Free Web NovelChapter 233: Chapter 221: Breakthrough to Condensation
Dusk, seven days later.
In the courtyard, thirteen youths sat cross-legged, their bodies enveloped in a faint silver halo.
Ah Shu had eventually sought out Ian to join his group, and he too had been added to the youths’ special training team.
They were circulating a breathing technique, absorbing the sparse Elemental Energy from the air.
Ian stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over each of them like a hawk.
"Time’s up."
The youths opened their eyes in unison as the silver light gradually faded.
Ah Ku was the first to jump up, his face filled with unconcealable excitement.
"Teacher! I... I’ve completed the Rune circulation!"
Ian walked over to him and placed a finger on the [Absorption Element] Rune on his shoulder blade.
His Spiritual Power seeped in.
Just as he expected, the thirty-six Runes inside Ah Ku’s body had already formed a complete circulatory network.
Elemental Energy flowed steadily through his meridians like a stream, and with each circulation, his flesh and blood grew a fraction more solid.
"Very good." Ian nodded. "You’re the first."
He took out a small wooden box and handed it to Ah Ku.
Inside the box was a milky-white, fingernail-sized crystal. It was a Dust Crystal. Though incomplete, it contained enough Elemental Energy for Ah Ku to absorb for three days.
"Thank you, Teacher!" Ah Ku’s voice trembled with excitement as he accepted it gingerly.
"I finished too!"
"Me too!"
Immediately after, two more youths stood up.
One was a sturdy youth named "Stone," the other a slender youth named "Xiaozhou."
After checking them, Ian also rewarded them with Dust Crystals.
Although the remaining ten had not yet completed the circulation, they were more than halfway there. Even the slowest among them had connected twenty Runes.
Even Ah Shu, who had joined the team last, had kept pace with his teammates. It seemed his aptitude was indeed extraordinary.
It had only been half a month.
With the aid of an unlimited supply of [Primordial Energy Body Tempering Potions], this group of youths’ Cultivation speed was more than five times faster than that of ordinary Rune Apprentices!
Ian’s gaze swept across the thirteen young and resolute faces.
These boys were his younger brother’s first followers in this Otherworld.
They were still weak now, but with resources, Cultivation Techniques, and time...
They would eventually become a force to be reckoned with.
"Li Yao," Ian called out.
"Here!" the youth replied, stepping forward quickly.
Under Ian’s personal guidance, Li Yao’s Cultivation was already approaching the threshold of the Awakening Realm.
His aura was now steady and his gaze sharp. He was a far cry from the filthy, fleeing boy he once was.
"Starting tomorrow, you will lead them in practicing the ’Combined Attack Formation.’"
Ian took out a simple Array Map scroll.
"Form groups of three to four. Once you’re proficient, I will take you out of the city for real combat."
"Yes!" Li Yao took the Array Map and nodded firmly.
「Late one night, half a month later.」
Ian sat cross-legged alone on the roof.
At some point, a corner of the gray clouds had parted, revealing the deep night sky.
A few dim stars twinkled in the gap between the clouds, casting down a sparse yet pure starlight.
He took off his shirt, revealing a lean and powerful torso.
On his chest, the Starfall Core pendant rested against his skin, emitting a gentle silver radiance that seemed to echo the stars in the sky.
For the past month, he had spent his days performing Alchemy, teaching the youths, and dealing with the Business Alliance, while his nights were dedicated to breaking through his bottleneck.
His Cultivation at the Late Stage of Awakening (99%) had been polished to its absolute limit.
At this moment, the mass of Starlight Energy in his chest was boiling like water, frantically battering against the invisible barrier.
’It’s time...’
Ian took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
His consciousness sank into the depths of his bloodline.
There, a vast, illusory starry sky existed—the source of the Star Attractor bloodline.
In the center of this illusion floated a fragmented Star Mark, exuding an ancient and weathered aura.
The outline of the mark was blurry and indistinct, as if its edges had been worn away by time.
But now, thanks to Ian’s month-long effort of constantly absorbing Starlight and tempering his bloodline, the mark was slowly becoming clearer.
’It’s not enough...’
With a thought from Ian, the Starfall Core on his chest suddenly grew scalding hot!
HUM!
A majestic surge of pure Star Force, as vast as a river, gushed out from the pendant and flooded his entire body!
"Argh!"
Ian let out a muffled grunt as countless silver bloodline patterns instantly appeared on the surface of his skin.
The patterns branched out like tree limbs, spreading from his chest to his neck, arms, and back...
They finally intertwined on his back, vaguely forming a fragmented Star Map Scroll.
The stars in the sky seemed to have been summoned.
In the gap between the clouds, the few stars that were originally dim suddenly blazed with light.
Three silver pillars of light, visible to the naked eye, pierced the night sky and descended straight down, enveloping Ian completely!
BOOM!!!
Deep within his mind, it was as if something had exploded.
Under the infusion of immense Star Force, the fragmented Star Mark was finally complete!
The moment the complete mark appeared, Ian "saw" its full form.
It was a miniature, slowly rotating, illusory star system.
At its center was an incandescent Fixed Star, orbited by three planets following profound trajectories, with a thin ring of stardust farther out.
Stars? Gravity!
Ian understood instantly.
The true core of the Star Attractor bloodline wasn’t the stars, but the... Gravity Rule embodied in their movements!
CRACK!
The barrier inside his body shattered in response.
Awakening Late Stage (99%) → Initial Stage of Condensation (1%)!
The moment he broke through, the Star Map Scroll formed by the bloodline patterns on Ian’s back suddenly lifted off his skin.
In midair, it condensed into an illusory silver wheel of light.
The wheel was about a meter in diameter, rotating slowly, its edges shedding flecks of starlight.
In the center of the wheel, the miniature star system was clearly visible; one could even see the subtle deviations in the three planets’ orbits.
Those were the traces of their mutual gravitational pull.
The Starlight Bloodline Technique... [Star Track Light Wheel]!
Although it was illusory, and although it could only be maintained for a brief three breaths...
It meant that Ian had officially stepped into the Condensation Tier!
He opened his eyes.
Deep within his pupils, a speck of golden light flashed before transforming into a profound silver glow, as if a starry sky were hidden inside.
He raised his right hand, palm facing up.
With a subtle thought, the air within a hundred-meter radius of him suddenly became "heavy"!
It wasn’t a true increase in weight, but a slight distortion of the Gravity Field, adding about half the original amount in extra gravity!
A ceramic cup on the table was crushed with a BANG, fine cracks spreading across its surface!
’Gravity Manipulation... increased from 10% to 500%, and the maximum range has expanded to two hundred meters...’
Ian dispersed the ability, and the fragments of the ceramic cup scattered with a CLATTER.
He looked down at his chest. The light of the Starfall Core pendant had dimmed, but a new, subtle stellar pattern had appeared on its surface.
It was a mark left behind by the Star Mark as feedback from the bloodline’s ascension.
His consciousness sank into his Sea of Spirit.
The Skill Level panel automatically opened, its data completely updated.
[Name: Li Xing (Ian)]
[Age: 21]
[Realm: Initial Stage of Condensation (1%)]
[Bloodline: Star Condenser (Initial Awakening)]
[Status: Unharmed]
[Bloodline Trait (Enhanced): Gravity Manipulation: Can affect the Gravity Field within a 200-meter radius]
[Skills:
Starlight Perception (Bloodline Technique) - Control (5%)
Star Step (Bloodline Technique) - Control (2%)
Basic Swordsmanship (Rune Combat Technique) - Control (1%)
Basic Level Purification Potion (Life Skill) - Control (65%)
Primordial Energy Body Tempering Potion (Life Skill) - Control (37%)]
All his Bloodline Techniques had reached the Control Level.
Even his Basic Swordsmanship had naturally reached the Control Level, thanks to the subtle control over his Power gained during his Realm breakthrough.
The strength of the Condensation Stage was already comparable to the weakest Level One Wizards in the Wizard World, though his methods weren’t as varied or strange.
More importantly...
Ian could clearly feel that deep within his bloodline, a corner of the ancient Inheritance related to "Gravity" had been unveiled.
Although it was still vague, the path forward had been illuminated.
’Once I break through to the Manifestation Tier and truly awaken the Gravity Manipulation ability...’
He raised his head and gazed into the depths of the night sky, his eyes burning with fervor.
...
「Wizard World, fifty meters beneath the Shadow Moon Tower.」
Ian’s main body sat cross-legged before the Abyssal Altar, his eyes shut tight.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes.
Deep within his pupils, the swirling dark vortex at the center of the altar was reflected, yet it was as if he could see through the endless Void to another starry sky.
Just a moment ago, at the instant his projection broke through to Condensation and his bloodline had its initial awakening.
A surge of "comprehension," ten times clearer than before, rushed toward him along the connection between their souls.
It was no longer fragmented, blurry information, but a complete "experience."
The trembling of every inch of flesh and blood as Star Force poured into the body.
The throbbing deep within his soul as the Star Mark was completed.
Especially the moment the [Star Track Light Wheel] condensed, and the subtle orbital shifts of the three planets within the miniature star system caused by their mutual gravitational pull...
It was like a pebble tossed into a calm lake, creating ripples.
The ripples spread, touching a long-dormant region deep within his soul...
There, a three-dimensional Rune structure of extreme complexity floated.
The magic model for the [Gravity Collapse Ball].
At this moment, a certain node within the model suddenly "lit up."
Countless fine runic lines began to automatically adjust, reorganize, and optimize...
It was as if an invisible pair of hands was correcting errors and filling in defects.
He raised his hand, his fingers forming a loose grip.
Above his palm, the air began to distort and compress...
A "black dot" slowly emerged, more stable and more solid than ever before.
Around the black dot, the curvature of light was more pronounced, and the faint ring of a Gravitational Lens effect was vaguely visible.
But it only lasted for three seconds.
PUFF!
The black dot disintegrated, and the compressed Gravity Field was instantly released, erupting outward as an invisible shockwave.
At the edge of the altar, the twenty-eight Void Anchor Stones simultaneously lit up with a silver-gray halo, nullifying the impact.
’The structure has been optimized by 37%, and energy loss is down by 41%, but the stability is still insufficient...’
Ian muttered to himself, but his eyes held no trace of dejection. Instead, they gleamed with excitement.
In that instant, he had clearly grasped the three most critical flaws in the [Gravity Collapse Ball] model.
As long as he could fix these three flaws, the Witchcraft’s power would at least double, and its stability would undergo a qualitative change.
’Unfortunately, my accumulation is still insufficient.’
Ian slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.
His projection’s comprehension of gravity was still at the level of "Phenomenon Manipulation" and had not yet touched upon the "Rule Essence."
It was like someone who could skillfully use a bow and arrow but didn’t understand the principles of mechanics.
’Once the projection’s bloodline truly awakens and obtains a deeper level of the gravity Inheritance...’
At that time, what his main body received would no longer be "usage experience," but a comprehension approaching "Rule cognition"!
It would be enough to support him in making another revolutionary improvement to the Gravity Ball.
’No need to rush.’
Ian closed his eyes and re-entered his Meditation.
The flow of time between the two worlds was vastly different.
One month in the Wizard World was two years in the Projection World.
He had enough time to wait for his projection to grow, and for that final piece of the "gravity" puzzle to fall into place.
