Aurel spent the night meditating and recovering from the injuries he sustained from the Landheart Vines. The system had likely healed most of his deadly injuries while he was unconscious. Most of all, his mind kept replaying his close call with death.

  He had been extremely close to losing his life in such a humiliating manner. Honestly, it still felt surreal. But what kept him fuming at his recklessness was his arrogance. There was a saying that the downfall of a man began with his arrogance.

  Who would have thought he would be this close to making that piece of wisdom a reality? Aurel needed to change his mindset. He needed to see things differently, or risk losing it all. But that was easier said than done.

  One could not simply stop being themselves. It took time, experience, and a constant reminder of what lay ahead should he fail to rein in his excessive arrogance. Whether he liked it or not, he was no longer the Supreme Being he once was.

  Reaching this point, Aurel realised he needed to make some changes before leaving this dreadful place. He opened his eyes at some point in the night and looked at his clothes. What had been a regalia fit for a sovereign had been reduced to mere rags.

  But more than that, he needed to change what his outfit represented. Aurel was far from home; that much was obvious. What he needed now was an outfit for his current circumstances. Standing up, he moved to clear the debris around him, creating ample space for what he intended to do.

  Once satisfied, Aurel began retrieving items from his dimensional storage space. His thought process was simple. Since the storage space was glitching, he might as well bring out as many items as possible, increasing his chances of bringing out what he truly needed.

  Aurel spent a couple of minutes bringing out many items, most of them being his crafting and creation equipment, essence stones, weapons, invention plans, pills and precious herbs for alchemical products, documents pertaining to his kingdom, and a few of the magic cases left behind for him when he woke up. Among the stuff he retrieved were the Landheart Vines.

  He promptly dropped the vines the moment he laid eyes on them, jumping back a few meters for safety. He did not recall collecting the vine pieces when he cut them. "Must have been the system."

  The realisation hit him as he looked at the still vines. The vines measured around a meter each, each one as massive as his arm. Fortunately for him, the vines showed no signs of life or twitching, allowing Aurel to relax a bit.

  Unfortunately for him, he failed to retrieve the journal Sebastian left for him. While disappointed, he accepted the outcome. He had already retrieved what he had wanted, and a new day was fast approaching.

  Aurel had no intention of spending any more time at the ruins. The surrounding forest and jungle were abnormal enough as they were. Approaching the magic cases, Aurel channelled his essence and unlocked them.

  The first case contained the regular clothes he ignored earlier. Aurel quickly removed the rags and put on the black getup, slipping into the softshell jacket without zipping it up. Although the weather wasn't particularly cold, it wasn't warm either.

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  He moved on to the other cases, opening them to see the Desert Eagle pistols, sword with blades, and the Pulsebreaker. The other weapons he took out were beyond his current level, rendering them useless.

  Momentarily taking off the jacket, he put on the shoulder holsters and strapped two of the three guns. The cartridges, however, were low on essence and required a recharge — a simple issue he would solve in a moment. Next was a utility belt for the combat knives he would carry.

  He decided to put the swords aside since the guns and blades would be sufficient. In most cases, the sleek sword became useless in tight places. Also, he had spells that could act as long blades when needed. Putting the unneeded stuff back into storage, Aurel sat down cross-legged.

  In his right hand was an essence stone that looked like a small, white tetragonal crystal, three inches long. Essence stones were the backbone of every cultivator's power, as well as the power source of all technological creations.

  Aurel deftly moved his hand as he drew a sophisticated magic circle on the stone floor. With every swipe of his hand, the essence stone slowly diminished in size. Without the convenience of his technological creations, he could only resort to the old style.

  Glowing with a soft, white ambience, Aurel stood up to admire his work. Each stroke of the essence stone corresponded to a function in the magic circuit. The circle was one of his innovative creations, a magic circuit that channels the essence of stones placed at specific nodes.

  He designed them earlier on in his journey to power as a means to charge the creations that required essence to function. Simply called a Charging Circuit, the circle could charge anything as long as the required essence stones were provided.

  The only downside to this circuit was the time it took to recharge artefacts. For his gun cartridges, it would take anywhere between four and six hours. This would not have been a problem had he been back in his kingdom.

  Fortunately for him, the cartridges he designed could be used for half a day to a full day of reasonable use before a recharge was needed. When not in use, the cartridges could hold the collected essence for as long as the charge held.

  This was true for most of his technological creations.

  Placing a few high-grade essence stones at the nodes, Aurel vertically placed the gun cartridges in the centre. And as soon as the connection was established, the cartridges began recharging.

  Aurel sat down and simply observed, waiting. A few hours passed in silence. Aurel closed his eyes at some point, meditating to pass the time. Soon, he reopened his eyes when he felt the surrounding aura change.

  A new day was upon him. Glancing at the rising sun, Aurel recalled the notes he made to himself, especially his arrogance. He took a deep breath and exhaled, turning his attention to the Charging Circuit.

  The essence stones placed at the nodes had been absorbed by more than half, and their ambience had been significantly reduced. But the recharge had been completed, the cartridges brimming with essence.

  His preparations were complete.

  Aurel picked up the cartridges and inserted two into his weapons, putting the rest into his utility belt. He picked up his jacket and got up, wiping the Charging Circuit. Putting on the jacket, he turned his attention to the faint tyre tracks.

  Facing the jungle before him, Aurel silently circulated his essence and let out an anxious breath. He no longer had any life-saving cards besides his strength. Any distractions could be deadly.

  "Here we go again."

  Muttering those words to himself, Aurel took off with a burst of speed, swiftly disappearing into the frightening jungle.