Translator:
Exodus Tales
Editor:
Exodus Tales
The True Essence energy released by Kuwako Yamamoto could force back the enormous pressure by the seawater, but she couldnât speak since the seawater would fill her mouth once she opened it. Hence, she could only nod with difficulty while struggling to withstand the pressure.
âYou can nod, so that means this depth isnât your limit yet,â continued Tang Xiu. âKeep going down, but you must stop when you canât withstand it anymore.â
Kuwako herself already felt very uncomfortable at this time. She couldnât help but feel cold when she heard Tang Xiuâs order. Although she wasnât able to figure out how Tang Xiu would train her, she had a faint hunch that she was about to face torture.
Just as she had thought, when she sank down to 260 meters depth, her beautiful body began to tremble violently. Green veins protruded out on her forehead and even blood threads could be seen appearing on her retina.
âI canât withstand any more than this!â
Kuwako finally stopped. Although the released True Essence energy protected her from being pressured into meat paste by the seawater, she had no strength left to even talk. The True Essence energy even began to protect her eyes from the pressure of seawater.
Tang Xiu, who had been following her closely, saw her stop and immediately said, âStop here if you sense this is your critical lime, and do your best to circulate the True Essence in your system. Try to absorb the water energy in the seawater to supplement the consumed True Essence.â
Kuwako didnât reply and just followed Tang Xiuâs instructions, going all out to circulate the True Essence in her system to flow into the meridians to her limbs and the five major bones. Yet, she felt helpless upon sensing the rate of consumption of her True Essence and tried to sense the energy contained in the seawater. After absorbing it, she found that the absorption rate was far less than the consumption speed.
âTen minutes. I can only hold up to 10 minutes at most before I run out of True Essence.â
âIâll be likely to end up dead if I canât leave the seabed in time once my True Essence fully runs out.â
These thoughts flashed in Kuwakoâs mind as she tried to persist. She believed that Tang Xiu wouldnât harm her, because such means was unnecessary since it would only need a move or thought for Tang Xiu to kill her.
Time ticked by every second and minute, and 6 minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
Kuwakoâs body trembling got more intense and she realized that she overestimated herself, because the consumption rate was getting faster the more time passed. Moreover, she could clearly feel a pain that began to wrap her body, like being pricked by countless needles.
âSpiritual energy. I need spiritual energy!â
Her character could be said to be the manifestation of perseverance and resoluteness. She had been tempered by her clan and trained by the Northstar One Blade swordsmanship since childhood. The inhuman training had polished her willpower to steel.
Persevere!
Persevere!
Just as Kuwakoâs senses began to blur due to the pressure and her consciousness was blurring, a stream of heat suddenly emerged from all parts of her pained body. It was like the warmth of a motherâs hands soothing her body. At that moment, countless streams of warm energy flowed and gathered in her Dantian.
In just 10 seconds, the change felt like Hell had transformed into Heaven. The rending pains torturing her body were all gone, replaced by a comfortable sensationâthe change made her ecstatic.
Then, as time went on, she could feel the pain engulf her whole body again. As the pain got more and more intense, her body finally reached the limit and led her to a huge breakthrough. A trace of warmth appeared again and the medicinal efficacy hidden in her body was constantly being forced out to then be absorbed and refined into True Essence.
Once, twice, thriceâŠ
In just 15 minutes, Kuwako broke through her limits thrice and absorbed two-thirds of the medicinal efficacy hidden in her system.
âItâs nearly done.â
Tang Xiu quietly floated in front of Kuwako, looking at the painful expression on her face. He immediately grabbed her hand and quickly towed her upward.
SplashâŠ
Along with the splashing water, Tang Xiu towed Kuwako to pierce through the water surface. After returning to the speedboat, he straightly put her down and took out a pill from his interspatial ring. After stuffing it into her mouth, he ordered. âDonât think about anything. Empty your mind and circulate your energy according to your cultivation technique.â
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Kuwako kept her eyes shut from beginning to end. As she continued cultivating, she found that her ability to sense the worldâs energy around her became much clearer. Even when she ran out of energy, she found that she could sense and find some other energy apart from the Heaven and Earth spiritual qi.
The process was like reeling silk from cocoon as a forceful suction followed.
A suction force emitted from Kuwakoâs body and continuously absorbed the drifting world energy around.
Four hours later, when she opened her eyes, an intense pleasant surprise filled her eyes. She floated up, knelt on one knee and placed her right fist on her left chest, saluting respectfully. âThank you for your instruction in cultivation, Sect Master. I can sense Iâve made great progress from cultivating just now. Iâve almost reached the critical point of the mid-stage of Golden Core. Iâm sure I can break through to the late-stage of Golden Core if I continue practicing with this method.â
âVery good. Your performance is better than I expected.â Tang Xiu lightly smiled and said, âIt seems you have very strong willpower. And you do need this strength on the cultivation path to go much further. Anyhow, weâll cease the seabed training for now since you need to undergo another training.â
âMay I know what kind of training is it?â asked Kuwako hurriedly.
Although Tang Xiuâs training was very painful, the benefits she received gave her a happy surprise. Therefore, she was willing to take on this brutal training.
Tang Xiu raised his hand and moved lightning-fast to seal a few acupoints on Kuwakoâs body. Then, he slightly smiled. âYou have abundant True Essence, but if your physique is very poor. It will eventually cause your body to explode since it canât withstand the energy. You are different from Awu and the rest. They have been training their constitutions with intense training to strengthen their physique many times, but you havenât. I just found you have bad endurance and physique.
âWhat you need to do next is some heavyweight training. This training is even more inhuman, though it can whet your willpower, destroy your nerves, and temper your physique. Be sure to be mentally prepared, for you will fall to insanity if you fail to withstand the torturing pain from the training.â
Kuwakoâs complexion changed. There was a slight fear when she looked at Tang Xiu. She had expected the next training would be inhuman, but to be that brutal was unexpected to her. It was likely that physical training was more than just physical pain.
âMaster!â
Gu Yin was as though a streak of light as she flashed toward the speedboat from the distant horizon.
Tang Xiuâs brows furrowed and he shifted his focus to the flying Gu Yin. He was silent for a few seconds. After Gu Yin appeared in front of him, he looked at her and inquired. âWhy did you come here? Is there anything urgent?â
âYou havenât gone too far, fortunately, Master, else it wouldâve been difficult to find you,â said Gu Yin. âItâs about Big Sis Yannan, sheâs looking for you.â
âWhat does she want from me?â asked Tang Xiu. âHavenât I already made Awu take her to the training camp?â
Gu Yin laughed and said, âAh, youâll know about it when you see her, Master. Sis Yannan, she⊠uh, well, sheâs angry, shouting she wants to leave Nine Dragons Island and go back to the South China Sea to plant herbs and rear fierce beasts.â
With his sharp mind, Tang Xiu immediately realized the root of the problem upon hearing Gu Yinâs report. A strange smile unknowingly appeared on his handsome face as he nodded. âWell, letâs go back and see her since sheâs throwing a tantrum now. Really, though. This girl needs to be polished since she wants to be useful!â
âWell, Big Sis Yannan is actually very stern and powerful, though, Master.â Gu Yin chuckled.
âBah, leave it.â Tang Xiu reprimanded smilingly. âYouâre not to meddle in her training, alright? If you have some free time, study more and help your mom. Sheâs already old and her cultivation talent is lacking. It would be very difficult to turn into an expert and bring her with us if we donât give her special care.â
Gu Yinâs countenance slightly changed and she respectfully replied immediately, âI understand, Master.â
Immediately after, Tang Xiu returned to Nine Dragons Island with Gu Yin and Kuwako. Before the speedboat was even docked, he already saw the angry-looking Cheng Yannan standing on the shore along with a helpless-looking Mo Awu.
âDid you plan it on purpose, Tang Xiu?!!â
Cheng Yannan didnât wait until Tang Xiu jumped ashore before angrily hitting him with a question.
Tang Xiuâs face turned cold and coldly said, âDid you forget what I told you? Youâre not allowed to address me by my name!â
Cheng Yannan held her breath and suddenly remembered Tang Xiuâs status. Her scowling face eased up, but she still said discontentedly, âI know youâre a Sect Master now, but I still want to ask you, why did you throw me to that group of children soldiers? How old are they? 4, 5 years old, or 7 or 8 years old? Do you think I havenât stepped on the cultivation path, so you put me there on purpose?â
âI looked into the account that we are old classmates and friends, so I accepted you into the Tang Sect to shelter you, Cheng Yannan,â said Tang Xiu indifferently. âBut it doesnât mean I can tolerate your ignorance. Do you think I did that to you on purpose just because theyâre young?â
Cheng Yannanâs face turned a bit ugly, but she gritted her teeth and said, âThatâs right, you just threw me to the group of children. What result I can get from training with them?â
âYou must have come out of the training ground for a long time now, right?â asked Tang Xiu.
Though she was unable to understand Tang Xiuâs question, Cheng Yannan still nodded. âYeah, Iâve waited for 4 hours.â
âLet me tell you, Cheng Yannan. Cultivators never care about peopleâs age. Only the strong have the right to speak or dislike others. You feel youâre already an adult, so training with a group of children is shameful to you, isnât that so?â Tang Xiu sneered.
âIsnât that obvious?â replied Cheng Yannan with a headstrong attitude.