Stepping on the other side of the portal, Wu Xiaotian was greeted by the sight of two soft, sexy bodies lying beside each other, their faces shone by the moonlight appearing to be extremely beautiful, with not even a single trace of imperfection on them.
While he wants to appreciate their beauty more though, he decided to hold himself back for now, planning to surprise them once he broke through, hence he immediately used the [Infinite Qi System], entering its dimension for the first time today, his objectives clear as he takes out the reward of his quest, carefully holding it with his soul power, extremely careful as he thought that even a touch might taint it.
“When you said consumption, does it mean that I can take it however I want?” Wu Xiaotian asked towards the system, his way of communicating with it now more like how he talks to another close person rather than something else.
[The Nine Realm Completion Lotus can be absorbed and refined through any way, including eating it directly, it is also the most efficient and effective, yet most brutal way to refine the treasure]
“Seems like I don’t have much of a choice then” the moment he read about this method being the most effective, he decisively consumed the Nine Realm Completion Lotus, bracing himself for the painful experience thought is about to come, however, there’s nothing like that, only an extremely warm and comfortable current that flows through his entire body, seemingly refining everything from his bones and marrows to his flesh and skin.
‘Is that it? This is brutal?’ he thought to himself, still in doubt that this is all the pain he’s going to go through, especially when he arduously endured some things that even an adult man will refuse to go through when he broke through the Pedestal Establishment Realm.
Not long after he asks that question though, his face starts twitching a bit, the warm current from the Nine Realm Completion Lotus increasing in speed and intensity, feeling like the temperature doubles once it completes a full circulation in his entire body.
“How many circulations will it take until the effects of the Lotus is lost?” already deducing what is about to happen, Wu Xiaotian asked in a serious tone, preparing himself for what is about to come.
[The highest known cycles before the effects of the Nine Realm Completion Lotus are lost is eighty-one cycles. It is bound to be higher given the potential and talent of the user is far better than that of the one who set the record]
Counting in his head, Wu Xiaotian’s face starts to pale a bit once he realizes the numbers of zeroes of the multiplier of this heat he’s about to face once he reaches the records.
“Are you kidding me? That is twenty-four zeroes after the number, and that is even with the temperature just doubling every circulation… aren’t I bound to die then?” he asked, still with a calm voice but now with a bit of trembling on it, panicking as even if dying in the Infinite Qi Dimension doesn’t mean dying in real life, the effects of the Nine Realm Completion Lotus will definitely be wasted if he dies.
[The heat is just a sensation from the rapid improvement of the three aspects of being, the body, the spirit and the soul, hence, it is more like a growth pain than anything else.]
“A mind breaking growth pain” Wu Xiaotian mocks to himself as he felt a bit better now knowing that he won’t die from the lotus.
[The effects will still be lost if the user loses consciousness while absorbing and refining the Nine Realm Completion Lotus, hence it is highly recommended that the user endure the pain]
“Whatever, I’ll just try my best, and beyond that if that’s not enough” he muttered to himself while enduring the heat of the current circulating in his body, the cycle already in the third one.
As time goes by, the heat starts to increase more and more, reaching thousand times of its original temperature once it enters the two digits of the cycle.
Gritting his teeth, Wu Xiaotian continues to tough it out, emptying his mind so that his attention towards the heat disappears.
After a few more hours of struggling, he finally reaches the eighty-first cycle, the heat he’s feeling making him think that he’s already just ashes, however, his body thinks otherwise, feeling far stronger than he previously is.
While waiting for what he thinks is the last cycle, enduring what seems to be an eternity of suffering despite each cycle only lasting a few minutes, Wu Xiaotian starts cursing in his mind as the current starts moving again after the eighty-first cycle, both joyful and troubled, joyful at the fact that he really goes beyond the highest number of cycles accomplished known to his system, and troubled at this torturous cycle still going on.
‘Happy thoughts, happy thoughts’ he said repeatedly to himself as image of the people he loves started appearing in his mind.
As their image all appears in his mind, he found a renewed vigor to face the pain he’s currently experiencing, toughing it out despite the fact that he’s feeling really bad now, the thought of his family as well as the fact that he will get even stronger if he circulates the energy of the Nine Realm Completion Lotus even more the only thing that makes him keep going.
One-hundred five…
One-hundred six…
One-hundred-seven…
One-hundred eight…
The moment he finishes the one-hundred and eighth cycle, something finally snaps, the image of the Nine Realm Completion Lotus that is still visible to his senses previously completely disappearing now, the pain he’s previously feeling now replaced with a cool and refreshing feeling, nine specific points on his body trembling as he feels an extremely strong power coursing through his entire being.
Despite his newfound strength though, Wu Xiaotian clearly knows that he’s still far from breaking through the Core Formation Realm, the proof being his cultivation still on the Perfection state of the Pedestal Establishment Realm.
Knowing what he needs to do, he braves the torrential waves of the thirteenth layer, his body feeling lighter and stronger than how he felt when he was crushed by the pressure of this layer when he entered previously, but the pressure of the qi in this layer is still more than enough to make him struggle just from walking.
No longer able to bear the weight, he sat down on the ground and assumes the lotus position, continuously absorbing waves of qi as it crashes towards him, the vortex forming from his absorption enough to terrify any other being if they saw it in person.
“All of the other Core Formation Realm cultivator breaking through with the problem of lacking ambient qi, and here I am, getting suffocated to near death by the abundant qi near me” he mutters to himself while looking at the swirling mass of qi all moving towards him, the circulation of the qi inside his body still perfect despite his attention moving to other things.
“So this is where the real breakthrough starts huh…” Wu Xiaotian muttered again as he felt nine different areas on his body creating a massive whirlpool of qi, acting like black holes that absorbs every amount of qi that enters their range.
