Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 133 part 2! Hope you'll enjoy it!
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Bright Star City, Bright Star Island, Flowing Stars Archipelago, Earth
Omniscient P.O.V.
If one wanted to break through to the Second-Grade Intent, the difficulty rose so much that most of those who had comprehended their Intent until the Peak of First Grade would never be able to cross that threshold to progress further.
It was not for nothing that comprehending one's Intent to the Second-Grade was one of the criteria for a Void Seed breakthrough.
Of course, the difficulty of the task was worth it as the difference in power was massive, resulting in a crushing advantage for those who had comprehended a Second-Grade Intent when they fought against those who were still stuck at the Peak of First-Grade.
However, Demian's gains were much greater than 'just' his Intent progressing further.
Indeed, even his 'raw' cultivation also benefited from his Elemental Affinities increasing.
Though his cultivation level was still stuck at the Peak Chi Gathering level until he went through his Tribulation, his foundation could actually still grow.
How?
Well, if it were before, it would have been extremely time-consuming, even with the gains mentioned previously.
However, his body also received an improvement.
The three Acupoint networks that were previously blocked had been unlocked, freeing his Energy System completely.
How did it matter?
Well, an established truth was that the Soul, Energy, and Body were three aspects of a whole, though many liked to divide them into three different systems as if they had nothing to do with each other.
But they did have everything to do with each other, which was why every breakthrough in any of those three cultivation systems demanded a certain level of achievement in the other two.
How could you house a world-destroying level of Energy if your vessel—AKA body—was too weak?
Could you stir a divine body without having the corresponding Soul strength?
Hoping for a Mortal body to bear an Immortal Soul?
Wishful thinking!
Thus, a certain balance was needed between those three Aspects if one aspired to reach great heights.
That was one of the main reasons why many were stuck at bottlenecks for their whole life, and the higher the Rank, the more stringent the demand on that balance.
In Demian's case, the effect would not be too pronounced at his current level, but with his cultivation growing at lightning speed, it would swiftly become a problem.
His cultivation speed would not only slow down to a crawl, but it might even stop entirely.
Of course, with his Perk's constant refinement, by the time it became a problem, his Acupoint networks would have surely been completely unlocked.
But even if that was the case, it was still resolving future troubles ahead of time.
In the current situation, however, Demian did not care much about resolving future potential bottlenecks.
No, what he actually cared about was the fact that instead of only being able to use six Acupoint networks, he could now use all nine.
Uninformed cultivators would probably think that he merely gained a 50% increase in strength, which was impressive, but not earth-shaking.
However, they could not be more wrong.
Although everyone was different, and even between Acupoint networks, the increase differed slightly, Demian still anticipated that, after refining his Mana for a time, his combat power should barely reach the Entry-level Core Formation Rank from his previous slightly above Peak Foundation Building Rank strength.
If one put it crudely, it was the difference between being strong enough to destroy several blocks in a Mortal City with one Spell, to now being able to raze a small Mortal Town from the map with the same Spell.
A truly colossal power up!
Of course, it was a comprehensive improvement, going beyond the destructive side of his strength.
However, the 'power upgrade' was merely a side-benefit.
The true benefit was having his Path of Cultivation suddenly smoothened out.
With his body now completely free of innate obstruction, the road in front of the young man had suddenly become much easier, going from a bumpy jungle path to a straight highway.
Did that mean he would face no more bottlenecks?
Of course not! It simply meant that any bottleneck he faced in the future would be much easier to break through than for most cultivators, his cultivation speed much swifter, and the difficulty of comprehending Elemental Law much lower.
Add his Perks in the mix, along with his progressively stronger resolve, and trying to predict the heights he would reach in the future became impossible, though Demian was convinced that transcending to become an Immortale would be the least of his achievements in cultivation.
Aside from smoothing out his Cultivation Path, the young man also noticed other advantages with those unlocked Acupoint networks.
Each Acupoint actually granted a skill, something he had already noticed in the past.
His Heaven Acupoint, located between his eyebrows, for example, allowed him to see the Spiritual Energy around without needing to use his Soul Sense.
That particular skill may sound pretty generic, but in reality, it was extremely practical for obvious reasons.
Besides those skills, with each set of three Acupoint networks unlocked, one's affinity for the designated cultivation Aspect would increase.
The Crown, Heaven, and Source Acupoint networks greatly increased his Soul Cultivation affinity, while the Mortal, Merging, and Transformation Acupoint networks did the same for his Physique Cultivation, and finally, the Earth, Creation, and Confluence Acupoint networks boosted his Mana Cultivation.
Even without the full set, those unlocked networks still had positive effects on one's Cultivation Affinity, though only when a full set was completed, creating a Minor cycle, were those benefits maximized.
One set benefits one Aspect.
Two sets not only benefited their particular Aspect but also boosted each other further, gaining a multiplicative effect instead of an additive one.
Nonetheless, it was only when all three sets were finally unlocked that the multiplicative effect transformed into an exponential one, creating a Perfect Cycle linking every Core with each other, starting the process of Mana, Blood Energy, and Soul Energy unification.
Knowing that, it was logical that the difference between a Mid Heaven Grade talent with eight Acupoint networks unlocked and one with nine was so large, let alone if one compared the latter to those of Earth, or even Mortal Grade talent.
Honestly, those with Peak Heaven Grade talent could almost be seen as a different kind of cultivator compared to anyone else, and Brynhild was the best representation for that, being able to defeat an average cultivator a full Rank above her easily, a feat that Demian would have previously had trouble matching.
At most, he could have fought evenly against someone at that level, even leveraging his own Perk to drain the other's stamina and thus winning the fight.
However, that was his limit, and if the opponent decided to flee, then it would be hard, if not impossible, to keep him or her there.
To be honest, even that level of combat strength should have been impossible for someone with his 'Attributes', though it was not hard to guess that his Physiology Perk was the culprit behind such a paradox.
Those mysterious Perks, though their main effects seemed pretty straightforward, and the result of his own discussion with that Entity, they also did have some unexpected side effects that he was progressively discovering as his cultivation grew stronger.
Fortunately, these so-called side effects were, in the best case, purely positive, and in the worst case, merely inconvenient.
An example of the latter would be his increased lust, which may be irritating, but not truly harmful.
Digression aside, with a Perfect Cycle Foundation, matching his comprehended Intent, his foundation was now the best he could achieve for his cultivation base.
The only way to deepen it further would be to comprehend his First-Grade Intent to the Major Achievement Level or beyond.
However, there was truly no need for him to do so before breaking through to the Foundation Building Rank.
After all, his foundation had already reached a level that could be considered perfect, and although the effect would be far from what a Heart Rank breakthrough would provide, reaching the Foundation Building Rank would once again increase his Affinity with the Elemental Laws, which would in turn lower the difficulty for comprehending Elemental Intent.
As for the gains he would receive if he comprehended a full First-Grade Intent at the Chi Gathering Rank? Well, from his perspective, the reward was not worth the cost in time.
After all, he was plainly aware that his greatest resource was now time.
If his breakthrough had been more discreet, his choice may have been different, but from Sergei and Ling's own explanation to the Mikhailov women, something he heard intermitently when his consciousness briefly awoke from its dormant state, enemies would quickly come knocking on his door, and if he stayed as weak as he was, he would most likely end up dead, a fate he was keen to avoid.
In any case, any 'flaws' in his foundation could be resolved through the use of his Perk, so lingering at the Chi Gathering Rank was just a waste of time.
Instead, he would focus on practicing Physical Art for a few days and go through his Tribulation.
Even if his preparation may be a bit insufficient, the Undying Attribute from his Physiology Perk would make sure he would survive the ordeal alive.
While the young man was checking his gains and waiting for his consciousness to finish condensing into a Dao Seed, the outside world suffered from another 'surprise'.
Indeed, the Energy Vortex, which kept growing larger and larger, finally reached a full 81 kilometers in diameter before finally ceasing its unchecked expansion.
It was not all, though, as a mysterious phenomenon was slowly coalescing above the Fairy Dust shop.
Although the shape it depicted was still somewhat vague, observers could still distinguish a flower shape.
Which flower?
That was still unknown for now.
Even without knowing that information, anyone with some knowledge of cultivation would know that such phenomena only appeared for exceptional geniuses, the sort of cultivators with enough potential to reach the Transcending Tribulation Rank, though going beyond to become an Immortal was impossible to tell.
After all, even among those Peak Mortal geniuses, few would ever be able to reach the peak of Tier 6, let alone transcend the Immortal Tribulation, shedding Mortality for Immortality before ascending to the Immortal Realm.
Still, that sort of potential warranted extreme caution from his enemies, and if it was not clear enough previously, it was now completely certain that a massive target was already painted on the young man's back, with no way for the Federatio's high-level cultivators to truly remove it.
Instead, the only thing that those people posted around the shop could do was protect Demian from any assassination attempt from those mad or desperate enough to intervene in Bright Star City.
Unwittingly, a simple date, which was merely planned to rest after the previous emotionally-charged day, was quickly devolving into an unexpected trigger for much bigger events, stirring the previously stagnant pool that was Bright Star City.
Was it Luck, Fate, or Destiny?
No one knew or even bothered to know.
Instead, most high-level cultivators on the Federation's side were busy using their Soul Sense to scan the surroundings, with Sergei and Ling noticing the progressively larger crowd gathering around the Fairy Dust shop, with no one below Core Formation being able to stay less than a few kilometers around.
Even those at that Rank were warned not to approach closer by those protectors from the Federation, though a mere few kilometers for cultivators of that Rank could be traversed in an instant, it was still much better than right by the shop's vicinity.
At some point, the Sergei couple even sensed a few Low Seed cultivators, though their senses were too weak to perceive anyone stronger, whether they were among the Protectors, the audience, or potential enemies.
Fortunately, they had contacted the Extinguishing Hall's higher-ups, or the situation would have been unmanageable with just the two of them acting as protectors.
Even with the help of the Silvenir woman, it might not have been enough to contain so many people.
What about the Protective Formation, you said?
Well, that Formation was a powerful Tier 4 Array, true.
However, its effectiveness also depended on the number and the strength of those cultivators it was supposed to defend against.
One had to know that the threat from one Peak Void Seed Cultivator was worlds beyond having to deal with even tens of Low Void Seed Cultivators.
To use that Formation to deal with someone at the Peak Void Seed Rank, a Void Seed Cultivator would need to man the Array, preferably someone at Mid to High Void Seed Level.
If they only relied on the Array's automatic response, then by the time it reacted, Demian would have already been turned to dust.
After all, one should not underestimate how quickly high-level cultivators could act, especially when it was to deal with someone with such low cultivation.
Of course, that was just a hypothetical situation, and even in Tier 5 Forces, Peak Void Seed cultivators were not exactly common.
For one to come and try to kill Demian in the middle of Bright Star City would be not only reckless but downright stupid.
How could taking the risk of being killed by the Void Sapling Elder in charge of the Island's protection when Demian's threat would only materialize centuries in the future be considered smart?
'Let's say, for the sake of argument, that their brain suddenly stopped functioning normally and they attempted an assassination anyway. Could they actually pull it off?'
Sergei pondered.
'Well, if the Elder hadn't been informed of their presence, they may have had a slight chance of succeeding, but they would need to act extremely quickly to avoid reinforcement intervening, and possess Tier 5 Void Teleportation Talismans to escape safely from the City. With the fact that we're in the Outer City, where the Formation is slightly weaker than the Inner and Core City, the chance of successfully assassinating Demian and escaping would be... Well, not null, but still not much higher. But now, with a commotion that large, no Tier 4 or 5 cultivator, those insane Demon Beasts included, could truly believe that those Federation's higher-ups aren't aware, especially Bright Star City's Void Sapling Elder, who can directly scan the whole city through his Formation-amplified Soul Sense. Knowing that, no one would attempt that sort of suicidal mission.'
After contemplating, he could not find any reason for further danger, which should have made his tension vanish.
However, there was something that was still bothering him.
'Why am I feeling that sense of foreboding..?'