Chapter 619: Chapter 396 2nd Order Knight!
As the black numbers following the Limit Breaking Point dropped to 0,
the characters of the Nameless Breathing Skill and the Giant Mountain Breathing Method on the Golden Paper gradually blurred, eventually reconvening into a line of small characters under Colin’s focused thoughts—
"Will Breathing Skill (golden))"
After Orkot successfully advanced to a First Rank Knight, Colin continued experimenting with the rest of the people.
Once he ascertained the viability of Knight Meditation, he no longer hesitated, concentrated his efforts, and integrated it with Limit Breaking to achieve the golden color.
The latest Will Breathing Skill was now far more perfected than the earlier Nameless Breathing Skill and Giant Mountain Breathing Method.
Colin’s understanding of the process of will generation was also more profound, and he gained a clearer understanding of the role the Arcane Cave Factor played during the formation of will.
In fact, the Arcane Cave Factor was more like a risky shortcut.
To unlock Will Power, one didn’t necessarily need the Arcane Cave Factor.
As long as one cultivated Knight Meditation and nurtured the spark of will, providing oneself with enough stimulus—such as life-and-death crises—one could also successfully unlock Will Power.
However, other methods were clearly higher in risk and more difficult to control than using the Arcane Cave Factor.
As for which method ultimately produced the stronger Will Power, in truth, there was no discernible difference.
Be it the Arcane Cave Factor or another method like life-and-death crises, their essence was the same.
They were just keys to help open the door, and the strength of the willpower behind that door largely depended on the cultivator themselves.
After Colin grasped the newest Will Breathing Skill, he gently exhaled and reached for the Magic Stone again.
Moments later, as he shifted his thoughts again, the characters in the Breathing Skill section of the Golden Paper all blurred, finally merging into the only line—"Unnamed Knight Breathing Method (0/100)."
’Finally, I can begin cultivating,’ Colin thought with a light smile, his face showing pleasure.
There were two ways to increase the progress of the items on the Golden Paper: one was practice, and the other was theoretical research and study.
And it was the latter method upon which the progress and Limit Breaking of the Will Breathing Skill relied.
Strictly speaking, Colin, like the initially captured Orkot, had neither used any Arcane Cave Factor nor practiced Knight Meditation.
He did this with the main purpose of obtaining the maximum enhancement.
After all, Colin was already a First Rank Advanced Knight, merely minoring in Will Breathing Skill—any advancement from practice alone would likely not be as significant as imagined.
Thus he had waited until now, confirming the feasibility of the Will Breathing Skill and integrating it with the original Knight Breathing Method, before preparing to formally begin a complete revision!
Without rest, Colin eagerly began to meticulously examine the latest Breathing Skill in his mind.
The new Breathing Skill not only redistributed the compression of Blood Energy and the opening of will into a sequence, but as he anticipated, new stages appeared.
But it was not one new stage, but rather two.
According to the New Breathing Method, during practice, strengthening the body and enhancing Blood Energy went hand in hand; the two already had a synergistic relationship, and this dual approach produced an effect greater than the sum of its parts!
So much so that before reaching the first rank, it easily broke through the shackles of the Great Knight, carving out a brand-new realm that sat between Great Knight and First Rank Knight—Colin named it Pseudo-Extraordinary Knight.
At the peak of Pseudo-Extraordinary Knight, cultivators achieved a qualitative transformation by compressing Blood Energy, thereby advancing to a First Rank Knight.
And then, at the pinnacle of a First Rank Knight, came the time to open up Will Power!
And after unlocking Will Power, that was the second brand-new stage that appeared in the New Breathing Method!
Colin realized—without a doubt, that was the new stage of the knightly path he had longed for!
Second Rank Knight!
Suppressing his joy, Colin was almost desperate to start practicing!
Thus, in less than ten days, with the foundation he had and the aid of the Golden Paper, Colin successfully re-cultivated to the pinnacle of a First Rank Knight!
With the nearly perfect Breathing Skill, he could clearly sense the will’s fire seed taking form in his mind.
Perhaps because he had cultivated until the pinnacle of a First Rank Knight, coupled with the fact that he was a Second Rank Wizard, Colin felt that the will’s fire seed in his mind was surprisingly distinct and was even close to the strength of will that Orkot, who had become a First Rank Knight, possessed!
Keep in mind that this was just a seed of will; even the strongest seed cannot compare to the weakest mature crop—compared to the true strength of will, it was supposed to be worlds apart!
Clearly, the strength of will was likely related to one’s own soul strength.
And because of this, Colin’s eyes became especially bright, heavy with oppressive force, forcing him to temporarily conceal it with witchcraft.
’Next, I’ll go collect Arcane Cave Factors to officially unlock Will Power,’ Colin pondered silently.
...
Tonight, the moon was bright and stars scarce, the clear moonlight pouring down, as if it had coated the entire cave area with a thin layer of white frost.
Compared to the usual gloom and terror, the cave area seemed to have gained a few degrees of silent tranquility.
Colin, as usual, used witchcraft to conceal himself and quietly chose the most frequently visited cave to enter.
He hadn’t walked far when a black beetle, the size of a baby and with a human face, appeared at the corner ahead.
Colin didn’t linger, going around it to continue onward.
Such common cave creatures contained very little Arcane Cave Factor in their bodies.
Even for an ordinary Great Knight like Orkot, it would take hundreds of these human-faced beetles to extract enough Arcane Cave Factor to unlock will.
And for him, the needed Arcane Cave Factors to unlock will would only be greater than Orkot’s.
A while later, Colin reached the shallow layer boundary of the cave once again.
The grey-black smog of contamination layered itself as usual, half light grey, half dark grey.
Colin stepped over the boundary line at a leisurely pace, activated Infrared Vision, and became more vigilant.
However, as more than an hour passed,
he came up empty-handed.
Among the grey-black haze, all was eerily quiet—the normally active cave creatures seemed to have been swallowed up by the haze.
Half an hour passed again, with nothing to show for it.
"Could it be that I’ve been killing too ruthlessly over the past six months?"
Creatures of the caves were not utterly devoid of intelligence. Generally, the more powerful the creature, the more intelligent it tended to be.
Over the past six months, he had most frequently visited this particular cave... Could it be that they had sensed an invisible hunter wantonly preying in this place, so the slightly higher rank creatures had chosen to stay clear of this area?
Colin pondered for a moment without any conclusions, then he switched to another cave.
This time, after half an hour, he finally found a suitable cave creature and successfully hunted it.
Afterwards, everything returned to normal. Although there seemed to be fewer monsters in the other caves than before, Colin still managed to gather enough cave factors for his Will after five days.
What a First Rank Knight would be like after unlocking Will Power, Colin did not know.
Just to be safe, he asked Welber to watch over things once more.
Then he went to the Wilderness Laboratory alone, ready to advance!
The soft white light shone steadily, Colin stood in the independently opened Silver Chamber, took out the huge Magic Potion of cave factors, and tilted his head to drink it.
The dark brown Magic Potion of cave factors somewhat resembled cola from his previous life.
But the taste was entirely different, not sweet at all, but rather like bitter almonds, as if drinking poison.
Colin’s brows involuntarily furrowed. Due to the sheer amount of cave factors he needed to consume, the discomfort persisted for a long time before it finally ended.
However, as soon as the bitterness in his mouth subsided, new discomfort followed.
Strictly speaking, although what Colin drank was not actual poison, it wasn’t much different from poison in reality.
His senses were clearly much sharper than Orkot’s had initially been.
The cave factors hadn’t even reached his stomach before permeating through the mucous membrane of his mouth, spreading to his limbs and body via his blood.
A sense of acidity and tenderness spread through his muscles, his joints felt as if they were mixed with fine sand, slightly painful.
Colin took a deep breath and began to practice the part of the New Breathing Method that was dedicated to unlocking Will.
With the practice of the Breathing Skill.
Blood Energy began to surge like tides, like the calm before a storm.
Gradually, Colin fell into a mysterious and indescribable state, his mind seemingly empty, yet tense.
A flickering flame began to appear, and then became clearer and clearer; at first, it was as tiny as a speck of dust, but then it grew so large that it almost filled Colin’s entire mind and thoughts.
Boom!!
Finally, at a certain moment, as if breaking some kind of shackles, the flame suddenly surged!
In an instant, a power different from Blood Energy, different from Magic Power, different from spiritual power, suddenly flowed forth.
Under the wash of this power, his body and Blood Energy underwent earth-shaking changes!
Muscles became more dense, Blood Energy surged even more, and quality ascended to another level...
Of course, the most important improvement was the power itself!
"So this is the power of Will..."
Colin opened his eyes, and his feet suddenly left the ground.
Without casting any witchcraft or relying on anything, he simply floated quietly in the middle of the silver chamber.
This was a flying capability completely different from witchcraft or any other method!
It seemed as though he was standing on some invisible plane, but Colin felt as if he had anchored himself in place.
Swoosh!
With a mere thought, Colin’s figure instantly moved to the other end of the Silver Chamber.
This was not teleportation, but extremely fast flight!
Colin’s face showed astonishment, as such speed had almost reached the level of the most powerful Second Rank Upper flight witchcraft he currently mastered!
And to think he had just advanced to Second Rank Knight!
’However, while the power burst is strong, it’s not as enduring.’
Colin did some more tests and reached a conclusion.
At medium and short distances, the speed of flying with Will Power was about the same as Second Rank Upper flight witchcraft.
Once Knight Power progressed further, there should be an improvement.
At that time, this could become another trump card for him within medium and short ranges.
In addition, the power of Will not only gave him the ability to fly but also strengthened his attacks and formed a unique layer of Will Armor.
Colin estimated that with the power of a Knight alone, he could probably take down an average Second Rank Intermediate Wizard!
Especially since the Breathing Skill he had cultivated as a knight was of an exceptionally high quality.
Not to mention, after advancing to Second Rank, the characteristics brought by the original Knight Breathing Skills were further enhanced, and they were now comparable to some ordinary witchcraft!
And if he were to add the power of a Wizard, Colin couldn’t imagine any wizard being a match for him throughout the entire Second Rank.
If one were to insist on delving deeper, perhaps only a super-genius who had mastered Third Rank witchcraft could just barely contend with him.
But mastering Third Rank witchcraft was not at all easy.
Reaching Third Rank meant becoming a High Rank Wizard, the gap in strength between it and Second Rank was as vast as the gulf between an Official Wizard and an Apprentice.
Colin continued to familiarize himself with the new power he had obtained after advancing to Second Rank Knight in the Silver Chamber.
At one moment, he suddenly let out a light exclamation.
"The Knight Aura... seems to have changed too?"