Chapter 38: Spiritual Smoke

Some people refused to believe it or thought Enzo had cheated. However, there were also people like Andrea, who were left with countless questions.

One of them was the dean in his office.

He watched the screen while resting his chin on his hand, a strange smile on his face.

’With this kind of speed, what reward did he receive?’ he wondered, filled with curiosity.

If Enzo were still just an ordinary student, he could have been the first person to approach him and ask about the reward.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. There was another status that made him afraid to do anything.

As for Enzo, faced with the astonished gazes of Instructor Neal and Eva, he could only pretend that nothing had happened.

"Instructor Neal, does that door lead to the Spiritual Smoke Room?" he asked while looking at the steel door on the right side of the basement.

"Yes..." Instructor Neal nodded.

"Then I’ll go there," Enzo said.

He walked toward the door.

Eva was slightly late in following him, but she still followed.

Instructor Neal followed as well out of curiosity.

The Spiritual Smoke Room was another opportunity provided by this university.

The main feature was naturally the Spiritual Smoke itself, which was said to be produced by burning a certain type of unique wood.

When inhaled, it could help the body adapt to merging with more Spiritual Energy, directly allowing the body to absorb Spiritual Energy at a high rate.

Every student was entitled to try it once, with a time limit of thirty minutes. The results depended entirely on the individual, specifically on how much smoke they could inhale.

Those who had already reached Level 3 had, in fact, benefited greatly from the Spiritual Smoke, which gave them a rapid boost.

Although the Stanley Family also possessed something like this, there was still a cost associated with using it.

Enzo preferred to use it here instead, so he wouldn’t have to ask the family for even more resources.

The steel door opened by itself when Enzo arrived in front of it, revealing another basement.

This one was smaller.

In the center was a small stone platform surrounded by a glass capsule that reached all the way to the ceiling and was filled with tiny holes.

Enzo observed it curiously.

"Master, willpower plays a greater role here than innate talent," Eva said. "If your will isn’t strong enough, or your mood is disturbed because of a lack of motivation, the results can be poor."

"Do I look like I’m in a bad mood?" Enzo asked.

"No... I just wanted to remind you beforehand," Eva replied calmly, acting as if she were simply carrying out her duties as an assistant.

Even Instructor Neal couldn’t help admiring Eva’s professionalism as an assistant. After all, he wasn’t unfamiliar with the two of them and had often seen Eva look down on Enzo.

"You don’t need to worry about that," Enzo replied.

At the Stanley Family’s library, he had already learned about Spiritual Smoke.

Their knowledge was far deeper than what the academy possessed.

They knew how to make the body inhale more, and even how to maximize the potential of the smoke.

The latter was the most important part. The method of maximizing its potential was fairly confidential information that even the university didn’t know.

At this university, perhaps only Liam knew about it because he was the only one who had achieved an extraordinary result, allowing him to advance directly from the early stage of Level 2 to the Peak of Level 2.

Enzo stepped into the glass capsule, which immediately rose upward, allowing him to step onto the stone platform.

When he sat down, the glass capsule descended again.

DING!

(Spiritual Smoke will be released shortly. Please prepare yourself!)

A robotic voice echoed from somewhere.

Buzz!

The glass suddenly became covered in condensation, blocking the view from inside to outside and vice versa.

No one would be able to see him inside the glass capsule.

A moment later, he saw smoke emerging from the holes in the ceiling. It looked like nothing more than thin smoke that radiated a spiritual aura, feeling gentle when it came into contact with his body.

As for its scent, it resembled the smell of smoke from charcoal—slightly bitter, yet also fragrant.

Fwoosh!

Enzo took a deep breath, inhaling the smoke through both his nose and mouth.

It naturally entered his lungs, but keeping it there until it was absorbed and merged with his body was not easy.

The important thing was simply to get it absorbed. Once absorbed, the smoke would handle the process of adapting his body on its own.

He closed his eyes to focus, and his focus was on expelling the Spiritual Energy within his body.

This wasn’t like releasing energy outward. He was actually forcing the Spiritual Energy out of his body, forcibly lowering his cultivation, something that was painful.

Others would consider such an act insane, but this was the key.

Spiritual Smoke was meant to help increase the cultivation of Level 1 to Level 3 Spiritual Warriors. When his cultivation suddenly dropped, it became even more aggressive in its work, even forcing its way into his lungs on its own so it could merge with his blood.

[Spiritual Energy: 450]

[Spiritual Energy: 400]

[Spiritual Energy: 550]

Through the System, Enzo watched the astonishing changes in his statistics.

As the smoke was absorbed faster, he was also able to inhale more of it.

However, he had to admit that the process was somewhat painful.

The more effective the smoke became, the stronger the throbbing sensation he felt in his blood vessels.

He tightly closed his lips, holding back the urge to suddenly vomit.

And he continued trying to lower his cultivation, which was immediately replaced by an extreme increase.

[Spiritual Energy: 700]

After only ten minutes, it had already reached 700.

This was already the middle stage of Level 2.

Naturally, further increases became more difficult.

Another ten minutes passed, and it had only reached 800.

Now that only ten minutes remained, Enzo tried even harder.

He didn’t expect to make any major progress, but at the very least, he didn’t want to fall behind Liam Stanley.

Suuuuu....

He inhaled the smoke more forcefully until his eyes widened as his chest filled with it.

It hurt.

At the same time, he expelled his Spiritual Energy as forcefully as possible.

He immediately received the backlash and focused on keeping himself from suffering any problems.

DING!

(Time is up!)

He heard the robotic voice again.

The glass capsule became clear once more and rose upward.

He didn’t immediately open his eyes. He kept them closed for a while because there was still some Spiritual Smoke working inside his body.

Every bit that remained would provide a benefit.

Only after nothing remained did he stop and open his eyes.

[Level: 2]

[Spiritual Energy: 985]

His statistics almost made him smile, but he held it back because he realized he was no longer looking at only Eva and Instructor Neal.