7 Pressure and Pill's
"3... 2... 1..."
When Elder Grand hit one, the once weightless air became solid as it fell on each participant.
It started much bigger than before.
The pressure was almost as bad as the end of the last round. Yi Xuan was struggling hard, and it had only just begun.
'Well, time to use my off-brand trump card.'
Yi Xuan closed his eyes as he got into a meditative state. Slowly activating the Twirling Cyclone Sutra, the qi in his body began to revolve and enter his qi seeds. This technique was known as pressure meditating.
It can only be used under extreme pressure. When you cultivate under the extreme pressure the qi ends up going faster and fiercer through your body. Thus you are able to cultivate beyond your normal limits. Only the upper disciples knew of this technique because they get exposed to more knowledge.
When Elder Grand saw Yi Xuans state, his eyes shot up in surprise.
'Hoh, to think a nobody like this fellow knew pressure mediating. It's even going so fast.'
Not only was Elder Grand shocked to see him using it, but the speed of Yi Xuan's cultivation was breakneck. The original x2.5 multiplier was now a whole x5! A boost of over twofold. This could only happen because the pressure was so fierce, though.
It would have no effect if the pressure were like it was in the first round.
As the pressure increased, so did the speed of the cultivation. However, this was having a significant strain on Yi Xuan. His body was already being crushed severely under pressure, but adding on the stress of cultivating made it break down even more.
However, Yi Xuan's mind was evident as he looked at his progress. The 56.62 was slowly increasing to 56.63, .64, .65. After over a week of cultivating, he would only see about 1.2% progress. And in one day, the improvement was only 0.17%! However, in just under two minutes, it went up 0.10%!
This was just crazy to Yi Xuan. He didn't even care that his body was breaking down. He was staring fixedly at the ever-increasing number. Even a little drool could be seen as if he was in a beautiful dream.
Elder Grand looked at Yi Xuan's face with a stiff face.
'Even though this kid's body is visually breaking down, he still has a silly face. And he is only at the 5th rank of the qi forming stage, whereas the lowest of the other participants are at the 7th stage! I need to know who this person is after the test.'
The elder had a firm face as he stared at the weird-looking Yi Xuan. Just as he was about to look away, some movement came from the body of Yi Xuan.
Yi Xuan's body, constantly under pressure, finally gave up. He crashed to the ground with a bang. Yi Xuan was still conscious, but his mind was a little dizzy.
'Man, that hurts like hell.'
Staring at his own body, Yi Xuan had a wry smile.
'I think I pushed myself a little too hard. But it was worth it. I was able to get .30% In just a couple of minutes! That is three days of work saved!'
Yi Xuan had a relaxed smile as he stared into the screen.
<Yi Xuan (Aldrin Schnitt)
Rank: 5th rank of Qi Forming (Mid-stage)
Talent: Mortal
Cultivation Multiplier: x2.0 (+0.5)
Items: None
Prestige: 1
Prestige Points: 0
Progress till next prestige: 56.92/100.00
Skills: None>
Frey was so scared that she almost jumped over when she saw Yi Xuan's body. But before she could do anything, Yi Xuan was already staring daggers at her. His eyes seemed to say, 'If you move, you will be in big trouble.'
Seeing Frey's still determined face, Yi Xuan sighed before getting up and wobbling away.
'If I stay on the ground in her view, she won't be able to bare it and will come help me. Just like they always said, out of sight, out of mind.'
Yi Xuan slowly left the stage and entered the seats. One of the assistants gave him a low-grade healing pill that let me heal many of his injuries. He was still pretty injured, as if he was crushed by a truck.
Yi Xuan slowly waited, but not only a minute later did the round end. A lot of Yi Xuan's outer wounds healed, but some more serious ones would still take a week.
'Maybe I can tell my boss I can't work because I am injured. That would give me more time to cultivate!'
Thinking of these plans, Yi Xuan had a creepy smile.
"Hmph, and to think I was worried for you. You are fine with that wicked smile on your face."
The familiar-sounding voice made Yi Xuan look up. Frey was standing there with her arms crossed as she looked at Yi Xuan. This made Yi Xuan laugh.
"Haha, Junior sister, to think you still cared about me. As you can see, I am fine. That test was no big deal; I could have easily won if I wanted to."
Frey rolled her eyes as she saw Yi Xuan's shamelessness.
"Whatever."
Although she said she didn't care, she would look over from time to time and look at his injuries.
Once again, the contestants had 30 minutes to rest and return to the stage.
About 15 minutes after the round ended, another assistant approached Yi Xuan.
"Sir, this is a gift from an anonymous person. He would like to show appreciation for your work on the last test. Please use it now at your comfort."
The assistant gave Yi Xuan an unadorned box before scurrying off. Yi Xuan looked at the box in surprise.
'Someone gave me this because of my work in the last round? What kind of scam will this be?'
Yi Xuan took a deep breath before opening up the box. Inside was a bottle filled with a single pill. The pill had a deep red tinge to it and had some pink spots spotted around it. Yi Xuan's breathing quickened as he looked at this.
'An 8th rank Healing pill. Holy crap, this guy is rich! Who would give such a good item away.'
Quickly looking around, he saw no one crucial until his eyes landed on one figure. It was the elder Grand, and he was also looking straight at Yi Xuan. He had a slight smile. His lips moved as he said, 'Why don't you eat it.'
Yi Xuan's mind exploded as he thought of the implications. Had Elder Grand given this to me? But why? Was I that good in the last test? Was it the Pressure Meditation?
Yi Xuan's eyes shone as he thought of this.
'To think I would get on the good side of an elder by accident.'
Yi Xuan felt happy as he took the pill bottle out.
"What's that?"
Looking over, Yi Xuan could see Frey's curious eyes on the pill bottle. Yi Xuan grinned as he saw this.
"Your elder brother was so spectacular during the last round that a special person had given this to me. Do you know what this is? This is an 8th rank pill. 8th rank!"
Frey's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Th-tha-that. How is that possible? An 8t-"
Quickly covering Frey's mouth, he said,
"Yes, an 8th rank pill, but don't go telling everyone. You want someone to rob me?"
Frey kept her mouth shut as she stared at the bottle. She had never heard of an outer court disciple being able to have an 8th rank pill.
Although the top alchemist in the sect, the grand elder, was a 6th-rank alchemist, no one in their right mind would be giving 8th-grade pills to the outer court. This was a huge matter. Only several 7th-grade alchemists were in the sect, and only a couple dozen 8th-grade alchemists were in the sect.
Most of the alchemists sell their stuff to the inter sect and higher, which is why Frey and Yi Xuan were so surprised.
'I could sell this for some good money…'
Yi Xuan's thoughts stopped as he looked back at Elder Grand's smiling face.
Looking at the elder's face, he swallowed his thoughts and took the pill out of the bottle.
By the magnificent shades of color Yi Xuan could tell this was high quality.
Taking a sniff of it, Yi Xuan could feel his qi get energized.
Gritting his teeth, he swallowed the whole thing.
A burst of warm liquid came out of the pill. The taste was overflowing within his mouth. It was a mixture of honey and chocolate. The flavors bounced off of each other, making it even more mouthwatering.
Almost forgetting to absorb the pill, Yi Xuan took a meditating pose and slowly guided the pill's essence to all his wounds.
"All participants know that 30 minutes is up, and the next round will begin."
Yi Xuan cracked his eyes a little as he saw Frey was gone.
'Looks like the next round has begun; this one might get hard for her.'
Closing his eyes again, he returned to absorbing the pill's medicine.
