Lyren had spent the past few months cultivating. The reason he had been letting the stairs pressure crush was because he had discovered a cheat. Every time this happened, the pressure would compress even the Elyria in his world.
This had turned out to be a blessing for him. He realized that if it was compressed, he would definitely have more space for more Elyria. That was not all. There was also the fact that his body was getting stronger.
There were many advantages of having a stronger body and storing more Elyria was also one of them. Also, he could feel that his control over Elyria and the core kept increasing every time he was able to climb down the stairs under pressure.
His rate of rotating the core had increased and the only thing that was holding him back was the one channel. There were several questions he had not yet found answers to. For example, even after lighting up three rows, he was only able to climb to the 100th step.
He had advanced a level twice in the few months and was now at the fourth stage of the awakening realm which officially marked transitioning into the middle stages. He could feel there were several changes.
Even his eyes seemed to have become clearer. He clenched his fist and he could tell that the fist carried weight. That was especially so since he had been training his body with the stairs pressure.
He had already managed lighting up the third row and he had even forgotten about the evolution of the palm pattern. It had occurred less painfully this time and the only effect it had had was on his mind as his thought became clearer with every evolution.
When he reached the fourth stage, he had thought that he could just light up the patterns but he had barely made them glow. But that was also a sign because he had tried to light it up several times when in the third stage to no avail.
Now he knew that the requirements were in the fourth stage. All he had to do was increase his Elyria and he would probably be able to light up the fourth row's two patterns. He chuckled at his rashness for trying to study the fifth row.
That was only to be expected though. Even though he had finally been able to increase his level and mental capacity, it still was not enough. He needed more. The reason he had fallen asleep was because of the strain in his mind's eye and he had instantly drained his mental energy.
His brain needed it to function and with it sapped dry, it could only shut down. When he woke up, he had felt the dizziness and also the throbbing that came from the mind's eye. It had taken a longer time for it to calm down.
He decided to be more careful then. There was no known cure for the mind's eye. If he recklessly harmed it, he was going to pay dearly and live as a cripple. That was a fate he could not accept and he could not help but feel that all this was drag.
The getting stronger thing and mistakes... They were lessons but their increased numbers made him feel stupid. He felt that his core had been replenished and the world around it was empty. That was going to be his next task for the next few days.
He had a cultivation idea in his mind as he walked to the very first pattern of the first row and lit it up. He climbed the first step and sat on the third as he closed his eyes and started drawing energy into the core.
***
One could see the twelve-year-old straining in meditation position on the stairs. His body shook as though carrying the weight of the world on his shoulder. His eyelids kept twitching and his mouth seemed to be tightly shut.
Suddenly he opened his lips but his teeth were tightly clenched and in the next moment, one could see them turn red from bleeding. His back had hunched further and his hair covered his eyes. He maintained this position for a few more minutes before he rolled forward to the ground.
One could see how long it took his body to finally come back to normal. It was like the pressure had kneaded his body into that state. His index finger moved first followed by his eyes as he stared blankly. It was obvious his eyes could not see anything at the moment.
When his back finally uncurled and he lay on it, it was the first time he took in a good deep breath. His breathing started ragged and turned fast in seconds. It was also at this moment that clarity returned to his eyes. He spat a mouthful of blood which one could not tell whether it was from internal bleeding or from his teeth.
***
Lyren realized that this method was painful but it was more efficient. All this time he was on the stairs, he was only able to turn the core just slightly but that had definitely increased his control over it. If he was able to increase his precision, he was going to be able to increase the speed of his cultivation.
He then sat down in position as he started drawing Elyria into his core. As expected, his control had increased but even after a long time, he was only able to draw a small amount of Elyria into his core. Well, this was to be expected.
Advancing in the middle stages was obviously harder than the early stages. This was only normal and so after he felt that his body had regained its strength, he did not hesitate to light up the first pattern of the first row and started cultivating on the second step.
***
Lyren kept using this method of cultivation. Few minutes he was on the stairs in the blink of getting crushed while the next he was on the floor recuperating. Later he would cultivate the normal way until he felt he was good to go back on the stairs.
He did not even realize as his pressure tolerance increased and he could even stay for extended periods without the pressure affecting him. Even the damage on him seemed to reduce with time and he could stay for longer period under pain without any damage done.
It reached a point he was able to turn the core easily on the steps. He was not sure whether the pressure increased as you climbed but the second step was no longer having the desired effect. As for drawing Elyria under no pressure, it was easier and faster to the extent that he felt that he had discovered a cheat.
He was finally able to fill the world around the core quarter way after all this time and again he was reminded of the one channel limitation. Not that he could do anything about it in the first place. He quickly discarded the thought and promised himself that he was never going to wallow on his misfortune and he was to use what he had.
That one channel was the one that had brought him this far. He could not be ungrateful because who knew when it would be he would open a channel had he not encountered the ruins? He went back and lit the entire first row.
He then climbed to the twelfth step as he decided to use this chance to test his hypothesis whether the pressure was uniform or whether it increased with every step. Well, that was going to be a thrilling experience he was going to have etched in his body.
The pressure that descended on his instantly pushed him to the ground pressing his cheek on the stairs. He felt his bones under so much pressure and as he rolled down the stairs as usual, his body had curved into a ball by the time he reached the fourth step and the pressure here was tolerable.
He wanted to laugh because he had obviously overestimated himself and jumped his limit by more than two times. The pressure here was exactly what he needed but he could not cultivate with his body in that condition and so he rolled to the ground as he waited for his body to get back to normal before just lighting up two patterns and settling on the sixth step.