Chapter 54: Establishment of the second star: The life star
Emi didn’t notice the small injury she had caused Levi. Her full attention was on the three new recruits who were violently throwing up onto the training floor.
The issue was the food. Emi had diluted the powerful Blood Rigorous Pill highly when she made the soup, but it was still too much.
The meal had completely overloaded their systems. The reason Levi was fine was that he relied on his advanced knowledge from his past life and knew that the potent pill was in the soup. He also knew the adverse effects.
The others had no warning. After taking just a spoonful, they felt instantly full, but they stubbornly kept eating more.
This surge of extreme energy caused them to have a strange illusion that they were about to explode. In reality, it was just their blood moving at an impossibly fast speed.
"That’s enough". Emi gave a mental command. The vomiting stopped as suddenly as it started, leaving the three recruits pale and shivering on the mat.
Emi sighed, looking at the pale recruits and the mess on the floor.
"Listen up". She instructed, her tone serious but caring. "That was a Blood Rigorous Pill in the soup, highly diluted. But even diluted, taking a large quantity was simply too much for you all."
She accepted the blame with a slight shake of her head. "I will take responsibility for this. It has been a very long time since I’ve needed to dilute that pill for anyone. At my grade, I could take two of those raw and it wouldn’t have that kind of effect on me."
The recruits all had an embarrassed expression on their pale face, as they quickly responded to her apology.
"No need to apologize ma’am". Julien said his embarrassment clear for all to say.
"At the first spoonful, I felt full but didn’t want to return the food not to seem rude. I didn’t know it would have this effect". Chloe then continued with a helpless smile. "Who knew it would have this effect".
They all nodded their head in response to her words.
Emi also gave a helpless smile before gesturing at the mess they made. "You guys would have to take care of the mess, as you see we are short on staff now".
Emi waited while the pale recruits quickly cleaned up the vomit. Once the mess was cleared, she turned to Levi.
"Levi, now that we’ve made these". She gestured to the pill container in his hand, "I want you to share them."
Levi gave a nod of acknowledgement then placed the pill bottle on the floor, where I was readily available for all of them.
Levi then sat down and internally reviewed the major effects of the pill. The Blood Rigorous Pill had an intense, almost intoxicating effect on blood, causing it to surge and go ’wild’— but in a beneficial way, providing instant boosts to strength, speed and resilient.
Basically an adrenaline surge.
It was also crucial for his current path, the pill was known to powerfully interact with the Pulse Node, which is located in the heart.
The pill’s energy was the perfect material needed to wear down the natural defenses of the Pulse Gate.
This meant that by taking the pill while he cultivated, Levi could effectively multitask: while he focused on the process of building his second Star.
The pill would be simultaneously wearing down the natural defenses of the Pulse Gate, preparing it for when he was ready to connect it to the new Star.
’Enough talk’.
Ready to begin the next phase, Levi entered his soul canvas.
He immediately saw the result of his previous work: his first node had completely solidified into a dense, bright silvery-lavender Star. Levi wasn’t surprised; he knew that the Root Star was the easiest and fastest one to build and solidify.
But seeing the lavender color, Levi couldn’t help but shake his head.
Now, it was time to move on. His next goal was to create his second Star— the Life Star.
Levi returned to his cultivation, following the instructions of the celestial breathing technique precisely.
He began by intensely staring at the now thicker, wider string of energy connecting his solidified Star to the node in his bellybutton.
Just like before, he quickly fell into the hypnotic rhythm of his own heartbeat.
Subconsciously, he inhaled the toxic energy constantly leaking from his avatar. This energy immediately gathered into a ball. His echoing heartbeat began to strike the toxic ball like a hammer in a forge, purifying the corruption with every thump.
After a while he then exhaled the refined, pure energy. The process repeated: inhale, purify, exhale.
The freshly refined pure energy surged upwards toward his first Star. However, the Star, now much denser and brighter, was too solid for the new energy to penetrate.
Instead, the refined energy began to hover just above the Star’s surface. With every breath, more energy joined the floating mass.
After some time, Levi was gently stirred awake. This time, it was Jake, who handed him one of the iced pills.
Levi thanked him and immediately swallowed the pill. The invigorating nourishment hit his system, and he sank back into his soul canvas.
He saw that the hovering mass of refined energy was now beginning to coalesce. The energy was packing together, and a blurred image of a second Star was already starting to take shape above the first.
Encouraged, Levi once again continued his celestial breathing. He barely registered the repetitive work, realizing that the system of cultivation had made this process entirely subconscious.
The intense focus needed for Star creation was being managed beneath his awareness, preventing what would otherwise have been an incredibly boring and draining task.
Levi settled back into his cultivation, returning to the subconscious rhythm of the celestial breathing. He continued the cycle of purification and energy refinement.
He was stirred awake a total of two more times throughout the afternoon for his pill doses.
On the third time he woke, it was already evening, with the windows showing the soft glow of twilight.
He looked at Jake, who had come to check on him. "I’m done with this Star". Levi said, feeling the culmination of his efforts. "All I need to do now is open my Node."
"Alright Mister Teddy, I will inform my mother, I am sure she would be happy about the news". Jake said with a smile that clearly indicated relief.
’If he become powerful quickly, he would shoulder a lot of work and I can finally get my free time’. Jake begun to imagine how life would be like without running errands.
Seeing Levi about to open his second Node, Chloe, who had already stood up and planned to leave for the night, immediately sat back down.
She had previously decided to postpone opening her own second Node until the next day, but the competitive urge was too strong.
Judith was already ahead. She had already opened her third Node before arriving her, and was now actively trying to open her fourth. She watched her son, Jillian, whose face was etched with a fiercely competitive look.
Giving a helpless but understanding smile, Judith nodded to Jillian. Receiving his mother’s signal, Jillian quickly sat down and began to cultivate, trying to open his own second Node as well.
Levi entered his soul canvas. Just as he entered, he second star was finally established as he felt the surging, pulsing power of life.
This energy brought with it an overwhelming sense of fullness, and his entire internal state became profoundly relaxed. Astonishingly, he could even feel the terrible scar on his soul reduce in size.
When the significant changes stopped, two Stars were now shining brightly in Levi’s soul canvas.
The first Star was dense and bright, with a clear, defined shape. The second Star, his Life Star, was still in a slightly misty, duller form.
The changes brought by the Life Star were not yet complete. Levi knew he still needed to focus on opening the Pulse Node in his heart before he could feel the Life Star’s benefits in full detail.