Way of the Knights

Chapter 443 - Smelting Trial 1.6

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Raven liked to be in charge, specially when it comes to his own body. 

This means that things going out of his grasp or completely unexpected is something that he doesn't want to see or experience, specially when it comes to his own body. 

Of course, this includes this certain situation he is in. 

It was his mistake to begin with. He didn't ask what kind of serendipity the Heavenly Elk was going to give him. He just accepted it since he figured that having a God Beast indebted to him is too good to pass. Therefore, he had no one else to blame other than himself. 

Thankfully, the Heavenly Elk was kind enough to make him unconscious right now. If it didn't, then he would certainly be in a lot of pain. 

The process of breaking the seals itself was never meant to be painful. The reason why it was sealed in the first place is to prevent him from imploding anyway. However, the remaining seals were released by an outside force. Raven's physical attributes was nowhere near to being enough to handle this much Cosmic Energy. 

It had to be known that Cosmic Energy is a the result of combining Essence Energy, Vital Energy and Spiritual Energy. Therefore its quality is on a different scale compared to these regular energies, in fact they shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath at all. 

Raven's Master, Geezer - the founder of Cosmic Energy and the creator of the Crown, was hunted by many Divinities due to his discovery. Forcing him to settle down in a dangerous place where his life is constantly in crises. It was for the same reason that he couldn't watch over his disciples closely and offer them protection. Though Cosmic Energy isn't Origin Energy, it was still desired by many since, where everyone failed, only Geezer obtained some form of a breakthrough. 

The original plan was to slowly but surely strengthen Raven's body until he can handle the rest without being burdened. Given his progress, he will surely attain this state earlier compared to his Senior Disciples. Unfortunately, his body is now forced to adapt due to the Heavenly Elk's actions. 

Raven was bloated by how much energy there is on his body. His energy network couldn't handle this, his physical body couldn't handle this, only his soul could but it's also in slumber along with his Avatars. 

Currently, Raven wasn't in control. The only lifesaver he has, is that his physical body is still operating according to his instincts, and is trying to pacify the berserk Cosmic Energies. 

Unlike regular energies, Cosmic Energy does not only flow inside his energy network. It also flows to every corner of his body as well as his soul, nourishing them in a cycle and making him stronger in a faster pace. Now however, since there's too much Cosmic Energy present on Raven's body. All paths on his body was full with energy. 

This caused his blood to stagnate and his organs to slowly malfunction. His energy network was completely still, energy wasn't pulsing in it since every energy vein and nodes on his body was full. This is an unprecedented danger to Raven's life. Had he was one of those regular cultivators, then things wouldn't even develop in this manner…

He would just die right away.

The reason why he could still hold on after all of this, is due to his physical training and the discipline that he ingrained on every cell of his body. 

Sophisticated Control…this why Raven's still alive. 

Thanks to his stubborn and unceasing efforts to hold reigns on his energies throughout these years, his physical body learned how to operate on its own and its doing precisely what Raven would do in a situation like this and that is…

To control.

As soon as the crises happened, Raven's bodily instincts kicked into full gear. When his instincts discover that it couldn't reign in the sudden increase of his Cosmic Energy volume, it struggled. 

According to Raven's methods of control, it didn't try to get hold of everything at once. Instead, his specifically gathered all the energies that Raven could control before the seals were released. 

Inside his inner world where the scene of absolute chaos were focused, there is a lone orb that's braving all the storm. 

This orb was the Bounty Orb. It was the same orb of energy that has been siphoning energy from the previously sealed Cosmic Energy and would only be activated should Raven runs out of energy to use. 

Ever since Raven condensed this orb, it has never been activated. Not even once. Originally, it was supposed to be a back up reserve for Raven but right now, its serving a different purpose. 

Raven's instincts took control of the Bounty Orb within his Inner World and made it as the center of its operation. The Bounty Orb practically doubled in size since all of the Cosmic Energy that Raven could use fused with. Even the quasi-Slaughter Energy fused within it, causing its original white glow to be tainted. Still, who would've thought that it was because of this fusion that the Bounty Orb could last up until now.

The quasi-Slaughter Energy became the 'fangs' of the Bounty Orb, preventing it from dissipating within the ferocious storm. It is also the reason why the Bounty Orb could launch a counter-attack. 

As it braved the chaotic scene within Raven's body, the Bounty Orb would release a wisp of its own Cosmic Energy and fuse it within this chaotic place. This Cosmic Energy is laced by Raven's spiritual mark, and its job is to coax the surrounding energy and spread Raven's Spiritual Mark everywhere. 

Once the spiritual mark spreads for a bit, the Bounty Orb would then call them back and nurture them even more in order to convert them to its own soldiers. After that, it will send out another wave pulse and cycle repeats on and on…

This is the method that Raven's instincts decided to go through in order to regain full control of his own body and prevent him from dying. 

Due to the intensity of the chaos, the process was slow at first. But as the size of Bounty Orb increased, so did the process too. Eventually, the spiritual marks would be capable of lasting more and convert more energies.

Such back and forth cycle continued for three months. During this time, Raven's body visibly deteriorated but he's still alive. There were no signs of struggle on his face nor any signs of pain, he's just plain unconscious. 

Needless to say, the Bounty Orb inside his inner world was unlike what it was previously. Right now, the Bounty Orb was like a humongous gray sun, just like how the previously seal Cosmic Energy was. During this week, it devotedly converted and absorbed the chaos around Raven's inner world and during this process it took majority of the control back.

A week passed and the Bounty Orb was now the sole ruler inside the Inner World. All signs of chaos inside the Inner World ceased happening. There were no untamed energy within Inner World anymore, all of it was absorbed by the Bounty Orb, still its job wasn't done. 

Due to the chaos and Raven's current state, his Inner World was left in shambles. The responsibility of mending it falls to the Bounty Orb as well, that's precisely what it was doing currently. 

At the expenditure of its own energy - which was barely noticeable, the Bounty Orb mended the Inner World to its previous state. From the Bounty Orb to the Inner World - this is the first transition for Raven to take back full control. 

Mending the Inner World lasted for five days. As it was completely healed, it then became a part of the operations, meaning that Raven's instincts had full control over his Inner World as well. What comes next is to deal with the stagnated energy on the rest of his body. 

With one pulse, the Bounty Orb sent a wave of its own. This caused ripples on the stagnated energy and caused them to circulate. Due to how much time passed, this ripple caused some damages on Raven's body but it was necessary. 

Even with blood seeping on the corners of Raven's lips, his instincts didn't stop continued forcing the energies to circulate. This process continued until the energies completed one cycle. During that, the Bounty Orb managed to scattered Raven's spiritual marks on the energies. 

Due to that, the stagnated energies branded by the spiritual marks would whole-heartedly listen and follow Raven's instincts. Therefore, easing up the process of circulation. The first cycle was then followed by the second one, allowing the Bounty Orb to convert some more stagnated energies. 

After the second cycle comes the third, which means another conversion, thus beginning another cycle. 

This process took another three months until all the stagnated energies were fully converted and were now circulating on their own. Allowing Raven's face to regain some color. 

Still, it hasn't ended yet. Although Raven has complexion now, the price for that is internal injuries.. Right now, since the control advanced by another level, it is time for these energies to restore Raven's condition.