Currently, Laylen had yet to officially start cultivating the Physical Origin Technique. After returning to the Eastern continent, his fifth master, Alice, had solemnly instructed him that after completing nine self-destructions of his magic veins and reaching tier 4 again, he would have to go to his first master's place to obtain the Physical Origin Technique, which will help him train up his body.
Meanwhile, Laylen's first master was currently in the Eastern continent. Initially, Laylen had wanted to go directly to his place. However, after being away from home for such a long time, he missed home. Hence, he took the time to make a trip back to Vader City.
He did not expect to run into such a situation in Vader City as his father almost got killed by someone. He, of course, had to help his father solve the problem.
Speaking of which, although Laylen had not officially started to train his body, his current physique was already comparable to that of an ordinary tier 5 expert.
Many ordinary peak tier 4 experts were not his match at all.
For example, half a month ago, after he had returned to the Eastern continent from the distant eastern outlands, he had encountered a group of peak tier 4 bandits.
The peak tier 4 boss of this group of bandits was easily killed by Laylen and couldn't even retaliate at all.
This was why Laylen had been taught to stay at tier 3. Laylen's current power was even more terrifying than that of a tier 5 extraordinary expert.
Laylen then spent the next 5 days stabilizing his tier 3 magic veins.
Five days later, Laylen let out a breath of turbid air and walked out of his room to visit Nelly. Along the way, the imperial guards kept congratulating him, "Congratulations, young mayor, for breaking through to tier 4."
"Congratulations, young mayor."
"..."
Hearing these, Laylen was speechless.
Not long after, Laylen saw the old man beside a lake in the courtyard.
Nelly was already able to get out of bed by himself. Evelyn and Liszt were talking to him by his side.
"Oh, the old man seems to be recovering well," Laylen walked over and said.
When Nelly heard this, the smile on his face immediately became displeased.
How could a son address his father as such?
Evelyn hurriedly changed the topic. She chuckled and said, "Young mayor, your breakthrough a few days ago involved a lot of magic. The magic around Vader City has all been absorbed by you. All experts tier 4 and below within a radius of 20 kilometers from here are not a match for you, even those who had already advanced to tier 4 for years."
Three days ago, Laylen had advanced to tier 4. All magic within a radius of 20 kilometers around Vader City has been absorbed. All magical plants that needed magic to nourish them had withered.
This shocked everyone. Everyone in the mayor's mansion knew that the young mayor had advanced from tier 3 to tier 4.
When advancing, the more magic he absorbed, the stronger his body would become, such that after breaking through into a new tier, his combat power would soar. He was even more powerful than the older experts of the same tier.
Liszt chuckled, "That's right. When the young mayor advances to tier 4, his lifespan will increase by a few hundred years. With his talent, he will definitely reach tier 5."
Nelly snorted coldly and said, "Don't praise him so much. It's easy for him to get carried away."
Despite saying this, Nelly was still quite proud in his heart. From tier 4 onwards, every time his strength rose by a tier, he would absorb magic from the world itself.
And when he advanced to tier 4, he had only absorbed about a radius of 10 kilometers worth of magic.
After all, every small advancement to tier 4 was not something that tier 3 could compare to when he advanced to tier 4.
Hearing their words, Laylen pursed his lips. If it were not for the fact that he had dished out lots of money to place a small mountain of magic stones around his body when he made the breakthrough, not to mention twenty kilometers, even thirty, forty kilometers of magic would not be enough for him to absorb.
After a while, Laylen said, "Grandpa Liszt, it's too early for you to congratulate me. When did I advance to tier 4? I'm still at the peak of tier 3."
"?"
Hearing Laylen's words, the three of them were puzzled. Could it be that the commotion caused by the advancement five days ago was fake? That was impossible.
Liszt said, "Wasn't the commotion five days ago caused by the young mayor?"
"Yes," Laylen said frankly, "I did successfully advance to tier 4 at that time, but I self-destructed my tier 4 magic veins and fell back from tier 4 to tier 3. Now, I'm still at the peak of Tier 3."
"What?!"
The three of them were all dumbfounded when they heard his explanation.
Then, Nelly flew into a rage, "You're messing around! Self-destructing your veins is equivalent to cutting off your talent. It will be ten times, a hundred times more difficult to advance to tier 4 in the future! Who told you to mess around like this?"
Nelly's lungs were about to explode from anger.
Self-destruction of one's magic veins. A drop in tier.
Wasn't this just courting death?
Liszt also had a worried look on his face. "Young mayor, why are you doing this? Self-destruction of one's magic veins and the loss of one's talent. It is said that such injuries can only be recovered with saint-level medicine. There might not even be one such medicine in the entire Eastern continent."
The three of them did not understand Laylen's actions.
Laylen only smiled at this and said, "It's fine. In addition to the time five days ago, I've already self-destructed my meridians nine times. Five days ago was the last time. After each self-destruction, my accumulation in tier 3 will be strengthened by one layer."
After hearing Laylen's words, the three of them were shocked.
Laylen had already self-destructed his magic veins nine times. Something like this was completely unheard of. It was hard to accept.
Laylen raised his head and looked into the distance, he sighed and said, "The past is too far away now. Perhaps most people have already forgotten the true meaning of the so-called extraordinary. An extraordinary expert of tier 5 does not only refer to the tier but is also a definition. Being extraordinary means one is at the pinnacle of all physique, magic, and body. The transformation and evolution of life. This is the definition of an extraordinary expert."
Laylen clearly remembered that when he had left Vader City and met his masters, they had taught him a very important method and warned him sternly that if he wanted to master this method, he had to sever his tier 4 magic veins nine times when he was at tier 3.
Now, he had completed the nine cycles of self-severing, his vital energy, blood, magic, and body had been repeatedly baptized by magic nine times. They had long been tempered to an abnormally tough state.
After listening to Laylen's words, the three of them fell into deep thought. They had also read some books about ancient times. What was recorded in those books was the definition of extraordinary, and not the current tiers which are so sought after.
Then, they saw Laylen fully circulating the technique. The magic and blood in his body rumbled and soon swept up a storm.
Bang!
The ground beneath Laylen's feet instantly collapsed into cracks that spread out in all directions.
As a peak tier 4 expert, Nelly could not feel Laylen's aura. However, Liszt and Evelyn needed to mobilize their magic to resist this aura.
Laylen only released a breath's worth of aura before he restrained it.
Evelyn's expression changed. "Young mayor's aura, why do I feel that it's stronger than an ordinary tier 3 expert?"
Liszt nodded, he had the same feeling too.
The three of them had never seen anyone who could release such an aura at Tier 3, he was like a monster.
Could Laylen already fight against a tier 4 expert?
Nelly could not help but ask curiously, "What have you been through all these years?"
Laylen replied, "I've joined a 'small' clan to cultivate."
Nelly continued to ask, "What organization? How powerful is it?"
"How powerful..." Laylen touched his chin and said, "Probably any ordinary guard from there would be able to beat you up."