"A little affordable..."
Looking at the prices of the abbreviated manuals, Nash heaved a sigh of relief.
[God Fiend Astral Art (abbreviated): 2.7 million merits]
[Abyss Body Astral Art(abbreviated): 2.32 million merits]
[Dark Nebula Astral Art(abbreviated): 2.88 million merits]
[Phantom Pulse Astral Art(abbreviated): 1.62 million merits]
[Shadow Nexus Astral Art(abbreviated): 1.84 million merits]
Among all the astral arts, these five were the most balanced, targeting nearly every part of the body.
The God Fiend Astral Art, in particular, was close to the God Body Astral Art he had created.
Although these manuals lacked specific focuses like the Crimson Eye Astral Art, they were sufficient for Nash’s needs.
He didn’t have enough nova credits or merits to afford specialized manuals with unique effects.
Enhancing his strength, agility, and defense was enough to build a solid foundation.
As for earning enough Spirit Points to become a Level 2 Bearer, he didn’t have the time.
Discovering knowledge, inventing, or innovating was too time-consuming to be worth it.
It was better to hunt more dark beasts and buy what he needed than to waste time.
Reading the descriptions of the five abbreviated astral arts, he finally chose the God Fiend Manual.
[Please confirm the purchase at an official store in a shelter.]
"It’s really inconvenient to trade with merits in the virtual world."
Unable to pay directly and forced to return to the Dark Plane, Nash could only sigh.
Closing the interface, he opened the virtual panel to head to the Dark Plane.
Returning to the Dark Plane, Nash quickly navigated the area and searched for an official store.
Official stores, managed by the Nova Government, handled everything from recycling loot, materials, and items to issuing battle badges, assigning temporary missions, exchanging merits, renting residences, granting business permits, and more.
No matter the size of the shelter, an official store or administrative building was always present.
Finding his target, Nash quickly exchanged 3 million merits for tangible currency he could use in the virtual realm.
Planning to buy other items besides the God Fiend Astral Art at a later time, Nash converted most of his merits.
Let with just a hundred thousand merits, Nash logged back into the virtual world, appearing in the Spirit Pavilion where he had last left off.
[The item is in your email. Please note that it’s an exclusive product and must not be shared with others by any means.]
Unlike general knowledge, most manuals, formulas, and blueprints were exclusive.
Though Nash didn’t know the full extent of how they monitored leaks, he wasn’t willing to take the risk.
He had heard of someone who once broke the exclusivity of an Astral Art and shared it across an entire planet. The result: everyone who practiced it was either imprisoned or enslaved.
Even the Astral Arts he bought from the Star Tower bore exclusive marks. Otherwise, Nash would have shared them with the elite students, Michael, and his friends long ago.
Unless he was ready to abandon the virtual world entirely, he didn’t dare break this rule.
Opening his email, he quickly found the virtual file of the book.
Tapping on it, a thick book materialized in his hands.
Flipping through the God Fiend Astral Art, he diligently uploaded everything to the [Memory Module System].
A few minutes later, after everything was successfully saved, Nash activated the [Autonomous Module System] to control his body while his consciousness entered the runic space.
With his mind boosted by clarity and focus, Nash began studying the God Fiend Astral Art, analyzing which methods he could extract, which body parts were missing, and what still needed improvement.
After hours of decrypting the book and extracting everything useful, Nash heaved a sigh of relief.
"It’s good—there’s not much missing!"
Since the God Fiend Astral Art was very similar to the God Body Astral Art he had created, Nash didn’t need to buy another astral art for reference.
The missing parts could be deduced through comparison and analysis. Though it would delay him slightly, the money he could save made it worth it.
"Only 300,000 merits left. Should I buy a Soul Manual?" Nash pondered.
Unlike astral arts, which combined various routes and techniques, a soul manual focused on a single extraction technique.
This meant it had no limitations on the manual’s saturation rate.
As long as the body could reach 1000% saturation, the soul could follow, even with the Basic Soul Absorption Manual.
The only differences were the efficiency in reaching that level, the toughness, and the malleability that the manual could provide to the soul.
Searching the list of soul manuals, Nash quickly found something that caught his eye.
[Nine Glazed Soul Tempering Manual (Tier 1): 300 million merits]
According to the description, the Nine Glazed Soul Tempering Manual could temper the soul nine times per tier.
Each tempering doubled the soul’s absorption efficiency, endurance, toughness, resilience, power, and more.
If it reached 1000% saturation, his soul would be tempered nine times, making it over 500 times stronger!
Compared to other soul manuals that only increased soul strength by 100, 200, or 300 times, this was on a whole other level.
Even the God Fiend Astral Art, at 1000% saturation, could only multiply his power by about 400 times at most.
Of course, the God Body Manual he had deduced was different.
By maximizing his body’s physiology, it could multiply his strength without loss or imbalance.
Turning his attention to the Nine Glazed Soul Tempering Manual and his meager merits, Nash could only shake his head.
"I’ll just buy it later."
Closing the interface, Nash decided to hold off on purchasing a soul manual.
Besides, he hadn’t yet studied the blue runic runes of his soul.
Even with a manual in hand, he couldn’t quickly convert it into power.
Moreover, he hadn’t given up on upgrading his status to a Level 2 Bearer.
Maybe, with enough ability, he could obtain the Nine Glazed Soul Tempering Manual for free.
Ending his trip to the Spirit Pavilion, Nash returned to the real world and began deducing the following Chapters of the God Body Astral Art.