Chapter 82: Ready

Having made his decision, Jackson didn’t linger for long.

He closed the skill book and carefully memorized its name before leaving the section.

His footsteps carried him toward the teacher responsible for managing the library.

The teacher was a middle-aged man with a wild, unkempt beard and a pair of cloudy eyes that always seemed slightly unfocused. He looked almost absent-minded, as though his attention were constantly drifting somewhere far beyond the library.

Jackson stopped in front of him and handed over his academy badge.

"I’ve made my choice."

The teacher glanced at the badge before looking at the skill Jackson had selected.

For a moment, his cloudy eyes seemed to become slightly clearer.

Then he looked at Jackson.

He didn’t say anything.

He simply reached beneath the counter and took out a special device.

After completing the necessary verification, he transferred a copy of the technique into a new skill book and handed it to Jackson.

[Shadow Titan Nurturing Method]

Jackson accepted it with a faint nod.

He quickly flipped through the pages.

To his surprise, the copy contained far more information than the description he had read in the library.

Golden Radiance Academy had apparently spent a considerable amount of time researching this technique.

According to the records, the Shadow Titan Nurturing Method had originally been discovered inside an Otherworld Portal.

When humanity first obtained it, the technique had caused a considerable commotion.

A method capable of strengthening the spiritual-space boundary to such an absurd degree was naturally impossible to ignore.

Countless powerful Awakened had studied it.

Researchers had even attempted to solve the technique’s greatest limitation.

Shadow-type beast cores.

Humanity had tried breeding monsters with naturally occurring shadow attributes, hoping to create a stable and renewable source of the required beast cores.

The attempt had seemed promising at first.

Unfortunately, it eventually failed.

The resources required to maintain such creatures were enormous, and producing suitable shadow-type monsters on a large enough scale proved far more difficult than expected.

In the end, the research project was abandoned.

The Shadow Titan Nurturing Method gradually became known as a technique with extraordinary potential but an equally extraordinary limitation.

And Jackson wasn’t the first student to choose it.

Far from it.

Over the years, countless students had stood in the exact same place.

They had looked at the tenfold strengthening effect.

They had imagined what their spiritual spaces would become if they could truly cultivate the technique to its limits.

They had been ambitious.

They had been unwilling to accept ordinary nurturing methods.

And they had all believed they would be the exception.

But one after another, they had eventually discovered the same cruel reality.

The path was far more difficult than it appeared.

By the time many of them realized that they couldn’t obtain enough shadow-type beast cores, they had already invested enormous amounts of resources into the technique.

Their contribution points were gone.

Their treasures were exhausted.

And after wasting years pursuing an impossible path, they had no choice but to abandon it.

The Shadow Titan Nurturing Method had therefore remained quietly buried among the academy’s collection, waiting for yet another ambitious student to discover its tempting description.

Jackson, naturally, knew none of this.

To him, the technique was simply an incredible opportunity.

And even if he had known about the students who had failed before him...

Would he have cared?

The answer was obvious.

The problem that had stopped everyone else was precisely the problem the Golden Brush could solve.

After completing the necessary formalities, Jackson put away the copy of the Shadow Titan Nurturing Method and walked out of the library.

He didn’t immediately return to the villa.

According to the agreement he had made with Jonathan, the two of them were supposed to leave together.

So Jackson had no choice but wait.

He stood outside the Grand Library, quietly observing the students entering and leaving the enormous building.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long.

Only five minutes later, a familiar figure emerged from the entrance.

Jonathan’s face was practically glowing with excitement.

The moment he spotted Jackson, his eyes lit up.

"You’ve been waiting?"

Jackson nodded.

Jonathan didn’t waste time asking what skill he had chosen.

He seemed far too eager to begin practicing his own technique.

"Let’s go."

He immediately turned around and hurried back toward the villa.

Jackson watched him for a moment before following.

Judging from Jonathan’s expression, he clearly couldn’t wait to return and begin cultivating his newly acquired skill.

Jackson’s lips curled into a faint smile.

It seemed he wasn’t the only one who had found something worth getting excited about.

Back inside the villa, Jackson didn’t see either Jackal or Angela.

He didn’t think much of it.

The two of them had their own goals, and after receiving their Rank Three skills, they were probably just as eager to begin cultivating.

Jackson returned directly to his room.

After changing into a clean training uniform, he sat down cross-legged on the floor and slowly adjusted his breathing until his mind became completely calm.

Before beginning to carve the foundation runes described in the Shadow Titan Nurturing Method, he paused.

First, I need to return to the peak of the Third Sequence.

Although the Shadow Titan Nurturing Method could gradually strengthen his spiritual-space boundary on its own, Jackson didn’t want to rush into carving foundation runes before fully consolidating his current realm.

A strong foundation required stability.

He had no intention of sacrificing that stability simply to advance a little faster.

With that decision made, Jackson immediately opened the academy’s virtual network and purchased several Rank Three pills with the remaining money he had.

The prices made his expression twitch slightly.

Even so, he didn’t hesitate.

His cultivation was more important.

Once the pills arrived, Jackson used the Golden Brush to enhance them into higher-tier treasures.

He swallowed them one after another.

Powerful nourishing energy immediately spread through his body.

Jackson closed his eyes and began circulating the energy according to the cultivation method recorded in the Shadow Titan Nurturing Method.

The process was slow.

The nourishing energy flowed through his spiritual space and gradually seeped into the newly formed silver boundary.

Every cycle made the boundary slightly more stable.

At the same time, his Spiritual Force and Mana/Physique began rising.

Jackson remained completely immersed in cultivation.

He barely noticed the passing of time.

One day became two.

Two became five.

Then ten.

Before Jackson realized it, ten days had already passed since he entered Golden Radiance Academy.

During those ten days, he had barely left his room.

Other than the trip to the Grand Library, he hadn’t stepped outside the villa at all.

He spent almost every waking moment cultivating.

Even meals were treated as an inconvenience.

If not for the fact that his body still required nutrition, Jackson probably would have forgotten about eating altogether.

Unfortunately, there was one thing even his determination couldn’t overcome.

Resources.

By the tenth day, he had exhausted almost everything he possessed.

Jackson opened his eyes and let out a slow breath.

A trace of disappointment appeared on his face.

"Already gone..."

He had expected his resources to last longer.

Apparently, cultivation at the Third Sequence consumed far more than he had anticipated.

With nothing left to consume, Jackson decided to check his current condition.

He called out his status window.

[Name — Jackson Von Maximus]

[Age — 16]

[Talent — Aura of Absolute Slaughter, ...]

[Realm — Early Third Sequence]

[Spiritual Force — 30.9]

[Mana/Physique — 31.2]

Jackson stared at the numbers.

Both of his primary attributes had grown tremendously over the past ten days.

For an ordinary Third Sequence Awakened, such progress would already be astonishing.

After reaching the Third Sequence, increasing either primary attribute by even a single point within a month was an extremely difficult task.

Jackson had gained far more than that in only ten days.

Yet instead of feeling satisfied, he frowned.

Too slow.

Compared to his cultivation speed during the Second Sequence, this was practically crawling.

Back then, both of his primary attributes had increased by roughly one point every day.

Now, despite consuming expensive Rank Three resources, his progress had slowed dramatically.

Jackson shook his head.

"No."

His eyes became firm.

"I have to maintain the momentum I had before. This speed is too slow."

He clenched his fist.

"At this rate, I’ll never achieve my goals."

He had set himself a deadline.

One year.

He needed to undergo the First Life Transformation within that time.

He couldn’t afford to spend months slowly accumulating resources.

It seemed he had no choice.

He needed to start taking academy missions.

Contribution points were the key.

With enough contribution points, he could exchange them for powerful Rank Three pills, treasures, cultivation resources, and other items capable of accelerating his growth.

The resources provided by Golden Radiance Academy were undoubtedly among the best available to young Awakened.

Unfortunately, they were also extremely limited.

Some treasures were so rare that even contribution points couldn’t easily compensate for their scarcity.

One example immediately came to Jackson’s mind.

Dragon Blood Saliva.

A single serving could increase both of an Awakened’s primary attributes by five points.

Five points.

At the Third Sequence, that was an absurd increase.

Unfortunately, there was a catch.

It could only be consumed once during an Awakened’s entire lifetime.

And its price was equally outrageous.

Jackson’s eyes flickered.

If I can get something like that, my cultivation speed will increase significantly.

He was still thinking about his next step when his communicator suddenly vibrated.

Jackson glanced down.

A message had arrived.

The sender was someone he hadn’t forgotten.

Veronica Green Soul.

Jackson opened the message.

A single sentence appeared on the screen.

[Your Rank Three armor is ready...!]

Jackson’s eyes immediately narrowed.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

So she really had agreed.

His duel with Veronica was finally going to happen.