Byron looked at Ning with a weird look, not understanding what he was saying. "You… just have to use your Essence," he said.
"Yeah I get that," Ning said. "I'm saying I can't do that. I'm not in the Essence Manifestation realm."
"Huh? But just use your Essence," the man said.
"Are you not hearing me?" Ning asked. "I can't use my Essence like that. I'm not in the Essence Manifestation realm. Or are you saying there is a way to do that without even reaching the realm?"
The man paused for a bit and gave what Ning said a strong thought before looking up with a massively confused face.
"You're not in the Essence Manifestation realm?" he asked.
"That's what I've been saying," Ning said in an exasperated voice.
"You're not in the Essence Manifestation realm?" he asked again.
"NO!" Ning said. "I'm just in the 5-Sense manifestation realm."
Byron couldn't believe it at all. "But… but that beast. It's in… isn't the beast in the True Essence SOul realm?" he asked.
"Stellar Harmony realm," Ning corrected him. "And what does the beast being high in the Essence rank have to do with me?"
"You are that beasts's master. How could you not have a strong Essence base?" he asked.
"Ah! That's what you were confused about?" Ning asked before shaking his head. "Don't worry about it. That beast is a special case. I do not have a high Essence rank."
The man frowned. "Then I can't teach it to you," he said. "You need to be in the Essence Manifestation realm to even understand what I'm going to be talking about."
"Someone who has never known what it feels like to pull Essence out of their own body will not understand this," the man said. "Much less someone who can't even sense Essence in the first place. How old are you again?"
"Uhh…" Ning thought for a moment. "I have a child. How old do you think I am?"
"I don't know. You don't look very old, but you have a child that's in her teenage years, so at the very least you're in your 30s. 35 maybe?" he asked.
"Wrong, 32," Ning said, making himself younger. "I was a young man when I married my wife. Anyway, back on topic. Let's start learning about Conversion."
Byron frowned. "Did you not hear anything I just said? You can't learn anything," he said.
"I did," Ning said. "You need someone with the experience of an Essence Manifestation realm, correct? Then it works for me. Just tell me what it is I need to do."
"But, you can't—"
"Do you want the lightning Essence crystal or not?" Ning asked.
Byron shut up. "Yes," he said.
"Then let's start, shall we?" he said, and moved his hand to the side where suddenly a boulder appeared out of nowhere.
Byron moved backward in fear. "What is this? Where did it come from?" he asked.
"Someone idiots gave it to me in my room yesterday," Ning said. "Don't worry about it. Just show me what it is that you can do with your Essence."
Byron frowned a little. "It would be so much better if you could sense it. Putting everything that is happening into words is a lot harder," he said.
Ning sighed. "Fine," he said. "Wait for a second then."
He sat down on the ground right in front of Byron and pulled out a Lightning Essence Crystal, one that was clearly shaped differently from the one that he had pulled out before.
"What are you doing?" Byron asked, a little confused.
"What you asked for," Ning said and started absorbing the lightning Essence crystal.
When he absorbed the Lightning Essence, his Essence core switched, going from Sound Essence core to Lightning Essence core, which surprised Byron beyond belief.
He stepped back in shock as he realized that the man before him actually had a Dual Core.
'Dual-core… one with lightning and one with an Essence that even I don't recognize,' the man thought. 'Just who is this man?'
The technique Ning used allowed for rapid Essence absorption. Not only was it absorbed rapidly, but it also refined the Core just as fast, making it strong enough to handle the next tier of Essence.
As easily as that, Ning entered the Essence Sense tier with his Lightning Core.
It was because of Emma's request to go on an adventure before her Essence cores were too strong, to enjoy mundane life.
If not for that, Ning would have entered the Essence Manifestation realm with all of his cores before leaving the secret realm.
Now that it had come to this, there was no point in waiting anymore, so he did as he was asked. After a minute, he opened his eyes and looked toward Byron.
"This is enough for you?" he asked.
"It… it's only been 5 minutes," the man said.
"Can you start?" Ning asked.
The man's eyes remained wide and he did not answer Ning's question at all. It was doubtful if he even heard it at all. "It's only been 5 minutes," he said. "How did you break through so quickly?"
Ning sighed and waited for the man to come out of his shock.
The man's eyes moved left to right trying to understand anything he could before he came out of his stunned state.
He looked around and settled on Ning who was watching him with crossed arm.
"You done?" Ning asked.
"How did you do that?" the man asked.
"I was close to a breakthrough," Ning said.
"NO," the man said. "You can't lie to me. I saw the speed at which you took Essence from that crystal. That is not normal."
Ning smiled. "Well, there's your mistake," he said. "You tried to find something normal in me. Have I not made it abundantly clear how that is a bad idea."
The man's shocked expression still didn't leave his face, but his emotions calmed down a lot.
"What… what now?" he asked.
"What else?" Ning asked. "Now that I'm done breaking through. It's time for you to teach me what I came here for."
