He shook his head, as he had no plan to become a Mana Entity or whatever that is. His main goal right now is to accumulate strength by starting to cultivate.
After dismissing the prompt, he checked back to his mana levels and was pleasantly surprised that he got bumped by two in just under a few minutes.
He could recover ten percent of his overall capacity in just a minute with an unpractised breathing technique. He was sure that recovering faster would become more effortless as he became familiar with the method.
It was enough to plaster a grin on his face as it was his first time directly controlling mana, a grin that vanished as quickly as it appeared.
He realized getting a little mana was actually not a big deal and deflated as he admitted how much easier that was. 'Doesn't that mean one mana unit is at the bottom of the scrap?'
'Bottom of the barrel, that's where I am,' he mused gloomily, 'I sure have a shitty starting point,'
He considered that Asher's body might have some incompetency with mana. But then he remembered the poison he had consumed for almost three years.
'Did the poison make his mana capacity decrease too?' he considered as it fit with the poison effect.
'Damn! That thing is more insidious than I thought if it can cripple someone like this,' he was not sure, but he felt he was on the right track.
But he didn’t let that keep him down. Instead, it made him determined. 'Well, it doesn't change much. I still have to get stronger.' But he decided he wouldn't just get stronger.
He would also make those who hurt him pay back big time. 'A hundredfold,' he promised as a flash of ruthlessness entered his mind.
But it quickly replaced with a helpless sigh as he returned to filling up his mana.
'Still, it's a long way off; my cheat even made me work for the power instead of granting it, stingy enough not to even grant skills,' he ranted inside his mind as he was still upset about not getting power up directly.
Soon, he finished his mana refill, which was now bursting at full 12. 'Sigh, what bad luck to work with so little.'
'Well, that's what I've got,' he muttered, feeling like a warrior armed with a wooden stick instead of a mighty sword.
He quickly entered the black space that the Meridian sensing seemed to love.
'This place needs a name,' he thought, amused by the idea of giving a name as he knew many had already done that before.
The skill worked way faster, and in no time, he was staring at his semi-transparent body with glowing Meridians pulsing.
He moved closer to his Heart Meridian, where he noticed the Heavenly Lightning flashing and thundering with the rhythmic heartbeat.
Last time, he could only see a single flash, so it was the first time he had noticed the heartbeat.
It was a sight to behold, and he realized it was the first time he had ever noticed the rhythm of his own heartbeat in such a vivid way. 'Feels energetic somehow.'
His Sense traveled across the Meridian as he explored further, and the picture became clear. He can see the Heavenly Lightning occupies the area where the Pathways have ruptured.
To his Sensing, they appear like a red zone, glowing and distinctly identifying as a pained area.
Looking at the Lightning filling up the space, he saw how the Heavenly Lightning acted like a wild, untamed beast, yet one that was somehow tending to his wounds.
He was surprised to see it actually helping him, which made him narrow his eyes.
He thought he would have to fight and remove it from his Meridian before he could start. That's what he expected as someone marked by the heavens as cursed.
He was sure that there were HeavenBlessed who got these types of opportunities to be saved by the Heavens.
Still, as a HeavenCursed, he was waiting for the next problem.
'So, you've been helping me all along,' Although he was confident that they were the reason why he was not a cripple right now, he didn't like the help he was getting from the Heavenly Will.
'Is it including me more in its stupid scheme?' he pondered, trying to find a reason, 'Maybe now that it had noticed his decreased HeavenCursed, it wanted to bind him by being helpful.'
'No, it must be more than that,' he thought, as he was sure it was not so simple.
But beggars can't be choosers, and right now, he is at the bottom of the barrel, so he can only accept the help.
As he examined the Lightning more closely, he reached the edge where it connected with the meridian from the ruptured area.
The meridian near the Lightning were actually frayed and almost looked like they were in a cycle of burning up, then healing, over and over. The color keeps changing from black to red to black again.
He wasn't shocked as he remembered the property that Heavenly Lightning carries. It was a force of destruction but also one of refinement.
Without the right control, this chaotic power could easily turn from his savior into a destroyer.
Even though it seems controlled, he can see that without manipulating the lighting himself and using the Heavenly Rivers Formation, the Lighting will only delay his inevitable crippling.
Thinking about the Heavenly Rivers Formation, he was feeling a little complex.
His past self might have had strong opinions about the Heavenly Will, but Asher, as he was now, didn't feel that resentment. He was almost grateful for the lightning. Almost.
He knew he was naive to think that, but this Lightning was helping him. And it was something that was preventing him from becoming a cripple.
'My first tribulation may change my view,' he sighed as he thought. But it would still be better to repay this karmic link and sever its connection.
And he was also someone who repaid kindness and hatred a hundredfold.
'Also, I'm sure I have to return the favor to keep my Dao Heart strong or something,' he reasoned, as he was sure it was a concept of this complex world of cultivation.
He felt the familiar tug at his consciousness, pulling him back to the reality of his physical body. The transition was smooth, reminding him when he read the Primordial Scripture.
Yet, the annoyance bubbled within him like a pot on the boil.
'Fuck, with the constant back and forth, this fucking shit will take forever!' he shouted in his mind as he could already imagine the painstaking process of applying Heavenly Rivers Formation in a broken tempo.
Walking three steps ahead and two steps back every time, the uncompleted river unraveled a little as he refueled his mana.
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