Second Level of the Condensation Stage

Gilgamesh roared as he forced his true energy through his first meridian, then directly toward the second.

As he did so, he felt a most satisfying sensation as the resistance he was once met with fell apart like butter.

Under the terrifying duress of the two mega lightning bolts, Gilgamesh was slowly being rendered unable to formulate complex thoughts. Even so, he grit his teeth and refined the second meridian with haste.

'Please work! Please work!'

The Guardians up above all stared, slack-jawed, as they felt the direction of Gilgamesh's true energy.

With their powerful divine senses, they were able to tell that- in the midst of a truly terrifying tribulation- Gilgamesh was...

Cultivating!?

Explosive forces wrought havoc in their minds, and as they tried to figure out whether or not Gilgamesh was suicidal, someone else was arriving at the same conclusion as them.

Above them in the heavens of heavens, surrounded by a world of twelve-colored clouds, a man wearing a robe made out of starlight hovered in the air.

As he looked down upon the world below him, he frowned.

"He's trying to make a breakthrough? Is this kid retarded?"

With a scoff, he folded his legs and continued to spectate.

Down below, the gathered disciples were all marveling at Gilgamesh's tribulation and his horribly electrocuted and burned body.

"Do you think he'll survive," a female cultivator placed a hand over her mouth.

"20 spirit stones says he'll die." A bald-headed fatty smirked, tapping on the pouch at his side.

"I'll take that action," someone said from behind him.

The fatty cast a curious glance behind him, but was instantly terrified, faltering as he took a few steps back.

Noting his reaction, the disciples in his vicinity looked toward the person that had spoken, and all came to the same realization.

"B-B-Big..."

"Br-Br-Br-Brother..."

"BIG BROTHER FERAL!?"

In an instant, a terrifying, uproarious wave of excitement and shock swept across the spectating disciples. For a moment, all of the attention was drawn to him.

"Ah, Big Brother Feral," the fatty started, wiping sweat from his head, "you wanted to make a bet?"

Big Brother Feral removed his cloak and revealed himself, an expectant gaze on his face as he nodded.

"10 vigorous stones says that Gilgamesh will survive and make a breakthrough," Big Brother Feral stated evenly, then waved his hand as he withdrew a vigorous stone from his spatial ring.

Seeing the stone in his hand imbued with a boundlessly pure energy of heaven and earth, the disciples all sucked in breaths of cold air.

"Isn't one vigourous stone worth 100 spirit stones?

"And he's offering ten!? Holy shit!"

"So this is the aura of wealth?"

"As expected of my Big Brother Feral!"

The bald fatty gulped as he subconsciously felt for his pouch and stuttered.

Suddenly, a clarion cry sounded in the air above them as the image of an ethereal white crane descended. Once the crane was low enough, it vanished in an explosion of glittering dust, revealing a lithe and graceful young woman.

Her hair was short and curled, and her supple legs were revealed in part by the slit of her clothing. Her skin seemed to have an inherent glow to it that entranced all the male disciples present, and even some of the female disciples too.

Her robes were essentially a white variation of the outer disciple robe, with golden edges and the image of the Forest-Gate embroidered on the chest.

With a smile, she landed near Big Brother Feral before brushing a hand through her crimson hair, then stepped through the crowd to look at Gilgamesh.

"An Inner Disciple?"

"Who's that?"

"I dunno, but she's so freakin' hot!"

Her arrival sparked new interest in the disciples, and pretty soon people forgot about the tribulation-facing Gilgamesh before them.

There were only four people whose eyes never left Gilgamesh: the Guardians and Lord Cloud.

After looking around at the crowd, Big Brother Feral hesistated before using his true energy to perform thought transference.

"I didn't think you'd ever make an appearance like this again, Sister Rose. If I recall correctly, the last time you did something like this was... !"

Big Brother Feral suddenly came to an interestingly shocking discovery.

As if sensing what he had deduced, the Inner Disciple called Sister Rose looked at him menacingly, forcing him to keep quiet.

"Whatever it is that you're thinking, keep it to yourself." She warned.

Big Brother Feral nodded and swallowed slowly, then turned his attention back to Gilgamesh. Sister Rose did the same, and soon the disciples remembered what they had gathered there for.

"He's quite the anomaly, isn't he?" Big Brother Feral said, eyes focused.

Sister Rose gave a light nod, "That he is. Though he started his life in this sect as nothing but a servant all those years ago, he managed to become an Outer Disciple at the Peak of Condensation."

Big Brother Feral sucked his teeth, "Sadly, he lost all those years of progress. Truly lamentable."

Sister Rose's eye shone with an imperciptibly amused light. "Your cultivation base has stagnated at the Half-Step Expansion Stage, so it makes sense that your divine sense is not able to tell."

Hearing this, Big Brother Feral froze and look to Sister Rose with curiousity, saying nothing.

"As he is right now, Gilgamesh could fight and win against someone at the Eight Level of the Condensation stage."

"!!!" Big Brother Feral was in a daze.

"But his energy was reportedly only at the First Level, or perhaps even below that."

Sister Rose shook her head, "Although it is true that the aura of his energy was once at that level, if he were to release it once again, you would feel the difference."

"This also ties into a certain secret that those of us who know him personally are unable to divulge."

Hearing Sister Rose, an Inner Disciple of high standing in the sect, say these things, Big Brother Feral fell silent and dared not pry further.

It was also at this moment that Gilgamesh's body reacted, and a powerful aura exploded from his sea of energy.

In that instant, the energy gathering method was engaged, and his body began to greedily absorb the energy of heaven and earth.

He was finally able to push himself beyond his limits, and thus enter the Second Level.

It was also at this moment that the disciples were freely able to sense Gilgamesh's aura, and they were all shocked-- even Big Brother Feral.

"There's no way..."

"His aura... He's already at the Ninth Level of Condensation!? Wasn't he just at the First Level the other day?"

"The other day... was yesterday..."

"Fucking hell!"

Sister Rose giggled gleefully at their reactions, and began twirling her short hair around her finger, eying Gilgamesh as if she were extremely entertained.

The Guardians all felt it for themselves, but their divine senses were powerful enough to prevent them from being fooled.

Although Gilgamesh's aura was indeed equal to that of someone that had just entered the Ninth Level, his true cultivation level was only at the Second Level.

Even so, one thing was evident by this change.

Gilgamesh had transcended his tribulation.

With his breakthrough, Gilgamesh bolstered his true energy and fought against the force of the lightning. As though it sensed his breakthrough, the lightning began to weaken before subsiding, and the tribulation clouds instantly began to disperse.

This time, Gilgamesh did not dare utter a single word to the heavens.

Instead, he assessed his condition and realized that he was severly injured, and smoke rose from the surface of his body.

In spite of it all, a victorious smirk appeared on his face and he turned to face Hunter, chuckling as he did so.

"Big Brother! You were so cool!"

Rushing out from behind the crowd, Little Feather ran to Gilgamesh and leapt up into his arms. With a bit of struggle, he managed to catch her, though he groaned involuntarily.

"What did you think, Little Feather? Did I look badass?"

Little Feather gave a hearty, ridiculing laugh, "Badass!? Hehe! It looked more like you were being barbecued by heavenly lightning!"

Gilgamesh's mouth fell open but he had nothing to say. Instead, he just held her close and started walking away, glad to be able to go home.

However, as he walked through the crowd, he noticed that everyone's eyes were on him. He also noticed a tall, burly disciple standing next to a differently outfitted female disciple.

He paid them no mind though, and instead turned his attention to the crowd at large.

"What are you all looking at me for? I knew I was amazing, but surely I can't be this outstanding."

Hearing his words and the cockiness in his tone, the disciples suddenly felt like he wasn't that much of an enigma anymore.

"Tch! So what if he made a ridiculous leap in his cultivation? He's still no match for our Big Brother Feral."

"Yeah! He thinks he's hot shit 'cause his tribulation was leagues more terrifying than it should have been, and he was able to both survive it and make a breakthrough?"

"I mean, that is a pretty badass feat."

"Shut the fuck up!"

Gilgamesh laughed to himself as he waved without looking back, and left with Little Feather on his shoulder.

As he departed, Sister Rose suddenly pouted and sighed, then summoned her white crane before flying away to an unknown distination.

Big Brother Feral was at a loss as the disciples dispersed, and the Guardians soon departed as well.

Wyg remained rooted to the spot as he adjusted his glasses, and a rush of hot-blooded excitement overcame him as his eyes sparkled and his fists tightened.