At the same time as the Council of Xylon's meeting was held, Michael found himself busy with his new techniques.
His understanding of Leviathan Diffusion was as high as before, but the upgraded version was even better now. Michael had used the most advanced fractions from a Tekur race's Peak Common Class Technique to replace the least compatible portions in Leviathan Diffusion. They might have been useful for the Zenovia family, but they didn't suit Michael.
Michael could annex the energy that entered his body instantaneously now. There was no need to circulate the absorbed energy through his body in a full circle before it was annexed. All he had to do was follow the principle of Leviathan Diffusion's enhanced version to absorb energy more smoothly.
Combined with the advantages of Superior Constitution, Michael was having a much easier time refining his War Rune and replenishing his energy storage.
But both factors could be further improved with the use of Consirat of War. The Body Refinement technique was one of Michael's unique creations. It used the principle of Leviathan Diffusion and four Body Refinement techniques, with two being from Peak Common Class techniques from Elite Tekur. Merging the techniques allowed Michael to create a Body Refinement technique that accelerated the natural absorption rate of energy permanently.
As he used Consirat of War to refine his body, Michael's physique would grow more adept at naturally absorbing energy to strengthen his physique and refine his War Rune. That way, Michael could grow stronger and refine his War Rune while he was asleep, busy studying, or doing something else.
Combining Leviathan Diffusion and Consirat of War with the Neutral Energy Absorption technique, Pantheon's Dawn, Michael managed to create a set of techniques that complemented each other. By practicing the techniques together, Michael could refine his body and War Rune simultaneously, rapidly at that.
Pantheon's Dawn and Leviathan Diffusion used together with a powerful source of origin energy would allow him to refine his War Rune at an incredible pace. The only 'issue' that slowed down his refinement was the ever-increasing demand for origin energy. The number of his Soultraits was bound to increase and so was their star rating as well, therefore further increasing the needs of his War Rune.
His War Rune was bound to develop into a bottomless pit.
Michael had also some Soultraits that required a tremendous amount of energy as their star rating increased. This included Superior Constitution which drained a tremendous amount of energy and nutrients as he integrated more SoulStar Fragments. Michael was pretty sure that the demand for energy and nutrients would be even worse once he upgraded Superior Constitution's star rating.
Superior Constitution was also the reason his body refinement technique was having such a hard time refining his physique. Superior Constitution altered his physique drastically. His body was in a near-perfect state, yet Consirat of War desired to alter his physique even further, adding certain features and functions, removing what it deemed excessive, and so some further changes that would only take effect as Michael's physique improved even further.
Superior Constitution didn't work against Consirat of War, but it increased the demand for energy and nutrients exponentially. What ought to cost only a few dozen Intermediate Nutrient Pills, and Inferior Energy Stones would now cost hundreds of Intermediate Nutrient Pills, and Inferior Energy Stones.
When Michael practiced Consirat of War for the first time, he was shocked. However, after practicing it for a week, Michael noticed how beneficial Superior Constitution combined with Consirat of War was.
Michael was certain that his physique would be equivalent to a Higher Lifeform once Consirat of War reached the Peak of its 3rd Stage. The technique would devour an enormous amount of resources until it would reach the 3rd Stage's Peak, but the effect would be tremendous. That was all that mattered.
Wisdom Breaker was the technique Michael had chosen to refine his mind. In fact, he mixed an Elite Class Mind Refinement technique with the Inheritance Technique of a family that was known for their great intellect and tremendous mental power.
Their technique was known to be controversial and Michael understood why. The Mind Refinement technique this family used relied on damaging the mind before forcefully regenerating the damage using the purest essence of willpower. This required the condensation of Willpower Essence and the purification of the essence. That portion was already difficult to achieve, but it was considered the easiest part.
The more difficult part was to damage your mind intentionally using a special method to damage it just enough to avoid fatal damage. It required extreme precision, willpower, and most importantly; resources. Without enough resources, Wisdom Breaker was bound to fail. That was already the case for the Inheritance Technique, but it was even more true in Michael's case.
After all, Wisdom Breaker was even more dangerous than the Supreme Mind Family's Inheritance Technique.
Consirat of War and Wisdom Breaker required both a seemingly infinite amount of energy and nutrient to be practiced properly. Both techniques could turn Michael into a dangerous weapon, but malpractice would lead to severe backlashes. Michael nearly failed to execute Wisdom Breaker properly once. Fortunately, he managed to fix his mistake at the last moment, otherwise, he would have sustained lethal damage to his brain.
If he had failed, Michael would either be braindead, or crippled, by now. As for whether Archangel's Grace and Heavenly Realm would be enough to fix him or not…Michael was unsure. No. He was sure. It was just that the answer wasn't pleasant to the ear.
Unfortunately, the Breathing Technique, Breath of the Underworld, was not exactly less dangerous, or painful. It was merely a breathing technique and thus less important in the eyes of most Awakened, but proper breathing regulated the stamina consumption, increased the perception and focus in the middle of fierce battles and it allowed the execution of powerful techniques beyond their designated limit.
Breath of the Underworld was unique. It didn't focus a lot on the regulation of the User's stamina consumption, but instead focused on the last aspect, allowing the User to implement powerful techniques beyond their designated limit by compressing and purifying energy within the body…by breathing.
It was quite hard to believe at first, but by practicing the Breathe of the Underworld method for an extensive period, it was possible to release a burst of compressed and purified energy into specific regions of the body to unleash the strongest forms of certain Martial Arts without any prior preparations.
This was not easy and it was usually quite painful, but the effect was tremendous. Martial Arts that would require some time to charge could be utilized at once, taking the enemy by surprise, and overwhelming the foe with sheer power.
Michael wanted to focus on that portion of the breathing technique because his breathing had already been altered permanently by the Sun Soldier's Breathing Technique. The Sun Soldier's Breathing technique was not great, but it was enough to decrease his stamina consumption decently.
He was busy enough practicing the Burst ability from Breath of the Underworld without trying to rupture his lungs and die from internal bleeding. That would be rather disadvantageous and certainly not something Michael wanted to achieve. He would much rather stay alive and splurge his wealth.
Splurging his wealth was something Michael could do rather easily. The issue, however, was that everything was so expensive. His Mind and Body Refinement techniques were already extremely expensive. Only refining his War Rune required more resources than practicing Consirat of War and Wisdom Breaker…well, and Sanctum of Life, his Soul Refinement Technique.
Michael had yet to start refining his Soul because it took him quite a while to procure the assets required to refine his Soul securely. He required a immense amount of lifeforce, purified origin energy, and nutrients. Following that, Michael made sure that he harvested enough Soul Tears to strengthen his Soul before he started practicing Sanctum of Life.
The problem of his Soul Refinement Technique was that refining a Soul was quite complex and difficult because everyone's Soul was different. Most techniques require the User to study their soul thoroughly. That was something Michael had to spend several days doing, only to realize that he failed miserably since his Soul was not only infused with 10 Soultraits, but also Aethyr, the Sphere of Light, but also the Cursed Seals, and the True Curse, which was still sealed inside him.
Fortunately, the Soul Tears helped him understand more about his Soul, allowing him to start practicing Sanctum of Life to create the Primal Sanctum from his Soul.
The first stage of the Sanctum was called Primal Sanctum. It was the first step that had to be completed to refine his Soul properly. Refining his Soul using Sanctum of Life would invigorate his Soul, create a barrier that weakened spiritual attacks, and strengthen the potency of his Soultraits.
But there was another function of the Sanctum of Life, a function that turned the Sanctum of Life into one of the most important techniques Michael created: His Soul turned into a literal Sanctum overflowing with life. His Soul Power would be imbued with Life and so would his Soultrait Symbols.
Michael hoped that the Soul Grimoire would be influenced by the Sanctum of Life's presence, and mutate, or evolve. That would allow him to nurture Souls more easily. But Michael understood that it was a little bit far-fetched. It was unlikely that the Sanctum of Life's presence would be enough to stimulate Soul Grimoire's evolution. Nonetheless, he hoped for the best.
In the worst case, Sanctum of Life would merely strengthen his Soul Power, thus reinforcing the power outbursts of his Soul Techniques. That wasn't too bad either.
Last but not least, the Primordial Pillar was a rather simple technique, though it drained a immense amount of resources. Primordial Pillar was a Core Technique that reinforced the Pillar of Light. It was not a refinement technique, but it strengthened the Pillar of Light to protect it well from external threats.
It was more of a safety measure than a necessity, though specific hidden traits could be utilized once Michael's mastery of the method increased.
All he had to do was work hard and practice.
