Chapter 168
Chapter 168
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: The Great Vessel Takes Form
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“Wow.”
A groan escaped my lips unbidden. I had no choice after checking my status window.
“This is insane, for real.”
It wasn’t just that I’d gained two stats at 900.
Vitality: 999(+)
Recovery: 999(+)
“Limit stats, huh...”
The additional values that should appear after the plus sign weren’t showing up, probably because it was the limit of what could be implemented in the physical world.
Since I didn’t have any authorities over life or recovery, it meant I couldn’t exceed that threshold.
‘But... debating the hierarchy of limit stats is just excessive greed.’
Simply put, with 999 vitality,
nothing in the material world was tougher than this body.
Sure, an attack like sword energy that could slice through dimensions would still wound me, but with vitality at this level, I’d never get hacked apart in chunks like before.
And on top of that, recovery at 999?
“This is basically immortality, isn’t it?”
Even my other stats weren’t low. Strength had hit 600 points, stronger than an ogre, while stamina and agility were also at 600. With physical prowess alone, I could beat mid-tier large monsters to death.
Plus, strictly speaking, my transcendent stats were three.
Mana, pumped full of bonus points, remained at 900. It just hadn’t triggered a global announcement.
“So class bonuses that can be swapped anytime count as a kind of buff, huh.”
Pushing aside a twinge of regret,
“Alright... now for the most important check.”
Before drinking the reset potion, I’d decided to make full use of my mana. I sat cross-legged in the center of the office and began true qi breathing. Focusing my mind, deep breaths.
Whoooosh!
“Huh?”
Startled by the sudden gale inside the room, I broke my posture. Novels scattered everywhere, flung into chaos.
“Your Majesty?”
The office door flew open as startled Flower rushed in. I waved her off to reassure her.
‘But where’d this wind come from out of nowhere?’
Thinking back, it had happened on Earth too.
Hadn’t a random gust whipped up from a fake cough meant to cover my mouth?
“Wind attribute power... but why’s it manifesting like this?”
Flower, grasping the situation somewhat, bowed toward me in bewilderment.
“Congratulations on your achievement, Your Majesty.”
“Oh, thanks. But how’d you...”
I paused, realizing it was a stupid question.
‘Right, the world message popped up.’
Not just Flower—every being on the continent who could read would know. They might not grasp exactly what transcendent stats were, but they could guess it was immense power.
Flower nodded as expected.
“Yes. I saw the global announcement. But... honestly, I would’ve known even without it.”
“...How?”
She pointed to a mirror in the corner of the office. Glancing over, I saw my reflection.
“...What the hell is this?”
I’d grown taller. Already tall before, now I was over two meters.
But height wasn’t what caught my eye.
My eyes were glowing.
“You’ve transcended humanity in every way.”
Flower’s words were so apt I couldn’t argue.
“No, why...”
Both eyes shone pure white, light trailing upward from the corners like smoke. Not human—like some celestial being descended.
Trying to examine it closely by straining my eyes.
Flash! Crash!
My pupils flared, and the mirror shattered.
“No, no way, this is crazy... beams from my eyes?”
I could only laugh in disbelief. Staring at the scattered mirror shards and strewn paper piles on the floor, I said,
“I need to check my condition on the roof. Sorry, but call people to clean up the office.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
I left the office, took the stairs by the elevator, and headed to the roof.
Whoooosh...
Standing in the center amid the biting wind.
The people of Ardania sat cross-legged atop the massive H-shaped structure whose origins they didn’t even know.
‘First, assess my body’s state.’
Focusing my mind, awakening my seventh sense to scan my flesh. Impossible before, but now feasible after overcoming scrap mana aptitude.
‘As expected, awakening vitality dulled my inspiration.’
Even dulled, it was far more sensitive than during scrap mana aptitude days, so I quickly grasped the situation.
‘What the... the fire points have embedded themselves directly into my flesh?’
Points that should be in my inner world had settled into my eyes, lungs, nerves, blood, muscles, liver, skin, bones.
Peeking into my inner world, a huge nail was driven into the fire point’s spot on the go board.
Obviously not a real nail—just symbolizing the fire point’s closure.
“Ah, wait, this means... I absolutely can’t let them get stolen now.”
Before, losing a fire point just meant spiritual damage...
Now, it’d come with horrific physical trauma too, unhealable without reclaiming it.
Worst case, burst eyeballs or dried blood could persist...
But I snorted away the rising fear.
“I wasn’t planning on losing them anyway.”
Ceasing observation, I began qi circulation meditation.
“Hoo...”
Inhale.
“Hoo...”
Exhale.
With this simple breathing, the qi of heaven and earth churned.
But that wasn’t the only issue.
Groooar—!
A gale roared. The fierce wind howled savagely, demanding even greater focus.
‘Gotta control it.’
Couldn’t have gusts from a cough or laser eyes from staring—embarrassing spectacles for others.
Attribute power was still the same force I’d handled before.
Controlling it, I delved deeper into my flesh.
Fwoosh!
In my dantian’s center, I found the Eternal Sun.
‘Precisely, the pseudo Eternal Sun.’
Meaning fake Eternal Sun. Probably needed more processes or materials for the real deal.
No complaints about Merlin giving an incomplete item.
‘Nearly died eating this. On its own, it’s absurdly transcendent spirit medicine.’
I traded infinite inner power for a transcendent body. Guessing now, but the bio-agent I ate before must’ve awakened under the Eternal Sun’s destructive force.
My current state was likely beyond Merlin’s expectations.
‘But whatever he envisioned, it wouldn’t be better than this.’
Examining the Eternal Sun. In transforming my body, it expended all its power.
Not gone—the vessel itself remained intact.
‘Strictly speaking... this isn’t the Eternal Sun anymore.’
No vast inner power, no scorching yang qi to burn all, no faint divinity.
Now, just a massive vessel.
And that massive vessel had settled into a new bio-organ in my body.
“Unique...”
Felt exactly like a dantian. Breathing true qi, inner power completing the microcosmic orbit flowed in.
The issue: this dantian physically existed.
“This means I need a new system diverging from existing arts. No resources needed to maintain the dantian...”
Qi, or mana, inherently diffuses like heat.
‘Spreads out.’
To concentrate it, some force must counter that property.
In martial arts, it’s intent.
But without transcendent or near-transcendent mental power, constant intent to control mana is impossible.
‘Why inner power arts were created.’
Inner arts don’t give absolute gains without cost. Maintaining concentrated inner power, rotating true qi—costs spiritual resources.
But a physical dantian changes everything.
What resources does a real bio-organ consume? Just blood flow and nutrients.
Like water staying put in a bucket, inner power stays in the dantian without loss.
Meaning over half of existing inner arts could be discarded without issue.
“It’s like... that thing.”
Never heard of a physical dantian anywhere. Not even tales of such.
But something similar, I knew.
A massive mana reservoir that exerts near-authority power by its existence alone: a spirit organ.
“Dragon Heart.”
And with a bio-organ equaling a Dragon Heart,
“Heh.”
I chuckled softly and began circulating qi.
One cycle, two, three.
One month, two, three...
Except for meals Flower brought, I devoted all time to meditation and qi circulation.
Fully grasping my body’s state, controlling embedded attribute powers.
Above all, acclimating to the new bio-organ.
The Great Vessel.
“Hoo... that’s ten years of inner power.”
Pathetic compared to my full strength now, but stacking ten years in three months without scraps? Absolutely abnormal. Even top divine or demonic arts couldn’t match this efficiency.
“Name... yeah. Great Vessel Late Bloom.”
I created a new art. Primitive in simplicity and scant volume compared to ones I knew, but perfect for current me.
“Missing volume... I’ll add it gradually.”
Standing, I looked up. Stars twinkled in the pitch-black sky.
Down below, a city sparkling brighter than the night sky.
Nothing like old cities cloaked in darkness at dusk—a modern Earth scene, no dissonance.
Humans adapt, huh.
Time I’d have barricaded doors waiting for dawn, now people laughed and chatted on night streets.
“Nice.”
Grinning, I descended the stairs. Exhausted, thinking food and sleep.
But that vanished seeing Flower asleep at the desk before the office.
“Zzz...”
Snow-white skin, urban beauty gripping a pen—motionless, like a painting.
Towers of documents flanked her—not wartime admin, her daily workload.
‘Rare sight.’
Flower always cared for me flawlessly. Rare to see sauce on her lips while eating, now utterly defenseless.
‘Too much work, as expected.’
Gazing at her. First met when her small head barely reached my knee.
Back then, seeking surgical talent, I scoured barber guilds handling “lowly” surgery nobles scorned. Flower was a slave they dragged around.
“...”
I remembered. Smashing the barber’s head who tried poisoning my wound as “treatment,” about to leave—then the girl kneeling, rattling off surgical techniques.
That intellect, resolve.
Even now, Flower was no ordinary genius. Born on Earth, not this shitty medieval land, she’d be stellar regardless of spirit aptitude.
‘Come to think... it’s been a while.’
That tiny girl stayed by my side unwavering through years growing into a mature woman. Without her, the Human Empire would be far more chaotic.
“...!”
Flower shuddered. Awake, she stared at me stroking her cheek.
“...”
“...”
We gazed silently. Unprecedented. Dragged her around since childhood, never saw her as a woman.
Drip.
A tear fell on the desk. Flower was crying.
“Ah...”
I flinched, pulling my hand from her cheek.
‘Shit. What did I do?’
Mid-self-reproach,
Flower grabbed my hand desperately.
“No! No! It’s not that!”
Her uncharacteristic raised voice made me grip her hand back.
“Calm down, Flower. I’m sorry.”
“No. It’s not that. Just... I waited so long for this.”
“Waited for what?”
To my bewilderment, Flower said,
“For you to look at me like that... I waited so, so long...”
“...”
We gazed wordlessly. Brief silence.
I scooped her up.
“Eek!?”
Flower let out an adorably uncharacteristic squeak. We entered the office soon after—
Click.
The door shut.