Way of the Knights

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"Ugh..."

Raven struggled to open his eyes. He felt his head throbbing painfully and his whole body sore. 

When he regained his vision, he saw a familiar ceiling. He's back at his pocket dimension, more specifically his personal residence. 

Raven shook his head and recounted the events before he passed out. He communicated with his Avatars to know what happened after he lost consciousness and they answered him. 

The journey back wasn't special. The Sect Master, his wife and Elder Fallon were all silent, in deep thought more specifically. Raven couldn't blame them for that since the events were too shocking, even he himself would probably be immersed in his own thoughts after witnessing that event. 

That...was shocking.

To think that the Devil Emperor could do something like while being sealed is very alarming. And from the looks of it, the prisoner couldn't do it pretty often but it doesn't change the fact that it could bypass the seal placed by Ancestors and attack. As for how many times it could and the finer details, they could only assume for now, still that caught them off-guard. 

Raven had no idea what the Sect Master's plans with the seals he gave to him. When they returned to the sect, he instructed Elder Fallon to sent Raven back to his residence. Once that was over, Elder Fallon left immediately and Raven rested for two whole days before waking-up just now. 

Raven sat up from the bed, his face a grimacing expression due to the soreness spreading through his body.

"Damn, I did it again." Raven grumbled as he clicked his tongue due to discomfort. "I overdid it again. And here I was supposed to have a staggering amount of Cosmic Energy, yet the things I do makes it seem like I barely have enough."

Raven smiled softly and shook his head: "Additionally, there's no way for me to expand it since it's supposed to happen whenever I advance my cultivation. But since I'm an unorthodox cultivator, that task becomes harder than it would seem."

He sighed dejectedly as tried getting out of the bed. His gaze inadvertently landed on the bedside table and he noticed something in there. It was a vial filled with a golden liquid with silver sparkles here and there. There's also a letter beside it. 

Raven took the letter and read it's contents, it says:action

"This is a Divine Spring Potion. This should help you recover all of your missing energy plus some. Take it as a reward for the mission. Additionally, you can pick any item from the Merit Exchange Hall and take it free of charge. You have done well this time. I'm expecting a lot from you. Work hard, 9th."

This note was from the Sect Master. 

Raven rubbed his eyes in disbelief. He read the letter about three times before finally adjusting to reality. 

"Damn! So generous!?" He exclaimed as he carefully placed down the letter and took the Divine Spring Potion. 

He inspected it for a bit and admired it's appearance. He then murmured: "Divine Spring Potion. I'm afraid even in the Divine Realm, this is a top rarity. To think that the Sect Master willing to give something like this to me...I'm so touched I might cry." 

The value of this little vial of Divine Spring Potion is immense. If Raven wanted to, he could auction this off and he'd probably be able to receive at least five Lower Planes or a single Middle Tier Plane as compensation. It was simply too valuable. 

It had to be known that drop of this liquid is enough for Raven to make a complete recovery. This small vial is already considered a lot. Even Divinity Realm experts would find it troublesome to get their hands onto something like this. 

Raven took a deep breath and adjusted his position on the bed. After he calmed himself down, his hands turned into a blur. He opened the cork of vial, fetched a single drop of Divine Spring Potion and drank it while sealing the vial with the cork. 

All of this was done in a blur as to make sure that any unnecessary loss in potency wouldn't happen. 

Even though Raven only drank a drop of Divine Spring Water, he still felt as if he drank a whole gallon of water in one go. 

The density of this potion was immense, it also contained a potent amount of energy that crashed through his core. In a short span of minutes, Raven's pale complexion disappeared, replaced with a rosy one. 

His dried up reserves were now fully restored and were now a bit denser compared to before. This is effect of the Divine Spring Potion, even if it was just a drop. 

Raven exhaled a mouthful of foul air. He felt refreshed and energetic. All of the stress, exhaustion and hidden injuries disappeared from his body. He felt as good as new. 

When he opened his eyes, he released yet another sigh. He stared at the vial in wonder and thought to himself:

'It would be nice if I could more of this...' Raven inwardly said to himself. 'If I could secure a good amount of this, then I could even use this as a replacement for cultivating my other techniques. Additionally, it could also be a life-saver in important scenarios.'

However, it was quite unfortunate that Raven's not yet strong enough to secure this kind of resources on his own. He also just can't shamelessly ask for the Sect Master to give him more since he probably doesn't have much and his ego wouldn't let him do that. 

"Eh? Wait a second, don't I have...! Right! Right! How can I forget!"

"That should work...no, it will definitely work! I'll make it so that it'll work! Ah, this is great!" Raven exclaimed. 

He summoned the Brush of Wisdom and waved it a few times, placing several seals within the room. After that, he placed the brush away and immediately entered the Crown Space. 

Once he arrived at the Eden, he rushed towards the floating nebula of Equinox Waters. He then summoned the vial of Divine Spring Potion and carefully took out the cork. 

Moving swiftly, he made sure to encase the liquid with a shell in order to make sure that it wouldn't lose it's potency or spill it. He then waved his hand and forced the Equinox Waters to cease it's rotation. 

Being very careful, he injected the Divine Spring Liquid at the very center of the waters. As soon as he did so, the Equinox Waters began churning. Raven kept everything at it's place and continued with his task. 

Once the glob of Divine Spring Liquid was at the very center of the Equinox Waters, Raven summoned the Brush od Wisdom and began drawing several runes, placing them in the Equinox Waters, the shell surrounding the Divine Spring Liquid and the liquid itself. 

He established a three way connection that linked the three together, forcefully making them a single entity. Once he's done, he began directing the flow of Equinox Waters according to it's previous movement but slightly different. 

Raven made it so that the seals he placed will slowly but surely convert the Equinox Waters into a Divine Spring Liquid. He did it by first diluting the potency of the spring liquid using the Equinox Waters and then re-condensing it's natural properties closer to that of the Divine Spring Liquid. 

The re-condensation won't be a genuine Divine Spring Liquid just yet, therefore he place a Time Enchantment Seal on the shell protecting the Equinox Waters. This will allow it to naturally age and eventually turn into a genuine Divine Spring Liquid which could them be fused with the original one. 

Top things off, he also casted a seal towards the original liquid itself. The seal will allow the Divine Spring Liquid to increase it's volume, however this is a very slow process. Still, it's better than nothing. 

This process will surely take time, but at least Raven would benefit from it in the future. Eventually, the Equinox Waters Nebula will be transformed into a nebula of Divine Spring Liquid. Or just plainly a Divine Spring itself. From there on, Raven wouldn't have to worry about his supply. 

Additionally, the time within the Eden is different from the outside so this should definitely work out for him, 

"There we go..." Raven murmured after double-checking his work. He wiped off the sweat on his forehead and nodded in satisfaction. "With this, I don't have to worry about the materials in the future. So long as I have the supply of this liquid, I could just replace it with that. I'll be saving more merit points that way." 

Raven gave himself a pat in the back and decided to relax for a bit. Now that he dealt with the matter of the Divine Spring Liquid, he'll be more comfortable about his future progress. Still that isn't enough to satisfy him. 

The emergence of the Devil Emperor's Finger made him feel a strong sense of urgency. He had to raise his strength as quickly as he could or else, all of his future plans will be at risk. Thinking to himself for a bit, he murmured:

"I should get that Seed of the World Tree."