After several hours of listening and discussing their missions, they finally dispersed.

Some of them didn’t leave yet as they talked about private matters, while others, like Arun, dispersed as soon as possible.

Arun almost ran away as if he didn’t want to be in the vicinity of Illyan anymore.

Vanda, who saw that, sniggered.

“I heard what he did back then to you. He is such a stupid kid,” Vanda then turned her attention to Illyan.

“I wouldn’t think about it if I were you. It is just a boy going through puberty,” she added with a grin.

“I didn’t plan to,” Illyan answered curtly.

“Hehe~” Vanda smiled sweetly as she got closer to Illyan while posturing herself in front of him.

It was obvious that she wanted to continue the conversation in a more intimate tone, but Illyan just stared at her expressionlessly for a moment before excusing himself.

“Heh, what a shy boy…”

Vanda muttered as Illyan left right away...

……..

Illyan was on his way to his manor as he thought about the expedition they would go on in the next few days.

Vanda already disappeared from his mind as he wasn’t interested in the opposite sex nor the actions that could arise between them, as his mind was occupied by more important things.

At first, Illyan wasn’t interested in Korin’s matters, but after seeing all of this, he couldn’t say he wasn’t intrigued.

But he still kept his mind cool, as he knew that he had to prepare for any unforeseeable accidents on the trip.

Illyan was already mentally prepared that he would need to use the [Nature Breath Method] for the entire duration of the expedition, as he found out his life force was thinned out with its usage, which should help him hide from Ezekiel’s perception.

If possible, Illyan wanted to return back to Winterfrost town as soon as possible without any hitch.

Illyan was now closer than ever to finding his way of getting stronger, and being interrupted like this wasn’t exactly comfortable.

He would rather stay cooped up in his manor for at least another few years before leaving. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be, as the mayor’s command wasn’t something Illyan’s current status could go against...

But Illyan didn’t consider running away. Even if it was dangerous, he would attend.

His eyes glinted with murderous intent as he remembered the hand and leg that he severed from Ezekiel’s body and the dark crystal rods that were embedded inside.

Illyan felt his heart beating with burning desire to find the truth.

And if it was really as Illyan thought...

“I will kill you myself, even if I need to tear you limb from limb,” Illyan muttered to himself.

He returned to his manor and took out all the ingredients he needed for the last medicinal bath before leaving and went to the waterfall.

Recently, he refined the body parts of Ezekiel into very strong medicine powder and wanted to use it in the medicine bath for it to have a better medicinal effect.

He also used the severed mantis blade, as the monster’s essence inside was perfect for tempering the body.

He wanted to find a way to create a weapon from it, but unfortunately, it was too clumsy to be used as is, and it couldn’t be shaped either.

At first, Illyan thought it was metallic, but then he found the mantis blade was made out of chitin.

In the end, he gave up and ground it by softening it in a medicine solution first.

The same was done with the chimera tail’s skin, except that the poison was extracted from it beforehand.

He also took the essence of Caleb that he made back then and the newly created essence of Arwen to use in the bath.

Illyan felt conflicting emotions going through his mind as he stared at these vials. This wasn’t something normal and definitely wasn’t accepted by broad society.

But the burning desire for power and knowledge made Illyan forget such insignificant things, as he promised himself that he would not stop even if he had to turn into a fiend...

……..

In just an hour or so, Illyan got back to the waterfall and filled the pit with water and medicine.

The stronger he got, the faster he could move around.

As of now, Illyan collected 14 drops of Mind Power, and his body was as strong as that of a bear.

And now, he would go through another bath. He felt there would be a small breakthrough in the blood energy he had created during his [Blood Feeding Technique] sessions.

He felt the tension in his blood veins as the circulation of blood seemed to be slower, as if something was blocking it. He felt as if the blood needed power to break through this invisible veil to gain higher momentum!

Illyan calculated that it would still take time before breaking through this bottleneck.

However, with the help of the previously mentioned ingredients, Illyan had confidence in reaching his goal.

Soon after the cold water filled up the pit, Illyan opened the corks of the vials and carefully poured the essences down one by one.

At first, the medicine bath had a slightly greenish color because of the herbs and plants, but because of this, it turned into a slightly reddish or yellowish color.

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The water didn’t even need to be warmed up by the hot rocks, as the reaction of the essences being poured caused the thing to suddenly bubble.

The sign of boiling surprised Illyan, but he didn’t waste time as he sealed some of his acupoints before he jumped inside.

There, he did the exact same thing he did every time.

He sat down in the lotus position and closed his eyes.

His focus this time wasn’t on the runes, as this session wasn’t about Mind Power. Instead, his focus lay only on his blood.

He used a bit of Mind Power to observe it from the inside as he started to breathe underwater using the [Flow Breathing technique].

He still hadn’t condensed even a strand of the flow, but he mastered the breathing technique to such a high level that even experienced warriors would watch in amazement.

A normal person would be able to employ the technique for a limited time before needing a long recovery, but Illyan was different.

He trained in the technique for long periods to the point of his body breaking down.

The Spiritual Energy was flowing through his body naturally, as he did it so often that even his affinity rose up a bit.

But that was secondary, as he started to employ another technique.

[Blood Feeding Technique]

The already boiling water began to boil at an even faster rate, as another source of heat started to come off from Illyan’s body.

Suddenly, the medicine started to swirl around his body as it entered Illyan’s body through his skin’s acupoints, mouth, and nose.

His muscles, despite being flexible and strong, started to tear apart fiber by fiber as they turned into flesh essence before mixing with the medicine essence.

The pressure built up as the energy slowly proceeded to be embedded into the blood vessels through mysterious power.

Illyan didn’t notice at that moment, as he had closed his eyes and was in deep meditation, but his blood started to glow with a mysterious light.

The glow could be seen through his veins, illuminating the entire medicine bathtub.

Each of his veins was accentuated at this very moment with a slightly red and orange color, as his blood started to gain unimaginable properties.

If before, the magical properties of the blood were invisible and incorporeal, then now it was as if his blood had turned magical.

The blood started to circulate much faster through his body as it passed through all his body parts.

This also caused his body to be washed by this mysterious energy, creating symbiosis. His flesh regrew at a rapid pace as his blood nourished his body.

The next day.

Illyan woke up hungry, but there was no weakness in his body, and he felt great.

He looked at his naked body and saw that it was sculpted to perfection.

If, before leaving the Blood Crow Forest, he was giant with a bulky physique, then now he was like a mortal god walking on earth.

Each of his muscles was defined and aesthetically pleasing. The originally bulky appearance had changed as the muscles compressed to a much smaller size. However, they were far from being only aesthetic.

The power coursing through Illyan’s body was like that of a raging bull.

Illyan felt satisfied with his newfound strength as he wanted to rise from the pit.

“Whoa?!” However, the moment he did so, it was like he was flying for a second as he jumped several meters up.

What he didn’t realize was that as he took a deep breath, he unknowingly employed the flow technique, which caused his blood energy to rise for a second.

But while he was surprised for a moment, it didn’t take long before he did somersaults during the flight, easily landing on his legs.

The ground violently shook as his legs hit the ground.

‘Am I heavier?’ Illyan felt that his body was leaner than ever, but at the same time, it was at its heaviest.

Illyan worried that it could cause some problems when he walked around, especially in towns where the roads and floors were made from various materials.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem that bad as he walked around for a bit before getting used to it.

With light steps, Illyan soon became as nimble as a doe thanks to his precise body movements.

He ran around enjoying the wind caressing his face and the hair he left loose as he jumped around.

This time, he didn’t even need to climb the trees, as he could jump over five meters when he got serious. He felt like he could take on dozens of acolytes in just a few minutes with all the strength coursing through his body.

And that created a question in his mind.

How strong was he?!

When he jumped back on the ground, he turned his attention to one of the trees.

The tree was so thick that Illyan would have a problem hugging it completely, which meant it was perfect to test his strength.

He grinned as he threw a punch at it casually.

Boom

His fist embedded itself in the tree trunk, but it withstood his power.

With a slight tug, he pulled it out.

His strength had risen, and his body was tougher, but he still had a slightly bloodied hand as the skin was torn a little.

But Illyan only smiled as he watched the wounds seal immediately after.

Then, with the help of the breathing technique, he channeled the blood energy.

He didn’t know exactly how it worked or whether it was an efficient method, but he didn’t care for the moment as he stomped while punching the tree as hard as possible!

Boom

The entire trunk exploded into splinters as the tree shuddered, and all the snow on its branches fell down, veiling Illyan’s sight.

A few seconds after the snow settled down, Illyan saw the result of his attack.

A hole the size of a head appeared in the middle of the tree, while the surroundings were completely broken and twisted in a circular shape, as if the explosion came from within and not from an external attack.

“Hahaha!” Illyan’s eyes widened as he laughed out loud.

If Ezekiel dared to meet him right now, wouldn’t he be completely demolished?

The feeling of power was intoxicating to him as he thought of murdering that man.

It was just then that he felt the breeze caress him again.

Maybe it was just him, but he felt the wind was slightly silvery.

At that moment, he stopped laughing, his expression returning to an emotionless state. This sudden change made his calmness look extremely eerie, and anyone who witnessed it would think he was a madman.

But Illyan was simply thinking deeply about the acolytes and their methods of fighting.

Illyan was like a savage beast stalking its prey. Once it attacked, it used its entire might to kill the prey at once.

But the acolytes were different.

They used every possible way to avoid using their mana, and if they were in dire straits, they tended to use the least amount of mana possible.

That was mainly because Illyan’s recovery was much higher than the acolytes’ mana recovery.

They didn’t want to lose their progress in an unwanted battle.

That’s why they furthered their interests through servants and other means, such as the darkglade centipedes.

This caused a huge disparity in most of their battle experiences. Illyan could easily beat them in one-on-one battles. Maybe even two-on-ones if they were on the same level as the centipede trio.

In the end, hesitation was their doom.

If they hadn’t split up and had gone all out from the beginning, there was no way the girl could have played them like that back then.

But even then, they would have struggled.

Her casting speed was much faster, and her spells were stronger despite creating lesser fluctuations. It was obvious that she was much better than them at using her powers.

In the end, she asked for his help not out of necessity but out of convenience and interest in him. His interference allowed her to save some mana.

Now, this woman hadn’t shown power stronger than that of Ezekiel, yet she was already so terrifying.

Then what about him? What did he hide?

Was his molting his tail really a miserable escape, or did he just toy with Illyan?

He didn’t know. But he knew that by now he had probably recovered with his strange powers.

And since he was a peak acolyte who had learned not to underestimate him…

‘He is dangerous...’ Illyan’s eyes glinted. He needed to be careful now.

The same went for Aziro. That man was dangerous too. He didn’t need to expend much energy to cause a huge burst of power through his undead or the green flame he used.

In the end, Illyan curbed his ego.

‘Transcendent… That’s the stage when I will allow myself to be arrogant. Everything below is an insect...’

Despite not knowing how strong a Transcendent Person was or if they really existed, Illyan decided that it was his long-term goal for now. If he found the Ice Dragon or the Truth Eyeball to be stronger, he would gladly change this goal, but for now, this was it.

As for his short-term goal…

Recultivating the mortal, novice, and apprentice stages to full completion sounded like a good goal.

All for creating a solid foundation to break through the Expert Stage.

Just as Illyan thought about this, he returned to his manor.

However, he noticed that there were two people sitting on the bench in front of the main door.

One of them was Vael. He was wearing a face mask covering his mouth due to his illness.

However, the second person was much smaller with a petite posture.

The person was covered in robes, which made Illyan think of the acolytes.

But when he noticed the strands of the person’s hair, he froze as he stared from a distance.

This person was familiar!