This chapter opens with a flashback to the beginning of the book, when the monster is still a young man. He is in his early twenties, and he has only a few points of health. He worries that his health will be depleted by the time he reaches his mid-thirties, and that this will lead to bugs, which will make his health unalterable. He wonders if he will ever be able to reach his full potential, and wonders if even a small stumble will kill him. He resolves to change his cultivation to 20,000, which he thinks will give him enough energy to last him a lifetime.