Way of the Knights

"Hooo…"

Raven exhaled a mouthful of foul air, he glanced at the vast space before before him and stood up. This action should've been easy and simple, but inside the Crown Space, this is anything else except easy.

It had been a few hours since he came back to his dwelling. He finished his matters in the Pill Saint Pavilion and is now resuming his training inside the Crown Space.

His demonstration in front of Richard and Jacob went without a hitch, afterwards he demanded a Level 1 Alchemist badge from Richard. In all honesty, the old man was prepared to give him an Elder Badge should he asked for it, and in fact he even directly offered it to him which didn't surprise Raven at the very least. Richard wasn't really breaking any law within the organization by placing Raven in the Elder Position, this is because of the recipe for the Healing Salve, by giving this to the pavilion, it could be said that he completed a mission already which rewarded him with that position. But for the sake of staying low profile, Raven refused the position and said that it would be better if he follow the common fact, he wasn't lacking any time and he could always give support to the pavilion as long as he remained as a member.

After he left the place, Richard immediately sent a letter towards the Chief Director of the main branch. He didn't reveal much on the letter because he knew that it's better for the chief to see it directly and he was also afraid that some unwanted people might discover it early and he didn't want that to happen.

As expected, the Chief Director came and became extremely stunned by this news. He immediately performed several tests using live subjects and the elixir worked fantastically! As he was planning to order some servants to empty the market with ingredients they need, Richard stepped forward and gave him a better idea.

They will hoard in secret, it's better to remain rather discreet about it. The idea was to order some clueless civilians to buy the materials needed. This method would be a bit slower but it's more stealthy. After that, they will concoct as many healing salves as they could and take their competitors by surprise with a sudden announcement. That way, the profits they will receive would be much bigger. This ingenious plan was received well by the Chief Director and they decided to follow it. On the next following days, the Pill Saint Pavilion should remain peaceful on the surface but silently preparing for their massive comeback, until then nothing new should happen.

While the Pill Saint Pavilion was busy, the one who caused this was inside a spacious land filled with flora, if it weren't for this ridiculous supression, he might've been able to appreciate this view even more.

Sitting down is already a pain in the ass, literally, much less trying to move around. But Raven knew that his precious time here shouldn't be wasted by just sitting down. Obviously, he has other plans.

He stood up with great difficulty, gnashing his teeth to endure the supression, he went into a horse stance and conditioned his mind to polish his fist art under this mighty supression.

The [Iron Mountain Blows] has several moves listed such as: 'Iron Fist', 'Tremors', 'Iron Mountain Supression', 'Hardening', 'Return' and 'Grand Iron Collapse'. So far, Raven mastered the first three techniques, it's just that he had been occupied with other things that prevented him from mastering more. Nevertheless, he figured that since he's facing an incredible pressure right now, might as well go all the way when it comes to strengthening himself.

Still on a horse stance, Raven summoned a good chunk of his energies for him to knead, using his delicate control, he evenly applied this energies onto his body to form a thin layer of defense. But that's just the first step, next he has to condense each part of that outer layer, similar to how he would perform an Iron Fist, but for his whole body.

This process is incredibly taxing for multiple reasons. One, he is an awkward position where the threat of giving into the pressure is always present. Two, the pressure itself is powerful enough to disperse any foreign energy just by existing. And finally, he has to endure and resist the pressure whilst performed a very tedious task. It's not a an understatement to say that this kind of training is downright insane, but Raven wanted to do it since he knew above anyone else that there are no shortcuts to strength. He will have to eventually face more challenging enemies and circumstances, if he doesn't have enough strength to back him up, then all would be for naught.

Raven mustered his will and whole heartedly focused at the task at hand. On the surface of his body, several black spots began showing up. This isn't bruises but condensed energy that followed the aesthetic of a black iron. The move 'Hardening' is defensive technique which could nullify a full forced blow of anyone within his cultivation realm and disperse it like nothing, giving him a solid defence and an opportunity to trade blows safely.

That being said, after nullifying the blow, all areas affected by the impact would disappear and leave that place vulnerable. Only by condensing another layer of 'Hardening' over those areas would it be protected again. In short, it's a one time barrier but a powerful one. If one asks about others' opinion about this move, they would say that it's bad and might suggest Raven to practice another technique, or convince him to pick up a weapon instead. Raven won't be able to blame, not because their thoughts on the technique was correct, it's because of their ignorance.

There is a precise reason why he always focuses on his control over his energies, and it's precisely due to this. With enough control and enough energy, he would be able to condense layers upon layers of Hardened Skin all over his exposed skin and he would be unstoppable.

Another thing that many people don't know about the technique, is that 'Hardening' stays active for at least 12 hours before dispersing on it's own. Which means, Raven could literally condense at least 20 layers of Hardened Skin and focus on something else for the next 12 hours without any fear of dying from a surprise attack. Not to mention that the toughness and duration of 'Hardening' also depends on the amount of energy used and the individual's control.

Eventually, Raven's body was covered with a black sheen, signifying that the Hardening was somewhat a success, but if one looked closely, there are some several spots on his body that were flickering, this is due to the pressure dispersing them which causes Raven to summon more energy to patch them up. 'Even the hardened skin can't alleviate the supression of this place, it appears that this strange force could seep in through energy to carry out it's only purpose, which is to suppress me.'

Raven thought…

Eventually, after hours of hardwork, Raven ran out of energy. He panted heavily and felt the need to recover. With great difficulty, he sat down and focused on cultivating despite the omni-present energy. Inside his body, his Energy Nodes and Channels are constantly pulsing to resist the pressure. He could faintly feel that as time goes on, his Energy Network is being tempered and getting tougher. It won't take him long before breaking through to Mid-stage Soldier Realm.

***

Next day.

Raven woke up, feeling refreshed and light. He glanced at his hourglass and found out that he actually slept as soon as he came out of the Crown Space, he was even naked at the pond which is filled with Body Restoration Fluid. Good thing that he wasn't submerged in the water when he passed out, or else he might've died. With a gentle shake of his head, he stood up. His joints cracked with a slight movement which caused him to slightly groan in delight. He stretched his limbs for a while before cleaning himself up. He did a slight check on his body and was relieved to know that, somehow even if he was soaking in water overnight, his skin wasn't shriveled up like a dried corpse. That would've been terrible if that happened.

He went back to his cave dwelling and was now wearing his uniform, he prepared a simple meal to fill his stomach. After that, he took out the main control of the array that he set up around his dwelling. He then focused on tempering his spiritual energy by reforming some part of his cave dwelling using the main control. This is the routine that Raven developed to maximize his time, he figured that with this schedule, he will hasten his cultivation by a decent pace.

It was then that the badge on his uniform vibrated. He grabbed it and sank his perception in to read the message…"Gather at my office and search for my assistant. He will bring you guys to meet your classmates."