Yeon-woo’s eyes widened. ‘The gods and demons of the ninety-eighth floor are interested in me?’

The ninety-eighth floor was an unknown territory that many players had been targeting for thousands of years to no avail.

After Allforone settled on the seventy-seventh floor for unknown reasons, no one has ever been able to climb beyond that floor. Red Dragon gathered from time to time on the seventy-sixth floor to bring Allforone down, but they never succeeded. However, although the floors above the seventy-seventh are a mystery, there are some clues as to what’s there.

One of these clues was the ninety-eighth floor, which was where gods and demons resided, the masters of the Apostles. The gods and demons used a secret method to observe the events below the seventy-seventh floor, and they often presented players that caught their eye with more power or asked them to become an Apostle. However, none of them ever left the ninety-eighth floor, and players believed that it was because their spiritual pressure was so immense that it would destroy the lower floors if they appeared.

However, the gods and demons had their methods of manifesting their power in the lower floors, like Hermes, who had made his interest clear to Yeon-woo, or through a system message like the one that had just popped up. ‘It’s really rare for them to contact players on the lower floor. Supposedly, only two have ever been contacted, and even Jeong-woo never received a message like this. I wonder if this means my theory of creating Cores is that unique?’ All he had done was combine the knowledge of the One-horned tribe with his Magic Circuit to create a new theory.

But no further messages appeared, and Yeon-woo didn’t have any other clues to help him figure out why they were so interested in him. However, he was reassured of one thing: ‘I’m on the right path.’ Even the gods had taken notice of his theory of directing the natural flow of mana using Cores, which was evidence that the Magic Circuit wasn’t the right fit for humans. ‘If so…’ Yeon-woo smirked.

Now that he had opened up a path, he only had to keep going. He organized the information inside his head, analyzed the important parts, determined the kind of information he needed to learn, and discarded the irrelevant facts. The Draconic species sought truth and gathered a huge amount of knowledge throughout their lives, but no human could ever access the same brainpower.

The best Yeon-woo could do was access his Draconic Eyes and think over the information he had. His head was growing hot from all the mental work.

['Combat Will' skill proficiency is rapidly increasing. 27%, 28%…35%, 36%]

[New knowledge has been obtained. The application of Magic Circuit is being created.]

[Your vessel has grown.]

[The acquisition of new knowledge and spiritual growth has been confirmed. The halted succession progress will resume. 99.5%, 99.6%.]

Yeon-woo continued to concentrate without noticing the time pass. By the time he opened his eyes, he saw through the window that the sun had already set.

“Oraboni?” Edora feared becoming a nuisance to Yeon-woo, and so she had only watched him quietly for several hours. She also got up when he did, worried that he was in a shaky state and might collapse any moment. ‘But his eyes…’

Edora held her breath as soon as she looked into Yeon-woo’s eyes. He didn’t seem like himself at all, and she believed that if she came any closer to him, she would get injured. She wondered why Yeon-woo was making her feel so wary before realizing that she had seen those eyes before. ‘When Father looks at his enemies, that’s what his eyes seem like.’

When Edora was younger, she had almost been kidnapped by the One-horned tribe’s enemies. The Martial King had rushed to save her, and she’d never forgotten the intense expression in his eyes when he faced his enemies. She hadn’t ever expected to see that expression again.

Yeon-woo walked over to the next section as though he didn’t even see Edora. He was only in a small section of the archives, and he once again took a huge number of books and read through them to get a gist of their contents. His eyes continued to burn.

* * *

Yeon-woo’s development of his theory of Cores meant that he was given three different items: the trait Mana-friendly, the title Blessed by Mana, and the skill, Mana Control.

[Trait: Mana-friendly]

[Provides easier access to the mana stream in the environment. The amount of mana that may be used increases from Inner Cultivation, and the recharging speed grows faster as well.]

Each player wanted to accumulate more magic power in their bodies since the power of their skills was tied to the amount of magic power they had. Their physical bodies also grew stronger the more magic power they had. Any player would kill for this trait or even his title.

[Title: Blessed by Mana]

[A title earned from a new method of using the Magic Circuit. With the upgrade of the Magic Circuit tier, the mana stream has now been connected to the body. However, there is still a limit as it hasn’t reached the level of a Draconic species blessed by mana.]

[Effects: Magic Power +15]

[‘Magic Circuit’ skill proficiency has increased. +9%]

[The amount of magic power that you can use has increased dramatically. You can now use different kinds of magic power freely.]

These were exactly the kinds of abilities Yeon-woo needed the most, but instead of the increase in points, he was more interested in his newfound ability to use different kinds of magic power. ‘This means that I can finally use opposite types of magic power at the same time.’

There were always incompatibilities and opposing forces among the types of magic power. Fire couldn’t act against water, water against wood, wood against earth, and divine power could not blend with evil energy.

Because of this, players usually chose the type of magic power they used the most and only added other types that didn’t clash with it. Those who didn’t do this had to be careful not to use clashing types of magic at the same time, which was why Yeon-woo had to use Aegis and the Black Bracelet at separate times. The divine power of Aegis was anathema to the bracelet.

However, these limitations disappeared the moment he got his title. He still had to confirm it, but he was sure that he was right. This was the advantage of being blessed by magic power. It was something the Draconic species was known for since they could wield different types of magic power and bend the forces of nature to their will. They touched on the truth and moved the world. Yeon-woo wasn’t that powerful yet, but he was now stepping into the territory of being free from mana limitations.

[Mana Control]

[Rank: DDD- ~ SSS+]

[Proficiency: 0.0%]

[Description: Pulls mana from the environment and turns it into magic power. Greater proficiency leads to a faster conversion process. The magic power produced is very pure.]

[*Cloud Formula

Through meditation and breathing exercises, purer mana is taken from the atmosphere and absorbed as magic power.]

[*Mana Manifestation

Increases output of newly converted magic power. The efficiency of the output improves with the proficiency of the skill.]

[**The current skill has a rank of DDD-. Please raise the rank through Inner Cultivation.]

Mana Control was a skill that could make magic power productive. Although its rank was currently low, Yeon-woo didn’t worry about it since he had the Cores and Inner Cultivation. He began to think of ways to best utilize these abilities.

He already had a basic foundation, and he only needed materials to build on them. ‘There’s plenty of information here that can help.’ Although this particular Skill Archive only had iron-tier Mugong books, it was actually a good thing since the stronger his foundation of Inner Cultivation, the better his materials would be.

Yeon-woo was only concerned about one thing. ‘I need to find something just for the Magic Circuit.’ He had to use his Draconic Eyes to find information that he could analyze to see how it would benefit him. ‘In a sense, the Tendon Transformation Scripture is perfect for the Magic Circuit. Almost like it’s a pair.’

The Tendon Transformation Scripture was the first book he had picked up and it managed to play a big role in the foundation for his new theory of mana. He guessed that it was because the Tendon Transformation Scripture had specific instructions on how to increase a pure kind of magic power.

[Currently, you have learned 312 different types of Inner Cultivation. The creation of Inner Cultivation based on the Tendon Transformation Scripture is being made.]

[The trait ‘Dragon’s Knowledge’ of the hidden Draconic species has been partially applied, and the creation process has sped up.]

Yeon-woo spent his days and nights in the Skill Archive like this without leaving, solely focused on reading books. Edora stayed by his side the entire time. Another day passed, then two more, and then the final day came.

Since Yeon-woo didn’t even bother to eat or drink, the people outside began to worry about him. They couldn’t convince him to take even a small break, and they feared he would die from exhaustion. The dark circles under his eyes seemed to stretch all the way to his feet, but a look of passion burned in his eyes. Edora almost felt like they could set her on fire.

By the last day, Yeon-woo had read so many books that he’d lost count of their number. Edora silently acknowledged his incredible ability to choose the right ones. On that day, something unusual happened. Whoosh!

The atmosphere around Yeon-Woo changed and grew heavy and unpleasant. In an instant, Edora felt that something had changed inside Yeon-woo, but the same thing had happened to her, Phante, and some of the tribe members: enlightenment. It felt a lot like finding something solid and steady while walking through a murky and treacherous fog. It was a feeling of finally making Mugong completely yours.

Her suspicions were confirmed when a storm appeared, the wind blowing so hard that the bookshelves themselves shook and books fell off like dominoes. The iron-tier Skill Archive trembled from its force, and the alarmed guards rushed inside to see what was going on. However, one look at Edora’s face made them stop quietly. Shocked expressions spread over their faces as they looked at Yeon-woo.

They knew that he was strong enough to defeat Jang, who had climbed thirty floors, but this time the strength they sensed from him was like that of the strongest in their tribe. But strength aside, they were stunned to sense a growing depth of Mugong from someone who had only started studying it.

‘Isn’t this the same level as Yang Kwang Yi Hyun?’

‘This is crazy!’

Flash! When Yeon-woo opened his eyes again, a sharp beam of light split his surroundings, and the wind settled down. A horrid stench rose in the air as Yeon-woo’s clothes turned as dark as an abyss. Now that his body had undergone enlightenment, it expelled all the waste inside.

‘His mana vein and twelve meridians have opened!’

‘Huh? It’s only been three days and he’s already gone through the Elimination Cleanse?’

As shock spread among the onlookers, the burning in Yeon-woo’s eyes slowly subsided. He looked almost relieved as he pulled in his aura. Although the mask obscured his face, his fiery eyes had calmed completely. “Edora.” His voice was raspy since he hadn’t spoken in a long while.

“Yes?” Edora gazed at Yeon-woo with surprise, feeling as though the person she’d been watching for the past three days had turned into someone else. Although there was a vile stench in the air, and they sat in a mess of bookshelves and books, she only saw him. For some reason, she was feeling hot, and the bridge of her nose had turned slightly red.

Amid all that, Yeon-woo calmly asked. “I’m really hungry. Is there anything to eat?”

Grumble! Yeon-woo’s stomach brought her back to harsh reality.