After reading the Hundred Refining Threads Soul, Max understood a lot of things about soul techniques and techniques in general.

Like skills, techniques fall under the six known categories: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Divine. However, unlike skills, where mastery consists of a total of 100 levels, a technique has five stages depending on its mastery.

They were: Beginner, Proficient, Master, Expert, and Perfection. Only upon reaching Perfection can one be said to have fully utilized the potential of a technique.

'That means my Carefree Phoenix Tactics has only reached the Beginner stage.' Max frowned, his expression turning serious. He had thought he had mastered the technique after learning how to form the World Destruction Flame Lotus, but it seemed he had only just begun.

'I have yet to truly try forming the lotus… Should I try here?' Max became curious. After understanding that there were five stages to mastering a technique, he wanted to ensure that he had reached the Beginner stage in the Carefree Phoenix Tactics.

Looking around, he found the door to his training room.

'Heh, good.' Max smiled and went inside.

Upon entering, he noticed that the training room was constructed from special stones. He touched them and found them rough yet durable.

"I guess these training rooms are specially designed with the power of the hunters in mind," Max murmured as he sat down cross-legged.

Taking a deep breath and calming himself, Max entered the Dimension of Time. He could have entered the dimension back in the bedroom, but he decided to do so here just for the sake of it.

"Let's begin," Max muttered, holding his hand out. Flames began to dance atop his palms.

Concentrating on the flames, he began to follow the technique, guiding the flames to take the shape of a lotus.

The difference between forming a lotus with flames normally and using the technique lay in how the flames were harnessed and their resulting power.

When formed normally, the flames would simply take the shape of a lotus, an outwardly impressive yet ultimately superficial construct with minimal destructive force.

In contrast, the technique channeled the very essence of the flames, compressing and condensing their raw energy into a small lotus.

This process not only concentrated the flames' power but also suppressed their chaotic nature, refining them into a devastating force of destruction.

The lotus created through the technique became a weapon of unparalleled precision and potency, capable of unleashing havoc far beyond the capabilities of a mere shaped flame.

The flames atop Max's hands slowly condensed, their overall shape growing smaller and smaller as time passed, until it formed a sphere the size of Max's fist.

But this wasn't over.

He added more flames to the small sphere, increasing its size to twice the size of his head.

'Now I need to compress more,' Max mused as he began compressing the flaming sphere again, reducing its size back to the size of his fist.

The flames radiating from the sphere were so intense that the very air around it trembled.

'This thing alone could create a small crater…' Max thought, sensing the overwhelming energy it was emitting.

But again, this wasn't the end.

Max then controlled the small sphere to take the shape of a lotus. This was the most difficult part. At this moment, the sphere was as stable as it could be, but the moment it was tempered even a little, there was a high chance it would explode.

'I have to take it slowly,' Max thought, controlling the shape of the sphere bit by bit. Sweat trickled down his face as he concentrated. His first goal was to form the first petal of the lotus.

However, he also had to keep in mind the instability of the sphere. If he rushed to form the first petal, he risked causing an explosion.

'I can't risk anything here.' Max's heart raced as he forged ahead with a bold approach. The first petal began to take shape, and immediately, the sphere began to wobble violently, its fiery energy threatening to spiral out of control.

Beads of sweat rolled down his face as he controlled hard to keep the sphere stable, but he didn't falter.

Following that, he pressed on, shaping the second petal. The instability grew worse, with the flames surging and crackling ominously. The energy felt as if it would erupt at any moment, yet Max's hands worked with swift precision, his concentration absolute.

"Come on," he muttered under his breath, his voice tight with focus.

With the unstable sphere now resembling a ticking time bomb, Max didn't stop. He formed the third petal, pouring every ounce of his will into maintaining control. The flames roared in protest, their power teetering on the brink of chaos.

Then, as if responding to his determination, the sphere suddenly stabilized. The violent trembling ceased, and the fiery lotus pulsed with a steady, harmonious glow. The three petals shimmered with a dangerous beauty, each one exuding raw power.

At this moment, a three-petal lotus floated atop Max's hands, its aura dangerously fierce.

'It became calm… strange,' Max frowned, but then he recalled something, and realization hit him. 'I see, this must be the Beginner stage of the World Destruction Flame Lotus,' he thought.

It also explained why it became so stable after Max forcefully formed the third petal.

"This thing is strong," Max nodded, feeling the power stored in the lotus. "Power-wise, this lotus should be quite strong, but the sharpness of the Blade of Annihilation is something else." He muttered.

After using the black blade against Veylin, Max had decided to call it the Blade of Annihilation. It seemed like a fitting name for that blade.

Gazing at the lotus for a moment, Max shook his hand as the flames diffused, and the lotus disappeared into flames.

"This is just the Beginner Stage, and it has three petals… What about the Proficiency Stage? Master? Expert? And Perfection?" Max wondered what scale the power of the lotus would reach when it fully bloomed.

"Carefree Phoenix Tactics is a Rare rank technique, but the potential of the World Destruction Flame Lotus could take it to another level," Max muttered, feeling the strength behind the technique.

Afterward, he once again focused on the Hundred Refining Threads Soul technique.

According to the technique, one would first need to refine their soul into a solid form. Only then could the strongest potential of their soul power be unleashed.

However, this process was far from simple. For most, it was an insurmountable challenge, if not outright impossible.

The soul within a person's body didn't exist as a cohesive entity. Instead, it remained scattered, diffused throughout the mind region like a mist, intangible and elusive.

The difficulty lay in this: controlling mana to form a core and controlling the soul to transform it into a solid form were fundamentally different endeavors.

Humans were naturally attuned to mana, their connection to it almost instinctive, allowing for greater precision and control. Mana manipulation was a skill honed over countless generations, its intricacies mapped and understood.

The soul, however, was a different matter entirely. It was the final frontier of human understanding, the last of the three primary stats—Physique, Energy, and Soul—that humans had learned to wield.

The path to mastering it had been long and arduous, taking millennia of trial, error, and discovery.

Even now, in an era where cultivation and techniques had reached unprecedented heights, the act of condensing one's soul into a solid form remained rare. It required not just immense talent but also unparalleled discipline and an unyielding will.

It was a step that separated the truly exceptional from the rest, marking those capable of it as individuals who stood on the precipice of power few could imagine.