I Loaded the Mysticism Panel

At that moment, Richard finally understood the meaning behind the name ”Sphinx.”

In the mythology of the Black Earth River Basin, the Sphinx crouched at the crossroads of two worlds.

It had the body of a lion, the face of a human, and enormous wings sprouted from its back.

The gate it guarded connected two realms—the world of light and the world of shadow.

The Ether sealed within the Oil Lamp naturally carried the attributes of the Sphinx.

When this type of Ether flooded into the material world, it didn’t activate fire, temperature, or sound.

It activated shadow.

Richard leaned his back against the cold iron frame of a phone booth.

It was late at night, and the streets were empty, but that didn’t mean no one was looking out their windows.

If an old insomniac lady happened to pull back her curtains and see the shadow of the flowerpot on her windowsill writhing... He didn’t want anyone to know what happened in this alley tonight.

The number on the panel was still climbing.

0.78... 0.84... 0.89... The absorption was continuous, but not fast enough.

Richard crouched down and placed both hands over the Oil Lamp.

The increased surface area significantly boosted the panel’s absorption efficiency.

The numbers jumped faster.

0.91... 0.95... 0.99...

Just as a notification popped up on the panel, a sight in his peripheral vision made his heart nearly stop.

He was crouching in front of the Oil Lamp, so his shadow should have been crouching too.

But now, his shadow was standing up.

He was crouching, but his shadow was standing. That alone was bizarre enough.

What was even more bizarre was that after standing up, the shadow didn’t flow or twist aimlessly.

Its movements were extremely deliberate.

The shadow raised its arms, crossed them in front of its head, and clasped its hands together at its neck.

The instant Richard saw the motion, he understood what it was trying to do.

The moment the shadow’s hands clasped together, he felt real pressure on his neck.

An external force compressed his windpipe, forcing his Adam’s apple back.

He tried to swallow, but the up-and-down movement of his Adam’s apple was clearly obstructed.

The rhythm of his Quadruple Breathing was disrupted, and his air intake dropped sharply.

Richard didn’t try to stand up and struggle.

The pressure on his neck was real, but not fatal.

It reached a point that was uncomfortable but still allowed him to breathe, and then the pressure didn’t increase any further.

’This must be the effect of the Seal.’

He had managed to pry open a crack in the Sphinx Oil Lamp’s Seal, but its overall structure hadn’t been destroyed.

Over ninety-five percent of the Seal’s Inscriptions were still functioning normally.

The shadow could move, twist, and assume all sorts of postures.

But it couldn’t detach itself from the two-dimensional plane; it couldn’t gain true mass.

’My shadow probably wants to strangle me to death, but the Seal won’t let it succeed.’

’Thank goodness, thank goodness I didn’t just smash the lamp...’

Just as he was desperately trying to maintain his breathing, a line of text he had never seen before suddenly popped up on the panel:

[Structured Ether Condensate Core detected... Analyzing...]

Richard’s fingers froze on the surface of the Oil Lamp.

The text on the panel updated slowly:

[Core Property: Seed]

[Seed Source: Sealed Object Residue]

[Attribute Tags: Riddle, Gate, Judgement]

”Extract?”

[Yes]/[No]

Richard stared at the two options, his heart pounding in his ears.

From the pendant to the Divination Disc, silver coins, copper coins, the Incense Burner, and the Gargoyle... the Ether absorption process for every one of the Marvels had been passive and automatic.

The panel had never asked him if he wanted to do something.

When the Ether Flow came, the panel absorbed it.

Once it was absorbed, the numbers went up. His only participation in the entire process was making physical contact.

But this prompt about a so-called Ether Condensate Core and a seed...

It meant that among the things the panel was absorbing, there was something structured that couldn’t simply be classified as ”Points.”

The attribute tags—Riddle, Gate, and Judgement—each pointed to the Sphinx’s function in mythology.

Riddle—the Sphinx posed a riddle to every passerby. Those who answered wrong died.

Gate—the Sphinx crouched on the Gate of Two Realms, acting as its Gatekeeper.

Judgement—the Sphinx’s riddle was itself a form of judgement, deciding who was worthy to pass.

These three tags, bound together with a seed, had emerged from a thousand-year-old Copper Oil Lamp.

Richard didn’t have time to think. On the verge of suffocation, he made his decision.

He chose [Yes].

The panel’s absorption mode changed.

The Ether, which had been flowing in evenly, was stirred by an unseen hand.

A portion of it was drawn out, converging on a single point where it spun, compressed, and condensed.

A massive amount of Ether was concentrated and compressed into an infinitesimal point.

As the panel absorbed Ether on a large scale, the concentration of Ether in the environment plummeted.

The strange movements of the shadows on the main street outside the alley began to weaken.

One by one, the shadows throughout the entire block began to return to normal.

Starting from the furthest point, the effect receded layer by layer, like a retreating tide, converging on his location.

The pressure on his neck finally began to lessen.

He took two deep breaths, and his Quadruple Breathing stabilized.

The main street outside the alley returned to a normal night scene.

The shadows of shop signs lay docilely where they were supposed to be, and the shadow of the streetlight once again became a proper, straight line.

The shadow of the mannequin in the tailor shop’s window had only a torso and a head—cleanly, with no arms.

Everything was as it should be.

Richard looked down at his own shadow.

Thank God, it was finally willing to crouch down again.

[Available Points: 1.62]

All that effort and trouble hadn’t been for nothing.

The reserves in the Oil Lamp were basically depleted. As was his custom, he left the last bit of residue behind.

A new line of text appeared on the panel, in a font slightly smaller than the Skill tags.

[Seed extracted]

”Planting Condition: [Spirit] attribute unlocked”

Richard stood up and dusted off his pants.

He’d had several Marvels in his possession already.

But this lamp was the one he had poured the most effort into.

He had spent several weeks studying its Seal structure, and after buying it, he had broken the Seal himself.

From the moment he bought it to the moment he cracked it, he remembered every scratch and every patch of verdigris on the lamp more clearly than the lines on his own palm.

The Eye of the Sphinx had been watching him the entire time.

The Seal was a chain, but it was also a form of protection.

It locked away the power within the Oil Lamp, but it also weakened that power’s destructive potential to a manageable level.

If the Seal hadn’t still been in effect, what happened in the last few minutes probably wouldn’t have ended so easily.

His gaze fell back to the new notification at the bottom of the panel.

A seed needed to be planted to sprout, sprouting required a condition, and that condition was unlocking the [Spirit] attribute.

He still didn’t know what would grow after the seed sprouted.

A seed meant growth, change, and unpredictable results.

Richard set the question aside for now.

The unlock condition for the Spirit attribute was ”All Four Elements of the Body activated.”

Breathing, Sleep, and Eating were already lit up. Only Walking remained.

Before heading home, he submerged his consciousness into the panel again.

[Available Points: 1.62]

He focused his consciousness on [Walking].

The gray color faded away just as decisively as when he had unlocked the other Skills.

A single word floated up: ”Confirm?”

He pressed it.

[Walking Level 1] Progress: 0%

[Available Points: 0.62]

The change came quietly.

There was no rush of heat, no tremors, not even a fluctuation in his breathing rhythm.

But he felt it the moment he stood up and took his first step.

The ball of his foot touched the ground first, absorbing most of the impact, and his center of gravity transferred naturally along the arch of his foot to his heel.

This motion naturally distributed the impact force generated by his movement.

But he didn’t have time to carefully experience the changes that came with Walking.

The very moment [Walking] lit up, another line of text popped up on the panel.

The notification was just one line: [The Four Elements of the Body are all activated—the Spirit Gate is now open]

The lock symbol on the [Spirit] attribute disappeared.

He touched it with his consciousness. It didn’t require any Points to be spent.

The text lit up instantly.

Numbers began to appear after the dash, starting from zero, in a tiny font embedded in the bottom corner.

[Spiritual Appearance 0/10]

0/10. The zero on the left was the current value, and the ten on the right was the capacity limit.

Richard focused his consciousness on the line of text again, and a short description floated up:

”Spiritual Appearance: An Ether storage tank.

Ether can be gradually stored during daily cultivation. Once the tank is full, it can be released in segments or all at once.

The effect of the release depends on the total amount stored and the method of release.”

”The storage rate is linked to the efficiency of your Breathing Technique cultivation. When the Breathing Technique is active, excess Ether automatically flows into Spiritual Appearance, no manual extraction required.”

”Current capacity limit: 10 units; requires approximately 10 consecutive days of cultivation to fill.”

The description didn’t end there.

His gaze moved down, and another notification floated up from the bottom:

”Capacity limit can be increased by spending Points.

10→20: requires 1 Point

20→50: requires 2 Points

50→100: requires 3 Points

100→?: requires additional conditions to be met (not unlocked)”

Richard stroked his chin. ’The cost of increasing the capacity limit grows exponentially.’

’Above 100, it doesn’t even tell you the price, just that you ”need to meet additional conditions.”’

’This means the reservoir’s volume isn’t infinitely expandable.’

’The further I go, the more expensive it gets, and after a certain point, a non-Point threshold appears.’

’It’s the same logic as advancing the Breathing Skill requiring me to ”learn an Extraordinary Breathing Technique.” The panel doesn’t allow for mindless upgrading just by stacking Points.’

He collapsed the description for [Spiritual Appearance] and organized the information in his mind.

The design of the [Spirit] attribute was more generous than that of [Body] and [Wisdom].

It gave a free function right off the bat; the price of admission had already been paid with the ”All Four Elements of the Body activated” condition.

Expanding it was what cost extra. The initial capacity was free.

He glanced again at the unlock conditions at the bottom of the panel:

”Next [Spirit] attribute unlock condition: All Four Elements of the Body and all Three Aspects of Wisdom must reach Level 3.”

This condition was more than just a single step up from the ”All Four Elements of the Body activated” threshold.

’Getting all Skills to Level 3... I estimate that won’t happen until after I become a Practitioner.’

But the Spiritual Appearance reservoir was already open.

From now on, his Breathing Technique cultivation would not only maintain the daily operation of his Ether Micro-Cycle but also ”save money” in his Spiritual Appearance.

He didn’t need to do anything special to ”save” it; the process was fully automatic.