Chapter 25
Atop the snow–capped peak, a pale silhouette had merged seamlessly with the drifting snow. Mack couldn’t resist cracking open an eye to take a look.
Linda sat motionless, like she’d been carved from stone. Her breaths came soft and shallow. The energy around her ebbed and flowed in subtle shifts.
But the relentless wind and snow began piling on her shoulders. A slow–building weight, pressing down inch by inch.
Mack observed for a beat, then flicked his hand to sweep away the encroaching flurries. He wove a compact barrier, warding off the howling gale. “Quite the hard worker.”
His whisper dissolved into the breeze.
Linda had sunk deep into meditation, cut off from everything around her. She poured her full focus into mastering this fresh Liturgy.
On the surface, Mack’s technique looked like basic breath–holding, but dig deeper, and you’d see that was just the end result. Not the core process.
The real trick was flipping from internal breathing to external, shifting it from lungs and innards to the outside world. Blending with the heavens, the earth, and all of nature.
That meant constant cultivation, no matter the posture: standing tall, sitting still, or even catching some shut- eye. No downtime.
It was tailor–made for Poly–Affinity cultivators. And the quickest path forward. The tough part? Nailing that switch. How to flip inner energy outward. Then loop the two together into a brand–new Arcane Circuit.
Linda honed in on the energy swirling through her body, tracking a sliver of mana as it slipped in from the exterior, wove along her meridians, looped a full circuit, and dropped back home.
She watched it ooze out gradually through her skin. In the end, barely one percent stuck around. This was the standard refining routine every newbie student cut their teeth on.
But she thought, ‘What if I rig up an external loop to sync perfectly with my inner meridians?‘ Linda had zero clue if it’d pan out.
Idea sparked, though, so she gave it a shot.
With her divine sense, she traced Arcane Scripts around herself. The symbols, knit from gathered mana, forged a new outer pathway that hummed in tune with her internal meridians after a few adjustments.
And just like that, it clicked into a novel circuit.
It echoed a Mana–Focusing Circle, but instead of hinging on Focusing Stones like usual, Linda turned herself into the centerpiece.
As ambient mana pooled from the surroundings, flooding her meridians before venting back out via the
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Chapter 25
Enchantment, Linda felt the runes seal a complete Arcane Circuit. Sure, it was a grind.
50 vouchers
The surge was brutal, tearing at her meridians, crawling along the spell circuits. Circuits that once zipped through three full laps now struggled to finish even one minor loop. The pain? Beyond words.
Linda clenched her jaw, powering through that lone Lesser Arcane Circuit until the energy looped back to her body. That was when it hit her. The leftover mana was easily ten times what a standard run delivered.
The suffering, naturally, ramped up tenfold too. But the payoff? Outstanding.
Linda let out a long breath, jolting back to the present. “Can’t lean on shortcuts forever, I suppose.”
The trick did the job, but it relied too much on props. She still had to figure out pulling mana straight from the environment on her own. That was where the real efficiency kicked in.
She balled her fist, glanced at the still–unmoving Mack, and plunged right back in. Until she built up some solid power, a bit of rule–bending wouldn’t kill her.
Once she’d settled into trance again, Mack’s eyes fluttered open, his mind wandering.
He wondered, ‘How long has it taken me that first go–round, honing my body with the Mind–Tempering Liturgy? A whole month, if memory serves. This kid? Not even a day!
Using the Arcane Scripts as a crutch, Linda soaked up the Ambient Mana at a blistering pace. But day by day, she weaned herself off their help, leaning on her Astral Incarnation to tune into the subtle rhythms of the world instead.
Little by little, she stepped in to replace what the Arcane Scripts had been doing.
In the end, she nailed a true internal–external loop and smoothly leveled up her Mana–Channeling to the Mind–Tempering Liturgy.
Mack dropped the name on her a month later.
“Sounds pretty badass,” she quipped.
By then, she’d also smashed Mack’s record, dipping under an hour and a half. But at that point, neither of them gave a damn about the leaderboard anymore.
Even so, to dive headfirst into her training, Linda packed up and moved from Apprentices‘ Quarters to the Frost–Crowned Highlands.
“I can snag a plot in the Mystic Exchange for planting Mystic Silver–Leaf and pull them whenever I want. But I can’t just hole up in the Mystic Exchange as my crash pad forever, can I?” she muttered.
She scratched her chin, mulling it over, and settled on building a place right there on the summit.
But before she could gather all the supplies, a lazy drawl drifted her way. “Never crossed your mind that I might have my own Hermit’s Sanctum abode?”
Chapter 25
Linda whipped around, caught off guard. “Mack, I assumed your ‘Sanctum‘ was that rock you’ve been glued
to.”
Mack was completely at a loss for words.
He lifted the seal, and that was when Linda finally saw it. As the illusion faded, a frigid Hermit’s Sanctum abode materialized nearby. Taking in the all–blue setup, she let out a laugh. “Totally on–brand for you, Mack. Doesn’t seem much cozier than sleeping rough.”
It wasn’t exactly an Everfrost Citadel, but it nailed the vibe, a stark, frosty manor. That said, it was downright spacious. Spacious enough that Linda could cycle through bedrooms every hour on the hour.
“Choose any room that strikes your fancy,” Mack said flatly. Then, in an uncharacteristic shift, he got up from his stone seat and ushered her in.
The doors parted.
No icy gust rushed out like she’d expected. Instead, a gentle warmth washed over them. Blues dominated the space, woven through with whites. Overall, it evoked some rare mineral.
Linda’s heart raced. “Is this… Ocean–Soul Tincture?”
Mack shot her a backward glance. “Sharp eye.”
Her tone tightened. “The whole cave? That’s super–rare ore from the deep sea. Artifice Smiths drop insane fortunes just for a sliver.”
Yet here it was, molded into an entire home.
“Pretty much,” Mack said airily. “Patched the gaps with a bit of Cobalt Shards.”
Linda wondered, ‘A single gram of Cobalt Shards outvalued a whole kilogram of Ocean–Soul Tincture, and he’s used it like spackle?‘
“Mack, you’re filthy rich, huh?” she asked.
“Not bad.”
“So… care to spot me some for fun?”
Mack pivoted to eye Linda. That goofy grin of hers carried a teasing lilt, but her deeply aloof gaze always held
a faint mockery for the mundane world, as if nothing, and nobody, really registered.
Yet now, with her hand extended, cadging cash from him… it added a rare dash of, well, spark.
A flick of his wrist, and a petite brocade box dropped into her grasp. Linda stared, blinking.
“All yours.” Mack strolled further in. “Need more? Just say the word.”
She cracked open the box, her pupils dilating.
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Chapter 25
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Soucher!
It brimmed with Mana Crystals, of all things. A full dozen. And one Mana Crystal swapped for a cool million. low–grade Luster Shards. “You are seriously loaded…”
Mack tacked on, “Tons of vacant rooms in here. I barely touch them. Pick whatever floats your boat.
Linda glanced around, then grinned as she tossed out a suggestion. “In that case, mind if I hollow out my own Hermit’s Sanctum right next door?”
Mack locked eyes with her. Beneath her doubtful look, he said, “Go for it.”
Her fingers curled into a fist. She thought, ‘He… Has actually agreed.
AD
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
