"Punish me however you see fit, Dean. I have no objections," Ye Tian said indifferently. 'It's not like these two will do anything truly serious to me anyway.'
"Lin Ling, you may go for now. Just come back to get him when his time is up," Xiao Wenjie said. "This kid dared to break the academy's rules, so naturally, we have to teach him a lesson."
"Then I'll be on my way. This guy is incredibly arrogant. The two of you deans must teach him a good lesson, or he'll be completely out of control when he gets back!" Lin Ling didn't forget to throw some shade at Ye Tian before she left.
Watching Lin Ling's retreating figure, Ye Tian fumed. 'That woman is really not someone to be trifled with. How dare she treat me like this? I'll make you regret this in the future! You'll see just how formidable I am then.'
"Ye Tian, you've got some nerve, daring to injure another student. I'll give you two choices now: one, accept your punishment, or two, agree to my request!" Xiao Wenjie said with a smile.
"I choose the first option. Punish me however you want! It had better be difficult, though. I'll be disappointed if it's not a challenge!" Ye Tian said.
"I knew you'd say that. Since you want a challenge, I'll grant your wish. There's an underground chamber in my office area with intense gravity. You can stay in there for a few days. But don't worry, I'll still have someone send you water and food," Xiao Wenjie said.
"Ye Tian, that Gravity Chamber is incredibly intense. Many students from the Intermediate Class can't even handle it. I think you should just choose the second option! Being personally mentored by me and the dean is something every student in the academy dreams of," the vice-dean, Guan Tianshui, said from the side.
"I love a challenge. It's the only way to increase my strength. Where is the Gravity Chamber? Take me to it!" Ye Tian declared.
A flicker of disappointment crossed both their faces. "There are seven Gravity Chambers. The gravity in the first chamber isn't too intense; anyone below the Second Vein Realm can barely handle it. The second one, however, is much more intense. Even someone at the One Vein Ninth Layer would be in danger inside.
"Your talent and strength are the greatest among all the Basic Level students. It'll be impressive enough if you can last two days in the second chamber. Spend the other five days in the first one! Cultivation in the Gravity Chamber is a great help for improving one's strength."
"Alright! I understand. Please lead the way, Dean!" Ye Tian said indifferently, but his inner thoughts were a different story.
'I only plan to stay in that first chamber for a day or two. I'll spend the rest of the time in the second one. As for the third chamber, I haven't even considered it. That one must require the strength of the Three Vein Realm to survive. If I went in there, my chances of survival would be next to none.'
Xiao Wenjie then led Ye Tian into a spacious hall. "The Gravity Chambers are beneath this hall. Normally, no one is allowed to enter, so you'd better make the most of this opportunity," Xiao Wenjie said.
He walked to a wall and placed his hands on a protruding stone. After slowly turning it one full circle, a loud rumbling sound echoed as a large, perfectly square opening appeared in the floor. A staircase extended down into the darkness, and from above, it was impossible to see what lay below.
"Let's go. The Gravity Chambers are down below. This is a training exercise for you, so you must seize the opportunity," Xiao Wenjie said with a smile.
As he walked down the stairs into the underground passage, Ye Tian noticed that it was actually quite bright. He hadn't been able to see anything from above because the lights down here hadn't been on yet.
But the lights were strange. They only lit up when he came within two meters of them, and the light would vanish once he was more than two meters away. It was quite eerie. The lamps seemed to be made of a special kind of stone. Perhaps the stone itself was naturally luminescent. Ye Tian, however, didn't ask Xiao Wenjie about it.
Soon, they reached the bottom of the stairs and entered a passageway. "The Gravity Chambers are just ahead. You need to be mentally prepared. Activating a Gravity Chamber consumes a great deal of Spirit Stones—at least fifty Top-Grade Spirit Stones each time. That's why ordinary students aren't allowed in."
"Why does it consume so many Spirit Stones? Is the Energy from the Spirit Stones converted into the chamber's gravity?" Ye Tian asked.
"Seems you're not so stupid after all. That's exactly right. Let's go!" Xiao Wenjie said.
After walking another twenty-some meters, Xiao Wenjie stopped. Before them was a massive stone wall where the passageway came to a dead end. The Gravity Chamber must be inside this wall.
Ye Tian examined it closely. There were several indentations on the stone wall, likely for inserting Spirit Stones. He just didn't know where the activation mechanism was.
Just then, Xiao Wenjie took out several dozen Spirit Stones and began slowly placing them into the indentations on the wall. He continued for quite some time before finally stopping.
Then, his hands began to move rapidly, forming a series of seals. As waves of Energy fluctuated through the underground chamber, a white, palm-sized, circular stone materialized.
Ye Tian realized that the white stone must be the activation mechanism for the Gravity Chamber. Opening it was clearly no simple task; it required not only a sufficient number of Spirit Stones but also immense personal strength.
Xiao Wenjie placed both hands on the white stone and rapidly poured his Spiritual Power into it. The stone instantly erupted in a flash of white light. A breath later, the stone wall began to rumble loudly, and a Stone Gate appeared before Ye Tian's eyes.
"Alright, go on in now! The second chamber is at the far end of this first one. You can open it as long as you input enough Spiritual Power. If your Spiritual Power is insufficient, it won't open, so be prepared," Xiao Wenjie said.
Ye Tian nodded and walked straight inside. Xiao Wenjie remained standing outside. After Ye Tian entered, a sly smile flashed across his face as he thought, 'Let's see how many days it takes before you try for the second chamber!'
As Ye Tian stepped inside, the originally pitch-black chamber suddenly lit up. The walls were studded with numerous glowing stones. He looked around and saw that the chamber was quite large, several dozen meters across.
However, he didn't feel any particular gravity. Just as he turned to look back at Xiao Wenjie, the Stone Gate slammed shut.
In that same instant, an immense pressure slammed down, catching him completely off guard and crushing him to the floor. He was a pathetic sight.
'Such immense pressure!' Ye Tian exclaimed in his mind. It felt as if a massive boulder weighing ten thousand catties was on his back, pinning him so completely that he couldn't even get up from the floor.
'So this is the pressure of the Gravity Chamber? It's terrifying. But this is only the first chamber! Why is the gravity already so intense? Wouldn't the second one be completely unbearable?' he thought, frustrated.
He slowly began to circulate the Dragon Spiritual Power within his body, only to discover that his reserves were already down to half. It was then that he remembered the other "thing" inside him that constantly consumed his Dragon Spiritual Power. He hadn't absorbed any Energy from Spirit Stones in days…