Chapter 28: Secrets of Source Ki

[Ancient Calendar: 15 April 0001]

Waking up the next day, the first thing Kai did was check his status:

[User: Kai

Age: 19

Ki: 312

Profession: Apprentice Alchemist

Innate Ability: Devour

Heaven Gift: Clear Mind (F), Heightened Senses (E)

Skills: Fire Control (F)]

Confirming the changes in his Ki reserve, Kai took the second Vitality Pill. Ten hours had already passed since he took the last one.

As the Vitality Pill entered his stomach, it began to take effect. Within a few minutes, Kai's Source Ki devoured all the Ki inside the Vitality Pill and strengthened itself.

[Ki: 412]

Putting the pill jar containing the remaining two Vitality Pills back into his storage bag, Kai decided to rest.

Since it was Sunday, he didn't have to worry about going to work.

"I should probably wash my sheets." Smelling the strange scent coming from his bed, Kai realized he couldn't recall the last time he cleaned them.

As he was thinking about spending the whole day cleaning his room and washing clothes, a figure appeared in his mind.

"Right, Sophia also invited me... What should I do?"

Remembering Sophia's invitation, the room descended into silence. Thinking about his time at the apartment complex, Kai fell into deep thought.

Although his time with the residents wasn't long, he was indebted to them. In times of crisis, they had helped him a lot.

"I should visit," Kai mumbled to himself.

In this world, aside from his family, the people at the apartment complex were the most dear to him.

It's just that, in their time of need, he chose to become a coward and run away. Now, he is too ashamed to face them.

Kai knows this very well in his heart—yet even so, he still can't gather enough courage to go back to that place.

After a while, Kai finally made a decision and began cleaning his room.

He took a bucket and placed all his clothes and bed sheets inside it, then closed the lid. After that, he stored the bucket in his storage bag.

He did this so his dirty clothes wouldn't mix with his other belongings.

After tidying up the room, Kai gathered all the garbage and stepped outside.

He disposed of the garbage and then handed his laundry to the Fairy at the inn for cleaning.

Although the service was a little expensive, Kai didn't have any choice.

Ki was made purely for fighting—it wasn't as convenient as Soul Powers.

Soul Powers could be used in every aspect of life: from cleaning to cooking, from performing Alchemy to refining weapons, from fighting to taming beasts, and much more.

Ki, on the other hand, only gave the user strong destructive power.

Because of this, Kai was very envious of Fairies.

After getting rid of the sword of Slavery hanging over his head, Kai was seriously considering buying an intact Knowledge Sea.

After handing over the laundry, Kai washed up and returned to his room.

Lying on his bed, with nothing better to do, Kai began absorbing the surrounding Ki.

After half an hour of absorbing Ki, Kai found that his Source Ki wasn't willing to budge.

Even after a whole ball of ownerless Ki had gathered inside his body, his Source Ki refused to move.

"Did I feed it too much?"

In the past 24 hours, his Source Ki had indeed worked overtime—it had assimilated two Vitality Pills, one Lesser Vitality Pill, and a dozen Ki Crystals.

With Kai's current physical condition, his Source Ki couldn't support this much exertion.

Kai tried guiding his Source Ki toward the accumulated Ki inside his body, but it didn't even budge an inch.

After trying many times, he gave up.

Fishing through his storage bag, Kai took out a book titled [Secrets of Source Ki: Great Gift of His Majesty].

This book was given to him by Master Stardew—the same Fairy who taught him Alchemy.

Until now, he never had the chance to go through the book.

Maybe he would find the reason why his Source Ki wasn't willing to take in any more Ki.

Flipping past some boring sections, Kai finally found the information he was looking for.

[Source Ki, the greatest creation His Majesty made using VOID Energy.

Unlike traditional methods—where only one in a thousand would naturally awaken Life Veins, or where one must undergo a painful process to awaken a Life Seed, and the rare few—one in a million—would awaken a Life Body—there are many variations.

Each world connected to Ki has its own way of stepping onto the Path of Ki.

However, His Majesty's creation, Source Ki, is different.

With its help, even mortals can step onto the Path of Ki.

Unlike natural methods, where a person's talent is fixed, the quality of Source Ki can be enhanced through continuous training.

With enough hard work, even a commoner can catch up to those Favored by the Heavens.

. . . . . . . . . . 

. . . . . . . . 

. . . . . .

As I've discussed, the benefits of Source Ki are enormous.

Now, let's talk about its flaws.

Unlike the natural methods developed by each world, Source Ki has a major weakness:

All the Ki a person possesses is stored inside their Source Ki, and the body of someone using Source Ki can be extremely weak—

much like those who follow the Path of Spirit or the Path of Magic.

From my understanding, this is why His Majesty placed a limit on how much Ki a Source Ki can assimilate in a day.

This limit can only be increased by strengthening one's physical body.

Which can, to some extent, make up for the flaws of Source Ki.

Another major flaw I found is also connected to this.

Unlike the Life Veins, Life Body, or Life Seed—which constantly circulate Ki throughout the body, nourishing it and making it stronger—Source Ki does not do that.

In fact, using Source Ki to strengthen the body can be a little dangerous.

There have even been a few reported cases of people dying from it.

From my research, this seems to be due to the lack of natural organs like the Life Veins, Life Body, or Life Seed.

Because of this, those walking the Path of Source Ki must use natural treasures to strengthen their bodies.

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . 

. . . . . . 

In conclusion, I can say that Source Ki is truly worth the amount of VOID Energy His Majesty used to create it.

However, this also creates a new market of trillions upon trillions of people who now require natural treasures—resources that are already in short supply.]

Closing the book titled [Secrets of Source Ki: Great Gift of His Majesty], Kai gained a lot of knowledge.

It also seemed that his Source Ki had now reached the limit described in the book.