Zac had reached this point dozens of times already , but none of the others had been as steady as this one . Zac was nervous , but his hands were steady as he extracted the essence from a piece of rusty metal . It had once been a part of an E-grade War Axe , but lying on an energy-dense battlefield for eons transformed the shard into what could pass as a Peak-quality F-grade Natural Treasure containing the Dao of Axe . It was the perfect material for the final step of the second Cosmic Cycle .
The essence was moved to the practice axe , and Zac didn’t blink for almost thirty minutes as he connected one thread after another . Finally , the essence was fully integrated , but Zac didn’t relax just yet . The axe trembled precipitously until it stabilized . A fierce aura burst from the axe as the edge grew a shade darker .
Success .
Only then did Zac breathe out in relief , but he didn’t even get a chance to celebrate before a surge of memories sprouted in his mind , like they’d always been there and he’d just forgotten about them for some reason . Now , the details of Cosmic Extraction] were finally laid bare , along with the inherited experience where he remembered practicing the technique for decades .
There weren’t any surprises to the technique . It was almost a reversion of Cosmic Infusion] , where you extracted the equivalent of a single essence from a weapon . The process could be repeated , but each modification would make the extraction more difficult . Of course , if you messed up , there was also the risk of destroying the weapon altogether .
Zac couldn’t wait to keep practicing , but he first inspected the other burst of information provided by completing the quest . Like last time , he got a preview of the next layer , probably to give him something to work toward .
The third layer of Cosmic Forge] was called Essence Union] . It still wasn’t a proper crafting technique , but it was getting closer . Zac was only privy to a short introduction to the technique , but that small piece was enough to fill him with excitement and anticipation . The first two layers were straightforward : to add or remove essence from a piece of equipment .
Essence Union] was a technique that would refine the process . It was very rare to find an essence that perfectly matched your path . But what if you could take the useful parts of two different Natural Treasures and add some of your Dao as glue? Creating tailor-made essences would allow you to craft a piece of equipment far more suited to your path .
Zac almost drooled imagining using Essence Union] to transform all the treasures he’d collected for his Core Formation into perfectly suited materials . Unfortunately , unlocking the next chapter was easier said than done .
Cosmic Forge (Unique , Inheritance) : Extract two Cosmic Cycles from a three-cycle refined item . Reward : Essence Union] . (0/34)
71
APPROACHING THE LIMITS
The quest asked Zac to remove two Cosmic Cycles from a - three-cycle item’ and a refined item at that . In other words , he needed to extract the spirituality of a High-quality E-grade equipment , essence by essence , until it was reduced to Low-quality . Not only that , but the product needed to be in harmony and not teetering on the brink of collapse .
The task seemed daunting , but Zac was full of vigor as he set out to accomplish the task . Cosmic Extraction] didn’t provide much use for his Core Formation , but Essence Union] definitely held a lot of potential . It might allow him to completely reinvent the Core Formation process and sidestep the biggest pitfall of being a mortal Hegemon .
Unfortunately , will and desire weren’t always enough to move mountains .
Two months passed , and Zac blankly looked at the shattered remains of an axe . He couldn’t believe how much more difficult extraction was than infusion . He was making progress , but he hadn’t extracted a single essence so far . Every piece of spirituality in equipment , even those ill-fitting with the rest , was an integral part of their makeup .
To extract it was to leave a gaping hole in the tool’s inner structure , akin to removing an array flag from a formation . You needed speed and a great understanding of energy and materials to rearrange the remaining spirituality before the thing destabilized and exploded . And this was just the first layer . The difficulty would exponentially increase by removing more and more pieces from the item .
Technically , it was within the realm of possibility to finish the quest before he broke through . He had plenty of gear in his Spatial Rings , and there were always guests selling equipment stockpiles to make a quick buck . But the task itself was just so incredibly complicated , and the inherited memories were far from enough .