Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Practicing a customized Tantra offered numerous advantages:

Firstly, it reduced obstacles in the Practitioners' Paths, enabling quicker progress compared to their peers. The impact of this progress would gradually increase the longer one kept practicing their personalized Tantra.

Secondly, a personalized Tantra enhanced the chances of breaking through Rank barriers, allowing practitioners to exceed their inherent limits. For instance, someone who could only become a Grandmaster with their talent might have discovered the potential to become a Sage with access to a personalized Tantra.

Thirdly, the tailored Tantra empowered Practitioners to excel in their strengths while addressing weaknesses and maintaining a balanced approach to their Paths. This prevented deviations in their journeys and mitigated additional consequences.

For example, a Practitioner weak in Spiritual Force could focus on maximizing it while enhancing their natural talents. On the other hand, someone with a weak constitution would take a different approach and still obtain similar benefits.

Lastly, a personalized Tantra granted independence from any single organization. It established a robust foundation that wasn't reliant on external factors. Diligent practice ensured a continual pathway for progression in their respective Paths.

For example, a Grandmaster with a personalized Tantra didn't need to rely on their organization for an S-Rank Tantra after reaching Sage status. They could modify existing Tantras over time or instantly with the Mesh's assistance, albeit at a cost.

However, not everyone could afford to use the Mesh to do this job for themselves. Not everyone had access to Origin Force points after all. And paying through Menaka's Runes was almost impossible for an average Practitioner no matter how hard they tried.

Usually, the Practitioners would choose the Tantra that they thought best suited them and their respective Paths. They would then customize the Tantra on their own as they progressed further in their respective Paths.

Of course, this way of manually modifying a Tantra was not always an easy road for the most. A large number of Practitioners risked inflicting physical and spiritual injuries as they tried to experiment with their in-use Tantra. It was only through hard work, diligence, and consistency would they be able to derive a Tantra that represented them completely.

Eren had skipped all these hurdles by letting the Mesh do the hard work for him. It not only saved his time but also allowed him to skip a whole lot of troubles and suffering.

Obviously, Eren did not tell his seniors from the Corps that he had already obtained a personalized Tantra for himself because that would have indicated that he had the necessary background and funds to use the Mesh this way.

Instead, he told them that he would try to come up with a personalized Tantra on his own after studying Bodyforge Zenith and Mundraflux Serenity simultaneously.

Eren was naturally reminded of the risks of obtaining a personalized Tantra for himself the hard way. However, he managed to convince his seniors that he was just testing his luck.

***

"Still, not everything is cool and dandy," Eren thought to himself as he focused on some of the pointers mentioned in Rootless Tantra's introduction.

Rootless Tantra could only be practiced by Eren or someone just like him. As such, it would allow him to cultivate his Individuality to the next level. Thus, he could not sell it as a product in the Mesh even though it was unique.

Apart from this, the Rootless Tantra came up with its own set of cons as well.

For example, the Tantra did not grant Resistance-type abilities, leaving practitioners without specific defenses against elemental attacks. It meant that Eren would not be immune to any elemental attacks by default, which was completely opposite of what the Practitioners who cultivated their bodies were blessed with.

It meant that Eren could not fight with other Body Cultivators on an equal pedestal if he were to only use his mortal flesh. Even as someone who cultivated his body, he needed to employ his mana core to the full extent if he was facing someone who was in the same Rank as him.

Eren also ran the risk of facing a more challenging variant of the Ranker's Calamity during the S-Rank breakthrough, potentially posing greater risks. He was sure that the Calamity he would attract by practicing Rootless Tantra would be much greater than what he would have had to face if he had just practiced any other Tantra.

Not to mention, the continuous requirement to concoct personalized potions and create Yantra demanded significant time, effort, and resources from the practitioner.

***

"Hmm, despite its complexities, I've finally secured a suitable Tantra for myself," Eren mused, closing the additional Spectral Screens and Notifications as he reflected on his progress.

"Plus, aligning with a neutral organization that wields influence across a significant portion of Labh Salem will surely work in my favor. I can use the Corps and its resources until Hvergelmir Springs surfaces. I can use its channels to travel almost anywhere I want.

Utilizing the intelligence gathered by Demon Slayers throughout Labh Salem will also play to my advantage, allowing me to strategize accordingly. I can also ask other Demon Slayers to help me in case any emergency arrives. Plus, I can keep on refining the demons for their Faustian rune fragments as a bonafide Demon Slayer.

I can bet Argo's right nut that the Immortals who oppose me will likely intensify their efforts to find me in the coming years. They have probably started already.

The Immortals who are friendly to me have no way to contact me.

I could probably ask Goddess Great Mother for help with the thing she gave me in advance. But this is not the best time to ask her. In the worst-case scenario, I might get detected by enemies the moment I try to contact her.

On the other hand, those who want to play neutral would not help me. They would rather watch as mute spectators as the game of cat and mouse is played in front of them.

Though I haven't seen it yet with my own eyes, a wildfire has already been lit around me. A trap that will only progress inwards so that it can finally catch me.

If… If only I had a few people to count on—"