Yeon-woo held a sandwich in one hand and a skill tome in the other, chatting with Edora as he scanned through the book. Although he was relaxed enough to talk to her, part of his attention was still focused on his body. ‘After the mana vein opened, the Magic Circuit has begun operating better than ever.’

[Your body has changed due to the acquisition of new knowledge. Mana is looking for new paths to travel and new circuits are beginning to open.]

[3 center circuits have successfully been opened.]

[6 large circuits have successfully been opened.]

[12 medium-sized circuits have successfully been opened.]

[36 small circuits have successfully been opened.]

....

[36 new Cores have been created.]

[Phase 1 of Magic Circuit has been completed. Mana is traveling down the newly opened circuits to cleanse the waste in your body.]

[‘Magic Circuit’ skill proficiency has dramatically increased. 35.1%]

[‘Mana Control’ skill proficiency has dramatically increased. 9.2%]

[Magic Power’s stats have increased by 5 points.]

[All properties have increased by 10 points.]

....

[Body improvement has been confirmed. The halted succession process will resume.]

[Current progress: 99.7%]

The element that Yeon-woo called the Core originally appeared in 360 different locations on his body, called acupoints. He chose thirty-six spots that he thought were most important and compressed mana in those areas so that they wouldn’t come loose. This made his magic power in the Magic Circuit decrease to one-fifth of its original amount, but its efficiency had multiplied so much that his old Magic Circuit couldn’t even remotely compare.

He could now control the amount of magic power used in his Cores, and whatever had been impossible before was now possible. He’d even managed to locate the hidden Magic Circuit. He could sense circuits of all sizes knotted up in his body, some were so small that he wouldn’t notice them if he didn’t concentrate.

At the moment, he was only using twenty percent of his magic power—if he managed to access the remaining eighty percent, he would have a colossal amount of magic power.

Yeon-woo decided to open the remaining circuits and activated his Cores ceaselessly. Mana knocked on the doors of the hidden circuits and slowly began to open their paths, pushing aside any obstacles. It was difficult at first, especially since some of Yeon-woo’s attention was focused on the books he was reading, but as time passed, the process grew smoother and faster as he acquired more knowledge.

At one point, he experienced a sudden explosion when three of the medium circuits that the One-horned tribe called mana veins opened. It was followed by six large circuits connecting to his twelve meridians, and finally, the rest of the mana channels opened one by one until forty-five percent of the entire Magic Circuit was finally open.

There was another Elimination Cleanse that purged the remaining waste in his body, forcing him to take a two-hour shower. However, when he returned to the Skill Archive, his steps felt unusually light. His comprehension also improved, and so he could read the books at a faster rate. Even though he had only set up his mana circuits, he also began to experience physical changes, and Yeon-woo satiated his resulting hunger with another sandwich as he continued reading.

The guards who had observed Yeon-woo from the beginning were now looking at him wearily, while, on the other hand, Edora simply stared openly at Yeon-woo, whose attention was focused on the books. She thought privately that it would be nice to have that focus on her.

“Are you done with organizing?”

“Sort of,” Yeon-woo replied, his attention still on the books.

“And…?”

“I’m at about ninety-five percent. I still need about five percent more.”

“Five percent?” Edora almost screamed from shock. Even though it was only basic Inner Cultivation, the process was still creating an entirely new Mugong, and yet Yeon-woo, who had no prior knowledge of Mugong, was almost done in three days. Edora had been prepared to be impressed if Yeon-woo simply understood the basic terms, considering how deep Mugong’s history was. She had been planning to help him once he had the basic terms down since she believed her father’s request was too ridiculous. However, as she observed Yeon-woo studying, she had begun to think that her father had seen something that she hadn’t. Now, she was sure that her father was right, and Yeon-woo was clearly telling her the truth about his progress since he wasn’t the type to joke about these things.

“What else do you need?”

“Color.”

“Pardon?”

“It seems like all Mugong have their own traits or their colors. Each one has its own goals.”

Edora nodded. The Tendon Transformation Scripture focused on completing the vessel, and the Third Inner Cultivation focused on taking in energy from the sky and the earth. And if you went further, there were Shingong, Magong, and Dokgong.

“I’ve only created fundamental things.” To be precise, it was the Inner Cultivation for the Magic Circuit, but he didn’t bother explaining.

“Oh. So…”

“Mugong needs to have its own characteristics before it can be used. But I still don’t have those.”

Edora was lost in thought for a moment. Inner Cultivation was specific to its user, and they had to figure out a characteristic that suited Yeon-woo. “Do you have anything in mind?”

“Not yet.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I have to search for it now…” Yeon-woo finished his sandwich and returned the book to where he found it. “In the bronze-tier Skill Archive.”

***

Yeon-woo directly headed to the bronze-tier Skill Archive. He only had one day left to find what he needed. ‘It would be nice if it improved magic power. Would it be better to get the fire or magic type?’ Yeon-woo had finally comprehended many things as he set up his Inner Cultivation. Previously, he’d thought of magic power as something like a ball of energy, but it turned out that it could be used in a variety of ways, and a new world had opened up to him.

It was difficult for someone who had grown up on earth to grasp the concept of mana. ‘It’s not just Mugong. Magic, curses, supernatural powers, spirit magic, divinity—the use of mana is much more complicated than I thought.’ Mugong was just one of the many ways one could use mana. ‘If I can somehow use mana in all kinds of ways...’ Yeon-woo’s eyes gleamed behind his mask.

He knew it was possible for him. Ordinary players might crash into a wall, but Yeon-woo had Magic Circuit. ‘That’s why the Draconic species was so amazing.’ They’d not only used mana in all types of ways, they had even flipped the laws of mana at will. ‘How did a species like that go extinct?’ Yeon-woo wondered about it. The answer wasn’t in the diary, either.

However, he had to focus on completing the set-up of the rest of the circuits in his body. ‘Anything to get stronger.’ This was only the first step. Yeon-woo looked around the entire archive and chose the books he wanted to read, thinking that the fire element books would be the most helpful since he had a contract with the Phoenix.

Surprisingly, there were only a few types of Mugong that were useful to him.

Yukyangong focused on growing vitality. Opposing Acupoints Magong was a destructive one, Lightning Strike was famous for being the most powerful one that used the brain, and Light Inner Cultivation was a quiet and gentle strength that wasn’t really anything special. However, Yeon-woo chose it because it could connect the other types of Mugong together, and it would go well with the Despair of the Black King.

Yeon-woo absorbed all four of the Mugong, rebuilding some as he went. Thankfully, it wasn’t too hard since he already understood Inner Cultivation. Besides, he had something to measure them against: ‘The Martial King.’ He tried to imitate the beast he’d seen in the eyes of the Martial King as much as possible, thinking that a good skill would come out of it.

[‘Mana Control’ skill proficiency is increasing speed. 11%, 12%...16%, 17%...20%...]

[The new Inner Cultivation has started to show itself. You have accomplished a great achievement. You will be rewarded with additional karma.]

[You have acquired 5,000 karma.]

[You have acquired an additional 3,000 karma.]

....

[Magic Power has increased by 5 points.]

[‘Magic Circuit’ skill proficiency has increased. 40.1%]

....

[Magic Power is....]

[A new Inner Cultivation has been completed. Would you like to choose a name?]

Finally. ‘It’s done.’ It was the final day, and Yeon-woo gave the new Inner Cultivation a name he had been thinking about for a long time: ‘Heaven Wing Mana Control.’

[The skill ‘Mana Control’ has been changed to ‘Heaven Wing Mana Control.’]

Heaven Wing was his younger brother’s old nickname.