The Gravity Chamber’s Trial

“Hmm, you’ve already become a first-tier Destruction Dragonblood, haven’t you?” Michele said, stretching out her small hand to pinch Su Han’s cheek. “It seems Sister Ye Qi truly didn’t misjudge you after all~!”

Su Han’s face had a slight baby fat, making it incredibly soft, which Michele simply couldn’t resist. However, due to their height difference, Michele was a bit shorter than Su Han, necessitating her to stand on her tiptoes.

“Mmph…” Su Han, her cheeks being pulled and stretched by Michele, found herself unable to speak.

“You may go. From now on, come to me once every three days.” Ye Qi felt her words lacked something, so she promptly added, “That is, if you wish to continue cultivating your bloodline system.”

“Michele, see our guest out~” Having spoken, Ye Qi vanished on the spot. Indeed, you read that right—she simply disappeared into thin air~!

“Eh? Why~!”

“Hey, you didn’t fall for Sister Ye Qi, did you, you masochist~” Michele whispered, pressing her lips close to Su Han’s ear.

Perhaps it was because her body, now that she was female, had become more sensitive. Su Han instinctively let out a soft “Pfft~” She nearly choked on Michele’s words. ‘How could anyone tell that I like Ye Qi? Could she even tell that I’m actually a man?’ ‘Upon closer thought, it isn’t impossible. After all, I’m quite different from ordinary girls; even with my deliberate disguise, some things must show through.’

“Here, this is your pass to the mountain. Don’t fly up on your own anymore; just walk up slowly from the base. If Sister Ye Qi hadn’t been here this time, you probably would have been bounced off by the barrier~” Michele, oblivious to Su Han’s thoughts, continued, “If those guys at the foot of the mountain try to stop you, just show them this~!”

Su Han took it and saw a large ‘免’ (mien, meaning ‘exempt’ or ‘free’) carved onto a token crafted from seven-colored celestial gold.

‘Isn’t this a death-exemption token!’

Over the next three days, Su Han, having successfully established her foundation, did not return to the back mountain. Instead, she diligently studied the ‘Bloodline Refining Divine Art’, pondering its intricacies in secret before beginning to cultivate according to its methods.

Holding her breath and calming her mind, she closed her eyes and circulated her energy, using her spiritual perception to observe her blood and meridians. She could feel an ancient yet formidable power hidden within her blood. She attempted to mobilize the elemental energies of heaven and earth to stimulate her blood, intending to unleash the power of her bloodline. This would stir up monstrous waves within her body, causing the bloodline’s power to continuously compress, purify, and refine, making the essence within her blood even more refined…

With her spirit concentrated, her consciousness drifted above an ocean of blood. Within that sanguine sea, a gentle breeze began to stir.

Su Han’s will commanded the wind elements, drawing them together with frenzied intensity. They gathered more and more, eventually forming a miniature tornado.

The tornado churned wildly within the blood ocean, its color shifting from white to crimson. It could no longer be called a mere tornado; a bloody waterspout was a more fitting description. Immediately, crimson whirlpools rippled across the surface of the sea, though no thunderous roars accompanied them.

After a while, the waterspout began to dissipate. The wind elements gradually vanished, and the sanguine expanse slowly calmed.

Su Han awoke from her state of mental exhaustion to find it was deep night, with a silver moon hanging high in the sky.

‘A phenomenon?’ Su Han mused. She felt that her bloodline had seemingly reached the peak of the first tier, needing only a few more elements to officially break through to the second tier.

While strolling through the outer court, Su Han coincidentally encountered Mentor Ruolin. She asked, “Mentor Ruolin, do you know of any places where one can break through their personal bottlenecks?”

“A personal bottleneck, you say? Has your magical comprehension reached a bottleneck?” Mentor Ruolin pondered for a moment before replying.

“No, actually, I’m also a bloodline cultivator…” Su Han admitted, uncharacteristically lowering her head in embarrassment.

“Tsk, and you didn’t tell me that day. Hanhan, you’re really quite stingy~”

“Hey, hey, can you not use that tone? ‘Hanhan’ sounds so disgusting!” ‘Of course! I’m a dignified man, eight feet tall—bah, no, I have the heart of an eight-foot man! Being called ‘Hanhan’ is just sickening; it gives me goosebumps!’ Su Han thought to herself.

“So, what tier is your bloodline now?” Watching Ruolin absentmindedly stroke her smooth chin, Su Han felt an inexplicable urge to commit a crime.

“First tier, I suppose…”

“Only first tier? In that case, I wouldn’t recommend actual combat for you. Go to the gravity chamber instead!”

“Understood~!” Su Han was about to leave when she realized she didn’t know where the gravity chamber was. She turned back, asking awkwardly, “Wait, how do I get to the gravity chamber?”

“Oh, dear~!” Ruolin sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead in exasperation at Su Han. “I suppose I’ll have to take you there myself!”

“Uh, alright. Thank you, Mentor Ruolin, for the trouble~!”

“Entering the gravity chamber requires contribution points. For example, spending an hour in the ten-times gravity chamber costs a thousand contribution points, two hours would be two thousand~” Mentor Ruolin explained in detail after learning Su Han was a bloodline cultivator.

[Twenty-times gravity costs two thousand for an hour, thirty-times costs three thousand, and so on. The highest gravity available is one hundred times, costing ten thousand contribution points per hour~!]

“That expensive? I haven’t even taken on any missions yet, so I don’t have any contribution points~!”

“It’s fine, I can lend you some. Besides, your first time using the gravity chamber is free, as long as it’s below twenty-times gravity. Also, new students are all given a thousand contribution points for free upon admission!”

“Oh, I see~!”

“The highest missions in the outer court are only A-rank, so you won’t earn many points by taking them on. Therefore, you’ll still need to get into the inner court. A single S-rank mission can yield over a hundred thousand contribution points~!”

“Understood, I’ll strive to enter the inner court as soon as possible!” Su Han nodded and stepped into the gravity chamber.

Naturally, she chose the lowest-grade ten-times gravity chamber, where the gravity could be adjusted from one-time to ten-times.

When Su Han first entered the gravity chamber, the gravity was set to one-time, so she didn’t feel any particular discomfort, only a slight increase in breathing difficulty compared to the outside world. She then raised her hand and adjusted the gravity to five times its normal force. Instantly, with Su Han at its center, the gravity surged fivefold! The space around her seemed to collapse, the air suddenly grew heavy, pressing down so intensely that it was almost impossible to breathe. An invisible pressure abruptly enveloped Su Han’s entire body.

Su Han felt as if every cell in her body had been filled with sand and stones. Her body abruptly sank, as if she were carrying hundreds of pounds of weight. This sensation of bearing a heavy burden wasn’t confined to her back; every part of her body shared the immense pressure. The tendons and bones in her knees tightened, her heart rate surged dramatically, and her muscles instantly contracted under the crushing gravity.

The invisible pressure of the five-times gravity field forced her body to instinctively adjust. Even standing motionless, she found her breathing significantly more difficult. Had it been the Su Han from before, who hadn’t yet successfully established her foundation, she would likely have collapsed from exhaustion by now. However, for her current self, this was precisely the kind of arduous training she needed.

‘Truly formidable, but I can still endure!’ Su Han gritted her teeth and persevered, resolutely increasing the gravity to ten times its normal force. The invisible pressure squeezed her forehead, as if vowing not to relent until her skull was flattened.

Feeling the overwhelming pressure of the ten-times gravity field, she mused, ‘In a combat environment like this, anyone entering the gravity field would immediately be affected. Their usual strength would be far from fully unleashed, and they would certainly be constrained at every turn in battle. However, this is indeed an excellent place to temper the physical body and stimulate the bloodline—it’s absolutely perfect!’

‘This is only ten-times gravity. How terrifying would twenty-times gravity be? And to think, the highest-grade gravity chamber boasts a maximum of one hundred times gravity!!!’

Su Han truly recognized the terrifying depth of Cangnan Academy’s heritage. She took a deep breath, expelling the jumbled thoughts from her mind.

Her body trembled slightly as the pressure of the gravity field intensified. Su Han’s feet felt as though countless lead weights had been poured into them, making them heavy beyond a thousand pounds. Even her ordinary steps felt like the most dreadful torment.

Under the influence of the ten-times gravity field, it was utterly impossible for her body to leave the ground. It felt as if she were being forcefully pinned down by the colossal palm of a primordial giant, the pressure suffocating her.

Su Han sat cross-legged in the gravity chamber, meditating continuously. Under the crushing gravity, one could clearly see the blue veins on her fair, exposed hands twitching like small snakes, as if they were about to burst through her skin.

“Grow stronger, I must grow stronger! Only by becoming stronger can I survive here; only through constant evolution can I escape this world!”

Beads of fragrant sweat also trickled from Su Han’s fair forehead. One could also see her throbbing veins twisting like coiling dragons, fierce and menacing, seemingly roaring with bared fangs and claws.

An hour passed. Su Han’s skin turned crimson, as if she had reached her limit. Her eyes were so bloodshot they seemed to seep blood, filled with countless ruptured capillaries—a clear sign of oxygen deprivation in the brain.

By the third hour, Su Han finally collapsed to the ground, yet the bloodline within her had undergone another transformation.