'What if I aim to return to the Netherworld?'

  He was unsure if he could return to the Netherworld and exact revenge. Whether it was to Crowley and the other Seven Demon Wings or to the real mastermind behind his death, whom he had no clue about.

  Aside from revenge, he wanted to go to the Netherworld to see Lilu and to make sure that she was okay or already dead.

  'It would be a shame if my main doll died there.'

  Not out of pity, love, or anything like that, but because he didn't want to lose the doll that he had worked so hard to hone. To the point where he was willing to give away various special items and rare skills.

  From the beginning of his soul returning to his original body, he had always felt a strange feeling that there was a connection between the Netherworld and Earth. It was just that he didn't know how to go to the Netherworld or even any clues leading to it.

  Realizing there was no point in thinking about how to go to the Netherworld, his mind was currently more focused on thinking about what he should do on Earth.

  'Returning to the host family after two years of running away?'

  It was not a wise decision, at least not in his current condition.

  It would be great if he returned thriving and with a lot of money. However, if Ernest was still poor like this, he was sure he would only be severely humiliated.

  He envisioned returning to his foster family after being rich and having many important connections. Two years lost, then returning in a state of success, wouldn't that be an exciting story?

  Let's ignore the stupid hallucinations.

  The other option was, 'Awakened and become a hunter?'

  Indeed, becoming a hunter would make him rich, and the possibility of getting information on how to go to the Netherworld was also high, but that was not something he could do because of the curse on his body.

  As long as he had the curse of pain, he could not awaken and become a Hunter.

  'Can I do anything with my current body condition?'

  'Maybe there is some kind of way out to cure the curse on my body? Especially with some knowledge from the Netherworld.'

  Without further thought, he immediately tried it.

  First, he used demonic style mana processing techniques, but there was no reciprocal reaction whatsoever from the mana in the air or from Ernest's own body.

  Finally, Ernest remembered something.

  When Ernest was in the Netherworld, he obtained a magic scroll containing cultivation techniques specifically for humans.

  He got the magic scroll in a treasure chest belonging to the demon ruler of the Duskrend region, which was the first region Ernest and Lilu conquered.

  'Come to think of it, why is there a magic scroll specifically for humans in a land inhabited only by the demon race?'

  That question suddenly popped into his head.

  To make matters even more bizarre, only Ernest, a former human, could decipher the language contained in the magic scroll. More specifically, the technique was written in ancient Chinese.

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  Immediately after finding the magic scroll containing a special cultivation technique for humans, Ernest felt so excited that he opened the magic scroll wide in the air and showed off the magic scroll to Lilu unconsciously.

  However, Lilu didn't care about the magic scroll even when Ernest told her that it contained a great cultivation technique.

  Lilu, who was relaxing by the window, said that demons had already acquired their own unique skills when they were born. They didn't need to train to become strong. They just need to fight to improve their abilities. Thus, Lilu's indifferent face was all Ernest got.

  Ernest recalled how difficult it had once been for him to control his annoyance.

  A comparison between demons and humans immediately occurred to Ernest's mind.

  Unlike in the Netherworld, humans on Earth had to train hard to become awakened and have powers above normal humans. Even hard work is not enough. One must also have high mana sensitivity and great fortune. Only then will they be able to be awakened.

  As an outlet for his annoyance, Ernest, who received an indifferent answer from Lilu, decided to memorize the contents of the magic scroll containing special cultivation techniques for humans. Ernest read and engraved every sentence on the magic scroll so that he could remember it until now.

  The magic scroll was useless to him because, at that time, he was also a demon race. Automatically, he could not practice the contents of the magic scroll. But who would have thought that his futile deeds back then would come in handy now?

  The story was different now. Since he was currently a human, he was confident that he could master the cultivation technique.

  Instead of memorizing the contents of the magic scroll due to his resentment towards Lilu, perhaps Ernest had unconsciously hoped to return to being human and practice the cultivation technique in order to be free from the curse that had long shackled him.

  The name of the cultivation technique in the magic scroll was called Divine Harmony.

  He closed his eyes, assumed the lotus position, and began to practice every word about the breathing technique of Divine Harmony cultivation.

  Ernest had heard that among the awakened people, there were those who practiced certain cultivation techniques in order to grow stronger.

  Since it was common for everyone's awakened method to be secret, most of the information about people's cultivation techniques was also not widely known.

  One thing that Ernest knew was that they would only be able to awaken if they had already created a mana pool within themselves. In other words, from the beginning, they would try to create a mana pool quickly so that they could awaken quickly.

  However, the Divine Harmony technique was different.

  The first stage of the Divine Harmony cultivation technique is Body Refinement.

  Your body must be strong to support great power.

  The first stage is to form a solid body foundation.

  Without a solid foundation, no matter how great your power output may be, you will easily collapse.

  Those are the opening words of the Divine Harmony technique.

  To reach the initial stage, Body Refinement, Ernest first pulled all the mana particles around into his body. Logically, it was impossible because Ernest's body didn't have a mana pool yet.

  However, according to Divine Harmony's cultivation technique, it was still possible to flow the mana particles that had been drawn into the mana circuit within the body.

  It cannot be stored, but flowing the mana particles into the entire mana circuit can strengthen the body's foundation, either the foundation of the physical body or the mana pool that needs to be created later.

  Keep flowing the mana particles to infinity. If you can do this without having to do meditation, then you will have reached the first stage, Body Refinement. That was the short explanation.

  The problem was that although everyone had an innate mana circuit from birth, everyone's mana circuit was different. Because of that, there were no detailed instructions on how Ernest should move mana around the entire mana circuit in his body.

  If he just moved mana around the entire mana circuit inside him, then it was certain that Ernest would suffer a severe injury.

  'Luckily, I've memorized the shape and structure of my mana circuit.'

  It looks impossible because almost hundreds of thousands of intersections exist in each person's mana circuit. Still, Ernest managed to memorize the entire mana circuit in his body long ago. It was one of his efforts to eliminate the curse inside him.

  He smiled, feeling nostalgic as he observed mana circuit. It had been two years since he had done so.

  Until finally, he streamed the mana particles he had accumulated little by little.

  [Progress rate: 0.1%.]

  [Progress rate: 0.2%.]

  [Progress rate: 0.3%.]

  As he cultivated, his rate of progress in reaching the first level of the Divine Harmony cultivation technique increased.