Way of the Knights

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"Hmm…" 

Raven hummed as he viewed the recent headlines about the sect. Kyrie made sure to keep him updated with the news and as he saw the reports, he wasn't so surprised to see that nothing much seems to have changed. 

"Right, it's unwise to create unnecessary panic amongst the disciples by announcing it. We don't have much information anyway." Raven murmured to himself as he stared at the window while resting his back against his chair. 

"But Sect Master wouldn't be Sect Master if he just left it like that. He probably already discussed it with the Grand Elder and are now preparing a trump card. I wonder what they have in mind?" Raven wondered to himself. 

Many thoughts crossed his mind but he ended up discarding all of them. 

"Ey, no need to busy myself thinking about these things." Raven sighed, "What matters the most is my personal strength."

He could still remember the dreadful feeling washing over him when he laid his eyes on the Devil Emperor's Finger. 

The current him had no way of facing that thing. Even though it's just a mere finger, it still contained an overwhelming strength. Even the Sect Master himself struggled against it. He's only safe due to the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine interfering, had it been not the case, the  he'd probably be severely injured by now or worse, dead. 

"In the end, I couldn't depend on anyone else aside from myself." Raven whispered, "Some people are depending on me too. I can't let them down. I have to become stronger." 

A glint appeared on his eyes. Raven stood up from his seat and returned to his personal quarters at the Pocket Dimension. 

Once he entered, he sealed the entire room properly to make sure that not even an ounce of energy would be able to escape this room. He also fortified it heavily just in case he made a mess out of things. 

Once he made his preparations, he sat down in the middle of the room, having cleared it from all furniture beforehand. There is a ritual circle in the middle of the room, Raven sat down at the center of it and took out a box made out of what looked like a white jade. 

Raven methodically and gently opened the box, whatever's inside was incredibly precious and important so he made sure to not be hasty with his actions. 

Once he opened the lid of the jade box. It's contents were finally displayed to him. 

Nestled in a white silky cloth, was a black seed, it almost looked like it's charred instead. 

The seed was very ordinary in appearance, it fits the center of his palm perfectly. It didn't have any fluctuations of energy or whatsoever. At first glance, no one would even pay attention to it had it not been kept at a box made out jade. 

Nevertheless, to Raven's eye, this seed is one of the most precious item he had ever received ever since coming here at the Sect. 

"Seed of the World Tree." Raven sighed in wonder. "And since this is a complete seed and not a shard, it would cost somewhere within 1 billion Merit Points to 2 Billion."

"Thanks to the Sect Master though, I get have it for free." Raven murmured as he admired the seed on his hand. "No time to waste, I better start the integration. The sooner the better." 

With that in mind, Raven placed the jade box away and concentrated his focus onto the seed. 

Normally, not just any disciples would be able to receive a whole seed of the World Tree. Even in the Ancient Elysium Sect, this is a very scarce resource that most disciples could only stare at but not acquire. 

According to the price tag, the seed is set a 10 million Merit Points price, however in reality that's just a shard. A whole seed is composed of more than 10 shards, some could even go up to a 100 pieces just to complete one. It all depends on the quality of the seed and the degree of compatibility, 

The reason why it is sold in shards is because the sect didn't want it's disciples to waste unnecessary time and effort into something that they'd fail at in the long run. 

Saying that cultivating the Seed of the World Tree to bloom is a pain in the ass, might even be considered as an understatement. 

It takes a lot of work. A. Lot. Of. Work. 

Some people wouldn't even be able to come close to cultivating to bloom throughout their whole lives. It is that hard. 

The sect sold it in shards in order to see the degree of compatibility with someone. Depending on how long they managed to refine a shard, the sect would use that to decide whether it's worth to allow someone to have an entire seed or not. It's somewhat like a test per se. 

As for Raven, that hardly became an issue. The Sect Master had trusted that Raven was aware of what he's doing. The Sect Master was confident that Raven knew what he was dealing with so giving him an entire seed wasn't a problem. Plus, Raven had the crown space where time moves differently. If Raven were still unable to make the seed bloom, then he'd call him retarded. 

Raven eventually attuned his mind, making it in perfect state. After that, he placed the seed in between his palms and started mobilizing his Cosmic Energy. 

The seed immediately disappeared from his hands and reappeared within his core. 

There, even without Raven help, it showed it's fearsomeness and tyranny. It forced it's way at the very center of the cosmos within Raven's core, swallowing up the Cleansing Flame Sprout in one go, which surprised Raven greatly. 

Still he didn't panic, and observed the process for a bit. The Cleansing Flame Sprout's aura didn't disappear, it just fused with the Seed of the World Tree. Raven have his own guesses but those didn't matter right now. 

The seed began inhaling Raven's Cosmic Energy like a whale sucking for air. Raven saw how his inner cosmos began visibly dimmed in sheer seconds which astounded him. Nevertheless, Raven didn't stop it since he knew that this just it's first feeding. 

As time passed, Raven's complexion began turning pale. The World Tree Seed was insatiable. It kept absorbing his Cosmic Energy which were nearly dry and it has yet to take root. 

Raven was alarmed yet remained to observe. Some time passed once more and just as every ounce of Cosmic Energy on Raven's body was sucked dry, the World Tree Seed trembled. 

Cracking sounds could be heard within the inner world and shortly after that, numerous hairs began growing from the World Tree Seed's body. Each tendrils looked like soft strands of silks that swayed with the air however in truth, if any this strands landed on a living being, it would suck them dry before unlatching. 

Seeing this development, Raven didn't hesitate to drink a drop of Divine Spring Water. 

As his Cosmic Energy began recovering, the strands of roots began interfering and sucking more nutrients for itself. 

Raven's expression was cramped but he didn't stop it, he just allowed the seed to absorb as much as it wants for now. 

This trend continued for a good while, and once again, just as he was about to run out of Cosmic Energies again, the World Tree Seed finally stopped and settled down. 

It's roots were now firmly planted at the core region of Raven's inner cosmos, causing Raven to finally heave a sigh of relief. Now, the seed won't necessarily absorb energies without his permission anymore. He had now firmly established a connection with it however shallow it might be. 

Raven dislodged his focus on the seed for now. Instead, he focused on recovering his lost energies through natural means. He would've done this process inside the Crown Space but right now he's currently banned from entering due to the natural limit. 

Recovering his energies this way will take a longer time due to the nature of his cultivation way, still it's better than nothing. And just like he expected, the World Tree Seed was behaving quite nicely. 

By the end of the day, Raven managed to recover at least 15% of his total amount of energies. Enough to not look pale and exhausted. He ended his session for now since it's a bit late and he's hungry.

Raven stood up and stretched: "Hah, this is why not many people are willing to spend time cultivating the World Tree Seed." 

He caressed his stomach and continued to say: "So long as it hasn't bloomed yet, then there's no immediate benefits."

"Well, I've got time." Raven murmured, "It'd be hectic for me at during the next couple of days but so long as this seed blooms, then everything's worth it."

Raven still hasn't forgotten the fact that he might be what they refer to as the 'Elven Abomination'. Whether this have something to do with his Old Master Tenrou's blood or something else, knowing that he possess the blood which may or may not have a connection to the seed itself, is something he'll eventually know in the future. 

"For now though, food.. I am famished."