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Once Karsha breaks the curse on the island, they'll finally be able to surpass the Tier 7 bottleneck and advance to the next stage—the Sage level, or Tier 8, as they call it. This is a huge deal for them. They've been stuck at Tier 7 for years, and as Saints, they only get an extra 1,000 years of lifespan.
Despite their slightly longer lifespans compared to humans, many of their people have died over ti.
Breaking through to the Sage stage will give them an additional 10,000 years of lifespan, allowing them to advance even further in their cultivation. But for them, there's sothing even more important than just living longer.
"We can finally get stronger and look for Brother Morr," Tifa said, her expression tinged with a bit of moodiness. Morr, Ayarr's senior brother and the original assassin of the shadow guards, disappeared 45 years ago when humans attacked their race and brought the Overlords to their doorstep.
The four of them fell into a coma after the battle, missing the chance to search for him. Trapped on the island, they've carried his mory in their hearts and continued his legacy. That's what they've been doing ever since Karsha helped them.
But now things are changing. With Karsha starting to take down the Overlords and collecting all the Destiny Keys, he'll be able to break the island's curse and lift all the limitations once all 10 keys are gathered. When that happens, they'll be able to level up and finally leave the island.
"We have to help him in every way we can," Dhaka said, prompting a round of nods from his teammates.
"Honestly, at this point, I'm not sure if we're helping him or if he's helping us," Kilian said with a grin. Karsha had already upgraded most of them with powerful weapons, avatars, and skills. All they did was hold off the annoying snakes so Karsha could reach their boss.
As usual, once the battle started, their fights paused, and they moved back to the outer section where no monster was too weak to attack them.
"We still need to explore the Inner Island. We better get stronger so we can keep up with him when the ti cos," Dhaka said. The others nodded in agreent. Since they couldn't contribute much at the mont, they needed to grow stronger so they could be ready when Karsha ca calling.
anwhile, while these four were having their discussion, Karsha and Alida continued their cultivation in peace. Karsha had spent about a day taking down three Overlords, so he had a few days to spare. Using this ti to relax and grow stronger sounded like a solid plan.
Two hours into his cultivation, Karsha began to notice a change. His senses started expanding, and the air around him seed to slow down. The flas surrounding him began to swirl, moving clockwise from left to right.
Karsha had finally found a way to synchronize his breathing with the fla and began to grasp its essence. Three minutes later, the first system ssage appeared.
< Ding! Your understanding of the Fire elent has increased >
Karsha was so absorbed in his breath control that he barely noticed the notifications popping up. Ten minutes later, the second ssage appeared, followed by a flurry of others.
< Ding! Your understanding of the Fire elent has increased >
< Ding! Your understanding of the Fire elent has increased >
< Ding! Your understanding of the Fire elent has increased >
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< Ding! Congratulations, you have attained dium Affinity for the Fire Elent >
Once Karsha synced his breathing with the fire, he advanced to dium Affinity for the Fire Elent. This breakthrough allowed him to move on to the next step: 'Internal Fla Control.' This stage focuses on internalizing the fla and getting accustod to it before harnessing it outward.
This step requires intense concentration and high resistance to fire. Karsha, who is still laying the foundation for this control, will need considerable ti to adapt to the feeling. Fortunately, with the 10,000-year-old fire crystal in his possession, he can absorb its essence to aid in building his foundation.
The crystal floated out of his inventory and hovered before him. Karsha was so engrossed in his cultivation that he barely noticed. It wasn't until the first essence of the crystal entered his body that he flinched slightly, but he didn't stop.
The crystal began to spin slowly, releasing its energy into Karsha's body. Thirty minutes passed, and the crystal's size hardly diminished. Despite being surrounded by a sea of flas, Karsha was drenched in sweat. His face contorted in excruciating pain, and every muscle in his body tensed as he gritted his teeth.
The intense heat surged through him, causing his skin to redden and his breathing to beco ragged. Yet, he pressed on, enduring the relentless agony as the fire's essence continued to seep into him.
The energy flowing into Karsha's body began to reshape his internal organs, adapting them to handle the intense Fire energy. Hours slipped by in what felt like monts. The crystal, once a large, imposing object, was now reduced to the size of a pill. Karsha, now accustod to the excruciating pain, no longer showed any signs of distress.
After another five hours, the last remnants of the fla crystal's energy surged into Karsha's body. A powerful burst of energy erupted from him, causing the surrounding flas to swirl and dance around him. Alida, who had finished her own cultivation two hours earlier, stood a hundred ters away, watching in awe.
The flas circling Karsha began to funnel into his body at an astonishing rate. "Where is all this fla going?" Alida wondered aloud as she noticed the once-vast sea of flas dwindling. Karsha seed to be absorbing nearly all of it into himself.
Two hours later, the sea of flas, which had initially stretched over several kiloters, had shrunk to just a hundred ters. Karsha had absorbed almost all of it, leaving behind only a small, yet still fiercely burning, pond of flas.
Karsha opened his eyes, which montarily glowed an intense orange before returning to their usual golden-red hue. He stood up, surveying Alida, whose face was still etched with shock. Karsha offered her a knowing smile, fully aware of the astonishing feat he had just accomplished—sothing that would leave many others in disbelief and envy.
Having built his foundation with the Fire Crystal, Karsha's body had adapted remarkably well to the fla. But he didn't stop there. Drawing inspiration from the way fire is used in alchemy to extract dicinal essences and in blacksmithing to temper tals, Karsha used the flas to fortify his ridians.
The fire's intense heat had tempered his ridians, making them incredibly resilient and robust.
While Karsha's progress is impressive, he'll need to seek even more powerful flas in the future to further enhance his understanding of fire. Weaker flas will no longer have much impact on him, as his body and organs have grown capable of withstanding most fires.
Though he's not yet immune to flas, his body has reached a level where standing amidst fire feels almost natural. His grasp of the Fire elent remains at the dium level, but his control and understanding have significantly improved beyond his previous abilities.
His fire skills have grown imnsely powerful, and he's eager to test their effectiveness in his next battle. Beyond combat, Karsha's alchemy skills have also advanced considerably. One of the most crucial aspects of alchemy is fire control, which is essential for extracting the dicinal essence from herbs and flowers.
Many alchemists struggle with this process, often wasting their herbs by extracting only a minimal amount of essence. This not only decreases their success rate but also affects the purity and quality of their pills.
The condensing and refining stages are equally critical. Once the essence condenses, controlling the fire to refine it and increase its purity is essential. Karsha's knowledge from the Divine Alchemist legacy focuses heavily on this stage. Because of this, he has honed his ability to gauge the purity level and rank of pills before he even begins the process, ensuring high-quality results.
With Karsha's enhanced understanding of the fla, his alchemical skills have also seen a significant boost. Once he completes the second step and advances to the third, he'll be able to fully harness the fla, pushing his skills even closer to the Sage stage of Alchemy.
"How was your cultivation?" Karsha asked, pulling Alida from her thoughts.
"It was great. With a bit more comprehension, I'll finally reach the Excellent stage," she replied.
Karsha smiled and stored the snake's body in his inventory. "That's fantastic. Although the fla sea is almost depleted, the effect is still the sa. You can co here anyti to cultivate. It should grow back soon enough," he said, trying not to feel too guilty. He had absorbed most of the fla sea, but Alida didn't seem to mind.
After all, if Karsha hadn't taken down the snake, they might never have discovered such a treasure.
Turning towards the fortress, Karsha deactivated it. The four shadow guards, who had been hiding within, felt a sudden wave of heat. Alida quickly floated the flying boat. She and Karsha jumped in, and then they picked up the four shadow guards and set off from the blazing desert.
Their next destination was the Crimson Canyon, where they would be facing their next Overlord, Bloodfang, the vampire snake.
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