N/T: Translation made by our friend 'Irving'. A big round of applause for him :)
Chapter 552
Raon narrowed his eyes as he observed Glenn's seemingly constricted shoulders.
‘Is he asking me to buy a Periton Blanc, a white grape wine?
If Glenn wanted it, he could easily drink even the Sea Relic, which he recently acquired through much difficulty.
Raon couldn't understand why Glenn, who was always so strict about public and private matters, was hinting that he wanted a bottle of white grape wine.
You idiot!
Wrath clicked his tongue in exasperation.
You still don't know why that old geezer suddenly brought up white wine?
'Do you know, then?'
Raon looked down at Wrath with narrowed eyes.
Of course! The King of Essence is more humane than you, so he can't help but know!
Wrath nodded and floated up above Glenn's head.
What food goes well with white grape wine?
'Usually, it’s seafood.'
It wasn't a hard and fast rule, but it was said that red wine went well with meat and white wine went well with seafood.
That's right!
Wrath clapped his hands in approval.
That old man wants to eat fish dishes!
'…….'
Raon's eyes went from pitiful to downright miserable.
Thinly sliced onions on top of juicy salmon, with a creamy sauce...
Wrath wrapped his chubby cheeks around his hands and laughed, remembering the salmon dish he had eaten in Aikar.
Bring some salmon at once! What? Why are you looking at the King of Essence like that! Let go of me!
Raon tossed the babbling Wrath into the lake and approached Glenn.
"I will get that wine for you."
Although he still didn't understand why Glenn had mentioned the wine, he seemed to want it, so Raon said he would get it for him.
"Hmm, I spoke unnecessarily."
Glenn lightly nodded, as if he had already forgotten about the wine.
"Turn around."
"Yes."
Raon obediently turned his back, knowing that Glenn wouldn't do anything bad to him, and even if he did, there was nothing he could do to stop him.
He felt Glenn's hand touch his shoulder blades.
"Keep your mouth shut and stay still."
Glenn's voice came as Raon was about to turn his head.
"The body technique that Periton created utilizes all of the mana circuits in the human body. In other words, you need to have a thorough understanding of the human body."
Glenn's aura surged in like a wave along with his words. It was a burning energy that felt like fire.
"I don't like reading books and explaining things one by one, so you'd better endure it."
“…….”
Raon couldn't open his mouth and could only nod his head, his body trembling from Glenn's aura that was invading his body.
Koooooowoooo!
Glenn's aura rushed through the main mana circuits connected to his energy center, stimulating even the subtle mana circuits that he hadn't been able to develop yet.
The movement of the aura was neither fast nor slow, making it relatively easy for Raon to follow Glenn's guidance.
“The human body is like the universe. It's not for nothing that they call the body of a martial artist a microcosm.”
He had heard that before. It was also said that the human body is infinite and can even reach a realm beyond life and death.
“The center of it all is the energy center and the mana circuit.”
Glenn spoke while simultaneously manipulating his aura, stimulating six mana circuits extending from the energy center.
The intense energy akin to a sharp lightning bolt traveled to the fingertips, returning to the energy center, revealing the flow of the Periton martial art.
"Remember the path and operation method of the aura flowing now. It will be a great help if you aim to surpass the Grandmaster and ascend further."
Raon concentrated solely on feeling the movement of the aura, unable to even express gratitude.
Woowooowung!
Glenn demonstrated the simultaneous movement of the six main mana circuits connected to the energy center twice before retracting the aura.
“Phew….”
Raon exhaled roughly and collapsed to the floor. His body felt heavy as if it had been soaked in water, and sweat was pouring down from all over his body because of the extreme concentration.
‘I feel like I'm going to die. But I learned a lot.’
Glenn had not only taught him the method of using the Periton martial art, but he had also allowed him to grasp the location of the micro mana circuits and the movement of the energy center and main mana circuits.
Thanks to that, he had a sense of how to connect the artificial energy center and Sylvia's hardened mana circuit.
“Thank you.”
Raon grabbed his wobbly legs and stood up before bowing his head to Glenn.
"I only did what needed to be done."
Glenn waved his hand lightly as if it was nothing.
"Consistently train to broaden and straighten your mana circuits throughout your entire body. If you achieve that, you'll be able to progress to broader horizons."
With his hands in his pockets, Glenn tossed a book towards Raon. It contained the operational techniques of the Periton martial art.
“Work hard.”
Glenn turned his back without hesitation and disappeared into the darkness of the night.
“…….”
Raon remained in the same spot, not lifting his head until Glenn had completely vanished.
* * *
“Ah!”
Rimmer kicked the ground as he watched Glenn return to the main building.
"Why is he like that? You could just say you want to have a drink! why make it so complicated!"
He grabbed his dirt-covered head with his hands as if he didn't understand Glenn.
“It can't be helped.”
Sheryl leaned against the rock and clicked her tongue briefly.
"The lord is still pondering whether approaching Sylvia and Raon is the right thing to do."
“I know that, but the progress is too slow! At this rate, I'll be the one who goes back first!”
Rimmer shook his head with his eyes tightly shut.
“Sigh….”
Sheryl sighed, acknowledging that the lack of progress in their relationship was a concern.
"No, even Raon is strange! The guy who has such good instincts becomes blind in front of the lord! Why did he bring up the subject of drinking? He brought it up because he wanted to drink with you!”
Rimmer gritted his teeth as he looked at Raon, who was bowing his head.
“Don't blame Raon.”
Sheryl hit Rimmer on the back of the head and shook her head.
"To Raon, the lord is an unattainable sky. Who would think that the sky itself feels embarrassed in front of him?"
"Ah, the line. The line just doesn't connect. It's frustrating!"
Rimmer pounded her chest and cursed.
"Hehehe. You don't have to worry too much."
Roenn said, gently smiling while looking at Raon's eyes that were slowly lifting..
"It seems that the line has touched him slightly."
* * *
A month had passed.
Raon helped Sylvia with her physical training from dawn to afternoon, and focused on mastering the Periton martial arts at night.
As he became more proficient in Periton martial arts, he gained control over the subtle movements of the aura, almost like becoming an artist drawing pictures on leaves with a small twig.
Sylvia's physical condition also improved, and he became more familiar with the Periton martial arts, so today he decided to connect her energy center and mana circuit.
Raon approached Rimmer and the Gambling Monster, who were standing in front of the annex building, and bowed his head.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"Don't worry."
The Gambling Monster nodded curtly, telling him to focus on the task at hand.
"Relax your shoulders. If you're tense, you won't be able to do it."
Rimmer smiled his usual smile and rubbed his shoulders. Seeing their faces, he felt a little relieved.
"Thank you."
Raon bowed to the Gambling Monster and Rimmer and entered the annex building.
"Young master."
"Please take care of the Madam."
The maids hid their trembling hands and kept their expressions calm. They seemed to be trying not to burden him.
"Vice division leader! Do your best!"
"You can do it!"
Yua raised her hand vigorously, and Yulius clenched his fist.
"......"
Judiel maintained a calm demeanor, but her eyes revealed a tension filled with anticipation.
"I'll bring you good news. Just prepare the meal."
Raon smiled at the maids and entered Sylvia's room.
There could be a safer place to do this, but this was the place where Sylvia's mind would be most at ease, so he chose this place.
"Raon."
Sylvia, dressed in a black military uniform, turned around. Her complexion looked good.
"Are you not nervous?"
"Why would I be nervous when you're doing it?"
Sylvia trusted her son and laughed without a hint of worry.
"It's okay even if it doesn't work out. Don't push yourself."
"That won't happen."
Raon clenched his fists and approached Sylvia.
Don't worry! If any issues arise, the King of Essence will take care of everything!
Wrath tapped on Sylvia's shoulder and cleared his throat.
'Alright, I request your assistance. Once this is done, you can eat whatever you want.’
The King of Essence, what do you see him as? At a time like this, he's not thinking about food!
He dismissed Raon’s irrelevant words with a glance.
‘Sorry. I was just…’
But there will be salmon, right?
‘Of course.’
Raon let out a relieved laugh, feeling a bit more at ease due to Wrath's nonsense.
With his trembling hands, he took out the artificial energy center and the stem of the Sea Spirit Flower from his spatial pocket.
Fwhaaaaaaaaaaa!
The brilliant light from the artificial energy center seeped into the transparent stem of the Sea Spirit Flower, creating an elegant glow.
"This is..."
Sylvia tilted her head, looking at the stem of the Sea Spirit Flower that was glowing blue.
"It's the stem of the Sea Spirit Flower. It's good for imparting vitality to the energy center and mana circuit, and also effectively eliminating impurities."
Unlike the leaves of the Sea Spirit Flower, you can only use one, but it has a great effect on purifying the body. The reason he thought he could save Sylvia's mana circuit was because of this stem.
"But to use something precious like this on me..."
Sylvia couldn't even dare to touch the stem, and her hands trembled.
"You can become someone who is worthy of not only the artificial energy center, but also the stem."
Raon smiled brightly and placed the stem of the Sea Spirit Flower and the artificial energy center in Sylvia's hands.
"Swallow them both at once. It won't be that difficult."
"Alright."
"Sylvia put both the artificial energy center and the stem of the Sea Spirit Flower into her mouth simultaneously. As soon as they touched her tongue, they melted, smoothly passing through her throat as if liquefied.
The stem flowed like blood, revitalizing the hardened mana circuits. Simultaneously, the artificial energy center moved on its own, descending to the original position where the energy center should be.
"Ugh..."
Sylvia grimaced, feeling the pain from the mana emanating from the artificial energy center.
“Let's start right away.”
Raon said, raising his hand. He knew that the longer they waited, the worse Sylvia's pain would become.
“Okay.”
Sylvia forced a smile and turned her body away. She didn't want to be a burden, so she closed her eyes and said nothing.
“Hoo….”
Raon took a slow breath and smoothly shaped the aura like a thread of silk, gently pushing it into Sylvia's body.
A hard sensation was transmitted, as if he was digging through frozen ground. Her mana circuit had been blocked for over 20 years.
‘But I have to keep going.’
He sharpened the end of the aura like a knife blade and forcefully entered Sylvia's body, piercing through the impurities that clogged her mana circuits.
Sylvia's shoulders shook with pain, but she gritted her teeth and endured it.
Fwhaaaaaaaaaa!
Raon believed in Sylvia's perseverance and spread the aura throughout her mana circuit.
‘The energy of the Sea Spirit Flower stem is moving.’
The pure mana contained in the Sea Spirit Flower stem was giving life to the mana circuit that had turned to stone. In order to connect the energy center and the mana circuit, he needed to maximize that energy.
He wrapped the aura around the energy of the Sea Spirit Flower that was moving on its own.
After preventing it from wasting any more energy, he used its energy to spread life throughout the hardened mana circuit.
Uuuuuuuuuuk!
Like a withered sprout raising its head after drinking dew, the natural energy that had been dwelling in the stem of the Sea Spirit Flower gently unraveled the hardened mana circuit.
‘It's not enough to just open it up. I need to clear the impurities."
There were two problems with Sylvia's mana circuit.
"It was hardened and clogged with impurities. Both of these issues needed to be addressed in order to connect the energy center and the mana circuit."
‘I'm confident in this.’
Having experience piercing through the nine strands of the Curse of Frost, he was confident that he could pierce the impurities obstructing Sylvia's mana circuit.
Fwhaaaaaaaaaa.
Applying heat to the impurities inside the mana circuit using the heat of the Ten Thousand Flame Cultivation, and then creating a path with Glacier’s cold, Raon opened the way.
He could feel the vitality energy of the Sea Spirit Flower stem, the heat of the Thousand Flame Cultivation, and the cold of the Glacier all working together to push the accumulated impurities out of Sylvia's body.
‘A little bit slower.’
Rushing could lead to accidents. Raon concentrated solely on piercing Sylvia's mana circuit, raising his focus even higher.
Chiiing!
As if hard snowballs that had accumulated all winter were melting under the spring sun, a clear energy began to blossom in Sylvia's body.
Only after expelling the impurities from all of Sylvia's pores did Raon exhale the breath he had been holding.
‘Haaah….’
After spending a considerable amount of time, Raon was able to remove all the impurities from Sylvia's main mana circuits thanks to her endurance. Now all that was left was to connect the energy center and the mana circuits.
'If this doesn't work, it's all for nothing.'
If he couldn't connect the energy center and the mana circuits properly, all his efforts so far would be for nothing. He raised his concentration even higher than during a life-or-death battle and operated the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier.
'I have to connect the six mana circuits at once.'
There were six mana circuits connected to the energy center. He had to connect all six of these main mana circuits at the same time in order for the mana from the artificial energy center to spread evenly throughout Sylvia's body.
Raon retracted Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's heat and covered Sylvia's mana circuits with Glacier alone.
'This should be it.'
Kaibar was a blue dragon, so his mana was filled with the scent of water. The best way to use that mana was to lead it with Glacier.
Woooooow!
He controlled Glacier's coldness and moved the six mana circuits simultaneously. He used the aura manipulation he had learned from Periton's martial arts to manipulate the aura more finely.
'I'm nervous.'
He had practiced a lot on his own body, but his heart was beating so fast that it was hard to control when he was about to do it on Sylvia herself. As a result, even his aura manipulation began to shake.
"Concentrate. There won't be another chance."
Raon bit his lip and focused his strength on his hands and aura. It wasn't a good method, but there was no other way now.
Feeling the tension rising, Raon concentrated on connecting all six mana circuits simultaneously. A memory from a month ago flashed in his mind, where Glenn demonstrated the aura operation through his body.
The way he had guided the aura with his mind was very similar to connecting the mana circuits to the energy center now.
'So that was it.'
Now I understand.
Glenn hadn't come to him out of the blue to teach him Periton's martial arts as compensation for Balder's rampage. It was a father's advice for his daughter.
'You've been watching over her.'
He thought he didn't care much about Sylvia, but it seemed he was mistaken. Glenn might be regretting past actions from afar.
With Glenn's advice, the tension eased and the aura's movement, which had been stiff, came back to life.
Goooooow!
Raon used Glacier's coldness to gracefully lead Sylvia's mana circuits to the artificial energy center.
Thinking of Glenn's advice, the knowledge he gained from Periton's martial arts, and Sylvia's disposition, he combined the six mana circuits in the optimal location of the artificial energy center and generated an intense cold.
Using the cold like welding iron, he used the coldness to carve out a deep passage connecting Sylvia's energy center and mana circuits.
Pfffooooow!
The moment the mana circuit and the artificial energy center were perfectly combined, a huge explosion occurred inside Sylvia.
The huge mana contained in the artificial energy center began to spread like a tidal wave, sweeping away all the impurities left in the mana circuits.
Hwaaaaaaaa!
Like the morning sun rising and erasing the darkness of night, the huge yet pure mana began to stand on its own, pushing away even the coldness of Glacier that had been helping it.
Like a sprout overcoming the hard ground, Sylvia's body initiated a profound flow as if springing new life.
"Phew."
Raon took his hands off Sylvia's back and raised his eyelids.
Sylvia was floating about a foot off the ground, breathing with the mana of nature.
Coo-coo-coo-coo!
The annex building shook as a massive amount of mana gathered and dispersed repeatedly. A blue mist-like substance rose above Sylvia's head and was sucked into her nostrils.
Sylvia, who had seated herself back on the ground, slowly opened her eyes. A new blue radiance, unseen until now, sparkled in her pupils.
"Ah..."
Sylvia, appearing exhausted, leaned backward.
"Mother."
Raon caught Sylvia's body, smiling as their eyes met.
"Welcome back."
