43 Corruption At Every Floor!
Lin Li showed a proud expression after making her claims. Her expression showed the confidence only a mother could have.
Lin Xinu and others were shocked into silence. They have thought Lin Li would be stating something worthwhile just like her previous claims in the earlier trials. It was because of this that everyone has given their perfect attention to every single word spoken by Lin Li. The claim she made has shocked them like the previous type but this time they were shocked into silence. They didn't know how to respond to her words because even though those words sounded nonsense, there was logic in them!
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Zhen Han continued to sit in the lotus position next to the spiritual spring. Before arriving for the Awakening Ceremony, his paternal grandfather has explained to him the method for absorbing the spiritual energy from the spring.
He has to use the same breathing method he has used to form spiritual veins inside his body. During the formation of spiritual veins, he remembered that he entered into a dream-like state the moment he tried to use the breathing method, and thus actually have no idea how he formed his veins.
'I hope I don't enter into that state again," Zhen Han thought remembering the nine coffins and the vast universe he has seen in his dreams.
He took a deep breath to clear his mind of all distractions. Afterward, he slowly started chanting the mnemonics as per the breathing method. The mnemonics would guide the spiritual energy into is veins as per as a standard path.
The moment he chanted the mnemonics, the magical symbols signifying the breathing method would appear inside his mind, but the next moment the magical symbols would disappear.
"What is going on?" Zhen Han was frightened. He was aware the magical symbols were the true essence of the breathing method. Now though he wasn't able to retain them at all much less guide them for absorbing spiritual energy.
Zhen Han took a deep breath again. He knew he couldn't get distracted by this temporary setback.
"If I am unable to use the breathing method then how was I able to form my spiritual veins?" Zhen Han thought he has used the breathing method unconsciously when he entered the dream-like state but now he was sure he couldn't have used the breathing method.
His mother has once told him that the compatibility of all cultivation methods, including breathing method, depends on the composition of the body.
Generally speaking, a normal breathing method could be used by anyone at Awakening Realm as the cultivators are only absorbing spiritual energy and not refining it. The breathing method given by Zhen Han's grandfather was the method used by the imperial family for ages and it was of high-grade thus making it super effective for even a person with low aptitude.
Zhen Han didn't think he has low aptitude as otherwise, he wouldn't be able to form spiritual veins much less establish lower dantian. He wasn't aware how long he took to form the spiritual veins due to his dream-like state but he was sure he has formed his veins at a quick pace. He hasn't heard of anyone establishing lower dantian in a single day as well. This made him sure the problem didn't lie with him.
The only probability was that his body was resisting this breathing method. He tried his best to stay calm after reaching this conclusion.
"Surely there must exist a way given I have already formed spiritual veins and established lower dantian. Maybe I should try to absorb the spiritual energy just like how I normally breathe," Zhen Han thought it as a joke and was actually planning to contact his parents outside.
SWOOOOSH~
The entire spiritual energy in the spirit spring started flowing towards him. The moment he breathed in for normal breathing, the spiritual energy was absorbed by him. The spiritual energy was absorbed not only through his nostrils but every single pore of his body. Ultimately, it went to his lower dantian and condensed there in the form of a single droplet! The entire energy of the spirit spring could only turn into a drop!
Zhen Han didn't even get time to think because the next moment there was no more flow of spiritual energy. He opened his eyes and was shocked to see the room having no more spirit spring. There was no more mist or the magical glow from the spring. It was like a barren land containing only dirt and some broken array diagrams connecting to other floors of the pagoda.
"WHAT?!" He jumped in surprise. He tried to calm himself for the unknown time and tried to sense the changes in his lower dantian. He was startled to feel there was only a single drop of liquified spiritual energy.
"The spirit spring was fake?" Zhen Han thought someone removed the true spring and placed a replica containing a very faint amount of spiritual energy. This could explain why he was only able to condense a single drop of spiritual energy from a spring which was radiating so many colors before.
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Unknown to him, the spirit spring was real with it having a high amount of spiritual energy. In fact, the spring has enough energy to last for a few more decades! The dirt which he was seeing now in the place of spirit spring was the spirit stones which powered the spring! Now the spirit stones were depleted of their power and hence turned into dust.
In fact, the spirit spring actually powered almost every single array in Awakening Pagoda except for the image and sound transmission array which was powered from outside. So it can be imagined how high the spiritual energy inside the spirit spring was for the entire pagoda to depend on it.
It was just that Zhen Han has absorbed the entire energy in one go, and his lower dantian has refined it into its purest form. This is something virtually impossible for even for a Blood Transformation realm cultivator much less Awakening realm!
The quality of spiritual energy required by Zhen Han was far too high. Not something this spring could qualify which was why on the first floor he has absorbed the spiritual energy from the surrounding area.
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But Zhen Han didn't know this. He thought of how the arrays on the first floor were broken and the crystal ball in the second floor was about to explode, and now the spring. He was sure he knows what happened! The Lin clan senior generation was involved once again!
He stomped his feet and left the third floor.
"I no longer want to enter the above floors to check my other stats. If the seniors didn't even spare the first three floors then how can they spare the other two floors?"
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Outside the pagoda, everyone has their eyes open wide and their jaws dropping. They knew something bad would happen given the past trends, but they never expected the entire spirit spring to deplete! Even though it was a lower grade spirit spring, its maintenance cost was far greater than the divine-grade crystal ball on the second floor! Now, though, there was no more spirit spring. Even the spirit stones which powered the spring has been sucked off so hard that they were nothing but dust.
Even if Zhen Han has gone into the above floors, he couldn't use the above trials as the arrays were depleted of their power source! Only the screen array remained active as it was established outside and thus powered from outside.
Lin Xinu and the elders felt their mouth twitching. The finance elder was sweating bullets thinking about the losses suffered by the clan. This time not a single of the spectator dared pass any remark against Zhen Han as they were afraid he might even destroy the pagoda. The young generation was feeling low spirited and same can be said for the elders.
Lin Li was the only one who was giving a radiating look as if saying she was sure her son would live up to her trust.
The spectators saw the images of Zhen Han walking down on the stairs with an angered look on his face and cursing loudly, "Lin clan seniors, just how corrupt you can be! Even the greatest of the empires are ruined by the corrupt officials. The Lin clan will definitely fall in future if they continued to have such corrupted elders and patriarch..."
The elders wanted to hide in the corner because they were afraid they would die of shame if they heard more accusations of corruption. They wanted to cry because even they weren't as corrupt as Zhen Han made them out to be.
Lin Xinu turned his face towards the elders and loudly asked, " Which one of you is responsible for the arrays inside the pagoda?"
"S-sir patriarch, it is me but you know the situation in pagoda is not my fault," A clan elder said. He felt that the patriarch was going to make him a scapegoat.
"Fault? Of course, it is your fault!"
"S-sir.."
"Who the fuck told you to power the screen projection from outside, unlike the other arrays ?"
"I-I don't understand..."
"Couldn't you let the screen arrays be powered by the spirit spring just like the other arrays inside pagoda?!"
"I could have but..."
"What but? We could have saved ourselves from that kid's cursing when the spirit spring was depleted! But nope! You have to be extra proficient and power the projection array separately so that we can enjoy the curses directed at us!"
