Nine days passed in a flash.

  Since returning from the battlefield, Pierce had spent most of his time in his stone house.

  Every day, aside from consuming Unicorn Blood Essence, he meditated and practiced the Omniscient Breathing Technique, immersing himself in improving his strength, just like when he was at the academy.

  Unsurprisingly, as Pierce's mental energy level continued to increase, the effect of the Unicorn Blood Essence gradually weakened.

  By the time he consumed the tenth bottle, his mental energy only increased by 0.49.

  This effect was roughly equivalent to the boost from three bottles of Resonance Potion. Strictly speaking, it was no longer worth the high price of the Unicorn Blood Essence.

  After careful consideration, Pierce decided to stop exchanging for Unicorn Blood Essence and use his remaining Merit Points for Sprouts of the Holy Spirit.

  "Omniscient Eye, check my current status."

  [Mental Energy: 20.02]

  [Physique: 13.14]

  "Not bad. It's finally crossed 20."

  A satisfied smile appeared on Pierce's face.

  With just about 12 more points, he would reach the limit of the Rank 1 Gaseous Phase and could begin condensing his mental power.

  "The Omniscient Breathing Technique is also close to breaking through to the fourth layer."

  Pierce had a vague feeling that at his current pace, it would take at most two more months to reach the fourth layer.

  By then, even if his Physique didn't hit 20, it wouldn't be far off.

  "Once I practice it to the fifth layer, I'll be able to break through and become a Tier 3 Legendary Knight."

  A Tier 3 Legendary Knight was an existence capable of fighting a Rank 1 Gaseous Phase Wizard head-on.

  A Legendary Knight at that level held a status in Aurora City only slightly below that of a formal Wizard.

  Refocusing, Pierce looked at the task bar.

  [Task 1: Deduce a secret technique for rapidly increasing and condensing mental power. Estimated requirement: 276.1 Mental Energy Levels.]

  After days of mental acceleration, the deduction task was nearly halfway complete.

  Thanks to his rapidly growing mental power, the progress was much faster than Pierce had anticipated.

  Even without the Bloodline Stimulation Technique as a reference, he would soon obtain the secret technique.

  Of course, if he could acquire the Bloodline Stimulation Technique, he might complete it even faster.

  As for the remaining two task slots, Pierce casually assigned two spell models for optimization.

  However, he didn't plan to waste his mental power on accelerating them, intending to let them complete naturally over time.

  Stretching his arms, Pierce stood up and walked out of the room, preparing to go to the Exchange for the Sprouts of the Holy Spirit.

  As soon as he stepped out of the stone house, he saw Sophia and Payne sparring in a nearby clearing.

  Seeing Pierce emerge, the two immediately stopped and approached him respectfully.

  "My Lord." "My Lord."

  Pierce used the Omniscient Eye to scan them and found that both of their Physique attributes had surpassed 3.5. Payne's had even reached 3.89, not far from 4.

  Evidently, the two had gained a massive harvest over these past few days.

  To a Wizard, 30 Merit Points could only buy one bottle of Resonance Potion—a very limited benefit.

  But to a Tier 1 Legendary Knight, it was a massive fortune. The resources they could exchange for were enough to make their strength skyrocket.

  Sophia and Payne were living proof.

  In just ten days, their Physiques had surged by 70 to 80 percent, equivalent to three or four months of hard training.

  And that was with the Omniscient Breathing Technique.

  For other Legendary Knights, even two or three years of training wouldn't yield such a high increase.

  Pierce nodded inwardly in satisfaction. At this speed, the two would soon advance to Tier 2.

  "How is the matter I asked you to keep an eye on?" Pierce asked.

  Sophia quickly replied, "Just as you predicted, My Lord, the Mission Hall has issued a mission to retake Resource Point No. 34."

  Resource Point No. 34 was the exact Mithril vein that Anton and Fiona had lost.

  "Has anyone accepted it?"

  "Not yet."

  Sophia shook her head.

  "I heard Red Maple City sent scouts to investigate. The Turin army occupying Resource Point No. 34 consists of a full four detachments of Church Knights, along with a significant number of noble troops."

  "Furthermore, there are over ten Winter Frost Priests, and possibly even a Rank 3 Priest among them."

  Pierce raised an eyebrow.

  Four Church Knight detachments meant over 1,500 Grand Knights and more than a hundred Legendary Knights.

  Even his flock of Fog Crows might not win against those numbers.

  Not to mention the double-digit Winter Frost Priests and the potential Rank 3 Priest.

  Based solely on the currently known garrison strength, it would be basically impossible to retake the Mithril vein without an alliance of seven or eight Wizards, led by a Rank 1 Crystalline Phase Wizard.

  As for Rank 2 Wizards...

  To be honest, a Mithril vein wasn't that attractive to a Rank 2 Wizard.

  Especially when the Turins had made it clear they intended to hold the vein at all costs by deploying such a massive military force. A Rank 2 Wizard would be even less willing to risk assaulting it for a mere dozen kilograms of Mithril.

  However, this wasn't necessarily bad news for Pierce.

  It was best if the mission remained unaccepted until he had built his own army and gathered enough strength to take it himself.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Telling Sophia and Payne to continue their training, Pierce turned and headed for the Exchange.

  Along the way, he noticed people constantly looking at him and whispering.

  Many gazes, both overt and covert, were focused on him.

  Pierce was initially a bit confused, but his confusion cleared when he ran into Anton's trio inside the Exchange.

  "Pierce."

  After a period of rest, Chester had recovered his strength and looked much more energetic.

  However, a trace of gloom lingered between all three of their brows.

  After all, the loss of the Mithril vein had caused an uproar lately. As the ones directly involved, they were undoubtedly under immense pressure.

  Loss of face and reputation was one thing, but more importantly, the army they had painstakingly built had been completely wiped out, forcing them to start from scratch.

  During their chat, Pierce learned that the news of him single-handedly conquering Fortification No. 89 had spread, causing quite a stir in Red Maple City.

  Since the outbreak of the war with the Turins, there had been no precedent of a Rank 1 Wizard taking down a fortification alone. Coupled with his title as Aurora City's youngest Wizard, the event had drawn massive attention and discussion.

  "You're a major celebrity in Red Maple City now," Anton said with a smile.

  Fiona covered her mouth and giggled, "Pierce was already a major celebrity."

  "True," Anton realized.

  As the crucial figure who determined the outcome of the Battle of the Twin Cities, Pierce was already known by everyone in Red Maple City.

  Pierce smiled, changed the subject, and asked, "What are your plans next?"

  Anton sighed. "What else can we do? We'll go back to the battlefield, clear out Turin patrol chariots and outposts, save up enough Merit Points, and then build a new army to assault a Turin fortification."

  After the recent disaster, the three of them had developed a phobia of guarding resource points.

  While the rewards were massive, the risks were equally high. One mistake, and all their prior investments would vanish.

  They had no intention of experiencing that a second time.

  Pierce nodded slightly. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt a gaze on him.

  He turned his head and locked eyes with a Wizard.

  The man was tall and thin, with a pair of bizarre, dark red eyes.

  Seeing Pierce looking back, the red-eyed Wizard unnaturally shifted his gaze, not daring to meet his eyes.

  Noticing Pierce's gaze, Anton turned his head, recognized the red-eyed Wizard, and whispered, "That guy is Lucius, a Wizard from Red Lotus City."

  Pierce immediately lost interest and withdrew his gaze.

  He knew his reputation among the Red Lotus City Wizards was consistently terrible.

  "By the way," Pierce suddenly asked, "do you happen to have any Faith Crystals on hand?"

  Anton and Chester shook their heads.

  Fiona, however, nodded. "I happen to have one. Why?"

  Pierce's eyes lit up. "Could you let me take a look?"

  Although she found the request odd, Fiona didn't refuse. She took out a Faith Crystal and handed it to Pierce.

  This was the Faith Crystal she had prepared for her breakthrough to the Rank 1 Liquid Phase.

  The Faith Crystal looked like an ordinary silver metal bead, utterly unremarkable on the surface.

  Only those with powerful mental energy could sense the dense Power of Faith contained within the small metal sphere.

  After rubbing it for a moment and ensuring the Omniscient Eye had recorded its information, Pierce returned it.

  "Thank you."

  This action left Anton's trio completely baffled, but they couldn't pry further.

  Pierce had no intention of explaining either. Bidding them farewell, he walked over to the counter.

  Omniscient Eye, deduce the technique for extracting Faith Crystals from divine statues and holy artifacts.

  [Task Created: Deduce Faith Crystal Extraction Technique. Estimated requirement: 325.2 Mental Energy Levels.]

  "A little over three hundred, huh..."

  Pierce nodded slightly. This consumption wasn't too large; with full acceleration, it would only take sixteen or seventeen days to complete.

  It was all thanks to having an actual Faith Crystal as a reference; otherwise, the required mental energy would definitely have been much higher.

  "By the time the task is complete, my mental energy level should also be close to the limit of the Gaseous Phase."

  After exchanging for two Sprouts of the Holy Spirit at the counter, Pierce headed straight back to his stone house.

  In the bedroom of the stone house.

  Pierce sat cross-legged on the bed, examining the Sprout of the Holy Spirit in his hand.

  The sprout looked somewhat like rice, only shorter, thinner, and pure white. It felt slightly cold to the touch.

  "Just this tiny sprout is worth at least 3,000 Magic Stones."

  Pierce sighed, then popped the Sprout of the Holy Spirit into his mouth and swallowed it in a few bites. He closed his eyes, preparing to endure the incoming impact.

  A few seconds later, a bizarre mental shock hit as expected, instantly plunging Pierce into a trance.

  Countless whispers of chanting, praying, and praising seemed to appear in his mind out of thin air.

  One could clearly feel the fanaticism and devotion contained within them.

  These voices echoed endlessly, as if trying to assimilate Pierce. He had to fiercely guard his Sea of Consciousness to resist the erosion.

  He didn't know how long passed before the voices gradually faded, and clarity returned to his mind.

  He opened his eyes, his brow furrowing slightly.

  Although the voices in his head had vanished, he still felt a strange, unnatural sensation in his body.

  "Is this the erosion of the Power of Faith caused by consuming the Sprout of the Holy Spirit?"

  Pierce's expression shifted, and he quickly 'looked' into the depths of his mind at his Spirit Crystal. Sure enough, he found that roughly one-twentieth of the originally crystal-clear surface was now tinted with a faint layer of gold.

  Clearly, this was the side effect of the Sprout of the Holy Spirit.

  Pierce concentrated on it for a while and noticed that the golden tint was still slowly expanding.

  Although the rate of expansion was incredibly slow—almost imperceptible without close observation—if left unchecked, it would eventually consume the entire Spirit Crystal.

  At that point, he would be completely assimilated into a believer of the Lady of Winter Frost.

  "The Power of Faith of these deities is just like a virus; it constantly seeks to erode the souls and minds of others."

  Pierce couldn't help but curse inwardly.

  He suspected this was exactly how the so-called fanatics of those divine churches were slowly brainwashed, step by step.

  Fortunately, he could use his mental power to suppress and even eliminate this erosion.

  "Let's see the results."

  Pierce summoned the Omniscient Eye and was pleasantly surprised to find that his mental energy had increased by a massive 2.12 points in one go!

  This effect far exceeded that of Unicorn Blood Essence or Resonance Potions!

  "Not bad. It's worth enduring such a massive side effect."

  Pierce looked delighted.

  At this rate, consuming one or two more Sprouts of the Holy Spirit, combined with the supplementary cultivation from Resonance Potions, should bring him close to the limit of the Gaseous Phase.

  Focusing his mind, Pierce began the arduous task of purging the erosion of the Power of Faith.

  In the time that followed...

  Pierce simultaneously purged the erosion of the Power of Faith while maintaining his regular meditation and physical cultivation.

  It took him a full half-month to completely eradicate the Power of Faith from his Spirit Crystal.

  "With my mental energy level over 20, it still took me half a month to clear the side effects. If it were an ordinary Rank 1 Gaseous Phase Wizard, they'd probably need three or four months to recover from a single dose."

  The larger the Spirit Crystal, the more mental power it contained, and naturally, the faster it recovered.

  Pierce far exceeded ordinary Wizards in both regards, yet it still took him half a month.

  It was evident that even with an unlimited supply of Sprouts of the Holy Spirit, an ordinary Wizard wouldn't be able to rapidly boost their mental energy.

  "This is the advantage of having a massive Spirit Crystal."

  Pierce smiled, took out another Sprout of the Holy Spirit, and consumed it.

  This time, it took him less than fourteen days to eliminate the erosion.

  "Omniscient Eye, check my current status."

  [Mental Energy: 28.25]

  [Physique: 17.39]

  Looking at the data fed back by the Omniscient Eye, a joyful smile appeared on Pierce's face.

  Over this past month, two Sprouts of the Holy Spirit and thirty potions had consumed resources worth 1,500 Merit Points.

  That was roughly the equivalent of a Rank 1 Gaseous Phase Wizard's earnings over half a year.

  Fortunately, the results were incredibly gratifying.

  Now, he only needed to increase his mental energy by a little over three points before he could begin condensing it.

  "The effect of a single bottle of Resonance Potion has now dropped to just 0.14."

  Pierce quickly did the math in his head. Using Resonance Potions to supplement his meditation, it would take him at most one more month to reach 32 Mental Energy Levels.

  "I might as well keep cultivating until I hit the limit."

  "It just so happens the Faith Crystal extraction task also needs time to complete."

  Pierce glanced at the task bar.

  During this period, his mental power had been entirely focused on purging the erosion, barely leaving any to accelerate the deduction. The task still required just over 300 Mental Energy Levels to complete.

  Now was the perfect time to meditate while simultaneously accelerating the task.

  He would stay secluded until he broke through to the Liquid Phase, and then head out to earn Merit Points.

  Pierce quickly made his plan and began a new round of cultivation.

  Just as Pierce decided to continue his closed-door cultivation, inside a dim stone house, Victor stared at a water mirror with an expression of agitated impatience.

  The smooth surface of the mirror clearly displayed the exterior of Pierce's stone house.

  "Damn it! What the hell is this kid doing in there?"

  Victor's face was extremely ugly.

  To grasp Pierce's movements, he had been secretly monitoring him.

  But it had been over a month, and Pierce was either cultivating in his stone house or visiting the Exchange. He absolutely refused to leave Red Maple City, leaving Victor without a single opportunity to strike.

  If he hadn't retained a shred of rationality, Victor would have loved nothing more than to storm into that stone house and murder Pierce right now.

  "Damn little beast!"

  Victor cursed through gritted teeth, forcing himself to remain patient and continue monitoring.

  Under the dim light, a black shadow flickered faintly behind him. A ghostly, chilling wind seemed to sweep through the air, bringing with it the faint, echoing sound of countless weeping voices.