Grandmaster Orion and Venix moved to another room to discuss the Heavenly Scholar Technique.

  Inside, Grandmaster Orion raised his hand in a fluid motion, creating a spherical Barrier that immediately imprisoned the two of them.

  A powerful aura enveloped them, like an invisible shield separating them from the outside world. Cameras and other surveillance devices lost their signal instantly, erasing their trace.

  Outside, Grandmaster Ardyn stood before a monitor, his eyes narrowing as Orion sealed their conversation with the Barrier. His lips pressed tightly together, and his arms crossed over his chest trembled in suppressed anger.

  "That stingy old man! He’s still as selfish as ever!" Ardyn muttered with a scowl, his expression reflecting deep frustration.

  The discussion between Venix and Orion lasted a full hour, and finally, the Barrier imprisoning them vanished with a wave of Orion's hand.

  On the monitor, Venix appeared deeply satisfied and cheerful. Orion, however, looked puzzled as he observed Venix.

  After expressing his gratitude to Orion, Venix exited the room and headed straight to the library.

  Shaking his head slightly, Orion left the building dedicated to monitoring the Awakened for research purposes.

  "We need to talk," Orion transmitted telepathically to Ardyn.

  Ardyn’s face turned serious, and the two quickly exited the underground facility.

  Within minutes, they arrived at Orion's residence.

  Five Primecores resided in Numan City, including Ardyn and Orion.

  In his study, Orion turned his back to Ardyn, gazing out the window as he spoke. "Merging with the Seed Origin may be one of the solutions we can use to destroy the prison."

  Ardyn glanced at the soft and inviting sofa, then walked over to it and settled in comfortably.

  With a relaxed smile, Ardyn responded, "You mean if one of us fully merges with the Seed Origin, we could surpass the Primecore limit?"

  Orion turned and fixed Ardyn with a sharp gaze. "Exactly. Each time we ascend to a new Realm, from the Awakened Realm to the Seedbound Realm, our connection to the Seed Origin deepens. The power granted by the Seed Origin grows stronger as we develop."

  The Seed Origin granted unique abilities to the Awakened. As their strength increased and they reached new Realms, these unique abilities also became more potent.

  Ardyn shook his head slightly. "Even if we break through the Primecore Realm, is there any guarantee that power will be enough to destroy that cursed prison?"

  Orion pondered for a moment before sighing.

  Since the prison's appearance, the progress of the Awakened had been severely restricted, and Primecore was the highest Realm they could achieve.

  Orion, Ardyn, and the others had reached the peak of the Primecore level, meaning no matter how hard they trained, no further growth could be achieved.

  As a result, their power had stagnated for decades, creating a certain equilibrium among the Primecores.

  "Even so... we have to try," Orion said with determined eyes.

  Ardyn frowned. "You know I’d easily agree to this and even ask for your help. So why bring me here to discuss something already decided?"

  Orion looked at Ardyn calmly but intensely, then spoke words Ardyn didn’t want to hear.

  "Elara has a greater chance of achieving this than any of us," Orion said calmly.

  Boom!

  A deafening explosion reverberated through the room. Ardyn stood trembling, an overwhelming energy radiating from him like an uncontrollable wave.

  The once-cozy sofa was instantly obliterated, its fragments scattering through the air, signifying an uncontainable rage.

  His face flushed with anger, and his eyes burned with fury, ready to destroy anything in his path.

  Ardyn glared at Orion menacingly. "Of all people, why her, that insane witch?!"

  Orion replied, "Her Seed Origin possesses a uniqueness we cannot ignore..."

  A powerful punch whizzed past Orion's ear, shattering the wall behind him into dust.

  Boom!!!

  Ardyn glared at Orion with a mixture of anger and disappointment. "At the cost of nearly our entire population?! Even after that, there’s no guarantee she’ll succeed, is there?"

  "It’s a last resort," Orion said seriously. "Would you rather see our entire civilization wiped out, or sacrifice a majority to save a fraction?"

  Ardyn’s cold stare bore into Orion.

  Suddenly, sirens wailed, and people began flying toward Orion’s residence. The commotion had attracted Numan City’s security forces, who responded swiftly.

  "Only if Venix fails to eliminate the Seed of Chaos," Orion added.

  Ardyn snorted, smoke flaring from his nostrils. "Even if Venix fails, I will never support that witch's plan."

  Apart from the research aimed at developing Meditation Techniques, many other ideas existed to address the problems of their world, including some extremely radical ones.

  Ardyn suppressed the energy radiating from his body and said coldly, "I won’t hesitate to stop you if the time comes and you still support that insane witch's plan."

  In the next instant, Ardyn vanished from his spot.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Orion shook his head slightly and murmured softly, "The Seed of Chaos is an entity we cannot destroy..."

  \---

  Venix sat at a library table, his eyes gleaming with excitement. Each time he turned a page, he delved deeper into the text, occasionally smiling in satisfaction as he grasped something new. The quiet library seemed alive with the enthusiasm radiating from his face.

  At the moment, Venix glanced at his system interface.

  \[Heavenly Scholar Technique (Mastery Lv1): 10.01%]

  After listening to Orion's explanation and clarifying his doubts, Venix had mastered 10% of the technique! This also brought his Mastery level to one!

  When Venix reached Mastery Lv1, something unexpected happened.

  A small tree appeared within his soul!

  This tree bore a striking resemblance to the one containing the Heavenly Scholar Technique. However, its purplish-black hue mirrored the color of the Seed of Vulture's body.

  Some of its leaves, however, retained a green color, making it strikingly distinct at a glance.

  Venix didn’t understand its significance, but with the tree’s presence, he felt his memory and comprehension improve drastically!

  Thus, Venix immediately headed to the library to test its effects.

  The result was very satisfying! In no time, he could easily learn everything and store it in his memory.

  Venix picked up books on history, combat, and weapon techniques.

  By studying history, Venix could better understand the Origin Era that took place in the real world and what changes it had undergone.

  Learning about combat theory and weapon techniques was essential to equip him with the ability to protect himself upon returning to the real world.

  "I can't return to the real world right now\... People have already reached the Seedbound Realm. Even if I go back, there's little I can do," Venix thought to himself.

  At the same time, he worried about his two friends, Ronan and Rael, and could only hope they were safe and well.

  Venix felt a great gap within himself—whether it was his strength or the looming threat of the Seed of Chaos—which left him unable to take any meaningful action in the real world.

  "The Seed of Chaos is the main threat... If it takes over my body, whether it's in the real world or this virtual realm, both will fall victim to the Seed of Chaos," Venix muttered, shaking his head slightly, trying to dispel his concerns and focus on training.

  Venix had no idea how massive the threat of the Seed of Chaos truly was. Even the Primecore dared not act against it or find a way to confront it, illustrating that once the Seed of Chaos awakened, its rise was utterly unstoppable.

  Thus, Venix's primary plan was to save himself first.

  If he couldn't even save himself, there was no way he could save anyone else.

  \---

  Time flew quickly; a week passed in the blink of an eye.

  In the training room filled with several practice dummies and bright lights, Venix stood surrounded by a dozen training dummies.

  His face remained calm, but every movement he made reflected high vigilance.

  The single-handed sword hanging at his waist felt heavy, yet he never once glanced at the weapon.

  Every second, his eyes stayed focused, every motion following a nearly flawless rhythm, as if the air in the room grew heavier with the intensity he brought.

  Venix stepped back slowly. In a barely noticeable motion, he pulled out two small daggers from his waist. The blades began to glimmer, shrouded in an aura of energy blazing like purple fire.

  Without warning, Venix hurled the daggers.

  Stab! Stab!

  The blades flew with perfect precision, piercing the heads of two dummies in front of him.

  With a soft cracking sound, both stopped and fell lifelessly, like puppets losing their strings.

  However, there was no time to celebrate. The other dummies began to move, one of them charging forward with its sword raised high, its sharp blade gleaming menacingly as it struck at Venix.

  Slash!

  With agility honed over the past week, Venix twisted his body, dodging by the narrowest margin. He slid sideways, like a shadow gliding across the floor, as another dummy's attack came hurtling toward him with terrifying speed.

  Venix kept moving, his feet agile like a monkey navigating a battlefield. He drew two more daggers, swung them, and threw them in one swift motion.

  Stab! Stab!

  Two more dummies fell, the clinking sound of metal echoing as their bodies hit the ground.

  Venix didn’t stop. His breathing remained calm and steady, his body weaving between enemy attacks, searching for openings to strike.

  In the corner of the room, Hokki stood still, his eyes observing sharply. A mocking smile formed on his lips as he watched Venix fight relentlessly.

  "Fighting a dozen dummies that don’t even compare to an Awaken's strength? Is he really trying to build confidence by defeating the weak?" Hokki thought cynically.

  The dummies were so weak that they weren’t even a challenge for novice Awaken fighters.

  Hokki was confident he could defeat a hundred of those dummies with just a few attacks.

  Thirty seconds later, Venix had taken down all the dummies that had been set against him.

  Then Venix moved to the control panel and reactivated the previously defeated dummies, bringing them back to life.

  This time, Venix increased the number of opponents to twenty, and another battle began.

  \---

  Outside the training room, where people monitored the activity within, Luna rested her chin on her hand, watching Venix as he fought against the twenty dummies.

  Luna frowned, her eyes intently focused on the monitor screen.

  "What is he doing?" Luna muttered, her voice slightly raspy.

  "Fighting weak dummies to gain basic experience is understandable, but it's been five days, and he's still fighting dummies of this level?" Luna gritted her teeth in frustration, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the table with an air of irritation.

  It seemed as though Venix was having fun battling weak dummies, without making any meaningful progress.

  "He trains with a different purpose."

  A man's voice came from behind Luna.

  "Ah!" Luna gasped, turning to see the handsome figure of Leoric standing behind her.

  However, perhaps due to familiarity, Luna no longer felt embarrassed in Leoric's presence.

  "Though it looks boring to watch, it's quite fascinating if you measure it," Leoric said with his trademark charming smile.

  Luna frowned in confusion. "Measure what? How many dummies he's defeated?"

  Luna wasn’t an Awaken who focused on combat, so her knowledge of fighting styles was limited.

  Leoric leaned in, pressing several buttons on the keyboard and moving the mouse to control Luna’s monitor screen.

  Luna felt a little nervous and startled but tried to stay calm.

  With a few clicks, Leoric brought up the training history data for Venix.

  "Look at his first day of training. He adapted quickly and defeated the dummies with ease," Leoric said, pointing to the data from Venix's first day of training.

  The data showed detailed information, such as how many dummies were defeated, how many times Venix attacked, and other statistics.

  "On the first day, Venix defeated fifty dummies before getting exhausted," Leoric said, then displayed the data for Venix's second day: "And look at this, on the second day, he managed to defeat seventy-three dummies using a single-handed sword."

  Luna studied the data on the monitor, paying close attention.

  Leoric then changed the screen to show data from the third day: "On the third day, Venix switched to throwing daggers and defeated eighty-two dummies."

  Luna stared at the data, comprehension dawning in her expression. "So Venix defeats more dummies every day?"

  Leoric shook his head with a soft smile. "That's not the point."

  He then displayed the data from the fourth day, which showed Venix defeating one hundred and thirty-four dummies, and the fifth day, where Venix took down two hundred and thirty dummies, with the count still ongoing.

  "This isn’t about how many dummies Venix has defeated," Leoric said gently before continuing, "It’s about how well he controls his energy and increases the efficiency of his attacks. If you look at these numbers, you’ll see just how far Venix has progressed."

  Luna’s eyes widened in surprise. She hadn’t realized how much Venix had improved until now!

  "Venix is training to use his energy far more efficiently and powerfully. This practice focuses on how much energy is required for each attack to kill a dummy. You can see here that there are moments when Venix’s attacks failed to kill the dummy," Leoric explained, showing a video of one of Venix's failed dagger throws that didn’t pierce the dummy’s head.

  Luna looked at Leoric in admiration. "But doesn’t this limit his combat experience?"

  Stronger dummies had more diverse movements and attacks, providing greater combat experience compared to weaker ones.

  "That’s true as well. In combat training, there’s no right or wrong path," Leoric nodded. "However, if you’re facing five enemies in one place and you use 40% of your energy to kill just one, the wisest choice is to retreat, not continue the fight."

  At the beginner level, combat experience was the most important. But at higher levels, managing energy consumption for each attack was the key to determining the outcome of battles!

  If Fighter A could attack fifty times, while Fighter B could attack seventy times, Fighter B’s chances of victory were significantly higher than Fighter A’s.