Sunlight poured directly through the window and onto Ethan’s face. Instinctively, he frowned before slowly opening his eyes with a groan.
"Huh...?"
Sunlight?
In the middle of the night?
How the hell was that even possible?
Then, almost as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over his head, the memories from last night came rushing back all at once.
"Oh..."
His eyes widened.
One moment he had been celebrating because he had finally managed to remain inside his mental sea for longer than ten minutes, and the very next moment everything had gone black. Now, judging from the bright afternoon sun streaming into his room, he had apparently slept straight through the night and well into the afternoon of the following day.
"...Seriously?"
He had actually blacked out for that long?
Wait...
His expression suddenly stiffened.
Last night... hadn’t he stayed inside his Mental Sea for more than the required amount of time?
Did that mean...
Had he completed the first step?
Scrambling to his feet so quickly that he nearly tripped over himself, Ethan hurriedly grabbed the ancient book from where it had fallen onto the floor. His fingers moved almost frantically as he flipped straight to the last page that had remained completely blank yesterday.
"Please work... please..." he muttered under his breath.
He genuinely didn’t think he could survive enduring that horrifying pain all over again only to discover he had accomplished absolutely nothing.
Unfortunately...
The pages remained completely blank.
Ethan stared at them.
Then stared a little longer.
"..."
The corners of his lips twitched.
"WHAT—"
"What the fuck is the meaning of this?! Don’t... don’t tell me Step One still hasn’t been completed! How is that even possible after everything I went through?!"
He had practically almost tortured himself to death yesterday! His head had felt like it was being ripped apart! He had even blacked out!
What more did this damned book want from him?
Yet just as Ethan was on the verge of crashing out completely, familiar floating words slowly appeared above the page.
[Congratulations! Step One has been successfully completed. You may now proceed to the next step.]
"..."
"..."
"Hah..."
A long breath escaped his lips as his entire body relaxed.
"Yessss..." He screamed like a mad man on rampage.
The relief that washed over him immediately was indescribable. Right now, he honestly felt like he was standing on top of the world.
As the floating words gradually faded away, the once-empty pages finally began filling themselves with neat lines of text.
Ethan’s eyes immediately lit up.
Without wasting another second, he eagerly began reading. The next step involved channeling spiritual energy into his Mental Sea.
The title of the second stage was simple.
Spiritual Energy Channeling.
According to Aster’s explanation, spiritual energy existed everywhere in the world. It filled the air, flowed through nature, and surrounded every living being. Ordinary people simply couldn’t perceive it with their physical senses, which was precisely why awakening one’s mental sea was the indispensable first step.
Only after successfully entering one’s mental sea could a Guide begin sensing the spiritual energy scattered throughout the world.
The next paragraph continued.
[Once you have entered your Mental Sea through meditation, use your mental will to draw spiritual energy into your body. However, before doing so, your consciousness must first settle within your own Mental Sea. Depending on the individual, the Mental Sea may appear as a pond, a lake, an ocean, or another body of water. For most F-Rank Guides, it is merely a tiny, dry pond.]
Ethan couldn’t help remembering the pitiful puddle he had seen yesterday.
To be frank, tiny was an understatement.
Even a rain puddle was bigger than that miserable thing.
However, Ethan continued reading.
[Allow your consciousness to settle within the water itself. Doing so creates the most efficient path between your body and your Mental Sea, allowing the spiritual energy you absorb to flow directly toward your spiritual roots instead of dispersing pointlessly throughout your body.]
[Only after successfully completing this step shall the pages containing the Compression Method become visible.]
His heartbeat quickened.
So the real cultivation technique still wasn’t here yet.
This...
This was merely the prerequisite.
The explanation became increasingly detailed as Aster carefully described how every strand of spiritual energy should be guided instead of forcefully seized.
Then his eyes moved to the warning written beneath it.
[Warning.]
[Channeling spiritual energy is significantly more difficult than entering the Mental Sea. The pain experienced during this process is approximately three times greater than the previous step. It demands far greater concentration, and mental endurance. Should the process be interrupted or performed incorrectly, severe backlash may occur. The details of such backlash shall not be disclosed for obvious reasons.]
Beneath it was another line written in noticeably different handwriting. It looked almost casual and playful.
[Aster’s Note: Well... power doesn’t come easy, does it?]
"..."
Ethan stared silently at those words for several long seconds before slowly lowering the book.
"...This man is fucking insane."
That was the only conclusion he could come to. How could anyone casually joke about something so life-threatening?
Three times the pain?
And this old man had the audacity to add a cheerful little note at the end? Was he supposed to laugh before dying?
Ethan let out a long sigh.
"So..."
"I have to go through another round of torture."
Wonderful.
Absolutely wonderful.
When exactly was this suffering supposed to end?
Still...
Not once did the thought of giving up cross his mind. Instead it was quiet the opposite.
His determination only grew stronger. He had already endured the first step. He wasn’t about to stop now when the real cultivation method was finally within reach.
"There isn’t any time to waste."
A determined look flashed across his face.
"Alright..."
"Let’s see just how low my pain tolerance really is."
He slowly sat down once again, in a meditative position before taking a deep breath. His eyes gently closed as he emptied his thoughts and gradually slipped back into a meditative state.
Just as his consciousness began sinking inward—
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Ethan!"
"Open the damn door!"