CHAPTER 177: MANA HEART CREATION—HOLY ENERGY EDITION

Clearing away his previous thoughts, Leon’s expression was solemn as he could only use holy energy right now, and it was acting in such a way that no mana could be produced.

His throat felt dry, a faint chill crawling along his arms despite the golden light flickering at his fingertips.

This is really a big problem.

A dull ache settled behind his eyes, tension coiling at the base of his skull.

Just my luck—can’t get mana, but migraines are free.

He had to store the excess holy energy, and to do that, he had to make a mana heart. However, the way it was described, the completed rune needed to support the mana heart could only be made by moon affinity, as it was designed especially for it.

Let’s not lose hope now. First, I should finish learning about all the other techniques and see if there’s something that can help me.

One by one, Leon carefully went through each and every single one of the techniques.

Hours passed as his vision blurred, each page’s script swimming before his tired eyes, the air tinged with the musty scent of ancient parchment.

He focused entirely on something that could help his mana heart made out of holy energy.

One day had passed, and Leon hadn’t finished with all the techniques, but there was still nothing he had found that could help him as of now.

Every single rune was designed for a specific element or a combination of elements, creating a completely different affinity altogether.

He had thought the creator of the Celestial White Moon Mana Heart Formation was special. Still, all the rest of these techniques were equally special in their own unique way.

Sun affinity, blood affinity, star affinity, void affinity, charm affinity, and various others—each had its own distinctive combination and certain special conditions required to use. Still, all of them were powerful affinities, different from the norm.

A whole new, different world had been shown to him, which he had to explore later on.

One more day had passed. Leon still hadn’t found something completely concrete, but he had some ideas for now.

He was still not finished with a couple more techniques, so closing his eyes and giving his focus entirely to his mind, he continued.

—

The next day.

Leon’s eyes opened with a new, profound understanding in them.

Finally, I’ve found the way to use holy energy to create a mana core.

On the third day, after he began learning about the Heavenly Sword Mana Heart Formation techniques, all his doubts were cleared.

Besides the fact that he had learned different, unique things from other techniques, this technique was the very foundation of the way he was going to build his mana heart using holy energy.

This explained how people with no affinity or very low affinity could form a mana heart.

To form a mana heart, the thing you needed most was a very high level of control over the element that you were using as the core for your mana heart.

It was mentioned that after your mana heart is formed, a heavenly transformation would happen.

But I’m not sure if this would be the same for me or not, as I haven’t reached the Ethereal Lord stage yet. This transformation was supposed to happen then.

He didn’t even know how one reached the Ethereal Lord stage. Yet, he was directly jumping into creating a mana heart using his holy energy.

I have no choice. I have to do it. This holy energy will never let me use mana.

He clutched the red feather on his neck.

I have this for safety. At the very least, I won’t die.

A technique that uses pure holy energy to create the mana heart—he knew how different mana and holy energy were, yet they always tried to devour each other. He didn’t know what that even meant.

But he felt that this technique and rune—which was the most important for the method—were said to have been formed through the accumulation of knowledge and experiments spanning millions of years.

Especially this rune, created by the Heavenly Sword Demon Chun Ma, the very first of their kind. No previous knowledge like before, unlike other elements, where you could take inspiration from simpler elemental paths.

Chun Ma mentioned how hard it was to create his rune, as mana was the most raw form of element—much harder to grasp the meaning of something that could make everything.

Yet he did it in the end, from the passed-down knowledge from generations before him—those who had died without ever becoming immortal. He was the only successor who completed the wishes of every single one of his predecessors’ techniques.

It was not a technique created by him only, but by thousands of predecessors who died trying.

Leon had understood how precious the techniques were, yet they were given to him just like that, when the Guild Master of the Heavenly Sword had no obligation to. If he hadn’t sent him, Leon wouldn’t even have known it existed to begin with.

He didn’t understand the reason, so he focused on the process of starting to form his mana heart. And to do that, first, he needed better control over his holy energy, as it had to work in sync—one big mishap and he was done, and 2.5 million casualties, gone just like that.

Not just that—he also had to learn to create the rune outside so he didn’t blast himself from the inside.

This marked the beginning of Leon’s most arduous journey to master holy energy.

——

"IT’S BEEN THREE FUCKING MONTHS!"

His hands were raw, fingertips tingling from the endless attempts, while the muscles in his back and legs throbbed with every slight movement.

What did he learn to do during that time?

Practically nothing.

I could’ve learned to knit at this rate. At least scarves don’t explode.

If he compared this progress to any other element, it would be just a drop in the bucket for the whole three months.

I’m only able to control a single strand of holy energy with proper control. If I use more, this fucking holy energy acts like a man on crack whose personal air just got breathed in by a stranger.

Completely out of control.

I can use the strand of holy energy to create the whole heart, but it would take at least three years or even more.

That was also the amount of time he had left before the festival started. If he tried to be safe and first learned to create the primary rune replica outside of his body, he would not have nearly enough time.

Fuck it! Let’s do it directly...

His expression turned serious as he retook the meditation position, and a single strand of holy energy started moving toward his heart.

A tingling burn crawled through his veins, every nerve standing on edge as the shimmering strand spiraled closer to his heart.