Chapter 205: Failed Cultivation Method.
Levi believed that Ash’Kral was the creator of the Three-Body Problem, but in reality, the theory itself had existed before Ash’Kral was even born.
He was simply the last one daring to give it another attempt... using the Nine Senses Seed, Void Seed, and Sun Seed as the ingredients.
He knew that if Levi were to ever hear about any of this, he would truly start to feel that he was a dead man walking.
Ash’Kral’s expression turned solemn as he gazed at Levi, who finally located a spot with dark energy, then he uttered, "Just because others failed, it doesn’t mean we will too... Old Bark, this is our last chance... we are way too behind."
"Figures... the race started before we knew it existed."
"Believe... we will be the ones on the finish line." Ash’Kral murmured the last part to himself, "Belief is the last thing we have left..."
But the Titan heard it and couldn’t help but show a bitter smile. ’Ash... he has been working hard all this time with no one’s help but his partners.’
’But no more...’ The Titan’s expression turned assertive as Arthur’s foolish face with a wide grin appeared in his mind.
Although neither Levi nor Ash’Kral had spoken in detail about Arthur, they didn’t need to... the moment Arthur came in front of Levi, the Titan had sensed the bloodline of his sons and daughters coursing through him.
He knew the bloodline belonged to Khu’zan... yet, he didn’t care, as long as one of them had it.
"Ash’Kral... how will your boy feel if I decided to inhabit his little brother’s Shadowlife seed?" The Titan asked with a faint smile.
"Old Bark... I thought you would never ask." Ash’Kral chuckled.
"Well, it’s no easy decision to make, but I would like to make myself useful... this is my fight as much as it is yours."
"What can I say?" Ash’Kral smirked as he gazed at Levi, who had finished his setup and was about to launch his experiment, "He will like it and hate it at the same time."
Having no clue that his little brother’s path was being discussed, Levi took a deep breath and started the absorption session... He allowed the divine light to pierce through his pores, burning him from the inside out, but he gritted his teeth and waited until it started to get uncomfortable.
’Dark energy... come!’
Levi channeled the cloud of dark energy into his pores as well; its path was supposed to end on the Void Seed... but alas, the glutinous Nine Senses seed sucked it off the instant it entered their orbit.
This seemed to piss off the Void Seed and the Sun Seed equally, abhorring sharing space with the Nine Senses seed and its insatiable hunger...
It was literally feeding on both divine light and dark energy simultaneously, not leaving a single drop for the other two.
Just when Levi’s expression started to brighten at the cold sensation rising from within, bringing his heat levels to a moderate level, the two livid seeds fired off two flares!
’Argh.... f*ck me!’
Levi instantly curled up on the ground with his teeth chattering in coldness, yet his first instinct was to remove his clothes due to the insane heat he was in.
The cultivation process was interrupted instantly... not being able to handle such unbearable agony.
’F*ck... enough, enough, I won’t do it again!’ Levi could only beg, desiring nothing more than to have the seeds put a stop to their rage.
This was absolutely nothing like the cold and heat flares he felt during his sleep... they were at least five times more brutal, and when combined together? Pheew...
Soon, the flares died out, and Levi was left gasping on the ground, his clothes and hair were all a mess... every breath he took was painful as his lungs didn’t know if it was hot, cold, or both.
The same goes for the rest of his body, leaving him sweating in one place while emitting a chilling air in another.
Levi quickly reached into his dimensional wallet and pulled a recovery totem with his hand shaking all over... then, he drank the green liquid and continued lying on his back.
’Ash’Kral... what the f*ck has just happened?’ Levi asked, his tone carrying a tint of dread.
’Hmmm, it seems like having the Nine Senses Seed absorb both divine light and dark energy while already being ahead of them has ignited their full rage.’ Ash’Kral disclosed, ’They took it as disrespect.’
Levi remained silent... his throat too dry to utter a single word out loud.
He had too many questions coursing through his mind, but he knew no one could answer them besides the three seeds... they were like hormonal pregnant wives, one would never know what version the husband would get for the day.
But Levi guessed that he had crossed a red line... the other two seeds were punishing him with soft flares in his sleep for his choice to prioritize the Nine Senses seed, but this was different.
He wanted to use their own heat and cold mechanism, not for their benefits or growth, but for their rival... the Nine Senses seed?
Like it wasn’t enough to be ahead of them, absorb their energies, and now they had to put up with such crap? Not on their watch.
Soon, Levi recovered a bit to stand up... he dusted his ass while sighing helplessly, ’I genuinely thought this might be my way out.’
’It’s too early to give up on it.’ The Titan shared with an encouraging smile, ’The Sun and Void seeds hated seeing you use their powers for the benefit of the Nine Senses seed... but, if you got it out of the picture...’
’The method will work.’ Levi continued, his voice carrying a tint of delight.
He realized that once he reached the third stage of his Nine Senses evolutionary path, he could use this method to accelerate the cultivation of the other two seeds.
Since both of them were benefiting from it, they wouldn’t punish him!
Though this put him back to where he started... the pacing problem for the Nine Senses seed remained unaffixed.
’F*ck it... my body is still tingling from pain... I ain’t trying anything new.’ Levi’s skin shivered at the thought of going through that pain again.
’That’s the kind of pain my past partners suffered from daily... forcing most of them to commit suicide.’ Ash’Kral shared calmly, ’It starts automatically at Pathfinder rank if you were to grow your seeds into young trees without a valid solution.’
’...’
Levi’s heart skipped a beat; his respect for Ash’Kral’s past partners increased tenfold... if this was the shit they went through on a daily basis, he couldn’t imagine how they lived their lives.
Simultaneously, it finally gave him a perspective of what awaited him if he failed to pull off Ash’Kral’s soul-split theory.
’Screw this, I can earn money for my business later...’
Levi instantly made up his decision to spend his precious credits and coins on resources to feed his seed... not wanting to go through such a grueling, slow experience.
As for the growth totems? He planned on using half and saving the other as an emergency fund for solar energy.
***
Sometime later...
Levi was seen inside the Nine Senses Ancestral Rooted Plane... he had just blown over half of the entire reserve of growth totems, and close to thirty thousand Nocrix credits on energy-based resources.
All to reach the second stage of his Junior rank!
As Levi gazed at the massive nanogram flower filled with millions of abilities, he didn’t feel the same amount of excitement as before... his heart was cold.
He finally started to understand how Ash’Kral had gone broke.
Levi floated in the direction of the Nanogram crimson flower and stood in front of the Spiritual Perception section of abilities.
Then, he reached out to the second line of abilities, which were slightly higher in quality than the bottom ones... He picked two leaves this time and turned them one by one.
// Aetheric Grasp: The user can project invisible spiritual strands to grasp, hold, or manipulate objects from a distance... these strands behave like extensions of your own limbs through Aether energy, but they are intangible to normal senses... no sound, no sight... only powerful spiritual vision can see them.//
// Whisper of Influence: The user plants subtle impulses or ideas into a target’s mind, guiding their thoughts or actions without them realizing it. It doesn’t force obedience, but gently nudges decisions, creates hesitation, or shifts focus... the higher the difference in spiritual prowess, the more likely for the influence to take effect and go unnoticed.//