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Chapter: 07
Gaining the Absorption Skill
Ganghyeon’s consciousness moved along the path connected to the laws of heaven and earth at the speed of thought.
Passing through a time where moments and lifetimes were indistinguishable, his consciousness finally reached the laws of heaven and earth.
“What… is this?”
He realized that something beyond comprehension was in front of him.
But that was all.
The true form of the laws remained hidden beyond perception.
“Ahhhh.”
Thirst.
His consciousness cried out in an uncontrollable thirst at being unable to reach the supreme truth and law before him.
A distant, alien presence suddenly knocked on Ganghyeon’s mind.
It was a sensation coming from Trant.
“Haah! Haaah!”
For a moment, Ganghyeon felt his entire consciousness shake from overwhelming pleasure.
A strong desire to surrender and enjoy it arose.
This was caused by the pleasure his Yeonggeun and body were feeling in reality transmitting to his consciousness.
“No… I can’t!”
Ganghyeon forced his mind awake, resisting the pleasure with desperate determination.
If he gave in, the hope of gaining something from the true laws would vanish.
“I have to find it.”
He had no time to think clearly about what he had to find.
Struggling against the pleasure, he sharpened his consciousness to extract something perceptible from the imperceptible.
Then, a strand of his sharpened awareness finally touched something.
“Absorption!”
At the same moment, the skill of absorption was engraved into his consciousness.
His consciousness and himself were instantly pulled back to the Trant Yeonggeun, like a stretched rubber band snapping back.
Even though it was beyond perception, he felt a deep regret leaving behind the distant true form of the laws.
“Ahhh!”
It felt as if a part of his soul was left there, engraving a desperate resolve in his mind that he must return and reunite.
“Haah…”
He exhaled deeply.
A trace of pleasure still lingered in his breath.
While his consciousness reached the distant laws, his body and Yeonggeun were immersed in the Law Joy of Seunggyeong.
The power of that Law Joy was overwhelming, unlike anything he had felt before.
“Be careful. If I get addicted to this Law Joy, I won’t escape.”
The pleasure of Law Joy was incomparable.
Some sages, seeking only Law Joy instead of truth, would fall into the wrong path.
Ganghyeon was aware of this danger.
He steadied his mind and exhaled deeply.
At that moment, his senses expanded in ways he had never experienced.
All his senses were amplified many times, and his spiritual energy felt much stronger.
“More importantly, my perception has expanded. The world looks different.”
Even the air in the training room felt different to him.
“Absorption, huh…”
He examined the skill engraved in his consciousness.
It had been inscribed almost instantaneously, unnoticed.
Now he understood naturally what power it held.
“It greatly increases efficiency in absorbing an object and taking its power as my own.”
Technically, everyone has absorption in some way.
Even ordinary people absorb energy from things they consume.
Translated to cultivation, it meant absorbing spiritual energy from the world to nourish the Great Way.
All living and non-living things could be absorbed.
But this was a divine skill given by the laws of heaven, making it immensely powerful.
“A skill that lets me take more, faster. Great… but it’s limited to Yeonggeun.”
He realized the skill only applied to Yeonggeun.
Still, he wondered if it could apply to his summoned Trant.
“Hmm? This is…”
He confirmed that the absorption skill also worked on the summoned Trant.
“If it were limited to Yeonggeun, its use would be restricted, but Trant can move in reality… its potential is limitless.”
He could summon Trant, merge it with Yeonggeun, and utilize the skill freely.
“Good.”
Ganghyeon entered the first floor of the Training Art ten months after the Daedongje began.
Indeok followed fifteen days later.
“Hehe, this feels good.”
“Feels good?”
“Yeah, I don’t know why I waited so long.”
“You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Huh?”
“You intentionally leveled up after me, right?”
“Oh… no?”
Ganghyeon smiled at Indeok, who had always followed his lead.
“Indeok, even if you go ahead, I can catch up. You don’t need to hold back. Do what you can.”
“Okay!”
They prepared to head out.
Ganghyeon stood up from the rock, brushing off dust, and Indeok followed, stuffing a dumpling in her mouth.
They had now finished the basics of tower training and were outside collecting training resources.
Children under nine trained together, while older ones were independent, surviving and gathering resources on their own.
“Anything visible?”
“Not much, a few faint ones.”
“Over there?”
“Yes.”
“Even weak spiritual energy is worth gathering. You never know when you’ll need it.”
They moved to the closest cluster of spiritual energy: some common but useful herbs.
“I’ll dig?”
“Yes.”
“Always me?”
“You need practice.”
Indeok admired Ganghyeon’s skill in using Earth-type Yeonggeun for softening soil.
“What’s with this? Is it cursed?”
Indeok frowned at the energy in the herbs.
“Yes, it’s the spirit flower again,” Ganghyeon confirmed.
This time, the spirit flower brought danger: a low-rank yokai.
“Even a low-rank yokai can use spiritual energy. Be careful.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
“G-Ganghyeon…”
“You need practical experience, not just sparring. Go, show your skill!”
The yokai was a hedgehog-type, strong in defense.
Indeok’s dual-element Yeonggeun (Thunder and Metal) made her formidable in defense, though weaker in offense.
“A low-rank yokai won’t pierce your spiritual armor. Go ahead!”
She attacked using her fists enhanced with spiritual energy, dodging and striking the hedgehog’s quills.
Soon, Indeok succeeded in hunting it, despite some needles piercing her side.
“This body is really strong.”
“Yes, the Thunder energy is burning the poison. It’ll subside soon.”
Ganghyeon collected the quills with high spiritual energy and checked for spiritual cores in the yokai.
Finding none, he summoned Trant in the consciousness space.
Trant wrapped the hedgehog’s corpse with its roots, absorbed it, and returned.
“The absorbed energy from the yokai nourishes Yeonggeun, while the rest strengthens the summoned Trant.”
Gradually, the distinction between Yeonggeun and summoned Trant became clearer.
“No need to manage the summon. Just hunt, and it will grow automatically.”
Ganghyeon watched Trant absorb the yokai with pride and returned his consciousness to reality.
