Martial Era: Starting With The Strongest Talent-Chapter 201: Unique Absorbtion Technique

The change settled completely, and Adam could finally feel the difference without interference. Cultivation talents were ranked for a reason. Each level removed limits, refined control, and pushed efficiency higher. But SSS rank was different.

It wasn’t just better.

It was complete.

Back when he had a D rank cultivation talent, there had always been a sense of restriction. A feeling that something was off. That his control wasn’t perfect. That there was still room to improve, no matter how much he refined it.

Now, that feeling was gone.

Completely gone.

There was no resistance left. No inefficiency. No hidden flaws waiting to be fixed. Everything flowed exactly as it should, as if he had reached the absolute peak of what cultivation talent could offer.

Adam exhaled slowly, then turned his head toward Remedy, his gaze sharp but steady. "Is this how you feel every time?" he asked, the question direct, but carrying clear weight behind it.

Remedy glanced at him briefly, her expression calm as ever. "Don’t worry," she said. "You’ll get used to it."

Adam nodded once, accepting that answer without pushing further. He could already tell she wasn’t exaggerating. This level of control wasn’t something you questioned for long. You adapted to it, or you fell behind.

But before he could ask what came next, something changed.

The body beneath his hand began to break apart and turned into ash.

Fine particles spread outward, lifting into the air as if carried by an invisible force. Adam’s eyes narrowed as he pulled his hand back slightly, watching the process unfold in silence.

Then it spread.

Across the entire battlefield.

Ivy’s body crumbled next, followed by Scott’s shattered form, then Felicia. One by one, every corpse began to dissolve, turning to dust and scattering into the air like they had never existed.

Remedy watched it happen without reacting, her gaze steady as the battlefield emptied around them. "Now that you’ve equipped the talent," she said calmly, "the anchor holding this place together is gone."

Adam’s eyes sharpened as he looked around, the environment already beginning to lose its weight. "So what now?" he asked, his voice low, but focused.

Remedy turned to face him fully this time.

"How far have you come with your unique absorption technique?" she asked.

Adam didn’t answer immediately.

****

Adam didn’t answer right away. Instead, he shifted slightly, his expression tightening just enough to give him away. For a moment, he looked like a student caught off guard, asked about an assignment he clearly hadn’t finished.

Remedy watched him closely.

"You’ve made some progress, right?" she asked, her tone calm but direct, leaving no room to dodge the question.

Adam let out a quiet sigh, rubbing the back of his neck once before dropping his hand. "I was busy," he admitted. "There were other things I had to focus on. I didn’t get far with it."

Remedy didn’t react with surprise or frustration. Her expression remained steady, almost expectant, as if this outcome had already been accounted for. "Then you need to figure it out now," she said.

Adam frowned slightly at that, catching the lack of urgency in her tone. It wasn’t pressure. It wasn’t panic. It was certainty.

"Unless you want to be disintegrated by wild essence."

That made him pause.

"Wild essence?" Adam asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as he focused on her again.

Remedy nodded once, her gaze steady. "It’s the same essence Ivy used to supercharge Judgment. It hasn’t disappeared. It’s still here. Inside us. Surrounding our souls."

Adam’s expression shifted as that sank in.

"If we want to leave this place," she continued, "we’ll have to pass through it. And the only way to do that... is to absorb it."

Adam went silent for a second, then let out a short breath. "So if I don’t figure out my unique absorption technique..." he started slowly.

"We get disintegrated," Remedy finished.

There was no hesitation in her voice. No doubt.

Adam stared at her for a moment, then glanced around at the battlefield as it continued to collapse into ash, the environment thinning with every passing second. "And we’re supposed to absorb something that can erase us?" he asked.

"Alone, it would be dangerous," Remedy replied. "But with two martial artists who both have SSS rank cultivation talents, and unique absorption technique... it becomes manageable."

Adam looked back at her, studying her expression carefully. She wasn’t guessing. She wasn’t hoping.

She knew.

Remedy shifted her gaze briefly across the battlefield, watching the last remnants of the memory break apart into nothing. "You should be quick," she added. "Once everything fully disintegrates, we’ll be forced out."

Adam let out a breath, then gave a small, dry nod. "Thanks for the motivation."

"You’re welcome."

The exchange ended there.

Adam closed his eyes immediately after, blocking everything else out as he focused inward. The noise, the fading battlefield, the pressure, it all disappeared from his awareness.

Now there was only one thing left to do.

Figure it out.

****

Adam shut everything out and focused inward, isolating his thoughts from the collapsing memory around him. The answer he needed wasn’t outside. It never was. If he wanted to survive this, it had to come from understanding.

Cultivation techniques existed for one purpose, to absorb essence and refine it into power. Every martial artist used one. It was the foundation of growth, the first step from apprentice to something greater. At the early stages, it was simple.

Absorb.

Refine.

Advance.

But simple didn’t mean perfect.

The Alliance had created the first standard absorption technique, something stable and widely compatible. It worked for everyone, regardless of talent or affinity. That was its strength.

And its weakness.

Because it wasn’t tailored.

Over time, improved versions were developed, each one increasing efficiency and reducing waste. These upgraded techniques came in multiple editions, refined again and again. Adam himself was using one of the latest versions available.

And even that was limited.

Seventy-five percent efficiency.

It was still better than most. But now?

It wasn’t enough.

Not for this.

Adam understood the problem clearly. The technique he was using was biologically compatible, but it wasn’t designed for him. It didn’t match his structure, his essence flow, or the way his control operated.

It was generic.

And generic wouldn’t save him here.

If he wanted to absorb wild essence, the kind that could erase him completely, he needed something precise. Something that didn’t lose even a fraction. Something built specifically for him.

A unique absorption technique.

Adam’s breathing steadied as his mind sharpened further, locking onto the problem with full focus. The pieces were already there. His control. His new talent. His understanding of essence.

Now he just had to combine them.

And create something new.