultivation speed did not drag them down