One had to understand that the Nine Mortal Realms of Chakra Opening, Chakra Condensing, Chakra Core, Chakra Soul, Chakra Spirit, Chakra integration, Chakra Transformation, Chakra Sea, Chakra Saint were divided into three parts.
The first three focused on Chakra, the middle three focused on the spiritual and soul realms, the final three were then focused on transformation of the Mortal body into something more.
At the Chakra Soul, one advances beyond the physical, this stage involves strengthening and refining the soul's connection to Chakra. Practitioners can condense their soul into a mini-form, gaining enhanced energy manipulation capabilities. This stage marks a profound integration of spiritual and physical aspects.
Going further, The Chakra Spirit Realm is where practitioners develop a Spirit Mark, a symbol preserving memories for reincarnation. The Chakra Spirit Realm enables the creation of energy-based corporeal forms and clones, as well as the ability of Astral projection. Flight becomes achievable, showcasing a deeper mastery of Chakra.
And finally the Chakra integration. This involves harmonizing the Chakra Core, Spirit, and Soul into a unified whole. One can activate a Domain of influence, granting god-like power within it.
This marks a significant leap in control and understanding, unlocking capabilities beyond the sum of individual Chakra realms.
This was enough to explain Kaito's shock to the third ability he received, and while it offers incredible advantages, the downsides were just as shocking.
Harnessing the unity of the Core, Spirit, and Soul places a significant strain on Kaito's overall energy reserves. The resonant surge of power, while formidable, leaves him susceptible to exhaustion and heightened fatigue.
Overuse of this ability could lead to temporary energy depletion, impacting his combat effectiveness as well as damaging his foundation.
The intense synergy between the realms exposes Kaito to heightened spiritual awareness. While this enhances his perception, it also makes him more susceptible to spiritual attacks.
Adversaries with advanced spiritual techniques may exploit this vulnerability, targeting Kaito's heightened spiritual presence during the moments of integration.
The amplification achieved through Chakra Integration is temporal in nature. Once the harmonious unity is activated, Kaito experiences a surge in power, but this effect diminishes over time, 10 minutes tops.
This temporal limitation requires strategic timing and precision in battles, as relying solely on continuous activation could result in a diminishing return of power.
And to top it all off, this ability causes a temporary dissonance within Kaito's spiritual essence. This dissonance, while not harmful in the short term, requires careful management to prevent potential long-term repercussions on his spiritual well-being. Continuous misuse could lead to instability within his Chakra realms.
"So in short, I shouldn't use this ability. Tch, isn't it already useless then?" Kaito muttered in dissatisfaction as he stood up
Looking around, the initial 10,000 Chakra stones had been reduced to no less than a thousand. Shaking his head in dismay, he wondered whether he should introduce more business ideas into this world.
Getting Chakra Stones in this academy was already strenuous as it is, trying to do the same outside would be a sumptuous task in itself, considering the fact that he could be killed if anyone feels like he's infringing on their territory.
"Sigh... should I show off my Tenth Grade Core so the academy would retain me like Zenith and Ayumi?" Kaito thought for a while but shook his head.
He wasn't so stupid as to believe the academy would stand by him in the long run. What if news of his rank was exposed? Wouldn't there be some greedy and dangerous folks coming after his life?
Would the academy even risk its several hundred years of existence for him?
Last he heard, the strongest in the academy was only in the Chakra spirit Realm. Although he doubted it, there hasn't been any mention of anyone higher than that since his stay in the academy, and that's a lot considering he's been here for six years.
And although that was the case, nearly every teacher in the academy was at the Chakra Spirit Realm, with the guards at the Chakra Soul Realm.
Being an avid reader of Cultivation Novels, he knew the academy might be hiding a more powerful fellow somewhere, but he wasn't willing to put his life in the hands of someone far stronger than he was.
If there is anything he's learnt in his two lives as a human, it's that in the long run, might and money makes right.
Walking up to the door, he gently pushed it open and was greeted by a sight he could only describe to be surreal. In his perception, the sight in front of him was akin to a painting, where vibrant neon hues clash with muted pastels, creating a visual cacophony that challenged the harmony typically associated with color palettes in art.
"Is this...chakra?" He wondered as he made to touch it only for his hand to pass through it.
"Senior Kaito, you're out?" Kaito's reverie was suddenly interrupted by the sweet sounding voice of a lady who walked over to him.
"This junior is..."
"Ayush. Senior Sister Ayumi asked me to wait on you here. She said to remind you that the graduation ceremony would begin at noon tomorrow." The girl said without any changes in her expression.
Kaito muttered to himself about how Ayumi now even had underlings under her. "Understood, send my regards to her. I presume I'll be seeing her tomorrow?"
As soon as Kaito asked that, a faint look of disdain flashed past the girl's eyes only to be hidden immediately. Kaito before his breakthrough would've missed it, but with his current cultivation, he saw it as bright as day.
"That is certain. But as Senior Sister Ayumi and Senior brother Zenith are direct disciples, you may not be able to get close to them tomorrow, or anytime after." She said as politely as she could but her thoughts were clearly expressed.
You will be seeing them, but only from a distance. And as you are now, after tomorrow, you won't even have the opportunity to see them again.
That was basically what she was trying to express.
Kaito, understanding this, shook his head with a wry smile. "I understand, you may leave." He said and the girl nodded before turning to leave as fast as possible.
Kaito looked into the skies and admired the beauty of nature that unfolded in front of his eyes. He could tell that the Energies in the air were as a result of the place he lived.
This courtyard was one meant for all final years, and to top it off, he was living in the most important and well furnished one.
This courtyard had an Energy Gathering Array of the highest quality the academy could afford to create, and as a well recognised trash, it was a great dissatisfaction amongst the Final years that Kaito should keep this courtyard.
However, with the influences of both Zenith and Ayumi, he was allowed to stay here undisturbed, but that didn't mean some unsavory idiot wouldn't come around every once in a while to jeer and mock at him.
Kaito only saw these guys as clowns who had nothing better to do.
The academy offered a varying array of courses, ranging from Martial Arts, Alchemy, Array Formation, Weapon Making, beast taming, Physicians, and many other courses they considered as auxiliary.
And instead of focusing on learning one of these crafts, they would come around and waste their time mocking him just to feel a little bit better about themselves.
Remembering the disdain in the eyes of the junior from earlier, Kaito shook his head once more. To him, they were all inconsequential in the long run.
He aimed for the stars while others aimed for what they could achieve in this realm.
He didn't blame them though. It was all about Vision.
He knew there were greater realms out there, and not to even mention the stars, he knew that outside this Spiriforge Domain, there existed more powerful masters.
Taking one deep breath, Kaito decided to let his tightly controlled chakra to loose, just to see its effects, however he immediately regretted that as the pavilion behind him began creaking audibly.
Immediately retracting it, he pondered on a way to release and test his strength, however, the only solution was to go to the fighting arena.
Doing that would expose his identity, that would be detrimental to him, and even wearing a mask wouldn't be possible as entry must be done with one's Identity Token.
"Sigh, what a pain, guess I'll just have to test it outside, afterall my stay here will soon be coming to an end." Saying that, he walked to the side of the pavilion towards another one that served as his living room as well as bedroom.
"Sitting down for hours on end can be quite exhausting in itself." He thought and involuntarily yawned, however, at that very moment a feeling of danger overwhelmed him causing him to stretch his hands out towards his back in panic.
And as soon as he did that, he managed to catch a projectile making for his head in his hand, however, the force behind the projectile managed to push him back by a few steps.
While Kaito still trying to make sense of what just happened, in a certain courtyard, a figure draped in the finest silks sat, his countenance a symphony of haughty pride, his jet-black hair impeccably styled, framing a face chiseled with aristocratic allure. His piercing sapphire eyes surveyed the world with a calculated arrogance, adorned in tailored attire that bespoke wealth and influence.
He was currently smiling while holding a glass of wine in his left hand, in his right hand, one could see a cluster of chakra which indicated that he just initiated a technique of sorts.
The next moment however, his smile fell as looked in a certain direction. "Oh?"