OBS Chapter 288 - 156: The Vortex Forms, the Qi Sea Opens
Chapter 288 - 156: The Vortex Forms, the Qi Sea Opens
Pain washed over him in surging waves, one after another.
As the purple Viper Poison Blood bored deeper into his meridians, Lin Ye’s face turned pale, and the color drained from his lips.
The process was truly agonizing.
But whenever he opened his eyes and saw Dongfang Zhen soaking calmly in the same pool not far away, any wavering in his heart was immediately suppressed.
Dongfang Zhen was already in the Gang Condensation Realm.
He was only soaking here to further temper and strengthen his meridians.
’If even he can endure this pain, what right do I have to complain when I’m trying to break through to a major realm?’
Lin Ye closed his eyes, sinking his entire focus into his body, forcing himself to adapt to, and even utilize, the intense pain.
Time ticked by, second by second.
The mist rising from the pool grew thicker.
Dongfang Zhen, who had been looking comfortable, suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
He felt a faint current slowly flowing from his side of the pool toward Lin Ye.
He opened his eyes and saw that in the massive, twenty-square-meter pool, the three distinctly separated medicinal liquids were actually converging on Lin Ye.
At first, Dongfang Zhen thought he was imagining things.
But gradually, the current grew faster and more pronounced, eventually forming a visible vortex in the center of the pool.
And Lin Ye was sitting cross-legged right in the center of it.
"Mr. Lin?"
Dongfang Zhen was about to warn him that absorbing such a massive amount of these three potent substances could exceed the limits of his meridians and damage his foundation.
But he swallowed the words before they could escape his lips.
He looked at Lin Ye’s face, slightly twisted in pain but radiating with an unyielding determination, and suddenly fell silent.
He respected Lin Ye’s choice.
Because he knew better than anyone the terrifying willpower required to actively accelerate the absorption of these three medicinal baths.
The torment of alternating heat and cold inside the body was secondary; the feeling of every meridian being repeatedly pierced by a billion steel needles was simply unbearable for an ordinary person.
He had experienced it himself.
Back when he was desperate to step into the Gang Condensation Realm, he had made the same choice.
They were both madmen, willing to do anything in pursuit of a higher realm of martial arts.
At this thought, a relieved smile appeared on Dongfang Zhen’s face.
’Mr. Lin,’ he thought, ’I’m determined to be your friend.’
More than ten minutes later, Lin Ye’s eyes snapped open.
The intense pain that had nearly overwhelmed his consciousness receded as quickly as a tide.
He looked down and discovered that the once-full pool of three-colored medicinal liquid had been mostly absorbed by him, leaving only a shallow layer.
Lin Ye immediately looked inward, inspecting his own body.
Because the total volume of his Qi and Blood was more than four times that of an ordinary Martial Artist, this purification process was just a drop in the bucket for him.
The progress was less than two percent.
Just then, footsteps sounded from outside the door, and Dongfang Zhen, wrapped in a towel, walked back in.
"Mr. Lin, I went to call for someone. Wait a moment, they’ll refill the medicine."
As soon as he finished speaking, several staff members wearing the special uniforms of the Bone Marrow Cleansing Hall walked in.
The leader of the group saw the nearly empty pool and wore a troubled expression. He then said, "This pool of the Three Talents Medicine Bath is normally enough for four to five people to use at once."
"Now that you two have used it up, according to the training camp’s rules, we will not be preparing and adding more today."
Dongfang Zhen’s brows furrowed.
"What rules? Just go tell Mr. Yin that Dongfang Zhen and Lin Ye are here, and that he used up the entire pool of medicinal liquid by himself. See if he’ll let you refill it then."
The staff member wanted to say more but didn’t dare to disobey and hurried out.
Before long, the man ran back, followed by several colleagues pushing carts laden with various bottles and jars.
"The head instructor agreed to unlimited refills, but... it will cost academy points."
The displeasure on Dongfang Zhen’s face vanished, replaced by a smile. "No problem. I have plenty of academy points."
He seemed to remember something and added an instruction for the staff member, "Also, have your people go to the resource department and bring back three measures of Dragon Shedding Fragrance and two vials of Soul Reviving Grass Extract."
Hearing these two names, the staff member looked even more astonished than before.
"The resource department does have those two items for exchange, but one measure of Dragon Shedding Fragrance costs 50 academy points, and one vial of Soul Reviving Grass Extract is 25 points. Add to that the cost of refilling this entire pool..."
"If he doesn’t have enough points, deduct them from my account."
Dongfang Zhen cut him off directly.
Lin Ye was about to say it wasn’t necessary, not wanting to owe such a huge favor.
But Dongfang Zhen just laughed heartily.
"Mr. Lin, the Nirvana Tower will open to us this afternoon. Don’t you trust that I can earn even more academy points in there?"
"In fact, I have more faith in you. I’m sure you’ll be able to pay back the points you owe me!"
Lin Ye fell silent.
He did indeed have to challenge the Nirvana Tower; it was related to his third-stage unlocking quest.
From what Dongfang Zhen said, it was clear you could earn academy points for killing xenos in the tower.
’In that case, I’ll just have to earn back what I owe later.’
Thinking this, Lin Ye took a deep breath and gave Dongfang Zhen a solemn nod.
"Thank you."
Before long, the two items Dongfang Zhen had requested were delivered by a dedicated attendant.