"Are you sure you didn’t damage your mind while engraving the Hollow Gaze into your eyes?"
Simon’s lips could not help but twitch when he heard these words from Lilith.
It wasn’t surprising that she was beginning to think that maybe he was actually crazy.
Even he might have these thoughts since it sounded insane for somebody to be seeing cracks in the air.
He shook his head and decided to not give Lilith a response.
Instead, he asked her a question that came to his mind when he was in his sea of consciousness.
"The Hollow Gaze is an ocular technique that deals with illusions, but the Sword Daemon’s mask also has a similar ability."
"As long as I use my killing intent when wearing the Sword Daemon’s mask, I can make those around me to feel fear and to also see hallucinations."
"The stronger my killing intent, the greater the fear and hallucinations I cause to my enemies."
He paused, and he observed Lilith, but her expression was completely indifferent.
"Is the Hollow Gaze technique and the Sword Daemon’s mask related?"
Lilith remained silent for a moment, then she released a soft sigh.
"Maybe they are related, maybe they’re not. We have not reached the point where we’re both comfortable with one another, so don’t expect answers from me all the time."
"Unless you offer up something in return."
Simon frowned, then he nodded.
"Alright then. No problem."
Lilith scoffed. "Also, be expecting this from me from now on. There are times where I’ll ask you for something before you can get an answer from me."
Simon narrowed his eyes slightly, then he nodded.
"Fine."
Lilith also nodded. "Good."
Without saying any other thing, she went back into his heart.
Simon looked at his heart, then he exhaled softly and looked around.
"Since I still have a lot of time before the next class I’m to attend, I guess I should cultivate a little."
"I’ve been holding back on increasing my heart rank, but let me see if I can increase it by a few percent...maybe 3,4, or 5% would do."
Simon was a Minor Fiend, and he had refined his chaos flame by 8% till now.
He wanted to spend at most one hour in the cultivation room he rented, and after that, he’d leave and think of what to do.
(One hour later)
He opened his eyes, looked at the nearly empty demonic energy around him, then he shook his head with a disappointed expression.
’My demonic energy requirement is too high. Because of my chaos flame, I need far more demonic energy to refine it by a single percent.’
’I could only refine it by 3% despite spending one hour in here. I even had to slow down my absorption of the demonic energy so that it can replenish itself.’
If an average demon or any of his classmates were to hear that Simon was able to increase his chaos flame by 3% in less than two hours, they would be shocked beyond words.
It would not be surprising if a demon with an average common bloodline needed four or five days to increase the refinement of their chaos flame by a single percent.
Demons with noble bloodlines might need two or three days to increase theirs by a single percent.
Even demons with average royal bloodlines would need at least twenty four (24) hours to improve the refinement of their chaos flame by a single percent.
For Simon, he had the help of devour and his exceptional energy control, so refining his chaos flame was an easy thing for him...for now at least.
He leaned backward, stretched out his legs, placed his hand on the ground behind him, then he looked up and released a soft sigh.
’Unless I decide to be paying for a high grade or a peak grade room, I wouldn’t be able to advance very quickly in the case of an emergency.’
He paused his thoughts and narrowed his eyes.
’I’ve spent one hundred and eighty (180) merits for spending close to two hours in this mid-grade cultivation room.’
’It’s not just worth it. I don’t even want to imagine how much I’ll be spending for a high grade or peak grade cultivation room.’
He released a frustrated sigh.
’I guess it’s time I bought and saw how a hell stone looks like. I should also see how effective it is for my cultivation.’
He leaned forward and looked down with a slight frown.
’Let’s see. What are the things I need to do aside from dealing with some bastards of the three gangs.’
’I should read more on chaos runes and practice them on my own. I should also frequent the library more often and just look for books that might help me, interest me, or increase my knowledge and understanding of the demon realm.’
’Who knows what I might find.’
’I should also look for books on mental cultivation techniques, mental offensive techniques, and mental defensive techniques.’
’I also need to look for an instructor that would be willing to instruct me personally on the first path.’
’I should not believe that fighting these kids means I’m extremely proficient and talented when it comes to the fist path. If I meet a true prodigy of the fist path, I can get my ass whooped by a kid.’
’Hmm... Is there anything else?’
Simon furrowed his brows slightly and placed his hand on his chin.
When he did this, he paused, then he looked at his mask which was on the floor beside him.
It was stained with his blood, and honestly, he found it difficult to wear such a thing.
He frowned.
"I also need to find somebody that can engrave a self cleaning rune and a cooling rune on the mask."
"It’s so uncomfortable to be wearing a mask covered in blood and sweat."
He shook his head, then he snapped his fingers.
A bowl of water appeared in front of him.
"Fortunately for me, I prepared for this from the moment I was sweating because of Instructor Valdin."
He smiled, then he placed the mask in the bowl of water and began to clean it off to the best of his ability.
As he did this, the broken black ring around his feline pupils flashed with a dark light.