Stars dotted the night sky. A crescent moon hung clear and cool, its light filtering through dense leaves and speckling the quiet forest.
Di Ya Lan and Hu Long were patrolling outside. Zhao Xin leaned against a tree trunk, breathing evenly with his eyes closed as he rested.
Luo Hao stood beside another ancient tree, his eyes narrowed slightly. It seemed he had never let down his guard.
Mu Yu Die slept quietly among the thick leaves of the ancient tree Luo Hao leaned against. She had been on the move all day and, unable to use even a trace of essence, had long since reached her limit.
Every so often, Luo Hao glanced up at Mu Yu Die among the leaves. A tenderness rarely seen in him showed in his eyes.
"Tap, tap!"
Luo Hao furrowed his thick brows and looked at Shi Yan, who was walking over. "You're not resting yet?"
"Mm." Shi Yan nodded and replied softly. He stopped beside Luo Hao and asked in a low voice, "Wouldn't it be hard for them to find us here?"
"Definitely." Luo Hao smiled. "There aren't any fixed routes here, and demonic beasts are always roaming around. Martial Artists are active all over the place, too. It'd be hard for the people from Dark Nether to tell which traces were ours. Here, we should actually be more wary of the demonic beasts and those adventuring Martial Artists."
"So they won't find us that easily." Shi Yan thought for a moment, then asked, "Uncle Luo, does releasing your gravity field use up a lot of essence?"
"Why do you ask?" Luo Hao was taken aback.
"I want to use your gravity field to toughen my body. Under the gravity field, I'll have to withstand immense pressure, which can strengthen my body. I want to find out what my limits are." Shi Yan spoke earnestly. Deep down, he couldn't stand a life of dull routine. He found nothing appealing about nothing but hard cultivation and wanted something thrilling, something exciting.
"Using the gravity field to train yourself..." Luo Hao's eyes lit up, and he nodded. "That's a good idea. But are you sure you want to try? What if the enemy suddenly shows up when you're completely drained? You wouldn't be able to fight back at all."
"I'm not planning to use essence." Shi Yan smiled.
"Training your body alone?" Luo Hao stared at him in disbelief.
"Mm."
Luo Hao furrowed his brows deeply. Only after a long pause did he speak. "You've only just broken through into the Innate Realm. Taking your time to get used to your body and tempering it appropriately is certainly the right thing to do. But you've never strengthened your body before, and you want to start training with a gravity field without using essence. That kind of insane intensity... can you handle it?"
"I want to try," Shi Yan said calmly.
"Fine! Come with me." Luo Hao nodded and quietly headed farther away. Shi Yan followed in silence.
After the two slipped away, Mu Yu Die slowly opened her eyes amid the ancient tree's dense foliage.
Watching them by the small river in the distance, Mu Yu Die's beautiful eyes filled with shock and confusion. She murmured, "He's only just broken through into the Innate Realm, and he dares train under a gravity field? Is that guy crazy?"
The more Mu Yu Die thought about it, the stranger it seemed. She couldn't get back to sleep. Driven by curiosity, she nimbly slid down from the tree and stealthily crept toward Shi Yan and Luo Hao, wanting to see what they were up to.
"I'll start with five times normal gravity. Even Martial Artists in the Postnatal Realm can only withstand five times normal gravity after specially tempering their bodies. Know your limits. If you feel your body can't take it, stop the strenuous movements immediately."
After Luo Hao stopped, he added, "It's your first time trying this. To start, run circles around me without using essence. If you can make it ten laps, you'll have gotten used to it. Remember, know your limits!"
As soon as Luo Hao finished speaking, a violent surge of energy suddenly erupted from his body.
In an instant, gravity around Luo Hao soared to five times normal! The space beside him seemed to collapse. The air suddenly weighed down, pressing so hard that it was almost impossible to breathe.
An invisible force suddenly enveloped Shi Yan from head to toe!
Shi Yan felt as if every cell in his body had been packed with sand and stone. His body sank sharply, as though he had a hundred kilos strapped to his back. The tendons and bones in his knees tightened, his heart raced, and his muscles clenched beneath the weight.
The invisible pressure of the fivefold gravity field forced his body to adjust instinctively. Even standing still, he could feel his breathing growing much harder.
It really was powerful!
Shi Yan's heart skipped a beat as he felt the fivefold gravity press down from all sides. In a battle, anyone who entered Luo Hao's gravity field would immediately be affected. They wouldn't be able to use even a tenth of their usual strength, and Luo Hao would have them on the back foot at every turn.
And that's only five times normal gravity. How terrifying would ten times be?
Shi Yan realized just how frightening this kind of Martial Spirit was. He took a deep breath, drove the jumbled thoughts from his mind, then let out a low growl and suddenly began running circles around Luo Hao.
As soon as he moved, the pressure of the gravity field intensified. Shi Yan's legs felt as if they were filled with countless lumps of lead, weighing a thousand kilos. Running, the simplest thing he did every day, became the most agonizing ordeal.
Under the fivefold gravity, his body could barely leave the ground. It was as though a giant's iron hand had pinned him down, squeezing the breath from his lungs.
After one lap, Shi Yan's speed dropped by half.
After three laps, his speed halved again.
By the fifth lap, Shi Yan wasn't running anymore. He was barely walking...
On the sixth lap, Shi Yan's face flushed bright red. The veins on his bare arms trembled like little snakes, as if they were about to burst through his skin.
On the seventh lap, Shi Yan looked like a beast, his eyes so bloodshot they seemed ready to spit fire. He was showing signs of oxygen deprivation.
By the eighth lap, Shi Yan was staggering. Every step seemed to take every ounce of his strength, and his body shuddered each time his foot hit the ground.
At last, Luo Hao couldn't bear to watch any longer. He barked, "This is your first time training under a gravity field. Don't push yourself so hard! You've reached your limit! That's enough! Stop! If you keep going, you might exhaust yourself to death!"
Shi Yan raised his head, his eyes red as if they were oozing blood. His voice was hoarse. "Heh, now it's getting interesting. Let's keep going!"
Luo Hao gaped at him, with only one thought in his mind: This kid's crazy!
In the bushes not far away, Mu Yu Die covered her little mouth, her face full of shock. It was as if she were seeing Shi Yan for the first time.
Shi Yan didn't waste any more words on Luo Hao. After another low growl like a wounded beast, he kept marching forward, bent at the waist, his veins trembling across his face. He made it around for one more lap.
On the final lap, Shi Yan swayed from side to side. Every time his foot landed, he trembled, as if he could collapse at any moment, as if he might draw his last breath in the next instant!
Even so, step by step, he completed another lap. As he finished, an oddly satisfied smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Luo Hao snapped out of his daze. Seeing that Shi Yan still hadn't collapsed, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to withdraw the gravity field before speaking to him.
Mu Yu Die clamped both hands over her mouth. Her beautiful eyes were filled with disbelief. She had never imagined that Shi Yan, only in the Postnatal Realm, could actually complete such an extreme challenge.
"Another lap," Shi Yan suddenly barked.
"What?" Luo Hao's body jolted. His eyes sharpened like blades as he roared, "That's enough! Don't do anything reckless!"
But before Luo Hao could withdraw the gravity field, Shi Yan began walking again. His body swayed every three steps, and halfway around, he finally pitched forward onto the ground.
Luo Hao was about to call out, but then he saw Shi Yan moving forward on all fours, crawling like a demonic beast. It seemed he was determined to get himself killed.
It took Shi Yan a full half hour to slowly inch his way to the finish, like a snail.
Mu Yu Die stared at him blankly from the bushes, her mind completely blank.
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