Chapter 572 - 49 Days

Finally breaching the water’s surface, Tang Wulin felt as if his limbs were made of lead. Even breathing properly proved difficult. He floated belly up upon the sea, face as pale as a ghost.

Mu Ye walked over to Tang Wulin’s side. Stuck a pipe down Tang Wulin’s throat to help him breathe.

If one were to peek into Tang Wulin’s mind in that moment, they would scarcely find a thing. Other than the fact that he knew he survived, that was. After what seemed like an eternity, his vision faded to darkness.

Eventually, breathing no longer seemed like an arduous task for Tang Wulin, and the darkness clouding his vision crept away. Toward the sky he stared, eyes unfocused and misty. The freckled night above was unmarred by clouds. The sea reflected the stellar grandeur upon its gently churning surface.

As shadows once again brushed the edges of his vision, Tang Wulin came to a realization. Uncle Ye wasn’t really trying to kill me. Before he could contemplate any further, he lost consciousness.

☀

The next morning, Tang Wulin woke up exhausted and sore again. Like he had been tied up and dragged through the streets by a car.

His day took a turn for the better unbeknown to him, however, with Mu Ye delivering a dark purple lobster dish to his cabin. Even the meat was purple, albeit of a lighter sort. Truly bizarre.

“Are you trying to kill me?” Tang Wulin asked in dejection.

A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of Mu Ye’s mouth. “There is no achievement without trials and tribulations. Soon enough, you’ll know that it was worth it to endure this pain.”

Tang Wulin smiled meekly. “But uncle, I really can’t join your Body Sect!”

Mu Ye’s expression stiffened upon those words. Forming a blade with his hand, he chopped Tang Wulin on the head. “You stinkin’ kid. Are you trying to make me angry? We’ll sort out that stuff once we get back and you can go ask the Tang Sect for permission. For now, though, you’re going to learn under me. Even if you don’t join the Body Sect, you can still take me as your Master, can’t you?”

Tang Wulin immediately bowed. “Master!”

Mu Ye smiled. “Good. Now hurry up and eat this amethyst lobster. Then go meditate. Don’t bother sleeping. Meditating is more efficient and you’ll be able to feel the changes within your body.” After leaving these words, Mu Ye left without mentioning any particular cultivation methods.

Tang Wulin quickly devoured the amethyst lobster for breakfast and recovered much of his strength. Compared to the tuna from the day before, the lobster brought a refreshing cool to his body instead of a fervent heat. And he felt light as a feather.

Following breakfast, Tang Wulin holed up in his room and focused on cultivating. It was his first time meditating since the beginning of his nightly ordeals. Perhaps due to the amethyst lobster’s potent meat, he quickly entered a deep meditative state.

To Tang Wulin’s surprise, he discovered that he had already broken through to rank 39. Only one left step to rank 40. He was finally ahead of schedule. It appeared that facing tremendous pressure under crisis benefitted his soul power cultivation. Naturally, it was in part due to the potency of the foods Mu Ye had been serving him.

The last time Tang Wulin inspected his body, he found traces of the Golden Dragon King’s energy permeating through his blood, bones, and flesh. This time, the golden energy was thicker and denser. Furthermore, he could peer deeper into the depths of his body for a longer period of time, signifying the growth of his spiritual power.

Great pain brought great benefits. Tang Wulin understood how amazing the Body Sect’s cultivation method was now.

Once evening fell, Mu Ye paid Tang Wulin another visit.

The moment Tang Wulin saw Mu Ye, his body began to tremble. “A-again?”

“Of course!” Mu Ye said.

Tang Wulin cracked a smile, weak and timid. “Master, when do I get to rest?” He’d be lying if he said he wanted to go through such a hellish crisis again.

“Your body should be done condensing by the forty-ninth day. If your martial soul achieves its second awakening by then, we can change your training method.”

“F-forty-nine days…” Tang Wulin gawked at Mu Ye. “Master, are you sure I won’t accidentally die during this training?”

Mu Ye stared Tang Wulin right in the eye and said, “In the entire history of the Body Sect, only about thirty percent of the people who used this cultivation method have died.”

Tang Wulin returned his stare in wide-eyed silence.

“Not just anyone can use this method to draw out their potential,” said Mu Ye. “If anyone could, the Body Sect would already be ruling the world of soul masters. In fact, very few people can use this cultivation method. They need to possess extraordinarily powerful blood essence and immense potential. The first day tested your potential. If your potential didn’t meet the standard, then we wouldn’t be continuing with this.”

As a result of the Body Sect’s intense and unforgiving cultivation methods and rigorous requirements, it had always faced the problem of finding talent. This didn’t change even in the many millennia that the powerful Body Sect had existed. Every single member of the Body Sect was a powerful expert who could stand at the peak of their generation, but these experts numbered few.

“Master—”

But Mu Ye grabbed him and dived straight into the ocean. Once again, Tang Wulin endured another trial that nearly reaped his life.

While Tang Wulin faced life and death situations every night, the civilian passengers spent their time leisurely on the ship, enjoying the assortment of entertainment available to them. But even such entertainment could only hold their attention for so long. As for the soul masters, they spent most of their time cultivating in their cabins.

Only Tang Wulin passed his days in such a colorful fashion. From the first day of his trials to the sixth day, he progressed from surviving a depth of five hundred meters to one thousand meters. When the twentieth day came, he climbed up from a depth of two kilometers. At that point, he had already reached the bottom of the sea. Being left stranded so deep underwater with no equipment, and surviving through it time and time again, roused Tang Wulin’s potential.

However, it was clear that Mu Ye could not leave things as they were if he wanted Tang Wulin’s growth to continue. Since they couldn’t increase the depth, Mu Ye decided to introduce new challenges for Tang Wulin.

The next night, when Tang Wulin was brought to the bottom of the sea, a thousand-year soul beast bolted toward him. He had to reach the surface while dealing with this soul beast. While a thousand-year soul beast would be easy pickings for him on land, it was a completely different story under the sea! At a depth of two kilometers, the water pressure served as a major hindrance to his movements and prevented him from exerting his full strength. The first night he faced a marine soul beast, he nearly died at the one-kilometer mark, wounds bleeding out due to the intense water pressure.

Fortunately, the defensive power of Golden Dragon Body saved him. In that moment of crisis, Tang Wulin experienced a burst of strength. He whipped out his bluesilver grass to bind the soul beast and let it drag him several hundred meters toward the surface as it thrashed through the water. Once an opening appeared, he killed the soul beast with his Golden Dragon Dreadclaw, before swimming the last stretch to the surface

From that day onward, Mu Ye pitted Tang Wulin against countless species of marine soul beasts. Tang Wulin could only begin to imagine where Mu Ye found them. As each day passed, the beasts he faced grew stronger, and experiencing enough pain to wish for death was a daily occurrence. If not for the nutritious food Mu Ye fed him each day, his spirit would have long since crumbled.