Chapter 17: Playing Dirty, Don’t Play Anymore

Let's skip the latter half of the effects.

The first half was quite similar to Anna's process of absorbing and advancing.

During Anna's absorption, Ashu could clearly feel that the surrounding Magical Essence had become much thinner. Right now, it was slowly being replenished by Magical Essence from other spaces.

So, if...

According to the rule that the more Magical Essence a mage has solidified within their body, the stronger their spells become, could he, when facing a mage, be a bit more gentlemanly, shake their hand, make friends, and then try to see if he could directly absorb the mage's Magical Essence?

After all, once a mage becomes a full cultivator, the amount of Magical Essence within their body already surpasses that of the surrounding space by a great deal.

Nature's Absorption Technique?

No, it should be Mage's Absorption Technique!

Absorbing the solidified Magical Essence from a mage's body would be like what happened to Anna earlier.

Admittedly.

A small skill like this is nothing compared to the devouring power of the evil god's mark.

But when facing a mage, it could at least disarm them.

"Would you like to try, Ashu?" Anna asked.

Ashu looked at Anna. Directly absorbing Anna's essence would be convenient, but she was his woman. She had only just taken this step forward with difficulty.

So.

He looked outside the house and said, "The Magical Essence here is too thin. I'll move to another place to absorb it."

Anna nodded and said with a pleased tone, "It seems your control over Magical Essence has improved a lot. Being able to sense it so clearly means you're very close to advancing."

Ashu couldn't help but smile inwardly. How could he not improve? Anna was like a machine for leveling up his skills, always helping him enhance his abilities every day.

"Let's go find a suitable place."

The difference between a commoner and a cultivator became apparent at this moment.

The villagers had no idea what the two of them were doing in the village, while the two of them were already following their senses, searching for areas rich in Magical Essence.

After walking for quite some time, they finally found a suitable area.

Looking back, they had arrived at the wasteland outside the village.

In other words, just Anna's advancement to a full cultivator had already drained the Magical Essence from the Gorn Village area.

"Anna, if you reach the Saint level, will you drain the entire continent's Magical Essence in an instant?" Ashu asked.

"You'll find out when you reach the Saint level yourself," Anna replied.

Ashu felt a bit pessimistic. If the total amount of Magical Essence in the world was limited, then the more peak-level powerhouses there were, the less remaining Magical Essence there would be, and fewer cultivators would rise to prominence in the future.

Setting the future aside, was it possible that the world's Magical Essence had already been reduced?

After all, the cultivation world had been developing for thousands of years.

Perhaps the average amount of Magical Essence in the world used to be much richer? Advancing was something that could be done without much effort?

Ashu took a deep breath, temporarily pushing these thoughts aside.

Standing in the wasteland, he closed his eyes and began to absorb the Magical Essence.

This was a huge test of his Magical Essence control ability. He needed to solidify it one-to-one with his body. If either aspect was lacking, it wouldn't count as a successful advancement.

Any deviation, no matter how small, would naturally mean that the advancement was unsuccessful.

If it were just haphazardly accumulating, it wouldn't be considered a true cultivator.

Even though Ashu had a magical essence control ability several times greater than normal, the actual operation was still somewhat taxing.

Instinctively, he imagined himself as a human-shaped jar. After absorbing the Magical Essence, it began accumulating from the soles of his feet.

However, there were always some details about his body that he hadn't fully paid attention to.

A joint, a wrinkle, the movement of his muscles, the rise and fall of his breathing...

Any tiny motion could lead to failure in solidifying the essence.

"This is quite a challenge," Ashu muttered to himself.

"Of course, after all, every year, many people with spiritual perception talents are detected, but not many actually become cultivators," Anna comforted him. "Take it easy, go slow, don't rush."

Ashu wasn't about to give up.

An idea suddenly struck him, and he decided to skip class.

"Nature's Absorption Technique," he activated!

This was an automatic absorption skill, with the key part being the transformation after absorption.

Right now, the focus was on preventing the transformation.

Ashu closed his eyes and began to carefully analyze the workings of this skill in his mind.

In the rules of the skill, there would always be a "transformation" command, like writing computer code—how things worked up to a certain point, and then how things would change at a specific node.

Fortunately.

This was a super skill rewarded by the system, not one he had learned himself. The system's rewards were always extremely detailed to ensure that the host could use them effectively.

Soon, he sifted through the massive amount of information and pinpointed the factor responsible for the transformation.

So...

As Ashu completed his analysis, Nature's Absorption Technique immediately went into overdrive, absorbing the surrounding Magical Essence at a speed dozens of times faster than a normal person advancing to a cultivator!

If Anna's absorption could be compared to a whirlpool, Ashu's absorption now was like a high-pressure vacuum!

Anna's expression changed, her eyes widening as she stared at Ashu. Was it really possible for a cultivator apprentice to absorb so wildly?

Then, concern crept in. Could Ashu handle such a wild absorption of Magical Essence?

"Ashu..."

Anna moved forward, wanting to interrupt him. But just as her fingers were about to touch him, her spiritual perception at level twelve sent her a sharp warning. She suddenly realized what would happen if she touched Ashu—if she did, not only would she fail to stop him, but Ashu would continue absorbing, pulling in the Magical Essence from within her body as well.

For a beginner who was advancing for the first time, absorbing two sources of formal cultivator-level Magical Essence would undoubtedly be far more dangerous than the situation they were in right now.

She couldn't let Ashu be harmed.

"Ashu..."

With her heightened perception, she could clearly sense that the way the Magical Essence accumulated inside Ashu's body was different from others.

When others advanced, their Magical Essence was gradually accumulated, transported, and filled throughout their body, slowly spreading.

But Ashu had turned himself into a jar, and after the Magical Essence rushed into his body, it started to accumulate from the bottom up, being compressed and stored at an intense rate.

Yet, somehow, these wild accumulations of Magical Essence didn't result in any misalignment, bulging, or leakage.

His body seemed to become completely airtight, nothing entering or leaving.

Before long.

Ashu's absorption gradually weakened and eventually stopped.

It wasn't because he had exhausted his energy, but because the surrounding Magical Essence had been completely drained.

Yes, it was empty.

Completely empty, like a wasteland, with not a single trace of Magical Essence remaining!

Magical Essence from other spaces was slowly drifting towards this area, but it couldn't arrive fast enough.

Ashu didn't stop voluntarily—he was forced to stop because he couldn't absorb anything more.

He opened his eyes. The Magical Essence in his body, which had been absorbed by Nature's Absorption Technique, hadn't been converted. Instead, it remained within him.

"Did I... succeed?" Ashu asked.

Anna hesitated for a moment, then gently touched Ashu's neck with her finger. She smiled slightly, "Congratulations, Ashu. You're officially a mage now."

His absorption had indeed stopped. Anna thought to herself.

Moreover, the Magical Essence in his body wasn't the standard mage-level; it was actually more than that.

He had compressed the Magical Essence.

"In the perception of those with spiritual perception abilities, a normal cultivator's Magical Essence would appear as a faint blue. The deeper the color, the more solidified the Magical Essence, and the more powerful the person. If it turns purple, that means they're a grand mage," Anna explained.

"What color am I?"

"You're blue."

Anna looked up at the sky, which was a deeper shade of blue than hers.

Here she was, a quasi-witch, undergoing second-round cultivation, and yet she had been surpassed by someone without spiritual perception.

She felt a bit defeated.

Luckily, this person was her fiancé.

Ashu followed her gaze toward the sky. Though he didn't have spiritual perception, he at least knew what color he would be in the eyes of others.

"Official cultivator... mage... Next step, grand mage!"

Seeing Ashu so full of enthusiasm, Anna couldn't help but smile. She spoke up, "After becoming an official cultivator, you need to report to the Cultivator Guild. You'll need their recognition. The Cultivator Guild will issue some tasks, though of course, you don't have to accept them."

Ashu was already aware of this.

As a simple country farmer, suddenly possessing cultivator-level strength made him a high-impact figure in the rural areas.

If the Cultivator Guild were like a police station, this would be his registration process.

The wizard from the neighboring village, Creekwater Village, never received the Cultivator Guild's recognition in his lifetime. It wasn't because of his lack of power, but because his methods were too twisted and dirty, and they refused to register him.

In short, it was like this: If you play dirty, stop playing. The path of a cultivator doesn't welcome you.

"Then let's go tomorrow. We also need to buy some things for our wedding in the city."

Seeing how much Ashu valued her, Anna sweetly nodded.