Chapter 82 - Forming Core

{Argus's POV}

Argus knew he needed to absorb more of the wisp energies, as the two wisps alone would not be enough to form his core.

Another wisp of crimson and dark energy emerged from the two vortexes. Not long after, another appeared, and soon, the vortexes began releasing a new wisp of energy every minute.

Argus started to absorb each wisp as it came. Every time the energies entered his body, he felt excruciating pain. The more he absorbed, the more the pain stacked, growing more unbearable with each wisp. His body trembled under the pressure.

His skin began to crack, and blood dripped down his body. Every time he absorbed a wisp, his body seemed to tear apart, but thankfully, it would heal after a short while, only to crack again as the next wisp

entered.

Despite the agony, Argus knew he couldn't afford to lose focus. He had to run the formula in his mind with all his strength. One wrong move, and the energies he had already absorbed would tear him apart from the inside out, destroying his body instantly and would result to his death.

'This should be enough.'

Argus thought, having already calculated the amount of energy needed to form his core. Inside his body, three types of energy swirled: his own cyan-colored Mana, the dark wisp energy, and the crimson wisp energy.

Argus began running the formula to control the two dangerous wisp energies. Curious, he also applied the formula to control his own Mana, and to his relief, it worked. Controlling his Mana was much easier than managing the other two volatile energies.

With this in mind, Argus first gathered all the cyan Mana from throughout his body, pulling it into one concentrated spot. After stabilizing his Mana, he turned his attention to the crimson wisp energy, which, though powerful, was easier to control compared to the dark wisp. He gathered the crimson energy next, keeping it tightly contained.

Finally, he focused on the dark wisp energy. The most unruly and dangerous of the three.

After gathering all three energies, his cyan-colored Mana, the crimson wisp energy, and the dark wisp energy. Argus brought them together in one concentrated spot near his solar plexus. The core could be placed either in the solar plexus or the lower abdomen, both common choices for energy cultivation. However, Argus decided to create his core in his solar plexus, simply because he wanted to.

The three wisps of energy from Argus' point of view now looked like clouds, each made up of a different type of energy—his cyan Mana, the crimson wisp, and the dark wisp.

Argus' concentration sharpened as he prepared for the next step, knowing it would be the most crucial part of the process. To form a core or orb, the energy needed to be condensed and solidified. This was a delicate process; the more solid the core, the stronger the stats he would gain. Cores and orbs could vary in color, from red to black, with the rare and mysterious violet, as seen in Astrea's orb. This would be the first real indicator of one's potential.

First, Argus focused on controlling the cyan mist energy, his Mana. He gathered it in the center of his solar plexus, preparing it to be solidified as the foundation of his core.

However, Argus suddenly halted as a new idea struck him. Without hesitation, he put it into action. He controlled one-third of his cyan mist Mana and carefully placed it in his solar plexus, then left it there.

Next, he took one-third of the crimson wisp energy and slowly guided it into the solar plexus as well. Argus was confident that nothing would go wrong if these two volatile energies came into contact with his Mana; they seemed to blend well together, as if they were friends.

Once the crimson energy and cyan Mana were gathered in the solar plexus, Argus willed them to mix. At first, nothing happened, but he refused to give up. He kept trying, focusing all his will and concentration on getting the energies to merge.

However, despite his efforts, nothing happened. The two energies seemed to want to fuse but just wouldn't merge, no matter what Argus tried.

Frustrated, Argus removed the crimson energy from his solar plexus and replaced it with one-third of the dark wisp energy. He tried to fuse the dark wisp with the cyan Mana, but again, the result was nothing.

He lost track of time, but his focus remained constant. After some time, he stopped trying to fuse the energies, realizing that while his idea seemed promising, something essential was missing to make it work.

Suddenly, Argus felt his body begin to shake. Pain started to spread throughout his entire body, gradually increasing in intensity. His skin began to crack once again under the pressure of the energy currents.

'It seems my body cannot handle the amount of energy inside.'

Though his face remained expressionless due to his skill, Argus knew he had to think quickly. He needed to find a solution before the situation became critical.

Another idea suddenly flashed in Argus' mind, though it was risky. His intuition warned him of the danger, yet it seemed to agree with the plan.

'It's dangerous, but... I can only gamble.'

Argus took a deep breath, increasing his focus. He then brought one-third of each energy close to each other within his solar plexus.

As the crimson energy approached the cyan Mana, they seemed to want to fuse, but nothing happened when they touched. The same was true for the dark wisp energy; it touched the cyan Mana, but no reaction occurred.

Then Argus noticed a change he had been anticipating. When the two volatile energies neared each other, they seemed incompatible, as if repelling each other. Each time the two energies collided, Argus felt a sharp, searing pain coursing through his body. The clash of the energies created a powerful surge that threatened to overwhelm him. He could feel the pressure building, and he feared his body might burst from the intensity of the collisions.

Argus, without changing his expression, began running the formula. He made the three energies rotate in a pattern similar to how he had seen the vortexes form.

Due to the rotation, the collision of the two volatile energies, the crimson and dark wisp resulted in a powerful, turbulent interaction. Their constant clashes created surges of energy that intensified the pressure and pain within Argus.

However, his cyan Mana acted as a stabilizing force. It began to calm the volatile energies, gently guiding and integrating them into itself. The cyan Mana worked to harmonize the crimson and dark energies, facilitating their fusion.

As the rotation accelerated, the collisions between the energies became more intense, causing the pain Argus felt to increase dramatically. His body began to crack more extensively under the immense pressure, each crack growing larger as the force within him intensified.

Argus could only press on, trusting in his body's ability to endure due to his regeneration.

As the rotation speed increased, the three different colors of the energies began to blend together, becoming indistinguishable. The pressure from the swirling vortex of energy grew so intense that Argus felt as if he might die from it.

Determined, Argus did not pause the rotation. Instead, he immediately started running the formula to solidify the energies. If he didn't act quickly, his body would burst from the relentless pressure. His regeneration struggled to keep up with the damage inflicted by the vortex's force, making it crucial to stabilize the core before it was too late.

Argus envisioned a rhombohedron-like shape for his core and concentrated on shaping the vortexes. Despite the chaotic state of the energies, he poured all his willpower into controlling them. Gradually, the vortexes began to respond to his commands, forming the desired shape.

He then focused on solidifying the core. The solidification process began at the bottom and worked its way up, progressively taking form. As the core solidified, the pressure from the vortexes began to ease, relieving some of the intense strain on his body.

He kept using his willpower to speed up the solidification. The vortexes slowly became stable and turned into a solid, red color rhombohedron-like crystal core. Argus succeeded, a smile would have appeared on his face.

Outside his body, Argus was drenched in blood, with his entire body and Wudi covered in it.

Argus was also sweating heavily, but the sweat was masked by his own blood. His face was extremely pale from the blood loss. Although his body was healing, it would take some time to recover fully.

If his skill wasn't active, a bitter smile would have appeared on his face as he looked at the remaining energies inside him. Despite the pain, he continued to run the cultivation formula to control the volatile energies while solidifying the core.

"Two more times, I guess? I never heard of an awakener having three cores. I guess I'll be the first."

With the remaining energies inside him, Argus could still create two more cores. This was not part of his plan, but he decided to try it anyway. Before he could begin, he was bombarded with messages through telepathy.

Astrea and the others realized that the Master's current state was critical and immediately contacted him.

"Master!"

Before they could say anything more, Argus interrupted.

"I'm fine. Just guard me here and make sure no one comes near."

He then cut off their connection to avoid any further disturbances.