[NR] Positive Pressure - Chapter 581 (Patreon)

As for what the alarm ritual provided? The ability to make the Energy draw worthwhile. The light ritual could only hand a single Energy, while the alarm could manage ten. A little magnitude of difference.

There was one minor problem. Since the Energy gathering ritual was very much kludged together without true understanding, Jason would basically have to figure it out all over again next time he wanted to set it up. The current one was very much balanced around the exact conditions of the place he built it. So much so that moving it even a meter one direction or another would likely cause it to fail.

Despite the effort, though, most would probably consider it wasted effort. The ritual had only managed to raise the ambient Energy by between two and three percent. A pitiful amount. Except it was perfect for Jason’s current needs.

The few percent of extra Energy represented a positive pressure. In fact, if Jason had wanted up to even a ten percent increase, it wouldn’t be hard. All he would have to do is add a barrier, even the almost non-existent one used in the alarm ritual, to hold the Energy in.

Jason instead left the formation open as the ritual pulled from, well, he couldn’t really call it a ley line. Whereas what most people call a ley line is like a broad river, this was at best a small creek. It, however, was more useful than a regular ley line with how close to the surface and tame it was. This was why the room was underground, but not too far.

Why was a positive pressure was important? Simple enough, Jason was going to be expelling the System’s threads and they needed to go somewhere. That somewhere was right outside of his body and who knows what might happen if it tries to re-enter his body? Much better to allow the threads to drift away from him.

Besides, once he did start cultivating again, it wasn’t like the Energy would escape. A couple percent more Energy would easily be gobbled up and still have room left that Energy needs come in from the outside. And on top of all that, the much more useful thing over any ritual to saturate the area in Energy, would be to tap the mini-ley line directly. Unlike a proper ley line, the volume of Energy in it wouldn’t pop him like an overfilled balloon in a moment.

And so Jason settled in for some good old-fashioned closed door cultivation. He wouldn’t even need to leave for food or water as almost half the room was filled with supplies. Though Jason definitely missed the fasting pills from his last life. A week of food in a single pill? A pill that could last for a decade at even the lowest quality? So much more efficient!

Jason could only sigh to himself as he sat in the center of his ritual. The slight increase in Energy gave the air a slight tinge of ozone, which seemed oddly appropriate. There was nothing more he could do to prepare. No other task to hide behind. All the buildings built, food gathered, and real world matters squares away.

Satisfied, Jason closed his eyes and sank into his body, observing the big picture before getting to the most tedious part. That of memorization. While later on, he would change the threads and knots to improve them, for now he just wanted to replicate what is already there.

This takes Jason an entire month and a few days to complete. He could only be thankful that, unlike bones or blood vessels, the threads and knots are all the same, if spaced out differently. However, having memorized everything, it meant he was now onto the most dangerous part. Something so dangerous that it might even affect his actual body outside of NeoRealm. After all, there is a connection between the two and it involves these very Energy threads.

However, Jason was ready for the risk. Some might think him foolish for risking his life for a game, but by this point Jason knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that NeoRealm wasn’t a game. So he focused on his much abused pinky and untied the knot holding it together.

Numbness extended down the finger as the threads frayed and burst apart. It meets a knot at the joint and pauses for what feels like multiple minutes, except almost no time passes before the knot disintegrates. All the while Jason is pushing the threads out of his body where they are swept away from him. A fact he is thankful for this as they do try to gather towards him.

The unraveling reaches his palm and suddenly his entire hand is numb. All the other fingers have their threads instantly burst apart. More than that, Jason can feel with his Energy that his hand is dying.

And still it continues; racing down his arm, past his elbow, and up towards his shoulder. Though as there are multiple threads in the arm, it doesn’t go numb completely. It is just that once it does reach the shoulder, that all goes out the window as the other lines burst apart.

Then it hits his chest. Maybe it would have been smarter to start with a toe, but it is too late for that. The unwinding does slow down as the number of knots in his body’s trunk is much greater than in the limbs where it is mostly around joints.

However, no amount of knots could stop this unmaking, as the very threads that created them would burst apart. Then, as it slid past where Jason’s heart was, there was a pause. One beat, two, and then no more. His heart silent.

At the same time, every other line in his body bursts apart as his very core seems to almost unravel. Between one thought and the next, Jason’s body dies. Which, mind you, is strange. The body doesn’t just die all at once.

However, it is just his physical body that is dead. Beyond the physical, Jason’s mind and cultivation still go on. Oh, and strangely enough, his HP hasn’t gone down? Whatever the case may be, Jason needs to draw out his own Energy and create a new framework of lines all his own.