Chapter 381: Breakthrough (2)
Second/Final step:- Arcane Spirit Crystal Tree.
The first step had three stages of the process. First Infuse 10,000 low-grade Prana stones, then 5000 medium-grade Prana stones, and lastly 1000 high-grade Prana stones into their Arcane Spirit Pond to expand it to its limit.
Everyone had already finished with the first stage of the first step, so they started the second stage process.
Isabella distributed 5000 medium-grade Prana stones to each before everyone started absorbing them into their Arcane Spirit Pond.
The first stage increased one\'s Prana capacity by 10,000 Prana.
The second stage increased one\'s Prana capacity by 20,000 Prana.
The third stage increased one\'s Prana capacity by 30,000 Prana.
Lily and Maleina had already finished Arcane Spirit Pond Expansion in the Abyss, so they began the Arcane Spirit Crystal Tree process, but this was a challenging one to complete.
…
After fifteen minutes…
"Done," Erix opened his eyes as the pile of 5000 medium-grade Prana stones before him was gone.
Rin, Aria, Isabella, Sameira, and Kenshin were also done one by one in the next minute.
"Rest for five minutes and stabilize the expansion of your ponds," Lilith said. "Since you all have the Prana Essence from developing the Domain of S-rank, then use that in place of high-grade Prana stones."
Pausing for a bit, Lilith added, "Using Prana Essence will make your foundation stable, so that\'s the best option and what most Royal-order who have managed to develop S-rank domains do. Don\'t think about saving it."
"Oh and use it moderately because Prana essence is higher quality than high-grade Prana stones."
Everyone nodded and took out the glass tubes they had filled with Prana essence, the so-called \'Magic Sweat\'.
"It\'s fast," Erix raised his eyebrows. "My Arcane Spirit Pond instantly absorbed and infused it and expanded with an even better foundation."
"Yep," Lilith smiled.
Everyone eagerly began emptying the tubes. Erix and Rin had 10 liters of Prana Essence since they went deeper into the Cosmic Arcane Layer and produced more Prana Essence in their development of the SS-rank Domain.
Aria, Isabella, Sameira, and Kenshin had around 5 liters of Prana Essence during their development of the S-rank Domain.
In fact, the top 13 in the Domain Leaderboard had all S-rank Domains except for Erix and Rin who had SS-rank Domains.
After a few minutes, everyone finished the 3rd Stage as well and they successfully expanded their Arcane Spirit Pond to the limit.
Each of them had over 100k Prana capacity now and that meant that the maximum output of any of their skill increased drastically.
For instance, if Erix used his Erasure Void Rodes at 80k Prana cost previously at full power, he could now use it at whooping 140k Prana cost!
A higher capacity of the energy pool increases the potency of skill executions a lot!
"Good, now the second and final step is the one that will require some effort," Lilith said before she began explaining.
"This will test the limit of your Magic Control and Focus. You must control the entirety of your Prana in Arcane Spirit Pond and evenly pressurize it. Your ultimate aim is to condense all of your Prana into a crystal by pure magic control."
Lilith narrowed her eyes, "The smaller the crystal, the better."
"Why?" Rin curiously asked. "Does it give some benefits once we break through?"
"Yep," Lilith nodded with a smile. "You\'ll know once you break through. Anyway, after condensing that crystal, you have to bury it in the center of your Arcane Spirit Pond surface and infuse Spirit Force in it until it grows into a tree. This is easy. The hard part is the first one."
"Haha, let\'s see how hard it is," Erix grinned and closed his eyes.
His facial muscles relaxed, and he entered deep meditation before focusing the entirety of his consciousness on the big filled-up arcane spirit pond in his Origin Region.
The others also followed and began.
Lily and Maleira were already trying that, but this step could take days upon days if one didn\'t have the right state of mind and control. If one got irritated with failures, it could even lengthen further.
Erix was controlling all of his 140k Prana at once, trying to evenly pressure every part from all sides of it simultaneously and condensing it.
Naturally, he was bound to fail as the balance was disrupted after thirty minutes and all of his hard work went to naught.
The others also failed before him and resumed.
Since this also consumed mental stamina as it required high constant focus and control on Prana, it was exhausting.
Lilith watched them and saw occasionally frowns on their faces, indicating that they just failed and had to redo.
\'Erix, Rin, and Aria should finish first. Lily might be next,\' Lilith internally mused based on her understanding.
She glanced at Isabella, Sameira, and Kenshin, \'They had good skills that tested the limit of their Magic Control, although not as crazy as Rin and Erix, so they should be able to do it in a day as long as they don\'t lose their minds over failures.\'
Erix and Rin always wanted to use skills that tested their limits and always crazily practiced a lot, so their Magic Control was highest among others.
Lilith knew it would still take Erix and Rin half a day to at least succeed in condensing the crystal, so she got up and looked around the expanded Blessed Island.
"Hmm, there are many exotic ingredients, veggies, and fruits," Lilith muttered before she got an idea. "I guess I should also try to make a breakthrough in my Mystic Chef path."
As such, Lilith went around the Blessed Island to collect edible ingredients she could use as spices, seasoning, topping, and cooking.
There were many powerhouses back on the Blessed Island, practicing at various spots in meditation.
Suddenly, Zoe arrived with a hurried expression on the Island after failing to contact Erix and others with U-cards since they were in deep focus.
Lilith sensed her and swiftly arrived before Zoe before Zoe could disturb others.
"Lady Lilith," Zoe was surprised to suddenly see before her and turned to Erix and others. "I tried to call them, but it seems they are in deep meditation."
"Yep," Lilith smiled. "So what\'s the matter?"
"There\'s a fight happening between two Battalions," Zoe wryly smiled. "A guy was flirting with another guy\'s wife and it escalated big. I don\'t even know the truth and both sides are telling different stories."
"Which Battalions?" Lilith raised her eyebrows.
"It\'s the 11th and 13th Battalion which are a mix of rank 10th to 20th rank guilds\' members. Since they are under us, Unfettered Kingdom will have to resolve it," Zoe said with a sigh.
"Lead me there," Lilith\'s eyes flashed as she smiled. "We\'ll deal with the troublemakers."
…
In the city\'s entertainment district, many Battalion members were relaxing since they had just finished completing tasks and gathering resources.
In one particular area, two groups of twenty people were facing each other.
It was impossible to harm someone or get injured in the Sanctuary Area, but hitting someone and pushing someone would still take effect.
Spitting someone too.
Cursing too.
As such, conflicts were bound to happen.