The chamber was silent, save for the heavy, rhythmic breathing of Su Yang.
Before him hovered the Millennial Earth Core Lotus.
Despite its name, it resembled no ordinary flower. Its crystalline, amber-coloured petals looked as though they had been meticulously carved from raw topaz. Although small enough to be held between two hands, the lotus weighed nearly fifty pounds.
The air surrounding it visibly distorted.
An oppressive gravitational pressure radiated from the spiritual treasure, causing the stone beneath it to groan faintly.
Su Yang stared at the lotus.
He remembered Bao Xin's words.
His Dragon and Tiger Martial Spirits required cultivation resources containing enormous quantities of dense and berserk spiritual energy.
If the Millennial Earth Core Lotus did not qualify, then Su Yang could hardly imagine what would.
He closed his eyes.
After taking several deep breaths, Su Yang circulated what little spiritual Qi he possessed and brought the crystalline lotus toward his mouth.
"Here goes nothing."
He bit down.
CRACK!
There was no sweet nectar.
No pleasant medicinal fragrance.
The crystalline lotus shattered like glass between his teeth.
Its petals instantly melted into a thick, golden-brown liquid.
Su Yang's eyes flew open.
It felt less like consuming medicine and more like swallowing molten lead mixed with magma.
"ARGHH!"
The liquid tore down his throat.
His esophagus burned.
As a cultivator who had remained at the lower stages of the Spirit Realm for years, Su Yang's meridian network had yet to fully develop into the powerful spiritual pathways possessed by higher-level cultivators.
There was no refined network capable of smoothly guiding such enormous energy toward his dantian.
Therefore, when the molten earth essence entered his stomach—
BOOM!
It exploded outward.
Su Yang's body violently convulsed.
The terrifying medicinal essence penetrated his stomach lining and seeped directly into his flesh, muscles, organs, and blood.
"AHHHHH!"
Su Yang screamed.
It felt as though someone had poured molten magma directly into his body.
The heat was suffocating.
Dry.
Violent.
Merciless.
It resembled the choking heat of a desert volcano erupting inside him.
Su Yang collapsed forward, barely managing to maintain his cross-legged posture.
I underestimated it!
He gritted his teeth.
There was no turning back now.
The Millennial Earth Core Lotus had already begun transforming his body.
As the heavy mineral essence forced its way into his bloodstream, Su Yang's veins bulged visibly beneath his skin.
Then they began glowing.
Amber.
His blood rapidly thickened under the influence of the concentrated Earth Qi, seemingly taking on the density of liquid stone.
His heart immediately encountered the greatest burden.
Thump…
Su Yang grabbed his chest.
Then—
Nothing.
His eyes widened.
His heart stopped.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three.
For those three agonizing seconds, Su Yang experienced the terrifying sensation of standing at death's door.
Then—
THUD!
His heart violently contracted.
The sound resembled a war drum being struck inside the chamber.
The powerful contraction forced the heavy blood through his veins.
THUD!
THUD!
Each heartbeat became slower.
Yet unimaginably stronger.
Dust trembled loose from the ceiling.
Su Yang's pulse eventually slowed to barely ten beats per minute, but every beat felt like a divine blacksmith smashing a hammer against an ancient anvil inside his chest.
Then the Earth Qi found its next target.
His bones.
The heavy essence instinctively sought the deepest anchors of his physical body.
And what followed was a symphony of agony.
CRACK!
"AAAAARGH!"
Su Yang threw his head backward and screamed.
The molten mineral essence bored into his bones, penetrating the hard exterior and forcing its way into the marrow hidden within.
The pain nearly shattered his consciousness.
It felt as though every bone in his body was simultaneously being crushed and reforged.
The Earth Qi descended upon his mortal marrow with the weight of an entire mountain range.
Compress.
Destroy.
Purify.
Rebuild.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Impurities accumulated throughout years of living, eating, breathing, consuming pills, and cultivating were violently expelled.
Even traces of residual toxins buried deep within his body were forced outward.
Black sludge suddenly began seeping from Su Yang's pores.
It was thick.
Foul-smelling.
Almost tar-like.
Sizzle!
The impurities hissed when they touched his overheated skin.
Inside his body, however, something extraordinary was occurring.
His bones were being rewritten.
The relatively fragile structure of mortal bone was repeatedly compressed and reinforced under the combined influence of Earth and Fire Qi.
Slowly, they began taking on an almost crystalline quality.
A faint jade-metallic radiance appeared within them.
Su Yang knew none of this.
Pain had consumed his entire consciousness.
Yet the transformation continued.
After his bones were sufficiently reinforced, the remaining energy surged outward.
Muscles.
Tendons.
Organs.
Skin.
Every part of his physical body became a target.
Then, without warning—
The burning disappeared.
Su Yang froze.
For the briefest instant, relief entered his mind.
Then he realized something was wrong.
Cold.
An absolute, terrifying stillness spread throughout his body.
Su Yang attempted to move.
Nothing happened.
He tried moving a finger.
Impossible.
He attempted to blink.
Nothing.
Even his breathing gradually ceased.
A dull grey colour spread across his skin.
His flesh hardened.
Within moments, its texture resembled cold granite.
Had someone entered the chamber at that moment, they would have believed Su Yang had been transformed into a lifeless stone statue.
Yet beneath that petrified exterior—
A war continued.
The heavy Earth Qi ripped apart his muscle fibres strand by strand.
Then it rebuilt them.
The fibres intertwined.
Compressed.
Strengthened.
Layer upon layer, Su Yang's flesh became increasingly dense.
His physical weight began rising dramatically despite his outward appearance remaining almost unchanged.
Crack…
The stone beneath his cross-legged body fractured.
Crack!
Spiderweb-like cracks spread across the floor.
The chamber itself seemed unable to comfortably bear his increasing density.
Still, Su Yang did not move.
One day passed.
Then two.
Then three.
For three entire days, Su Yang remained seated like a statue.
He neither breathed nor moved.
A thick petrified shell formed around his body, composed of expelled impurities and hardened Earth Qi.
Then came the dawn of the fourth day.
Silence filled the chamber.
Until—
CRACK!
A tiny fracture appeared on the statue's forehead.
From within that fracture emerged brilliant golden light.
CRACK!
Another fracture appeared.
Then another.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The fractures rapidly cascaded down his face, neck, chest, shoulders, and arms.
Golden radiance poured through them.
Then—
BOOM!
The entire stone shell exploded.
Fragments blasted across the chamber like shrapnel.
Dust filled the air.
At the center of the destruction stood Su Yang.
His eyes slowly opened.
The grey stone covering his body was gone.
Beneath it was smooth, flawless skin that appeared completely human.
However, whenever light struck his body at a certain angle, an almost imperceptible metallic lustre appeared beneath his skin.
Su Yang inhaled.
WHOOSH!
The surrounding air rushed violently toward him as though his lungs had transformed into a vacuum.
His chest expanded.
Then he exhaled.
For several moments, Su Yang simply stood there.
He felt…
Different.
Stronger.
He immediately checked his cultivation.
His brows furrowed.
"Nothing?"
He could not sense any dramatic increase in his spiritual Qi.
He was still at the Second Level of the Spirit Realm.
After enduring three days of unimaginable torture, his cultivation had seemingly not advanced whatsoever.
Su Yang's expression twitched.
"You've got to be joking."
Then he looked at his fist.
Something felt strange.
His body felt incredibly light to him, yet there was an indescribable heaviness hidden within every movement.
He lightly clenched his fist.
The air around his fingers trembled.
Su Yang blinked.
He looked toward the ground.
Curious, he gently tapped his foot against the stone floor.
BOOM!
The entire foundation of the chamber trembled.
Cracks instantly spread outward from beneath his foot.
Su Yang froze.
He slowly looked down.
"I barely used any strength…"
His cultivation might not have increased.
But his body—
His physical strength had undergone a terrifying transformation.
Only then did Su Yang finally notice the state of the chamber.
Broken stone fragments covered the floor.
Cracks stretched along the foundation.
Several pieces of furniture had been damaged during the explosion of his petrified shell.
Then something else occurred to him.
"How long was I cultivating?"
He looked toward the window.
Sunlight streamed inside.
A terrible feeling appeared in his heart.
Su Yang quickly calculated the time.
His face paled.
"Three days?!"
His thoughts immediately went to Su Mei.
"Mother!"
He had originally intended to refine the lotus quietly and emerge after several hours.
He had never imagined that the process would take three entire days.
His mother must be worried sick.
Su Yang hurriedly began cleaning the room.
However, his newly transformed strength immediately created another problem.
He grabbed the edge of a damaged wooden table.
CRACK!
A piece broke off in his hand.
Su Yang stared at it.
"…"
He tried lifting a chair.
Crack.
One leg snapped.
Su Yang's mouth twitched.
"Control."
He took a deep breath.
"I need to control my strength."
For the next several minutes, Su Yang moved with ridiculous caution, treating every object around him as though it were made of paper.
Once he had made the chamber reasonably presentable, he finally smelled himself.
His face twisted.
The expelled impurities had left behind an unbearable stench.
"I need a bath."
Su Yang immediately headed toward the bathroom.
He scrubbed away every trace of the black impurities before changing into a fresh set of clean robes.
When he finally stepped out, he looked completely refreshed.
His dark hair fell neatly around his face, his skin appeared clearer than before, and his entire body radiated youthful vitality.
More importantly, his eyes seemed even more striking.
Black irises.
And hidden within them—
Faint streams of molten gold.
Su Yang examined himself briefly.
To anyone else, he still appeared to be the same Second-Level Spirit Realm cultivator everyone had mocked for years.
Yet beneath those clean robes was a body that had endured the crushing power of a thousand-year-old Earth Core Lotus.
Su Yang slowly clenched his fist.
This time, he carefully controlled his strength.
A smile appeared on his face.
He had not broken through.
Not even by a single level.
Yet somehow, Su Yang knew—
he was no longer weak.