Ethan spent the entire next day training, further stabilizing his cultivation and gradually improving his physical attributes bit by bit.
He focused on three main attributes: Strength, Stamina, and Dexterity, and as expected, after a full day of training, his efforts bore fruit as his physical abilities improved by a considerable margin.
[Your Strength Increased: 12.9 → 14.2]
[Your Dexterity Increased: 14.9 → 16.5]
[Your Stamina Increased: 15.9 → 17.5]
[Your Vitality Increased: 13.3 → 14.5]
[Your Life Span Increased: 81 Years → 83 Years]
[Your System Level Increased: Level 14 → Level 15]
"Ha," Ethan sighed as he sat on a nearby rock, looking at the system notification.
"I've reached level 15... and there are still five days until the sect tournament for new members begins," Ethan muttered. "I should increase my physical attributes as much as possible before then."
"Training does increase my physical attributes considerably, but the more my cultivation level rises, the less training helps improve them." Ethan wiped the sweat from his body and began walking back toward the cultivation chambers.
"Well, there isn't much time. I should just improve my physical attributes through cultivation... I'll use the next 24 hours to strengthen my perception and Qi reserves as much as possible before entering cultivation," Ethan said, a faint smile forming on his face.
"The rate of my current growth is incomparable to my past. I guess I should thank the talent I somehow possess in this body, huh?" Ethan smiled.
-----
[Talent: Rapid Adaptability]
[Effects: Grants your soul, spirituality, and physical body an immensely increased ability to adapt to any physical or non-physical, tangible or intangible, corporeal or ethereal environment, state, or condition, the more you interact with them.]
-----
He returned to the cultivation chambers and paid 500 gold to rent one of the chambers for a day.
It was expensive, but nothing significant for Ethan, who had hundreds of billions of gold.
Ethan estimated that within the next two days, he would have enough energy reserves to unseal his connection to Kagetsu and the Dancing Library.
Once he did that, he wouldn't need to spend gold on accommodations, weapons, or cultivation resources.
He would have everything he could ever need stored in the Dancing Library for thousands of years.
Ethan settled himself comfortably in one of the cultivation rooms.
"I'll take full advantage of my talent and improve my perception as much as I can." Ethan was focusing more on speed rather than strength, which was why he put greater effort into training his Dexterity and Stamina, since they complemented each other.
As for Perception, it was essential regardless.
Perception determined a cultivator's range of senses, sensitivity to energy, and ability to detect unnatural or supernatural changes in the environment.
The higher Ethan's perception was, the better it would be for him.
For every cultivation realm, there was a limit to how much one could improve their physical attributes.
Each level of cultivation increased physical attributes by a certain fixed margin, which varied from person to person due to factors such as elemental affinity, cultivation method, and more.
Aside from those fixed increases, it was possible to further improve attributes through physical training, but only up to a limit.
Most cultivators didn't bother training their physical bodies, as the gains were minimal and required a tremendous amount of time and effort.
Even then, improvement wasn't guaranteed, and the benefits were often unsatisfactory compared to the effort invested, which could instead be spent cultivating.
Not to mention, the higher one's cultivation, the harder it becomes to improve physical attributes through training.
When Ethan created his techniques, he had kept this in mind. Every technique he possessed was a growth-type technique.
The more it was used, the stronger and more effective it became.
At the same time, these techniques naturally strengthened and pushed the user's physical body as their power grew, meaning just using them was equivalent to training.
It was entirely possible for Ethan to improve his physical attributes simply by continuously using his techniques in battle and practice.
Ethan sat cross-legged, but not in his usual cultivation posture.
Instead, he clasped his hands together, fingers interlocked, and began absorbing Qi from his surroundings.
Thick Qi surged toward him, entering his meridians, but unlike cultivation, he didn't circulate it through his body.
Instead, he followed another technique.
"Pure Ascension Arts, The Endless Sky Mind Technique."
Ethan closed his eyes and released all thoughts, desires, and memories.
Everything that had filled his mind vanished within minutes, as if they had never existed.
His mind became tranquil, serene like an undisturbed ocean beneath a vast, empty sky.
Inside his inner world, a boundless white space stretched endlessly in every direction.
At the moment, there was nothing except the manifestations of his spiritual contracts: Kagetsu, the Dancing Library, an ancient-looking book representing his sealed ability, and finally, the manifestation of his cultivation level, the incomplete Dominating Seed at the center of the white space.
Under the effects of the [Endless Sky Mind Technique], the presence of his inner world began to change.
The technique specifically focused on improving perception by strengthening the mind, psyche, and awareness, forcing them to expand using a vast amount of energy.
Normally, this technique would take a long time to show results, but with Ethan's Rapid Adaptability talent, his mind adapted to the effects far faster, drastically reducing the time required for progress.
Under the effect of the technique, a great amount of Qi began to pour into his mind.
A bright, light-blue ring appeared above his head like a halo, with a smaller orb of energy at its center.
The ring, about the size of a softball, represented his current mental power.
Hours passed as Ethan continued feeding energy into the technique and the glowing ring above his head.
Gradually, it began to expand, growing ever so slowly.
Meanwhile, within his inner world, the effects of the technique manifested physically.
The white space began to change, and the ceiling of the void slowly shifted from pure white to a faint shade of blue, transforming into a real sky over time.
Minute by minute, the endless white above became an open, limitless sky.
Then something unexpected happened.
As if mirroring the forming sky, the ground of his inner world also began to change.
While the ceiling turned into the heavens above, the ground beneath transformed into a vast ocean reflecting that same sky.
At the same time, Ethan noticed that some of the Qi he was channeling into the [Endless Sky Mind Technique], the excess energy not used to expand his mind, was entering his dantian.
But instead of being absorbed by the incomplete Domination Seed, it settled beneath it, like sand gathering at the bottom of an hourglass.
"The Qi is settling at the base of my dantian?" Ethan murmured, puzzled.
Normally, any unused energy from this technique would simply dissipate into the environment.
It had never entered his dantian before.
There had only been one instance when something similar happened: when he cultivated the Path of Magic, using mana to create a Mana Core, a vessel for storing the energy known as Mana.
During that process, the Mana Core would be formed at the base of the dantian.
Energy Core Creation only worked with the Path of Magic or mana cultivation.
Ethan had tried creating similar cores for other energy types before, but none had succeeded.
"There are two possible reasons this is happening. Either my talent is triggering a hidden side effect of the technique, or it's because of my cultivation method, the Path of Domination," Ethan thought, rubbing his chin as a grin spread across his face.
"Either way, this is one of the greatest opportunities I've ever come across. If I use it correctly, I'll become unbeatable among cultivators of the same level. But there's a problem. This only happens while using the Endless Sky Mind Technique. If I stop, the effect will fade. But if I don't stop, I can't fully utilize the energy settling in my dantian." Ethan closed his eyes, thinking deeply while maintaining the technique.
"There is one way. I could try using another technique while keeping the [Endless Sky Mind Technique] active," he muttered, narrowing his eyes.
"But I've never had to use two techniques simultaneously before. Guess I'll just have to try. What's the worst that could happen?"
"Since I'm trying something new, I might as well use the newly created technique I haven't tested yet," Ethan said, taking a deep breath.
"Pure Ascension Arts, The Sacred Heart Lotus Formation."
He began circulating the new technique, maintaining the flow of the Endless Sky Mind Technique at the same time.
...
[A/N: If you liked this chapter, don't forget to donate some POWER STONES and add it to your library. No pressure! Thank you for checking out the novel.]