Free Web NovelChapter 507: Chapter 218: Vowing Not to Rest Until the Qi Sea is Broken
The pool was a deep, crimson red.
It looked as if it were dyed with fresh blood, giving off a thick, nauseating, bloody stench.
Chu Lingguang had thought he was being punished for taking so long to arrive, but then he saw Yan Zhen, Tuoba Yunhong, and a dozen other examinees all soaking together in the Blood Pool.
At the same time, a warm current from the Blood Pool surged into his body. It was as if countless spheres of energy were squeezing through his pores, strengthening his limbs, his bones, his very flesh and blood—even his bloodline and Dantian.
Chu Lingguang suddenly realized.
So this was the reward.
Everyone who had climbed the steps one by one was eligible for this reward: to absorb energy in the Blood Pool, strengthen their bodies, and mend their injured, exhausted muscles.
With that thought, Chu Lingguang, like Yan Zhen and the others, began circulating his Zhenyuan Technique to proactively absorb the power from the Blood Pool and strengthen his body.
An unknown amount of time passed.
"THUD!"
A battered figure, looking like a half-dead dog, stumbled past the final step and collapsed unconscious before everyone. It was none other than Xuanyuan Jinkang.
Academy personnel placed him in the Blood Pool as well. While unconscious, his body simply floated on the surface. A quarter of an hour later, nourished by the energy, he slowly began to regain consciousness.
At first, he thought he was hallucinating again. He thrashed about in the Blood Pool, even letting out a few ghastly screams. It was only after being sharply reprimanded by academy staff that he finally calmed down. He saw Chu Lingguang, Yan Zhen, and the others, all soaking in the Blood Pool and desperately absorbing its energy.
Only then did he realize he had finally reached the summit and was receiving his reward.
Looking at the people standing outside the Blood Pool with envious expressions, Xuanyuan Jinkang couldn’t help but chuckle to himself a few times before quickly entering a state of cultivation.
The bodies of everyone soaking in the Blood Pool were changing. For some, their physical defense grew stronger; for others, their Flesh and Blood Power increased. Some experienced an enhancement in both defense and power, while others even felt a change in their Dantian.
Chu Lingguang’s case, however, was special.
For some unknown reason, as the Blood Pool’s energy entered his body, his Sea of Consciousness began to absorb it with a hungry greed. The small ocean within it didn’t expand, but it rippled ceaselessly.
Back during the Provincial Martial Arts Examination, Chu Lingguang’s Mental Realm had already evolved. Through that evolution, he had heard many "responses," which ultimately caused his Flesh and Blood Divine Power and his Sea of Consciousness Power to resonate with each other. The destructive force born from this resonance was powerful enough to threaten even Yan Zhen’s Sword Momentum.
Now, the small ocean within his Sea of Consciousness was absorbing the power from the Blood Pool, and it was doing so involuntarily. The ocean was like a gaping maw, a bottomless pit. Chu Lingguang’s mind completely relaxed, allowing the small ocean within his Sea of Consciousness to continue its greedy absorption.
He still didn’t know exactly what kind of power was in the Blood Pool. The nauseating, bloody stench made it seem as though the liquid truly was made of blood.
’If it really is blood, then whose is it? Why does it contain such immense power? I wonder if absorbing it will cause some kind of mutation in my body or my Sea of Consciousness...’
Chu Lingguang was filled with questions.
But he didn’t want to dwell on it now. He relaxed his body, simply sitting in the Blood Pool. If he could, he would have even lain down and let the thick, bloody water completely engulf him.
An unknown amount of time passed.
His exhaustion vanished.
The liquid in the Blood Pool had faded considerably, from a deep crimson to a pale red. When Chu Lingguang opened his eyes, he saw that Yan Zhen, Tuoba Yunhong, and the others had all stopped absorbing the energy.
It wasn’t that they had been interrupted; they had all realized that the power in the Blood Pool was depleted, completely absorbed.
"All of you, get out and line up by the door."
The man in the black robe, the one who had met them at the post station, appeared before them once more. He addressed the group in the Blood Pool.
Though none of them knew the black-robed man’s exact identity, anyone who could appear on the summit and command such a large group was clearly no ordinary figure. They obeyed his order, quickly climbing out of the Blood Pool to stand with those who hadn’t soaked in it.
"Congratulations on earning the opportunity to study at the Imperial City Academy. I trust most of you have learned that nothing should be done half-heartedly. Your attitude will determine your accomplishments."
"The Academy’s gates are now open for you. Go on in. Your destinies await you inside."
The black-robed man said calmly.
The crowd watched as a pair of large, red-lacquered gates slowly swung open. Inside, a few people were sweeping the grounds. The courtyard looked like a large Martial Arts Hall, with nothing particularly special about it.
But no one hesitated. They scrambled inside, one after another, eager to immediately run into one of the masters from Yuanchu Mountain.
Chu Lingguang was no exception.
But as he stepped over the threshold, he paused for a moment, his gaze drawn to a small building in the northeast corner.
Chu Lingguang vaguely detected a strange, unfamiliar ripple of energy floating out from it, washing over every person who entered.
’Could this be another one of the Academy’s tests?’
Seeing Yan Zhen run inside as well, he didn’t dwell on it. He followed the crowd to the Academy’s administrators, where each person was assigned a small room.
Chu Lingguang saw that his bag had been placed inside the room. When he had collapsed after reaching the summit, the Academy staff had tossed him into the Blood Pool, but they had set his bag aside. The same had been done for Yan Zhen and the others.
