Chapter 720: Vara Palm Stitch

"Hmm...hmmm?" On a bright morning, Inala walked out of his tent, carrying a bag of wool filled with medicines provided by the Varahan Empire. They were meant to help the people from the Noikatol Kingdom cultivate faster and reach the Body Stage.

Only those at the Body Stage were allowed to enter the Varahan Empire. Of course, that didn't apply to the citizens birthed in the Empire.

If Inala wanted to gain a legal entry into the Varahan Empire, he had to enter the Body Stage first. And that was easier said than done. He focused on his Spirit Container, feeling the same cluster of sixty Spirit Containers as usual.

It had been three months since Wepetay had arrived at the Petrichor Savannah. No matter how much medicines Inala consumed, the moment he built an extra Spirit Container, the Spirit Container Lock took effect and swallowed the sixty-first Spirit Container.

This kept his strength stagnant, which was exactly what he had asked Boul Brimgan for in the first place. It also meant that whatever Inala had been trying at present hadn't exceeded the capacity of Spirit Container Lock.

As a result, no matter how much he tried to build up his strength, he was unable to proceed beyond his current level. Hence, he thought of two directions to proceed forward from this point onwards.

For the first direction, he was calmly walking until he was away from the line of sight of everyone, including Pranic Beasts. He slowly entered a cave that he had been carving out in the past three months using Tangible Piezo Slips.

It was secluded enough for him experiment without worries of being discovered.

"Let's begin." He placed the wool bag on the floor and began to take out vials of medicines from within. Following that, he began to mix them in a delicate order, infusing Prana into the mixture from time to time until he created a Low-Grade Elixir which when consumed would give him exactly the amount of Prana necessary to enter the Body Stage.

After resting for a few minutes, he downed the Elixir and cultivated Gold Inheritance Art, using its process to steadily build up Spirit Containers. Spirit Container Lock didn't take effect immediately, since Inala began to combine them into a singular whole, the process a cultivator went through to go from the Spirit Stage to the Body Stage.

Usually, a cultivator attempted it upon accumulating a hundred Spirit Containers. After all, attempting the process any earlier was foolish, since a singular whole wouldn't happen without hundred Spirit Containers. That means whatever they tried to fuse would collapse, bringing them down to a Prana value of one unit.

However, Inala had enough expertise with the process to begin the process early. He also maintained pace with it, ensuring he didn't fuse the sixty Spirit Containers into a singular whole. He kept a leeway of twenty Spirit Containers during the process.

When he was fusing the fortieth Spirit Container into the singular whole, the effects of the consumed Elixir built his 61st Spirit Container. The duality of Spirit Container—with the fused whole belonging to the Body Stage and the individually built Spirit Containers belonging to the Spirit Stage—bought Inala enough time from the effects of the Spirit Container Lock.

He had been experimenting with it to understand its functions for the past three months, figuring out this method along the way. There must either be a cluster of Spirit Containers or a singular whole before Spirit Container Lock can take effect.

Using this to his advantage, he began to steadily build himself up to a hundred Spirit Containers, following which he fused the last of it to create a singular whole, succeeding in crossing the Spirit Stage.

However, to properly enter the Body Stage, he would have to fuse Vara into the Spirit Container to stabilise it. He did have the necessary amount of Vara for the purpose, as everyone part of the Noikatol Kingdom had been given equal portions.

Since the Varahan Empire had complete control over the Noikatol Kingdom now, they weren't concerned about the Vara being misused. Well, there was no use for it other than to be used as a mineral.

And only those cultivating Gold Inheritance Art could make use of it. Moreover, even if a third party were to use it, they were still dependent on a Wean Clansman to obtain Natures from. This was why the regulations placed on Vara was limited.

Since Inala wanted to give an attempt, he was awarded the necessary amount of Vara to enter and stabilise his strength at the Body Stage.

"Keuk!" He felt like he was consuming ash as Inala threw a small pinch of Vara into his mouth and gushed it down with some medicine. Once it entered his stomach, Gold Inheritance Art resonated with the Vara and circulated it through his digestive system until faint particles of Vara dissolved into his blood.

As the blood circulated through his body and entered his heart, the particles of Vara in it were absorbed by the Spirit Container. This was how every Free Human built their Human Avatar.

Body Stage!

The moment Inala stabilised his Spirit Container, the power behind Spirit Container Lock swallowed it, reverting his growth. He felt his newly gained strength leaving him, causing him to sigh as he found himself back at the Spirit Stage once again, with sixty Spirit Containers.

Once he introspected himself, he found that these Spirit Containers were new, containing the influence of Mystic Royal Art and not Gold Inheritance Art. 'It makes sense. I can consider these Spirit Containers as a product of Spirit Container Lock. They're not a part of my actual Spirit Container.'

That's why he was able to switch to another cultivation technique without facing any rejection from his body. After all, Mystic Royal Art was built from him, the Royal Zinger.

The first direction of using an Elixir to reach the Body Stage was a failure since Spirit Container Lock swallowed the growth, including the Vara used to stabilise the Spirit Container. "Well, that's how things go. Can't expect to succeed every time."

He got up, cleaned the place, and decided to return to his tent for the time being.with his first direction failing, he gained a better understanding of his current state. Since his current Spirit Containers weren't actually his, and products created by the Spirit Container Lock just to allow him to wield strength at the Spirit Stage with a Prana capacity of sixty units, he could become reckless with them.

There wouldn't be any repercussions, since all he would be doing was to experiment on borrowed strength. That led him to the second direction, which needed a bit more time and accumulation to succeed with. He wasn't going to use Gold Inheritance Art but rather Mystic Royal Art.

After all, every batch of Spirit Containers that Spirit Container lock creates were based on his Spirit Container. They resembled a cultivator who built a cluster of sixty Spirit Containers using Mystic Royal Art.

Inala slowly stared at the print on his palm, chuckling as he felt like the lines were talking to him. 'This will grant me what I want.'

Six months later, he returned to the cave with another batch of medicines and began to create two Low-Grade Elixirs. And just like with the first direction, he consumed the Elixir and used Gold Inheritance Art, building himself to the Body Stage where he stabilised it by consuming a pinch of Vara.

But before Spirit Weapon Lock could pull it within its embrace, Inala made an incision on his chest and poked himself with expert precision.

Prime Skill—Spirit Container Extraction!

He unleashed its effect using Mystic Royal Art, stressing his Spirit Container for an instant. But before it shattered, he had extracted it and placed it in a vial for safekeeping.

The Spirit Container Lock recreated another sixty Spirit Containers as Inala consumed the second Low-Grade Elixir and activated Mystic Royal Art. He poured the contents of the vial on the palm on his right and emitted a large flux of Prana.

Mystic Royal Art—Palm Stitch!

Strings of Prana latched onto the Spirit Container stabilised through Vara and began to mould it into a form resembling clay, following which it was spread across the palm print. Sweat dripped down his forehead as Inala relied on the Prana supplied by the Elixir to maintain the Skill of Palm Stitch.

Soon, the Spirit Container had been transformed into a long string and overlaid on his palm print. Once it was done, he clenched his hand into a fist and relaxed, repeating the action a few times, "It feels a bit weird, but I can get used to the feeling. After all, even if they are fake, the Spirit Container Lock created them by using my Spirit Container as reference."

Therefore, he'll adapt to the sensation eventually. With that, he stared at his palm print, feeling the Silver Grade presence emitted by the Vara in it.

It was pretty stable, since the power he used was Palm Stitch, which was how the Nature of Prana Stitch was naturally birthed in his body at the palms.

Inala would have to repeat the process multiple times before the Vara on his palm print could store a Nature. Its volume wasn't significant enough for now. But the fact that he had succeeded meant Inala could work on this direction, 'I need to change my plans a bit, but it's not too much of an issue.'

"Plans have to keep up with the changes." Grinning in response, he focused on his Spirit Container, "Thanks to this, I have a better idea now."

Since he figured out a way to take further advantage of the power of Spirit Container Lock, it was time he infiltrated Varahan Empire while maintaining his current state as a Spirit Stage cultivator.

"Once the Vara in my palm print becomes concentrated enough to hold an Expert Iron Grade Nature, I can enter the Varahan Empire in earnest." He let out a long breath and returned to his tent with an excited expression.