From Streams to Rivers Part Two

Fell grunted as he felt the tremendous amount of energy wash over his body. The problem wasn't only with the amount of energy but was more linked to its potency and attribute. His body had never faced Heaven and Earth energy of this degree of purity, neither was he unfazed by the lightning attribute of Little Gold's refined energy. Not only that, Little Gold had released the energy due to Fell applying pressure thus making it even more haphazard as it should be. In this state, Fell's body began breaking down at an incredible speed. If Wind had been awake, he would have seen his brother's skin peel down one layer at a time, normal lightning could already deal quite the amount of damage to Fell's body. Little Gold's bolts of lightning were even more dangerous than normal ones as it was powered by potent Heaven and Earth energy.

"Fucker… You only know extremes!" he cursed the little snake that swam inside his Dantian while feeling his innards cook under the extreme temperatures. Fell turned into an incandescent torch, his burned body released dark fumes, yet he still didn't open his pores to release the energy as he wouldn't waste the opportunity. He was one hundred percent sure that he wouldn't find another opportunity such as this one in the future, and he knew that Little Gold wouldn't fall for the same trick another time so easily. Plus, if he dared to open his pores Wind would be dead in an instant. Thus, he decided to follow the little snake's way as he would also go for broke. Either his body would adapt to the extreme pressure that it was facing, or he would end up dying.

"Qui… Quite the reminder of my first cultivation session…", his memory flashed between his pained grunts. His teeth had already shattered under the enormous pressure he was applying on his jaw, and his skin had already dehydrated to such a point that he looked like a black piece of charcoal. Thankfully his will was strong enough to leave him conscious during this state, or else he would have already fallen into darkness due to his body's state. He was already far from mortality due to him cultivating three systems, yet even with that he quickly noticed that his body wouldn't adapt fast enough.

"I need to divert part of this energy into my body, while continuing to cycle the rest through my meridian!" His mind worked at breakneck speed under the enormous pressure he was facing. As soon as he found a way through this calamity, he swiftly began working toward the path of life. He focused part of his will on the raging energy rivers that coursed through his meridian and began attempting to cycle it through his energy pathway. Every time the haphazard energy touched the wall of his meridians, he would feel a sensation akin to branding by lightning causing his body to jolt right and left. Thankfully his meridians had been tempered more than enough to not instantly breakdown due to the raging lightning attribute.

A cycle of pain was all that awaited Fell in the next few minutes that followed. As time passed, his body stopped shaking due to his muscles having been cooked to a state similar to charcoal. Even in such a desperate state, his will stood still and he tirelessly continued cycling the raging rivers of Heaven and Earth energy through his body. Time passed and he finally saw a slight result to his attempt at survival. Half of the meridians that had been passed through by Little Gold's potent energy were burned to a crisp. The others had managed to overcome the ordeal and faced a surprising change; the walls of those special meridians had turned golden in color and seemed capable of supporting the lightning attribute in Little Gold's energy.

"I can make it through!" this result boosted his moral as he entered a deeply focused state where he would cycle the energy through the meridian that had fully adapted to the haphazard lightning attribute. The circuit was crooked and couldn't really be called a complete cycle but the effect it produced was more than enough for Fell. Pure wisps of energy escaped through the wall of those meridians toward the rest of his body. Although those were only refined wisps and couldn't be compared to the rivers of energy that flowed through his meridian, the effect on his dying body was extraordinary and was similar to a torrential rain on a burned forest. Sign of regeneration began appearing on his body, and Fell could finally see the end of the ordeal nearby.

At first, his body was slowly healing but the effect Little Gold's energy was extraordinary. The parts that were healed would stay strong against the rivers of energy that flowed through his body, and the more of Little Gold's energy he made his own, the more his body recovered. Time passed and the burned meridians were completely healed speeding the process even more; his experience in dealing with Little Gold's lightning attributed energy grew up under the constant practice and he soon felt safe enough to sigh.

Seconds passed and his body began recovering at a speed visible to the naked eyes, the burned to the crisp skin turned into ash that flew in the air surrounding Fell. From sixty percent of burned flesh to fifty, then to forty. It exponentially grew faster until a tornado of ash closed the view on Fell's body; not even a minute later and a violent air current blew the ashen barrier surrounding Fell's figure. The juvenile cultivator's figure appeared in the middle of the large hall, he sat on the cold steel-made floor naked as his clothes had been burned during the dangerous cultivation session.