Chapter 83: Effects Of A Higher Cultivation Talent

After a long stretch of searching, Adam finally found what he was looking for. The latest edition of the upgraded essence cultivation technique or more accurately, the upgraded essence absorption technique.

He paused for a moment, eyes lingering on the details.

The difference between this and the standard technique he had used until now was almost laughable. The standard technique had only one edition, which has been unchanged since its creation. But the upgraded version?

It was already in its 1024th edition.

That number alone spoke volumes.

Humanity had not relented. Five hundred years after the monster invasion, they were still refining, revising, and perfecting their methods, driven by an unending hunger for power and survival.

Every flaw discovered led to another revision, every bottleneck another breakthrough.

But innovation always came at a cost.

The price was displayed boldly in front of him.

[1024th Edition – Upgraded Essence Absorption Technique]

Price: $1,200,000

Adam didn’t react.

Not because the price was expensive, but because he could afford it. And that fact alone felt surreal.

Back then, with just $15,000, he had bought everything he owned: a standard essence absorption technique, a dirty bronze conduit, and a yellow-grade martial technique he still hadn’t used since he hadn’t officially stepped into the martial ranks.

Now, just the upgraded version of a cultivation technique cost nearly a hundred times that amount.

The contrast was staggering.

So this is what growth looks like, Adam thought calmly.

The realization that he could even consider buying something like this was proof of how far he’d come. Still, that didn’t change the truth, it was painfully expensive.

If only that discount applied to techniques, he mused briefly. That would’ve been nice.

Unfortunately, luck didn’t stretch that far, and apart from that, there was no way to get free copies, as the alliance had used a secret technique to make copying the digital text impossible.

Adam didn’t hesitate.

He confirmed the purchase.

Ding.

His phone chimed as the funds were deducted.

[Balance: $243,854]

A large amount by any normal standard, yet small compared to what he’d had just moments ago.

Adam wasn’t worried.

With the monster parts sitting in his storage ring, he could easily make most of it back.

Almost immediately, a file was soon delivered to his device, it was the essence absorption technique.

Adam didn’t waste a second, as he opened it.

The moment Adam began skimming through the upgraded essence absorption technique, the effects of his newly equipped D-rank cultivation talent made themselves known.

There was no resistance.

No confusion.

No pauses where he had to reread a line three or four times just to grasp its meaning.

The information flowed into him smoothly, almost eagerly, as if his mind had been waiting for this kind of material all along. Compared to when he had first learned the standard essence absorption technique, where every section had felt clunky, inefficient, and needlessly convoluted, this was night and day.

The movements made sense.

The breathing cycles felt natural.

Even the mental state required to guide essence no longer felt abstract or vague.

Adam’s eyes flicked across the screen at a terrifyingly fast pace.

No, fast was an understatement.

The rate at which he was learning was several times faster than anything he had experienced before. What once would have taken him hours, or even days, was being broken down, digested, and internalized almost instinctively.

He glanced at the time.

I’ll be generous, he thought calmly.

Nine minutes should be enough.

And just as predicted.

When the ninth minute ticked by, Adam already had it. He had fully grasped the movements, the breathing patterns, and most importantly, the state of mind required to begin proper cultivation.

There was no hesitation.

Adam immediately set the file aside and prepared to begin. But before he started, his gaze shifted to his storage ring. One by one, he brought out every resource he had purchased to boost essence absorption.

Pills.

Liquids.

Refined materials.

They filled the room with a faint, sharp scent of concentrated essence.

Adam studied them briefly.

His soul had already been strengthened by the soul pearls, and their effect was still active, enhancing his absorption speed. For most martial artists, this would have been more than enough.

But Adam wasn’t aiming for “enough.”

He didn’t want to absorb essence in trickles. He didn’t want buckets. He wanted a flood. No, he wanted to absorb an entire lake of essence and force it into submission.

Because Adam wasn’t planning something reasonable. He wasn’t planning something safe. He wasn’t even planning something sane.

His eyes hardened as the thought fully formed.

Thirty hours.

That was all he had if not lesser. And within that time, Adam intended to do something absurd and reckless. Something that would make any sane martial artist laugh him out of the room.

He intended to step into the Apprentice rank.

In a single night.

Adam’s plan to step into the Apprentice rank was neither elegant nor safe. It was brute force.

He intended to use the same principle he had applied with the soul pearls.

Overdose.

But this time it would be on a completely different level. Soul pearls were gentle by nature, they reinforced and nourished the soul in a stable manner, especially when compared to the volatility of essence-based resources.

Raw essence did not nurture; it invaded. It flooded the body violently, tearing through meridians, muscles, organs and anything too weak to withstand it.

That was why so many martial artists advanced slowly. Their bodies simply couldn’t endure more.

So if Adam wanted to force advancement within a single night, there was only one solution. He had to make his body strong enough to survive being torn apart.

And the way to do that was simple.

Adam cleared the center of his room, pushing furniture aside without hesitation. In the next moment, he reached into his storage ring and brought out the upper half of the elite frost golem he had killed while leaving Golem Tundra.

The massive corpse hit the floor with a heavy thud.

Its icy-blue stone flesh radiated a faint chill, and its sheer size nearly filled the room.

Fortunately, Adam’s hotel room was large enough to barely accommodate it. To any observer, it would look like routine behavior. A martial artist examining monster materials.

Adam approached the corpse calmly and placed his hand on it, his expression neutral. But the moment his palm made contact, his eyes sharpened.

[Connect] activated and the familiar sensation of drifting between wakefulness and sleep washed over him as his vision shifted. Through the frost-hardened flesh, he saw it clearly, the monster’s talent structure, cold and stable, still intact despite its death.

Adam didn’t hesitate.

He equipped it.

Freeze F.

The moment the talent was absorbed, a faint chill coursed through his body, sinking into his muscles, bones, and blood, the feeling was grounding.

Adam stepped away from the corpse, as he stored it back into his ring, and let out a slow breath.

This was only the first layer.

Now, with Freeze F reinforcing his body’s resistance, he finally had the foundation he needed to endure what came next. Adam focused inward and summoned his panel, ready to see exactly how much stronger he had become.

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