Chapter 179: Furnace Reverse Lock, Preparing for a Profession

Chapter 179: Chapter 179: Furnace Reverse Lock, Preparing for a Profession

In this Otherworld, spreading legends about fabricated gods was a blasphemous crime punishable by being burned at the stake.

But for this book to be placed so openly in the Guild’s official library, without being listed as a forbidden text...

This was more than enough to prove that its contents were tacitly accepted by the higher-ups as true history.

Icarus had truly relied on completing seven Great Works, taking one step at a time until he finally became a god.

’So is completing a Great Work the key for a mortal to achieve godhood?’

A storm of thoughts raged within Lance.

No wonder, even in a remote place like Gray Rock Town, he often heard rumors of Adventurers who had been driven to madness in their pursuit of a Great Work.

The temptation was indeed something no one could resist.

As he turned the heavy pages one by one...

Lance’s knowledge of Great Works grew.

The book detailed the giant bell in the City of Radiance that could ring with the sound of a Great Work, as well as stories of Great Works throughout history—some confirmed, others only conjectured.

...until he reached the Chapter introducing the Great Work related to the Breathing Technique.

Lance paused and muttered to himself. ’So this is the real reason the old Guild Master wanted me to read this book.’

’That experienced old man must have seen my potential to complete this Great Work.’

According to Herman’s theories...

As a person’s strength continually increased, the number of Great Works that matched their current realm would naturally dwindle.

When a Professional reached their peak at Level 20...

The only Great Work they could trigger and complete was the one suicidal path: deicide.

Therefore, the old Guild Master didn’t want Lance to waste this precious opportunity to achieve a Great Work while still a mortal.

In the old Guild Master’s eyes, this would only require Lance to delay becoming a Professional for about a month.

’Do I really have to just foolishly hold my Level and wait a month?’

Lance wondered softly.

He read on, his question in mind, and found that the scholar Herman elaborated on this very point in great detail in the following sections.

In fact, the truth was completely different.

The judgment mechanism for a Great Work was very flexible; it wasn’t so rigid that every single requirement had to be followed to the letter of conventional standards.

The Great Work of maintaining a constant Breathing Technique, at its core, tested whether a mortal’s will could perfectly command their physical body.

It also tested whether your physical body was qualified to bear the advent of a Great Work.

Neither of these two could be lacking.

So why was the Great Work of maintaining a constant Breathing Technique usually considered achievable only by ordinary people?

It was simply because the difficulty of attempting it was at its lowest during that stage.

Once a person formally completed the ritual to become a Professional...

a Source Melting Furnace would irreversibly form within their body.

Any Ether Energy inhaled thereafter would be instinctively guided by the body, prioritized to enter the Melting Furnace for gentle filtration and conversion.

In this way, maintaining the constant Breathing Technique would no longer be a struggle between body and Spirit, but a function of the Melting Furnace’s operation.

This completely failed to meet the condition of struggle required by the Great Work.

However, the method to break this limitation was actually quite simple.

It involved using an extreme technique called the Furnace Reverse Lock.

This technique could forcibly intercept and violently ignite the Ether before it entered the Source Melting Furnace.

Not only would it not interfere with the Source Melting Furnace’s daily functions, but it could also bypass its protective mechanisms.

However, once this reverse lock method was employed, the body would once again have to bear the full, heavy burden of the Breathing Combat Technique.

And here was where it became most terrifying.

After becoming a Professional, the human body’s affinity for Ether would be greatly enhanced.

This meant that if one deliberately avoided processing the violent Ether introduced by the Breathing Combat Technique through the Source Melting Furnace...

...the amount of Ether inhaled would be several times greater than what an ordinary person could handle.

The resulting rate of stamina drain and the pressure on one’s Spirit would also multiply wildly.

At this, Lance snapped the heavy book in his hands shut.

For an Ordinary Professional, this exponential increase in difficulty was no different from suicide.

If anyone else were to try this, they might truly suffer the tragic fate of their body collapsing on the spot or their Spirit shattering completely.

But he was different.

He had his Talent as a safety net.

’Since I don’t have to hold back my Level and stagnate...’

’I can go all out and give it my best shot!’

...

The last glimmer of twilight finally vanished from the far end of Gray Rock Town’s streets.

Lance stood before the door of Rein’s stone house, taking a deep breath of the cool, early summer air.

The violent explosion in the small courtyard in the middle of last night had created such a commotion that news of it had already spread to every corner of the town.

Now, one only had to walk into a crowded area to hear the idle townspeople discussing it animatedly.

Everyone was speculating about which unlucky soul had managed to anger a short-tempered Mage in the dead of night.

When Rein heard the knock and opened the wooden door to find Lance standing on the steps with a sheepish grin, the retired old soldier was rather surprised.

Meeting the elder’s questioning gaze, Lance could only rub his nose awkwardly and brace himself as he briefly explained the tragic state of his house, which had been reduced to a pile of rubble.

Since the incident had already caused such a stir that the whole town knew about it...

...his lame excuse about "traveling with a merchant caravan" was clearly no longer sustainable.

Lance steeled himself and decided to stop hiding the truth.

He confessed everything: that he had been secretly working as an Adventurer all this time, and that he was now about to cross the threshold to officially become a Professional.

After listening to this rather incredible story, a long silence fell over the living room.

Rein sat on a slightly worn wooden chair.

His large hand unconsciously stroked the wooden handle of his cane, his eyes sizing up the young man before him with a complicated expression.

The old soldier quickly calculated the time in his head.

’It’s been less than half a year!’

’A commoner boy with no background whatsoever has actually reached the verge of the Professional Level, relying purely on his own potential?’

Rein couldn’t help but recall the hellish, life-or-death training he had endured back in the Black Iron Command Bureau just to cross that same threshold.

’This kid’s growth rate can no longer be described by the word "genius."’

’He’s a monster who defies all common sense.’

But after the brief shock, the most practical problem now lay before them.

Lance’s recently rented house had been completely flattened by a Spell, which meant the boy would definitely have to stay with him for the time being.

Rein rubbed his throbbing temples, a headache coming on.