The more one practiced the |Extreme Madman's Inner Array| in sync with one's cultivation, the more painful it became to complete the Inner Array. By the time one neared full completion, they'd have experienced pain that would leave even a hundred grown, seasoned men in tears.
Knox, sitting on a cultivation mat, spoke in a relaxed manner as he cultivated. "I think the infamy of this technique is a bit exaggerated," he mused. "I'm already at the Flesh Refinement Stage after just an hour of cultivating with the Extreme Madman's Inner Array. I basically skipped the first Stage—the Skin Refinement Stage—within a few minutes."
All in all, the only sort of pain he felt so far was less painful than getting a limb chopped off. Which, by the way, had happened quite often in his past lives.
Of course, the pain was becoming progressively more intense the longer he cultivated the technique. However, as of right now, it was for him what a bug bite was for a normal person.
"Well, whatever. I'm going to continue cultivating and see how much worse it becomes," he said while folding one hand over the other and closing his eyes. "First, my skin was refined with nine Array Nodes, then my flesh was refined in a similar way. Although I haven't reached the peak of this stage, from what I can tell, there will be eighteen Array Nodes, which means I'll have twenty-seven before entering the Bone Refinement Stage."
At the bottom of the World of Cultivation, there was the Body Refinement Realm—the first Major Realm—and it consisted of five Minor Stages.
Each stage involved refining certain parts of the body with the Innate Energy that permeated the atmosphere. This could be viewed as prepping the body for the Qi Condensation Realm—for the true beginning of the Path of Cultivation.
The five Minor Stages of the Body Refinement Realm were as follows:
1- Skin Refinement
2- Flesh Refinement
3- Bone Refinement
4- Organ Refinement
5- Marrow Refinement
For the average cultivator, it usually took between three to five years to achieve the Marrow Refinement Stage. On the other hand, geniuses like Sammy and Yennefer had done so in a few months.
Supreme geniuses of ancient times were speculated to have been able to reach the Marrow Refinement Realm in less than a week. However, such speculations lacked any legitimate proof of ever actually being the case.
"Now, it's time to see just how long it'll take me to do the same with a couple hundred Attribute Points in Affinity and this broken Madman Technique," Knox said with a wide smirk, putting all his focus into cultivation. "By my calculations, every further Minor Stage is at least a few times harder to reach than the ones that came before. Though, with the Attribute Farming System, I can simply go out and gather more Affinity Orbs if I find myself lagging behind in terms of cultivation speed."
With a solid itinerary scheduled out, he ceaselessly cultivated in his solitary personal room.
Many things were occurring in the world outside his room—with numerous people even aiming to take his life—but at that moment, the only thing he cared about was cultivation. The pursuit of strength.
— At around the same time, within the Capital City of the Water Kingdom, Royal Castle —
"The Eldest of the Falazars has really returned to life?" The voice of an opulently dressed man echoed through the wide halls of the castle's outer periphery. "And you say he's miraculously become an able person? How is this possible?? Has anyone investigated the matter yet?? Was it the work of a Divine Natural Treasure or something???"
Walking side by side with the opulent man was a fatter man. He was also dressed for the occasion, with dazzling jewels and trinkets dangling all over his body.
"Count Roderick, my intelligence network isn't much better than yours," said the second man. "I likely only received the information related to the Eldest of the Falazars a few minutes earlier than you did. And as far as I'm aware, there was no specific reason why that Knox Falazar kid suddenly got rid of his deceased and crippled statuses. It could've been due to the interference of a powerhouse, but we aren't positive."
"Come on now, Count Thorne," Count Roderick said with an accusatory tone. "You and I both know that you have insight into something that I don't. Just spit it out already."
Count Thorne's expression turned complicated for a second as he appeared to be deliberating his options. Though, within no time at all, he had already reached his decision.
"Fine," he said, sighing. "I do know something else. But let us wait until we leave the King's Castle before we speak any more on such a sensitive matter. This does, after all, involve THAT."
Count Roderick responded with a hearty laugh.
"Lead the way then, old friend!"