Chương 101: Chapter 99 – Putting a Thumb on the Scale

The mere sight of the terrifying demonic arm hurt his eyes and induced fear in his heart. Accompanying the fear was an increased awareness of pain throbbing throughout his body. By now, Ren had made the connection that feeling doubt and fear caused additional pain. It wasn't the risk of temptation the elders mentioned, but it could certainly cause cultivation deviation through distraction or, worse, force an early retreat from the trial.

In the time Ren managed to regain control over his emotions and suppress the pain, he noticed the arm was phasing in and out of sight to his divine sense. Before he could wonder why he was losing the ability to perceive it, it solidified once more. And not just that, this time, Ren also noticed illusory golden chains wrapped all around it. Ren definitely shouldn't be able to perceive such a powerful object. But in that moment when it solidified to his senses, Ren noticed the cause.

Inside his dantian, one of those vile red threads had fallen into his Fire of Life. It was destroyed in a flash of flame, releasing an odd, violet qi that was coincidentally allowing Ren to perceive the demonic arm. Yet that wasn't the only effect. The violet qi released was extremely pure, resembling a higher grade energy that suffused his dantian. Ren instantly identified the opportunity within an opportunity that had been presented to him.

While the others were making do cultivating using the qi from the lake, he had somehow accessed qi of a higher level! Despite the eagerness to absorb as much as he could, Ren cautiously decided to observe any changes first. It didn't take long for Ren to realize the advantages provided by the violet qi. It was improving the quality of his spiritual sea as well as strengthening his meridians and dantian. It may not seem like much, but it was directly increasing his potential.

If this continued, then he would drastically improve his chances of breaking through to the core formation realm and climbing even higher! Still, he waited.

'Since when did such good come without consequences?!' he thought to himself. Not long after, Ren was rewarded for his prudence. There was an odd pressure building inside his head with each red thread that was burnt by his Fire of Life. It built until an unbidden vision briefly stole his senses! The Zhao clan wasn't a declining clan but a cultivation family at its peak. Zhao Ren, the young master of the prestigious family, was a genius of unparalleled talent and might.

With a wave of his hand, piles of treasures were gifted, the heads of enemies rolled, beauties threw themselves at his feet….

'Huh? What was that?!' Ren roused himself from the beautiful dream as pain threatened to overwhelm his senses.

'Pei! What beautiful dream?! That was the weakest temptation anybody could try on me!' But it finally occurred to Ren just what a precarious position he was actually in.

'This is a hidden heart trial! No wonder the monks can benefit more from it with their extremely suited heart tempering manuals. But I've somehow stumbled into it through luck. Unfortunately, I was unprepared for such a trial. I can't actually halt the vile red threads from falling into my qi construct, the Fire of Life, since nothing I do can influence them. The red threads burn to release that pure violet qi but also cause tempting visions.

The visions weaken my mental state and allow the qi and vital essence pouring into me from the surrounding liquid to rampage unchecked, causing me more pain!' Ren rapidly identified his dilemma and acknowledged just how much higher his risk of cultivation deviation had risen. Merely recognizing the risk didn't do much, but usually, the first step to breaking illusions was awareness. Ren didn't remain passive any longer.

'To seize any chance of benefiting, I must first act.' With that thought, Ren began to circulate the qi throughout his body, through every meridian. After a number of cycles, the purified qi would pour into his dantian, reducing the pain he was experiencing. The purified qi brought with it more red threads that were then attracted towards the burning sun in his dantian. It reduced the pressure caused by the qi, but the vital essence was still accumulating in his body.

The rate the visions were occurring at was also slowly increasing. Now aware of their nature, Ren initially found it easier to break. Only at first, because the visions were improving constantly! The next few visions were not as broad, tempting him with the confidence and security the backing of a powerful family brought him. Those were still easy to break because nothing could change the past. Then the visions started to change, whispering of secret, high-grade cultivation manuals.

Ren's answer to those was straightforward.

"I've been forging my own cultivation manual that is extremely suited to me." Even as Ren became more occupied with battling the visions, he also couldn't ignore the vital essence starting to fill his entire body. The qi and vitality in the golden lake were still forcing their way inside him. Ren wondered through clenched teeth if he should retreat when it inevitably became too much because he wasn't sure if he could use all that vitality.

Without a strong yin flame to cycle through his body, he couldn't use his usual body cultivation method, as he only had a weak ember. It would be a terrible waste to retreat now, but the pain was reaching his already high threshold. Ren frantically tried to find a solution. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The visions were getting stronger in the meantime, the situation putting a unique strain on mind and body simultaneously.

Now, the visions were more targeted than ever. Ren was on his mountain, surrounded by piles of spirit stones, alchemy pills, and magnificent arms and armor. Though it was harder to ignore, Ren nevertheless wasn't someone who solely pursued material wealth. The vision shattered once more but not as easily as it had at the start. The vital essence had stuffed his body to bursting now, and Ren was just about to regretfully give up and retreat when the sensation reminded him of something.

"The Boundless Space Physique!" Ren was struck by a dangerous idea. This situation was perfect to practice the profound technique given to him by Elder Yun Peng using the vital essence that was all around and within him. It was extremely risky to practice it for the first time under such stressful circumstances, but Ren trusted himself enough to try. While he hadn't read through everything about the higher levels, he was unwaveringly sure he had learned the first stage.

'There's no time to weigh the risks. I need to act now!!' His decision made, Ren waited until the next vision for the right moment. This vision was even more tempting. A powerful cultivator saw his talents and was willing to accept him as a personal disciple and guide him to immortality. Ren would not have shaken this one as easily if he hadn't already resolved his feelings from Elder Yun Peng's well-intentioned rejection.

"One cannot force fate. If I'm fated to have a master, then I will." The tempting vision broke once more. As soon as it broke, Ren used the interval to begin employing the first stage of the Boundless Space Physique, which was to compress all the vitality into a certain node in the meridian in his chest. By cycling the vitality along a certain path, an inward pull was created, drawing vital essence from throughout his body. Knowing his time until the next vision was limited, Ren focused everything he had.

It was oddly easier than he expected. Ren recognized those intuitive sensations that told him he had chosen the right path. Ren doubled his efforts with that boost in confidence and compressed all that qi into the node. It grew harder the more essence he compressed, but something about the path he made the vital essence take to reach the node made it more malleable than it normally should have been.

'Truly, the method is incredibly profound!' Remarked Ren to himself. Intentionally dwelling on the mysterious background of the method was easier than thinking of the immense risk of losing control over the flow and bursting like an overfilled bag. He pushed even more essence into the node. The pressure in his mind was building, and Ren had to bite his tongue to hold back the vision until the 1st cycle was complete.

It was straining his mind to the limit, but he finally managed to fill the node while simultaneously reinforcing the node from bursting and destroying his chest. It was almost a relief when Ren reached the end of the cycle and a ribbon of obscure characters wrapped around and sealed the node. The relief didn't last long, as Ren was almost grateful for the next vision that washed over him, as it let him briefly forget the pain.

Unfortunately, that was the wrong sentiment to greet the vision with, as it increased the power it held over him. It seemed to almost hone in on his true desires. Ren was a core disciple with unrestricted access to the sect's hidden reserves. Countless mighty cultivation manuals, precious techniques, crafting recipes for alchemy and forging, and unlimited spirit herbs and seeds to play with. Ren was almost drooling at the thought. It would be so easy to lose himself exploring the bounty before him!

A faint refusal rang in the back of his mind.

"Wait, this isn't my true desire. I do desire those things, but they aren't the ultimate peak I'm pursuing. They are just the means." The wrongness of the vision was suddenly all he could think about. It lost its allure and no longer tempted him because through the tempering of temptations, Ren was reminded once more why he had chosen his path.

"My true desire is to leave this world a better place. To create and leave behind a legacy instead of greedily devouring without end. To be someone worthy of admiration and inspire future generations to greater heights. And this desire no one can grant me. The journey to the goal is just as crucial, and there can be no shortcuts." The temptation-prompted vision didn't just break; it dissolved. Ren had become an implacable promontory on which the waves of temptations could crash futilely against.

He would not be moved. Time started to lose meaning as Ren's body was repeatedly filled with qi and vital essence. The red threads in the qi would be sublimated for the violet qi that fueled the transformation his dantian and meridians were undergoing while the essence accumulated. According to Boundless Space Physiques first stage, Ren would have to accomplish 9 cycles of compression to reach minor success. Then 9 more to major success and completion of the stage. He had already completed 4 cycles!

Time passed as the visions weakly railed against his resolve. When he had just completed the 7th cycle and sealed the node once more, a tremor brought him out of his trance. Ren opened his eyes under the lake and extended his senses. Far below him, the arm was no longer quietly chained down; it was struggling crazily against the golden chains around it, which were now glowing brightly.

'Anything that can agitate the arm can't be simple. What could have changed?' Ren continued to look around, noticing nothing when it finally occurred to him to look up. His divine sense couldn't extend very far, but at its limits, the lowermost floating mountains could be detected. There were all vibrating. Ren wanted out. He knew he couldn't afford to be near that thing if it broke free. He took a few steps back until his head emerged from the waters of the lake. A chaotic sight greeted him.

The colossal seated statue behind him had raised its palm, pointing toward the lake, and from that palm, a stream of unknown golden script was flying into the lake. Something fell from those heights and toward the lake below as the demonic arm renewed its rampage. The ground quaked below his feet, and Ren felt an unnatural spike in dread. At the bottom of the lake, the demonic arm had partially succeeded in escaping from its seal! He retreated even faster, but it was too late.

The thumb of the demonic claw ripped itself free and flew away. Right. At. Him. A clear bell tone rang out. Ren's head and shoulders may have been above the lake but not the rest of him. Before he could blink, the thumb rammed into his stomach. The exquisite pain that radiated throughout his body overwhelmed him immediately. The last thing Ren saw as he fell backward was the sorrowful face of the colossal statue looking down directly at him.