It wasn’t a perfect geometric shape. Its surface was covered in naturally formed, subtle ridges and grooves that resembled a network of blood vessels.

Under the candlelight, a very faint golden light swirled within it.

This was the very Titan’s Blood Crystal he had obtained twenty years ago from a Third-Class Wizard Apprentice named Ailendra.

For the past twenty years, Murphy had never stopped studying and testing it.

He had tried all sorts of testing methods: those from his past life’s knowledge, those extrapolated from Celestial Craftsmanship, and those acquired from Wizard’s Scriptures.

After learning of the object, Margaret had also tested it, drawing upon her own, more profound knowledge as a Wizard.

Her conclusion was that the crystal was astonishingly ancient, seemingly originating from before the Dawn Era.

It was possibly a diluted drop of true Titan blood. The furious will it once contained had perhaps been erased by some special means, and its pure life essence did indeed possess the ability to enhance one’s life’s very essence and physique.

However, she also warned that the more ancient and powerful the relic, the greater the potential risks and unknowns. This was especially true for items that involved bloodlines and the fundamental nature of life; using one rashly could have unforeseeable consequences.

For this very reason, Murphy had never used it. Even after confirming the crystal contained a terrifying amount of Life Essence and some sort of incomprehensible, high-level Spiritual Qi, and even after more than a decade of repeated tests revealed no obvious malicious traps or curses, he had held back.

But now, things were different.

He needed power—power that surpassed his current limits—to protect everything he cherished.

’I can’t hesitate any longer.’

Murphy told himself.

He reached out and grasped the dark crimson crystal. It felt slightly heavy in his hand, its density greater than steel.

There were no complex rituals, no supplementary potions or arrays.

He chose the relatively safe refining method he had learned from Margaret.

To swallow it.

But this wasn’t a simple matter of swallowing it into his stomach. It had to be guided and refined within his body using his own power.

Wizards typically used Spiritual Power, and Great Knights used Life Energy. Murphy, however, decided to use his own Qi.

He placed the crystal in his mouth.

The instant the crystal made contact with his Qi...

It was as if the crystal had been activated. It instantly dissolved into a torrent of energy—impossibly hot and incredibly heavy—that charged violently through his limbs and torso, merging with every inch of his flesh, his bone marrow, and even the deepest level of his very Origin of life!

URGH—!

Even with his iron will, Murphy couldn’t stop a deeply suppressed grunt from escaping his lips.

His muscles instantly swelled, and veins bulged beneath his skin like coiling dragons. The dark blue clothes he wore were stretched taut over his suddenly expanding frame.

His skin instantly turned beet-red, as if magma were coursing through his veins. Wisps of searing white steam, dotted with faint golden motes of light, even began to rise from his body!

PAIN!

An indescribable agony!

It wasn’t a simple tearing or burning sensation. It was as if his entire body was being forcibly dismantled and crushed, starting from its most basic components.

His cells screamed. His bones disintegrated. His nerves burned.

Then, a more ancient, more brutal, and more powerful force began to reshape everything. It was like an invisible, giant hand had seized his very DNA, crushed the helix, and then reforged it with a godlike will.

Every cell was reborn from its own screams, reassembled from its own disintegration, and infused with a furious and majestic Life Force.

Inside the sealed chamber, Murphy’s cross-legged form was completely engulfed by the roiling cloud of searing white vapor.

His skin was crimson as a branding iron, his veins bulged like coiling dragons. He clenched his jaw so tightly that dark red blood seeped from between his teeth, yet with stubborn willpower, he held onto a single sliver of clarity in his mind.

’Refine!’

He roared in his mind, circulating the Foundation Strengthening and Essence Cultivation Technique from Qi Absorption and Eating Mist with all his might.

Under his desperate guidance, the furious Exotic Spiritual Qi, which raged like a flood from a broken dam, began to push forward laboriously along the established path of the Circulation of Heaven.

It was an incredibly perilous tug-of-war.

His body was like common iron thrown into a divine smith’s forge, enduring a tempering and reforging that pushed it far beyond its limits.

Time seemed to warp in the agony, losing all meaning.

An unknown amount of time passed. It might have been a few hours, or perhaps an entire day and night had gone by.

The white vapor that filled the sealed chamber finally began to slowly dissipate.

The crimson color on Murphy’s skin receded like the tide, and his bulging veins gradually settled, leaving only a faint golden luster that seemed to flow just beneath his skin.

His breathing had changed.

It went from being disordered and nearly nonexistent to long, deep, and powerful.

With every inhalation, the air in the chamber swirled into a small vortex, as if the room itself was about to be emptied of air.

With every exhalation, he released a searing, condensed bolt of white air that struck the stone wall several meters away, leaving a shallow indentation.

Finally, his tightly shut eyes slowly opened.

VMM!

A brilliant light flared in his eyes, like stars suddenly igniting in a dark room, sharp enough to pierce through metal and stone.

The light lasted for several moments before it was quickly drawn inward, and his eyes returned to their usual profundity.

But a closer look would reveal a mountain-like weight and power hidden beneath that profundity.

He slowly rose to his feet.

The simple movement stirred up a distinct disturbance in the air, causing his robes to flutter as if in a breeze.

He looked down at his hands.

His palms were broad and thick, his knuckles well-defined. His skin was smooth as jade, yet it held the faint luster of metal.

He gently clenched his fist.

POP!

The air in his palm compressed, letting out a low, muffled pop.

He didn’t need any tests. His body told him the results with absolute honesty.

The 1,200-kilogram single-arm strength limit he had been stuck at for years—the very peak of Qi Refining—had been completely shattered.

Now, his strength in a single arm had solidly broken through the 2,000-kilogram mark!

According to the quantitative system he had devised, this meant his "Essence" attribute had leaped from approximately 2.2 all the way to 3.0.

This was a qualitative leap.

It didn’t just mean a twofold increase in pure strength. It represented a complete sublimation of all his physical foundations: Life Force, Recovery Power, Nervous Reaction, Bone Density, and Muscle Strength.

The physical limit for a so-called Peak of Grand Knight was only about 1,000 kilograms of single-arm strength.

Yet his current strength had already more than doubled that limit!

Murphy slowly exhaled another long, turbid breath. The air he expelled seemed to congeal in the sealed chamber, refusing to dissipate.

He felt the majestic power surging through his body. Every inch of muscle, every piece of bone, every single cell seemed to be rejoicing.

’Finally... I have a sliver of power again...’