The Shock of the Gravity Training Room

Time slipped quietly by like sand through fingers as Lin Xiao immersed himself in the ocean of knowledge.

Another half month passed.

During this time, the second floor of the Library Pavilion had practically become Lin Xiao's second home. Like a sponge parched for hundreds of millions of years, he crazily absorbed every bit of nourishment here.

Unlike the basic and shallow cultivation methods and Martial Skills on the first floor, the tomes on the second floor were undoubtedly far more profound and mysterious. Whether it was techniques for using Spiritual Energy or understanding the changes within moves, everything had risen to an entirely new level.

Lin Xiao lost himself in them every day, utterly intoxicated. The number of Human-Tier Mid-Grade cultivation methods and Martial Skills recorded on his system panel grew by the day, rapidly climbing from just a few to over a hundred.

A vast sea of knowledge converged, collided, and fused within his mind, bringing his understanding of the word "cultivation" to an unprecedented height. He was no longer merely imitating and learning; he had begun trying to comprehend the fundamental truths behind every cultivation method and Martial Skill, casting away the dross and retaining the essence, drawing inferences from one instance to understand another.

This progress was astonishing.

Yet the price of progress was the rapid depletion of merit points.

Entering the second floor of the Library Pavilion required a hundred merit points each day. The "vast fortune" he had won from Wang Chen and the others melted away like snowflakes in just half a month, once again reaching rock bottom.

"My merit points aren't enough again..."

That evening, when Lin Xiao was stopped outside the Library Pavilion because he lacked sufficient merit points, he finally realized the severity of the problem.

Living off one's reserves would never be a long-term solution. He had to find a stable, efficient way to earn merit points.

On his way back to the dormitory, he pondered while flipping through the Academy Beginner's Handbook, which he had long since studied thoroughly.

Before long, one place caught his attention.

Gravity Training Room.

This was a special cultivation facility built by the academy at enormous expense, with the aid of formation masters. Ancient Great Earth Magnetic Arrays had been inscribed within, capable of simulating gravitational environments ranging from two to ten times normal gravity.

Cultivating under gravity could not only greatly temper the body and hone the sinews and bones, but also test a cultivator's precision in controlling their Spiritual Energy. Under high gravity, even the simplest movement consumed several times more physical strength and Spiritual Energy than usual. For cultivators in the Body Refinement Realm, it was an outstanding sacred ground for auxiliary cultivation.

What attracted Lin Xiao most, however, was the reward system of the gravity rooms.

To encourage students to challenge their limits, the academy had decreed that anyone who broke the cultivation duration record for students of the same level in a gravity room would receive an exceedingly generous reward in merit points!

"This is the place."

A bright gleam flashed through Lin Xiao's eyes.

His body had been reborn and remade through the Earth Core Body Tempering Milk. Its toughness had long surpassed that of cultivators at the same level. Coupled with the theoretical foundation of the thousand-plus body-tempering cultivation methods in his mind, the gravity rooms were practically a stage tailored specifically for him!

Early the next morning, Lin Xiao did not go to Yellow Class Nine for roll call. Instead, he headed straight for the Gravity Training Tower at the heart of the cultivation district.

It was a gigantic tower built entirely from obsidian, five stories tall and suffused with a heavy, oppressive aura. People constantly came and went before the tower, making it exceptionally lively. Nearly every elite student of the outer academy was a frequent visitor here.

Lin Xiao's arrival immediately stirred up quite a commotion.

"Look, isn't that Lin Xiao from Yellow Class Nine? What's he doing here? The gravity rooms are exclusive to students of Earth Class and Heaven Class. What's a Yellow Class student doing joining the fun? Heh, he probably got a taste for showing off at the Mission Hall last time and came to seek attention again. He really doesn't know the height of the heavens or the depth of the earth. Gravity rooms aren't something you can handle with a few petty tricks!"

The discussions laced with mockery and disdain clearly reached Lin Xiao's ears. Yet he turned a deaf ear and walked straight to the registration desk.

The person in charge of registration was an older student at the Body Refinement Sixth Level. Seeing Lin Xiao's class information, he raised a brow and said lazily, "Yellow Class? Kid, did you come to the wrong place? The minimum charge here is fifty merit points per hour. Are you sure you want to enter?"

"I'm sure." Lin Xiao nodded. "Open a five-times-gravity training room for me."

"What?!"

The older student suspected he had misheard. The students around them, who had been listening with pricked ears, erupted into uproar.

"Five times gravity?! Is he insane?! Don't new students usually start with twice gravity to adapt? Even geniuses like Su Yue and Shi Lei only dared challenge three times gravity on their first visit! Is this guy so desperate to stand out that he doesn't even care about his life? Under five times gravity, if his Spiritual Energy runs dry, his body will be crushed into pulp alive!"

Facing everyone's shock, Lin Xiao remained calm. "Is there a problem?"

"N-no problem." The older student found the calmness in Lin Xiao's gaze rather unsettling. As he handled the registration, he sneered inwardly. Reckless fool. Just wait until you cry later.

After receiving the key to his training room, Lin Xiao entered the training tower under the crowd's idiotic stares.

He quickly found his room—Profound Room Thirteen.

Pushing open the heavy door forged from refined iron, he found an empty stone chamber of roughly a hundred square meters. Faint earthen-yellow runes glimmered across the walls and floor.

As the door slammed shut with a rumble, an incomparable, terrifying pressure instantly swept in from every direction, acting upon every cell in his body!

Five times gravity!

Lin Xiao felt his body sink sharply, as though an invisible mountain had been placed upon his back. His blood flow slowed at once, and breathing became difficult. Had it been an ordinary cultivator at the Body Refinement Fifth Level, even standing steadily beneath this pressure would have been extremely difficult.

Yet a trace of enjoyment appeared on Lin Xiao's face.

"This is the feeling..."

He could clearly feel that the sinews, bones, and flesh remade by the Earth Core Body Tempering Milk felt no discomfort beneath this immense pressure. Instead, they seemed to have received some kind of nourishment, emitting excited hums!

Slowly, he began performing a basic body-tempering fist technique in the center of the room.

At first, his movements were somewhat stiff and slow. But as time passed, he gradually adapted to the pressure. The essence of over a thousand body-tempering cultivation methods in his mind flowed like trickling streams into every one of his movements.

His fist technique became increasingly smooth and unrestrained.

After one hour, he had not only completely adapted to five times gravity, but even felt that this level of pressure could no longer effectively temper his body.

"Time to add some 'seasoning.'"

Lin Xiao walked to the control panel in the center of the room and, without hesitation, adjusted the gravity coefficient to "six"!

Boom!

An even more terrifying pressure crashed down!

Lin Xiao's body suddenly dipped, his knees bending slightly as his bones let out strained cracking sounds.

But he merely took a deep breath. The Spiritual Energy within him surged like a rushing river, circulating with a roar. Beneath his jade-white skin, a faint precious radiance flowed.

Before long, he adapted once more.

Then came seven times gravity!

The light screen at the registration desk outside the training tower clearly displayed each room's user information and gravity coefficient.

At this moment, nearly everyone stared fixedly at the entry belonging to Profound Room Thirteen.

"One hour! That guy actually lasted one full hour under five times gravity! H-how is that possible?! Wasn't the highest record for a new student under five times gravity set by Qin Wushuang of Heaven Class, at half an hour? He broke the record! A Yellow Class student broke the record of a Heaven Class monster!"

The crowd completely exploded.

Yet this was only the beginning.

Just when they thought Lin Xiao had already reached his limit, the "five" representing the gravity coefficient on the light screen suddenly flickered and changed into a glaring "six"!

The entire place fell deathly silent.

Everyone stood there like ducks with their necks wrung, mouths hanging open but unable to make a sound.

Then, beneath their already numb gazes—

That number changed again.

"Seven"!

"Seven times gravity... Th-this has already tied the highest record of every Body Refinement Realm student in the outer academy!" the older student in charge of registration said in a trembling voice. The jade token in his hand fell to the floor with a clatter.

And the person who had created that record was none other than the current publicly acknowledged number one of the outer academy, Xiao Lang, who was about to break through into the Origin Opening Realm!

At this moment, in a top-tier training room on the fifth floor of the tower, where eight times gravity was activated and only a handful of people in the entire outer academy were qualified to enter—

Xiao Lang stood bare-chested, drenched in sweat, struggling to withstand the terrifying gravity powerful enough to flatten steel.

Just then, the communication jade talisman on his wrist suddenly began vibrating violently.

Somewhat impatiently, he connected it, only for Li Mo's panicked voice to immediately ring out.

"Brother Lang! This is bad! Something huge happened! That Lin Xiao... Lin Xiao, he... he tied your cultivation record under seven times gravity!"

"What?!"

Xiao Lang's heart shook violently at those words. His breath faltered, and he could no longer maintain his balance. With a thud, he was crushed face-down onto the ground by the terrifying gravity!

Ignoring the searing pain throughout his body, he abruptly raised his head. His handsome face was filled with savagery and disbelief.

"Lin. Xiao."

He forced the name out from between clenched teeth, one word at a time. The killing intent in his eyes grew so intense it seemed almost tangible.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiao, at the center of the storm, knew nothing of it.

Under seven times gravity, he finally felt a trace of genuine pressure. Every cell in his body was repeatedly compressed and tempered beneath that force, then shattered and rebuilt!

He could feel his physical strength rising madly at an unimaginable speed!

He even had a premonition that if he cultivated here a while longer, he might be able to touch that legendary realm—the Physical Body Extreme Realm!

"Still not enough!"

Manic fighting intent blazed in Lin Xiao's eyes.

He walked to the control panel again and extended a hand that trembled slightly with excitement.

Then, beneath the nearly petrified gazes of thousands outside the training tower, the "seven" that represented the outer academy's highest record slowly, yet incomparably firmly, flickered once.

It became—"eight"!

At that moment, it was as if the entire world had lost its voice.