Chapter 9: Breakthrough and Wanderer
After Sayru sat down in a meditative posture and organized his thoughts:
"To achieve my first goal, I must use the 'Void Breathing' technique — a breathing technique that allows me to absorb mana constantly, everywhere. By using it on my Divine Body, I will be able to absorb mana not only from the void but from everything around me that possesses mana: trees, plants, animals, weapons, and much more…"
This world, whose age remains unknown, has become a fantasy realm where everything contains mana, even inanimate objects.
Naturally, humans or mundane Martial Artists who cannot refine or train possess mana too, but it is extremely weak — barely enough to sustain life in this strange and fantastic world.
The difference between mundane Martial Artists and true Martial Artists is talent. The earliest sorcerers called this talent "spiritual roots" or "spiritual veins."
Those born with these spiritual roots can become Martial Artists. There are several methods to activate these veins, but they are only known in the immortal worlds.
However, in mortal worlds like ⟦Nifish⟧ — where Sayru currently resides — there is a traditional way to activate these veins: fusion with a Spiritual Core.
These Spiritual Cores are often abundant yet rare at the same time… Confused?
Let me give you an example:
Common Spiritual Cores that sorcerers fuse with are abundant, but only in certain areas.
Where are these areas?
They naturally appear and are called "Spiritual Veins."
What are Spiritual Veins?
If you want an analogy, they are like iron mines. They are places where Spiritual Cores appear in their raw form, found inside rocks or similar substances.
So why do monsters have Spiritual Cores?
The reason is that they are born with these cores. The cores of demonic beasts are called "Demonic Spiritual Cores", and those of magical beasts are called "Magical Spiritual Cores."
These cores are incompatible for fusion with Martial Artists.
What is the difference between a normal Spiritual Core and the one Sayru fused with?
The difference is age. The older the Spiritual Core, the better. The core fused with Sayru is at least 1,000 years old.
Meanwhile, Sayru finished mastering the breathing technique, and as a result, all mana in the city of Cloud gradually started being attracted toward Sayru's room.
"Phew… finally, the first step is done. I won't worry about the amount of mana I can use in the future, but right now, I'm weak."
After turning back time, Sayru used Sword Aura directly to kill magical beasts, but it was very limited when he was a Sacred Emperor who had reached the pinnacle of the Sword Path.
But in this life, Sayru hadn't even begun to use the sword yet.
The Sword Path is difficult, but Sayru, who already knows these hardships, will find it easy to return to the pinnacle.
"To start the Sword Path, I will need pure mana to build my foundations in my spiritual domain, but there is a problem — the quantity."
Sayru suffers from the problem of the mana required for breakthrough.
Usually, when a normal person gathers enough mana for their spiritual domain, they can break through to the next phase. For example, a Martial Artist with one star phase 1 breaks through to phase 2 of the same star.
But Sayru needs the amount of mana for a normal Martial Artist to break through an entire star (all 9 phases) in order to break through a single phase.
This means the pure mana he needs is the same amount needed to break through one full star for a normal Martial Artist.
The only solution is to craft pills with pure attributes, but most of them are celestial grade.
"Well, at least my Sword Ground is good due to my experience."
An ordinary swordsman will need experience from thousands of battles to create a Sword Ground in their spiritual domain.
…
After several hours…
"Sayru, answer me!"
A telepathic voice came from Meemin to Sayru.
"What? I thought you were in deep meditation to break through to the Divine Spirit. What happened?" Sayru replied telepathically.
"You fool, I'm still a Sacred Spirit of Crimson grade. I still have to break through another grade! I'm not suicidal like you to jump straight to the Divine level."
"Sorry. So should we go somewhere else then?"
"Yes, find a good empty place for the breakthrough. Maybe a celestial phenomenon will appear this time."
Sayru was amazed and said, "A celestial phenomenon! Seems I was right when I contracted with you before the breakthrough!"
Sayru hurried out of the inn and to avoid being seen, passed through empty, dark alleys.
When he approached the city gate, he suddenly stopped.
"Why did you stop? There isn't much time left."
"I felt it…"
Sayru showed a suspicious expression then turned back to the alleys.
"What did you feel?"
Sayru walked slowly then stopped before a tattered blanket near the trash.
"It's here… a special body!"
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Notes:
Spirits have grades as well, but it's not appropriate to discuss them now.
Just to avoid confusion:
The Crimson Spirit grade is the second-to-last grade, while the Golden Crimson Spirit is the last.
This only applies to Sacred Spirits.