This time, Seimei didn't wait until the final stage of the Three Elements Sealing Technique to tear open the All-Encompassing Seal and release the stored natural energy.
Instead, before casting the Three Elements Sealing Technique, he preemptively drew out the natural energy stored in the special space in his abdomen.
As soon as this natural energy emerged, it began to affect his mind and body, faintly threatening to make his body lose control.
However, the amount of natural energy was too small—less than a thousand points after the previous round's consumption.
With his Natural Energy Control now at Lv6, Seimei easily tamed this small amount of energy.
Suppressing the ordinary chakra in his meridians, which had grown restless due to the natural energy's presence, Seimei focused his mind, raised his hands, and formed the seals for the Three Elements Sealing Technique.
Instantly, intricate sealing patterns spread from his palms, covering his entire body before contracting into a slightly curved triangular symbol etched onto his abdomen.
Then, as expected, three sealing chains extended from the triangle's points, reaching toward his mind, body, and the natural energy he was tightly suppressing within.
The first two chains took root smoothly, anchoring into his mental and physical energy without issue.
But the third chain, targeting the natural energy, wasn't as cooperative.
Without the restrictions of the All-Encompassing Seal, the third chain quickly found its target and took root.
However, the moment Seimei relaxed his control over the natural energy, it began to visibly dissipate at a rapid pace.
If this continued, it wouldn't be long before the Three Elements Sealing Technique collapsed due to its foundation crumbling.
Watching this, Seimei paused to think, then connected with one of the shadow clones absorbing natural energy, instructing it to dispel its Shadow Clone Technique.
Instantly, another thousand points of natural energy returned to his body.
Seimei immediately focused, guiding this new batch of natural energy to merge with the natural energy serving as the foundation for the Three Elements Sealing Technique.
The merger went smoothly, and the newly added natural energy successfully bolstered the seal's foundation.
But this didn't stop the loss of natural energy!
In other words, the Three Elements Sealing Technique would still collapse after some time.
Seimei's expression darkened.
When he'd developed the Three Elements Sealing Technique, he'd focused solely on restraining natural energy and the Sage Chakra it produced, never considering that the seal's foundation itself could be an issue.
Now, he faced a paradox.
To maintain the Three Elements Sealing Technique long-term, he needed to store a large amount of natural energy in his body. But to store that much natural energy, he needed the Three Elements Sealing Technique in the first place.
It was a dead-end loop.
Still, Seimei didn't despair.
Glancing at his status panel, he noticed that the Three Elements Sealing Technique had gained a single proficiency point.
This technique had only just been added to his panel and hadn't even reached beginner level yet.
His understanding of it was still superficial.
Perhaps, if he could increase its proficiency, things might change.
With this in mind, Seimei carefully sensed the changes in the Three Elements Sealing Technique in his abdomen before actively dispelling it.
Even though he canceled it himself, the moment the seal released its hold on his mind and body, it still caused a slight shock to his system.
The natural energy, freed from the seal's constraints, also became restless.
Fortunately, his high-level Natural Energy Control allowed him to easily rein it in.
After calming his thoughts and waiting briefly for his body's natural healing to recover from the seal's impact, Seimei cast the Three Elements Sealing Technique again.
For a full two hours, he skipped his planned Mind Reflection Technique practice, dedicating all his time to the Three Elements Sealing Technique.
Finally, its level rose from Lv0 to Lv1 (1/200), reaching beginner status.
At that moment, a flash of insight bloomed in Seimei's mind, elevating his understanding of the Three Elements Sealing Technique to a new level.
After a long moment of reflection with his eyes closed, Seimei opened them again.
This time, his face wasn't grim but carried a hint of joy.
Without wasting a second, he immediately ordered several shadow clones absorbing natural energy to dispel themselves.
In an instant, his body's natural energy surged to ten thousand points.
Seimei steadied his mind, using his Lv6 Natural Energy Control to suppress the energy's volatility while simultaneously forming hand seals to cast the Three Elements Sealing Technique.
At first, everything proceeded as before. Two sealing chains smoothly anchored into his physical and mental energy.
But when the third chain took root in the suppressed natural energy, something changed.
This time, the Three Elements Sealing Technique didn't treat all the natural energy as the seal's foundation. Instead, it separated a portion of the energy and stored it in the sealing space it had created.
This was the first time since developing the Three Elements Sealing Technique that Seimei had successfully stored natural energy in a meaningful way.
The results proved that the sealing technique he'd designed for natural energy was remarkably effective.
Even at just Lv1, Seimei sensed it could store over ten thousand points of natural energy.
But that wasn't the most important part—the key was its stability.
Focusing his thoughts, Seimei continued observing the changes in the Three Elements Sealing Technique.
The seal drew in more and more natural energy, stopping only when it reached half of the external natural energy—five thousand points.
Well, "stopping" wasn't quite accurate.
Once the natural energy inside and outside the seal reached a balance, they began exchanging energy. The Three Elements Sealing Technique drew natural energy from his body while simultaneously releasing some outward.
This cycle maintained the seal's stability.
This was the solution Seimei had devised based on the insight he gained after the technique reached Lv1.
Though he sensed this cycle wasn't 100% efficient in utilizing natural energy, the slight loss was something he could easily bear.
As for the fact that half his natural energy was tied up in the process?
That didn't matter at all!
For one, as his Natural Energy Perception and Natural Energy Control leveled up, the amount of natural energy he could gather in a given time would only increase.
For another, the current loss of half his natural energy was only temporary.
As the Three Elements Sealing Technique continued to level up, it would require less natural energy to maintain stability.
Eventually, he'd be able to store or restrain more natural energy with even less.
In the end, he might not even need his body's natural energy at all—as long as there was natural energy in the air, the seal's stability would be assured.
Of course, reaching that point would likely take some time.
For now, his focus was on continuing to level up the Three Elements Sealing Technique to store even more natural energy.