4 Challenging the Overwhelming Pressure Beyond the Pillars!
An entire day passed since Xu Yonzheng began cultivating and he noticed something odd. When he began cultivating, his cultivation base was nowhere to be found, meaning he had to start completely over. As bad as this sounds, Xu Yongzheng took this as another blessing as his previous cultivation was rather fragile.
He spent the entire day cultivating and managed to get his cultivation base back to the 2nd Stage, very close to the 3rd Stage. Xu Yongzheng also felt way stronger than when he was in the 4th Stage previously, he could beat his past self very easily now. Thanks to completely restarting his cultivation and not relying heavily on pills, Xu Yongzheng's current power was almost two times than when he was in the 4th Stage.
He could feel that his body was incredibly strong now and he felt like challenging the terrifying pressure beyond the pillars. Xu Yongzheng was confident that he could last a little under a minute now.
"Huuuuuu...Foooooo....Okay, let's challenge that terrifying pressure again. If I can stay inside for even a minute I'm sure I'd be able to comprehend a little bit of the water element!" Even after joining the Azure Sword Sect, which was based around the water element and its branches, Xu Yongzheng wasn't talented enough to comprehend even a bit of the water element.
Xu Yongzheng quickly got up and slowly walked towards the first set of pillars while bracing himself for the overwhelming pressure. Even after 5 days, he had no forgotten what it felt like being under such pressure, which was akin to someone several realms above him. He quickly walked through the pillars and immediately reinforced his body with all his Spirit Qi and sat down in the lotus position.
"Calm...Stay Calm...Focus your Spirit Qi, Yu Xong..." Yu Xongzheng focused completely on reinforcing his body with Spirit Qi under the great pressure until he reached his limit. It would be impossible for him to start comprehending the water element until he got slightly accustomed to the pressure. If he lost focus for even one bit, his body would be damaged.
"T-This is my limit for now! A-Agh!" Xu Yongzheng quickly said as he finally got up after 40 seconds and rushed out of the pillars. He sat down on the ground as he breathed heavily and sweat covered his body, he finally got a grasp on the pressure within the pillars. Xu Yongzheng subconsciously looked at the next row of pillars, and the ones after that and felt overwhelmed.
"Sigh...If I can't get past the first set, how will I advance..." He felt slightly frustrated but his mood brightened as he thought about how he lasted way longer than the first time within the pillars. His cultivation base was now as strong as it should be, even being stronger than normal. Thanks to this and his constitution, he lasted 3 times the time of a normal 2nd Stage Foundation Realm cultivator.
"I need to break through to the next stage quickly and get back to my original cultivation base before I leave this place. If not, someone might notice my decrease in cultivation and report that I am doing something suspicious..." Xu Yongzheng was slightly frustrated and worried about his limited time as he looked around the pavilion.
"Bzzt. Does the Owner wish to sign in?"
"Oh yeah, sign in..."
"Bzzt. Congratulations! The owner has obtained C-Class Item: Qi Preserving Orb!"
"Haaa...Better than nothing. The name of the item seems pretty self-explanatory, which means I could absorb some of the Spirit Qi in this pavilion and take it back with me...Claim." Xu Yongzheng claimed the new item and brought it out.
The orb was about 2/3rds of the size of a basketball and had a translucent look to it. It also had a shiny and reflective outside, similar to a mirror, though Xu Yongzheng could still see through it.
"How do I use it?" He questioned as he carefully inspected the entire orb but found nothing. Suddenly, an almost clear screen appeared in front of the orb, displaying its details.
---
Qi Preserving Orb
Class: C
'Can absorb a limited amount of all types of mortal Qi and preserve it forever until absorbed.'
Capacity: 0% / 100%
---
"Oh! So that's how it works...also what's this thing?" Xu Yongzheng said as he tried to tap the screen in front of the orb, though nothing happened. He ignored it shortly after and began cultivating.
.
.
.
Two days had passed since, and Xu Yongzheng was now at the peak 3rd Stage of Foundation Building. Since he never experienced fighting someone of a higher stage in the same realm, Xu Yongzheng compared his new power to being able to defeat 20 of his previous selves.
During the two days, Xu Yongzheng challenged the pressure within the pillars two more times and improved both times. His body grew accustomed to the amazing pressure, although incredibly slow since he could only stay within the pillars for about 1 minute and 30 seconds now. He only had one more week to stay inside the pavilion before he had to go back to the sect.
"I wonder if I can try to control the way my body turns into water...That would help me greatly in any type of battle, letting an attack potentially go through me without being damaged at all." If he could learn how to control the physical properties of his body, Xu Yongzheng's combat power would skyrocket and he would immediately be acknowledged by the sect.
Though he isn't so adamant about that anymore after that certain incident...
Xu Yongzheng plans on killing both that Inner Disciple and the Elder monitoring the match, though if he isn't strong enough to do it then he plans on moving up the ranks in the sect and getting a stronger person to help him out. Though he wanted to follow the former idea the most.
"Once I leave this place, I'll crush all of the Outer Disciples who laughed at me that day!"
