A Mind of Steel

“Arghhhhhhhh!!”

Leng San’s face distorted into an unnatural figure. His body shook with pain. This was probably the worst pain that the boy had experienced since birth. Qi in his body grew exceedingly wild. He couldn’t even pull himself together, so the circulation of qi was impossible. Leng San ground his teeth until blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, in an attempt to keep himself from screaming.

“You idiot!! Get out of the solution, right now!!” Freya shouted as immense pain attacked the senses that she shared with Leng San. However, as this wasn’t her own body, the intensity of the pain was only about ten percent of what the owner of the body was experiencing.

“No!!! Even if this pain were to be a hundred times worse, it wouldn’t even amount to half the pain of being unable to defend one’s family from being slaughtered!!”

“Arghhhhhhhh!!”

‘The boy’s determination was, in a sense, terrifying. Combined with his flawless talent, he is a force to be reckoned with!!’ Freya, who had been watching all this time, knew it in her heart that this boy was fearless.

Two shichens (four hours) have passed, but the pain was impossible to get used to. The boy periodically screamed until five shichens (ten hours) had passed. The screams slowly subsided, but his body was still trembling.

At the tenth shichen, Freya saw a glimmer of violet qi at the dantian, which slowly circulated throughout the boy’s body.

Three days have passed. Leng San did not even take a step out of the solution. However, his body had gotten quite used to the burning sensation. Due to fatigue, the boy could even fall asleep in the blood pool for around twenty breaths before being brought back to reality by the pain.

“Idiot!! You are almost at your limit. You need to eat something to prolong your life.”

“No!! I’ll not render any second useless!!” Leng San knew well enough that he was near his limit. Suddenly, he took a glance at the carcass of the magical beast he had slain. He used his qi to slice one jin (five hundred grams) of its meat and held it in his hand.

“Do not even think!! Remains of magical beasts are as poisonous as their blood. Pain will surge through your internal organs if you were to eat it. Imagine ten times the amount of pain that you’re feeling right now!!”

“If I were to compare this to the difficulty in wiping out the Asuras, the pain that I am bearing would only be one part out of a hundred!!”

Leng San closed his eyes, took a bite out of the carcass, and swallowed it without chewing. The meat of the magical beast slipped through his throat into his stomach as if he hadn’t eaten for days. Once ten breaths passed...

“Arghhhhhhh!!!”

The boy held onto his stomach with both hands. His body writhed in pain as if millions of insects were feasting on his internal organs. Water from the bloody pool splashed onto the walls of the cave. Leng San was about to lose his mind, the line between life and death was now blurred than ever!!

The boy tried to keep his focus, suppressing the writhing of his trembling body. He then drank a mouthful of the solution in the blood pool right after swallowing the meat!!

‘What are you doing, kid!! It’s true that the solution contains 16 species of antidotes for the poison, but to drink the very source of pain, would obviously bring more pain… What was his mind made of!!’

“Arghhhhhhhh!!”

Leng San continued to scream for more than half a shichen before calming down. The boy then took another mouthful of the carcass and immediately drank the solution to wash it down. The cycle repeated itself until the carcass, weighing around one jin, disappeared into his stomach.

The desensitization was successful. He was able to circulate his qi, little by little...

If Freya had a body, she would have felt that blood had literally drained from her face after witnessing the actions of the fifteen-year-old boy!!

.......................

In the common room, the chief of the Floating Cloud Village, Xiaolin Lun, sat on his favorite chair with the pattern of an eagle carved onto it. He placed his elbow on the arm of the chair, holding his forehead with his right hand. The man was stressed out, he just couldn’t stay still.

“Please take care of your health,” Chun Jiangtu, standing beside Xiaolin Lun said.

“Hmph!! The tournament at the Indigo Cloud City will take place the day after tomorrow. We need at least one day to travel, but the boy hasn’t come back yet!!” Xiaolin Lun’s eyebrows knitted together.

“Was he eaten alive by the magical beasts at the Valley of the Ten-thousand Trees? It’s as if he was seeking death by entering the Valley of the Ten-Thousand Trees. However, I knew I couldn’t stop him!!”

“I believe that he could survive with his advanced light-body technique. It would be quite difficult for magical beasts to defeat him,” Chun Jiangtu tried to ease Xiaolin Lun’s anxiety.

“If what you said is true, why hasn’t he returned yet!! Or was he really a defector sent by other institutes?”

Suddenly, a guard ran into the residence.

“Leng San has returned!!”

Xiaolin Lun stood up from his chair. His eyes widened.

“Bring him here!!”

Leng San came into the common room, cupped his hands, and humbly bowed.

“Let me apologize for my tardiness, will we still make it on time?”

Xiaolin Lun couldn’t contain his happiness. However, his expression then changed. The man’s body trembled as he pointed his finger at Leng San.

“Y...yo...your qi, it’s at the ninth level of the violet stage, and only half a level left before reaching the indigo stage!!”

Leng San smiled with the corner of his mouth and remained silent. On the contrary, Xiaolin Lun and Chun Jiangtu couldn’t keep up with this surprise that came like a heart attack.

‘The boy increased the level of his qi by 5 levels within a month. Absurd!! I’ve never witnessed such rapid cultivation of qi. I would probably be laughed at if I were to tell this story to anyone!!’

“Brilliant!! You’re truly a prodigy!! I do not know what kind of magic you’ve cast onto yourself to massively accelerate the speed of qi cultivation, but I am sure you will wreak havoc in the top ten rankings of the tournament!!”

Xiaolin Lun was thrilled to be given a chance to make up for the embarrassment he had experienced for two years in a row.

“Prepare the carrier!! We are going to depart for the Indigo Cloud City immediately.”