Final Regression of The Legendary Swordmaster Chapter 90

Edward sat cross legged on the bed, his back straight, his breathing slow and controlled. The earlier tension in the room had settled into something quieter and more focused. His essence was already flowing, moving in a steady current from his core into Thaleia’s through the bridge they had formed. It was not chaotic. It was not wild. It was guided, deliberate, and precise.

Thaleia sat cross legged in front of him, her posture mirroring his. Her eyes were closed, and her hands rested gently on her knees. She followed every instruction he had given her. She did not allow her thoughts to wander. She did not question the sensations rising within her. Instead, she directed her awareness inward, toward the center of her being.

Her mana core came into view within her inner sight. One hundred circles rotated within it, layered carefully over the years. They were beautiful in structure, each ring stable and complete, yet separate. They moved together, but not as one. There were small gaps between their rotations, slight differences in rhythm. That was the barrier she had never been able to overcome.

Edward’s essence entered her core like a thin stream of silver light. It did not clash with her mana. Instead, it wrapped around it gently, testing its flow, measuring its rhythm. He did not force his way in. He aligned himself with her current first.

"Do not resist," he said quietly, though his lips barely moved. His voice reached her through their connection.

"I am not," she replied softly.

He could feel the truth of her words. Her mana did not flinch this time. It trembled slightly, but it did not retreat.

Edward activated the Celestial Needle technique.

Not for himself.

For her.

His will sharpened, becoming fine and focused. He did not attempt to inscribe anything yet. Instead, he sent controlled vibrations through the bridge between them. His essence touched the outer edge of her hundred circles and began to hum at a specific frequency.

At first, nothing changed.

Then, slowly, her circles began to shake.

The vibration was subtle. It was not violent. It was precise. Each circle responded differently at first, some shaking faster, some slower. Thaleia’s breathing hitched slightly as the pressure inside her core began to rise.

"It is starting," she whispered.

"Do not panic," Edward instructed calmly. "Let the vibration pass through you."

The hundred circles started to blur at their edges. The clear lines between them softened as the frequency increased. Her skin began to glow faintly, thin lines of light appearing along her arms and neck like cracks in glass filled with silver fire.

The pressure built quickly.

Thaleia clenched her jaw, but she did not pull away. Sweat formed along her forehead and slid down her temple. Her entire body felt as though it was being heated from within. Her mana was no longer simply rotating. It was being drawn inward.

Edward increased the frequency slightly.

All one hundred circles shook violently now. The stable structure she had built over years looked as though it might collapse into chaos. Fear rose in her chest, sharp and sudden.

"They are breaking," she said through clenched teeth.

"They must," Edward replied. "Trust the process."

The vibration intensified.

Inside her core, the hundred circles began collapsing inward. The space between them vanished as they compressed into one another. What had once been a layered structure of rings turned into a storm of light. It spun wildly, uncontrolled for a brief second.

Thaleia gasped as a wave of pain shot through her chest. It was not physical pain alone. It was spiritual pressure. Her very soul felt as though it was being squeezed.

Edward’s eyes remained closed, but his control sharpened further. He wrapped his essence tighter around her collapsing core, preventing the explosion of energy from escaping outward.

"Hold it," he commanded.

The storm of light inside her shrank. The chaos compressed. Smaller and smaller it became, drawn toward a single point at the center of her being.

Her skin now shone like polished crystal. The air around her distorted slightly from the heat of her mana.

Then, in a silent burst that shook the room without sound, the chaos condensed.

Where there had once been one hundred separate circles, there was now one single massive ring. It was thicker, brighter, and more stable than anything she had ever felt before. It rotated slowly, powerfully, like the orbit of a star.

The foundation of the True Mage was set.

Thaleia’s breath came in sharp pulls, but she did not collapse. She felt it. The difference was undeniable. Her core was no longer layered and segmented. It was unified.

But it was not complete.

"Now," Edward said quietly. "We inscribe."

He drew in the surrounding mana from the room, filtering it through his own core before guiding it toward hers. He shaped it carefully, thinning it into a fine, sharp thread of spiritual light.

Thaleia felt the thread approach her new unified ring.

Her heart pounded.

"Stay steady," Edward reminded her.

The thread touched the ring.

Skree.

The sound echoed within her mind like silk being torn by steel. The 101st circle began to form, spiraling around the unified ring. It glowed with a deep violet light, darker than the silver of her previous circles.

The inscription was not smooth at first. The ring resisted slightly, as if unsure whether to accept the new structure.

Edward increased the synchronization between their cores. His will pressed gently but firmly, guiding the thread along its path.

"Do not doubt," he said.

Thaleia focused everything she had into stability. She stopped thinking about fear. She stopped thinking about failure. She simply accepted the flow.

The 101st circle locked into place.

A shockwave of power burst from her body. The bed beneath them cracked slightly from the force. The windows rattled. The air trembled as raw mana surged outward.

Edward reacted instantly, drawing the wave back inward before it could escape the room. He compressed it into her core, stabilizing the eruption.

Silence followed.

Thaleia’s Sea of Consciousness expanded violently. What had once felt like a wide lake now stretched into something far larger. The boundaries of her awareness pushed outward as if an unseen wall had been broken.

Her spiritual sense extended beyond the manor walls. She could feel the faint movements of guards outside, the distant pulse of mana from other cultivators within the territory.

Her control sharpened.

The weight of her mana deepened.

True Mage Stage: Initial Level.

Her eyes snapped open.

The world looked different.

Clearer.

Heavier.

She inhaled slowly, and the air felt richer, more tangible. The mana in the room responded to her presence differently now. It bent slightly toward her will.

She looked down at her hands. The faint cracks of light beneath her skin faded, leaving her normal once more. But the power inside her was undeniable.

"I..." she began, but words failed her.

Edward opened his eyes as well. His expression remained calm, but there was a faint approval in his gaze.

"You have crossed the threshold," he said simply.

Thaleia closed her eyes again briefly, testing her core. The single massive ring spun steadily within her. Around it, the 101st circle glowed with quiet authority.

Her Sea of Consciousness felt capable of holding far greater strain. Spells she once struggled to maintain now felt light. High tier constructs no longer seemed impossible. Spirit sealing techniques, large scale formations, battlefield spells that required deep reserves of control all felt within reach.

"I can feel it," she whispered. "The difference."

Edward nodded slightly. "This is only the beginning. You will need to inscribe more circles to reach the middle level. But now the foundation is correct."

She looked at him with a mixture of gratitude and awe. "You guided the entire restructuring as if you had done it countless times."

He did not answer that directly.

Instead, he studied her aura carefully, ensuring there were no fractures in her core, no instability in the newly formed ring.

"You must rest after this," he said at last. "Your soul has undergone structural change. Do not attempt any high tier spells for at least two days."

Thaleia nodded slowly, still absorbing the magnitude of what had happened.

She was no longer a peak Adept.

She was a True Mage.

A cultivator capable of leading cities, commanding battalions, standing among the higher ranks of the Seven Kingdoms.

Her gaze hardened slightly.

"Atlantis," she said quietly.

Edward met her eyes.

"In five days," he replied.