บททั้งหมดของ Nine Ungrateful Sisters: บทที่ 271 - บทที่ 280

Oscar nodded. "In theory, it should be possible."A lean, hollow-faced middle-aged man arrived at the pavilion a short while later. His expression carried a weight that had nothing to do with hardship or exposure to the elements.The despair came from somewhere deeper, something bone-deep that had hollowed him out from within. He looked like a man who had found nothing left in the world worth holding onto."This is my uncle, Sirius Moonveil," Celeste said.Celeste must have explained everything on the way over.Sirius walked in, leaned against the railing without ceremony, and spoke before anyone else could. "I don't see the point. I knew the previous Archon. Caleb showed me his method back then too. I tried it, and I got nothing. A small amount of vitalis would form, but it never held. I couldn't sustain even a normal grand circuit, let alone run one in reverse."Caleb shot Atlas a look. His method was Draconox property. Why had anyone outside the Hall seen it?Before the quest

Caleb watched from the side, his heart lodged in his throat. He understood the dangers of his own method better than anyone. But he was a physician first. Martial training had always come second to him, little more than a way to maintain his health.Even so, he had never seen anything like this.Sirius' legs were being forced apart as though invisible hands were tearing at them, with nothing to blunt the agony. The veins bulging beneath his skin and the sweat drenching his clothes made the extent of his suffering unmistakable.He had simply chosen not to scream.Just as Celeste reached for Oscar to stop him, Rebecca stepped forward and caught the back of her skirt. "Wait. I think it's working. I was there when my brother trained. Look at the muscle tissue. It's closing."If anyone in the pavilion understood what this method looked like in practice, it was Rebecca. She had watched Oscar work through it step by step. She had recorded it all. More than once, she and Oscar had reviewe

Atlas had treasured what he once had.But now? He was too old. For a man nearing the end of his life, peace was the greatest gift. There was no need to stir up trouble."I..." His lips felt dry. He did not know which path to choose."Grandpa, you can't." Celeste stepped behind him and rested her hands on his shoulders. "What if something goes wrong?"She had watched Sirius sit in that chair. In the end, he had survived. His breathing was steady now, his grandmaster constitution restored, vitalis flowing through him once more.But what if it had failed? The wounds that had split open and the blood that had poured out had been impossible to ignore.This method allowed no middle ground. Either you succeeded, or your body paid the price for the attempt. Even the mildest failure meant permanent disability and a lifetime of pain.Atlas lowered his head. This era no longer belonged to old men. He had already lived through his glory days, and for him, that had been enough."I—"Caleb

No one spoke. They took their seats and watched the two men without blinking.Sirius drew most of the attention. The energy rising from him grew heavier with every passing minute. He was close to completing the full grand circuit.Celeste finally managed to reach her father. "Nothing's wrong. Well, actually, that's not exactly right either. Let me send you something. Watch this."She raised her phone and recorded short clips of Sirius and Atlas."Grandpa and Uncle Sirius have vitalis again," she whispered into the phone. "Dr. Hoffman's method worked. They've both returned to grandmaster level."Her father, Orion Moonveil, told her to stop trying to cheer him up. If the cure had ever been that simple, Sirius would not have spent years trapped in that hollow, defeated state.The Moonveils had resources. Atlas had been close friends with Caleb for years. Access to the method had never been the issue. Making it work had.Celeste could feel the energy radiating from both men in the p

"Let's go."The group headed to dinner together.Even as they ate, the fallout from Caleb's interview continued to spread.Inside a group chat filled with martial grandmasters, messages poured in one after another.[Is this real? Dr. Hoffman's method actually allows reverse vitalis cultivation? And the training speed afterward surpasses everything before it?]The first message that opened the floodgates came from a user named @I Really Can't Fight.[Seriously. This has to be fake. I heard even Boreas, the current Archon of the Draconox Order, couldn't make it work. So which Archon did? The previous one? Is he even still alive?]A user named @My Blade Has A Hundred-Thirty-Feet Range replied with barely concealed scorn: [Clearly, this person knew the Draconox Order's internal structure.][Seriously, I tried it this afternoon. I don't know what that method is supposed to be, but it isn't cultivation.][Reverse circulation? That's not training. That's suicide.][I didn't even fin