Chapter 68: One Cell to Rule Them
Garion sat cross-legged in his room, focusing inward on his own body as he thought about what he should do next.
"How do I reach the second realm..."
He could still remember when he touched the Black Origin; all of his mana cell pools were filled to the brim.
To step into the Condensation Stage of the Second Realm, he needed to compress the liquid mana inside the mana pool into something solid.
However, there was one specific problem with his unique body cultivation path.
"Which cell do I start with?"
He had trillions of mana pool cells in his body, but to condense them into something new, he had to be somewhere.
"Let’s just start it with what I think is the most important cell. The heart cell."
He placed his palm on his chest, feeling his own heartbeat.
"The heart pumps mana-infused blood through everything. If I start there, it’ll spread the effect naturally."
Garion focused on that single cell among the cluster of cells around his heart.
He began pulling mana from every other cell in his body, and slowly, he channeled them all toward one cell.
He could feel the pressure building inside as sweat rolled down his head.
The process was slower at first, but then something clicked.
Perhaps it was because each cell was microscopically smaller than a normal mana pool, so the compression occurred faster than expected.
Within just one hour, the mana solidified. The cell’s inner liquid turned dense and bright, forming tiny crystals.
Garion opened one eye, shocked.
"This fast?"
He could somewhat feel the difference in this single cell compared to the others. It was just heavier and denser.
A grin then spread across his face.
"So this is the Condensation Stage... or at least the weakest form of it."
He laughed quietly. Even though it was only one cell out of trillions, it worked.
But he wasn’t satisfied.
"Let’s take it one step further."
He then began to channel more mana into that once cell, and soon it began to transform once again.
Two hours passed before he finally opened his eyes again, smirking.
It was done.
That single cell had fully transformed into a mana seed, marking him as a cultivator of the Stabilization Stage.
Garion laughed under his breath.
"Finally, a mana seed... though it’s so small it can’t even be seen... but still, it’s progress."
He closed his eyes again, thinking.
"If I can push this further, what will happen? Will it directly become a mana core?"
He decided to find out.
Once again, he poured mana into his mana seed repeatedly, and hours passed in silence.
His body trembled from the strain, his heart pounding against his chest, but he gritted his teeth and continued.
After four more hours, it happened.
The tiny seed cell pulsed repeatedly before stabilizing, and in an instant, he could feel that his body had become a bit better.
"This feeling..."
He tried to check what had happened and noticed that the seed cell had transformed into a Mana Core.
"So this is what it feels like to have a Mana Core. Too bad mine is just too small, so I just felt a very small effect."
Garion also soon realized something from his mana core cell.
It moved easily with his heartbeat and seemed quite soft and flexible.
"Perfect. This means that if I turn all my cells into mana cores, my body won’t turn to stone."
For a moment, he wanted to laugh out loud, to shout that he’d done it, but he stopped himself.
He wasn’t finished yet, as he could feel that there was something more.
This was not the end of his cell transformation, so he straightened his posture once again, but then...
’Knock, knock’
Garion turned to the door, and Dahlia’s voice came through the door.
"Master? Do you wake up already?"
He sighed ligthly.
"What is it?"
There was a short pause before she spoke again.
"Are you going to train me today?"
Garion thought for a moment, then smiled faintly.
"No. Not for a while. I just had an epiphany, so you’ll have to train by yourself for the next three months."
There was silence from teh other side of the door. Then her curious voice came again.
"Ephipahany?"
Garion nodded, even though she couldn’t see him.
"Yeah. It’s something related to becoming a complete Second Realm cultivator."
Dahlia’s tone changed, becoming serious.
"I see. Then I’ll leave you to it, Master. Make sure to reach the second realm soon. Our future is in your hands."
Garion chuckled softly.
"Yeah, I will."
He heard her footsteps fade down the corridor as she left.
Dahlia made her way back toward the training hall, stretching her arms above her head as she walked.
"Three months, huh? That means I can finally take it easy for a while."
She looked around the vast training hall, remembering the times with Garion in the last mountain base.
He had made her run laps, do bench presses, dead lifts, and many other workouts until she nearly collapsed.
She just smirked a little.
"A little rest won’t hurt anyone."
Then she paused, glancing in the direction of Garion’s room.
"But still... I wonder if Master can really reach the second realm."
She looked back at her own body, flexing her arms.
"Our cultivation methods are so different from everyone else’s, as it was about turning every cell into mana pools."
She smirked again, shaking her head.
"But still knowing how crazy and smart he is, he probably make it work."
With that thought, she stepped into the training hall and began her solo training.
Meanwhile, in his room, Garion had already closed his eyes again.
He focused inward, back to the sole mana core cell that he had made earlier.
Garion clenched his fist slightly.
"Let’s see just how far you can go."
He began to breathe in even more mana than before, channelling all of it into one single cell.
"Show me what your true limit is!"