1 day passed in a blink of an eye. Ankit had also finished gathering water-type essence flow. Ankit's sacral core was now full of essence flow.
But this substage wasn't finished yet. Ankit now had to condense all the essence flow in his core like he did in Stage 1, Energy Root Activation.
This process wouldn't take many days, so Ankit started immediately.
But before starting, he went to the surface and selected some players to make custom-made controls and sensitivity for these 20 players.
10 players were selected by Ankit purely on luck, but Gyan and Yash had chosen theirs by careful observation of their gameplay.
After making their custom-made controls and sensitivity, he gave them to the players.
Then he made a video and uploaded it to YouTube.
Ankit didn't create other substages just for condensing water-type essence flow. Then he also had to make other substages for meridian washing.
But he didn't think much and combined these steps.
Visualizing/Opening and Gathering, condensing, cleansing. Same as Stage 1 but with water-type essence flow.
He didn't add Substage 2 and Substage 5 of Stage 1. Substage 2 wasn't needed because his body had already gone through surface-level cleaning.
Substage 5 was needed, where Ankit would connect, open, and fill the energy pathways. But Ankit would do this after opening the solar core.
After sorting out his plan, Ankit began to condense the water-type essence flow.
He already had experience in condensing, so he easily condensed his first drop of water-type essence flow.
And again began to gather water-type essence flow. This time, gathering essence flow was faster than before because Ankit had experience.
Previously, Ankit wasn't familiar with water-type essence flow, so gathering it took time, but after getting familiar, he quickly filled his core in just half a day.
After filling his core, Ankit began the same process of condensing.
Then again began gathering essence flow, then condensing...
This process went for 6 days straight, and lastly, Ankit had filled his core full of condensed water-type essence flow.
Ankit then began preparing for cleansing his body with water-type essence flow. But this cleansing was different from Stage 1 cleansing.
In Stage 1, he just removed impurities. Now the water essence would soak into every cell, making his body flexible and strong like water. It would dissolve hidden blockages and awaken water nature in his flesh.
Ankit sat cross-legged amidst a tranquil pool, the newly awakened Sacral Core humming with azure light in his lower abdomen. He drew deep breaths, gathering the cool, fluid water-type Essence Flow from the core's depths—vibrant streams that danced like captured rivers within his meridians.
Unlike the foundational scrubbing of Stage 1, this was no mere impurity purge. Ankit visualized the condensed water Essence soaking through every tissue, dissolving rigid elemental stagnations that had long hidden within his cells. His body became a living ocean, the Essence flowing between muscles and bones, revealing their innate water nature—supple, adaptive, endlessly renewing.
His skin glowed blue as regeneration sped up. Meridians became smooth and wide. When finished, Ankit felt his body change—supple yet powerful.
Two new abilities awakened: his body now had water element power, and a water doppelganger rose from the pool beside him.
But this cleansing would have to be done many times before completing it.
And cleansing would also strengthen the doppelganger.
It would take at least 15 days to complete it.
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15 days quickly passed, and Ankit had finally completed this substage.
This substage had taken Ankit 22 days to complete.
But Ankit wasn't concerned about the timing; he was concerned about the strength and power he would get.
Then Ankit began assessing his power after the completion of Substage 1 of Stage 2.
But before assessing, Ankit thought of a suitable name for Stage 2. He racked his brain and finally decided to call it **Elemental Core Awakening Stage**.
This name perfectly captured the essence of his journey—the awakening and mastery of the two elemental cores: the Sacral Core, embodying water, and the Solar Core, embodying fire. Both cores, he realized, were elemental in nature, representing fundamental forces that shaped his cultivation path.
Ankit reflected on the nature of the water-type Essence Flow. It wasn't just raw water—it was a fusion of natural water elements with cultivated Essence Flow, forming an evolved and higher form of elemental energy.
Before Essence Flow entered the picture, water bodies contained pure elemental water energy, but the contact and synthesis with Essence elevated it into the more potent and versatile water-type Essence Flow.
Ankit began assessing his strength.
Ankit was underground, 100 km away from the surface. Even if he used his full power, he didn't think he could alert anybody on the surface.
So he could use his full strength without any restriction. Ankit would use both his cores' essence flow. The root core had neutral condensed essence flow, and his newly opened sacral core had water-type essence flow.
And in the future, the solar core would need fire-type essence flow.
Ankit began by testing his destructive power. His fist clenched tightly, veins aflame with condensed neutral essence flow and water-type essence flow, then he drove it forward with the velocity of a thunderbolt into the water body (underground lake) beneath.
This single strike created a ~10 m diameter crater at 4 km depth, displacing millions of tons of water upward. Equivalent to a small meteor lake impact.
Then Ankit began assessing his defense. He made his doppelganger/clone and controlled it to attack him with full power.
Ankit's clone had 80% of Ankit's powers, and the clone could use all the techniques Ankit had learned. And because the clone had emerged from his sacral core, it possessed the ability to amplify water-type techniques.
The clone was a semi-autonomous clone infused with fragmented consciousness from his mind and powered by the fused elemental Essence. This doppelganger could mimic his actions and execute simple commands independently, acting as a combat extension.