She nodded her head in confusion. Ling Mei soon came out of her stupor, she eyed Shen Yuan curiously, “Now what next? Will you attempt the Mental Fortitude Pagoda? It’s the most challenging of the four.”
He nodded. “One left and then I can head back to drink some wine.”
Wan Ling’s eyes flashed, ‘Senior Brother likes wine?’
…
The Mental Fortitude Pagoda was infamous for its intense spiritual pressure. Many who entered struggle to not collapse, let alone complete the challenge.
As he stood before the pagoda’s entrance, the crowd got silent. Even Ling Mei groaned looking at the pagoda.
“This pagoda is really hell on earth. Be careful Inside,” she advised. “This pagoda can seriously injure your Sea of Consciousness.”
Shen Yuan smiled in amusement, “Did you forget? I completed the real Ancestral Trial, all these are merely copies of that, and lower-level ones at that.”
With that, he stepped inside. Immediately, an overwhelming weight pressed down on him. The air was thick with pressure, but it felt like a cool breeze in spring to Shen Yuan.
“The difference is really massive,” he smiled as he started walking on the first floor, feeling the pressure gradually increasing.
As he ascended each level, the pressure intensified but nothing much for him.
At the final level, the very level began to distort as the pressure on his Sea of Consciousness reached a level that would crush even someone in the Inner Sea Realm.
Yet Shen Yuan walked forward calmly, ‘This might be the easiest level yet. I should go and cultivate in seclusion for a bit after this.’
He soon reached the end of the floor as the pagoda acknowledged his success and a final bell rang out.
Outside, the disciples were silent, awed by Shen Yuan’s performance.
“He completed this trial as well.”
“And in a record time at that.”
“Just how strong is he?”
The disciples began murmuring among themselves, and just then Shen Yuan stepped out of the Pagoda, he smiled calmly and waved his hand towards the crowd.
“That’s enough for today, my fellow disciples. I will now be heading back.”
The crowd dispersed hearing what Shen Yuan said. He also moved toward Wan Ling and Ling Mei, who were standing some distance away from the crowd.
“Congratulations on ranking first once again, Senior Brother Shen Yuan. Now you have taken all the top spots.” Wan Ling congratulated him upon his return.
“You really are something else, I never expected to see such a monstrosity here in the outer sect,” Ling Mei also heaved a sigh and spoke in admiration.
“You both praise me too much,” He smiled lightly at their words, “I will be entering Closed Door Cultivation for a couple of weeks.”
He turned towards Wan Ling and continued, “You should practice the technique that you acquired yesterday. I will help you master it after I’m out of seclusion.”
Wan Ling tilted her head in confusion, “Why are you heading to seclusion all of a sudden, Senior Brother?”
Ling Mei’s eyes lit up, “Have you not gone to Closed Door Cultivation after coming out of the Ancestral Pagoda?”
“Yep, I have yet to go inside closed-door cultivation.” He replied as he figured out that Ling Wei knew the significance of cultivating in seclusion after that trial.
“Don’t worry about me Senior Brother. You can go into seclusion in peace, I will train hard to master that technique in the meantime.” Wan Ling spoke in a confident tone.
Shen Yuan patted her head with a smile and turned around to leave. “See you both again after a while.”
“I’m afraid we will meet again in the Inner Sect the next time we meet.” Ling Wei spoke with a chuckle.
Shen Yuan shook his head, “Life is too unpredictable, don’t be so sure that we will meet in the Inner Sect directly.”
Ling Mei mulled over his words, muttering softly, “Maybe you are right.” But as she raised her head to see him again, he had already left.
She shook her head with a smile, “Let’s leave as well,” she said to Wan Ling and left as well.
…
Shen Yuan walked back on the road towards his courtyard, feeling the cool breeze as he finally headed to seclusion in peace.
[You really created massive waves in the past couple of days. Are you sure you are not overshowing your talents?]
Shen Yuan smiled in amusement, “I did that so they won’t forget me while I go to Closed Door Cultivation. I might take around a month to digest all the gains from my trip to all those different worlds inside the Dao Heart Trial.”
[So, that’s why you delayed your seclusion until now. To leave an impression on the disciples of the sect.]
“Yes, and if I guessed correctly from what you told me, Sister Bing Rong should come out of seclusion by then as well.” He felt anticipation building within himself as he thought about meeting up with Bing Rong after so long.
[Hmm… she should be out around the same time as you. But anyways, will you break through to the next level in this seclusion or focus on something else?]
Yue Lan asked curiously, wondering what he had planned.
“I won’t break through for now, but I would need to break through before heading to the Inner Sect if I want to continue my domination. I should be on par with Origin Core Creation Realm cultivators at least, since the top disciples here can at least fight one major realm above themselves. I would need to reach the Inner Sea realm as well.” He spoke aloud, opening the gate of his courtyard.
[But they will also have learned Intents, something most of the cultivators outside never touch due to poor resources and lower-level techniques.]
“And that’s preciously why I will master my intents in this seclusion, my Saber Intent seemed to have hit a limit for now, I will focus on the rest of my Intents, or maybe I can learn quite a few new ones from my experience.” His eyes flashed with excitement at the possibility that he could master so many new intents.
[What about the space intent? Will you be able to master it as well?]
Yue Lan asked in a teasing voice, as she already knew the answer.
“You know better than me what the difference between Space Intent and other Intents is. I might be close to learning the first level but it will still take me quite some time.” He shook his head as he sat down on his chair, bringing out a few cups and a gourd of wine.
Yue Lan’s voice turned serious as she said,
[It’s already quite remarkable that you can sense the Space Intent at your level. You might master Space Intent at the next level if you continue to progress like this.]
Shen Yuan filled his cup and took a sip before responding, “I think the progress is stagnant due to my cultivation technique. If I cultivated a Space focused cultivation technique then I might have learned the first level of the Intent already.”
[Do you want to buy a Space-related cultivation technique from the system now?]
