Deep in the mountains, within a secluded valley, the last remnants of night faded away. Faint dawn light pierced through layers of thick black mist, spilling over the devastated forest.
For an entire night, Tang San had not rested for a moment since breaking through to level forty-two. Ordinarily, after successfully advancing, Soul Masters would stop to stabilize their Soul Power, mend their damaged meridians, and solidify their foundation step by step to avoid leaving behind irreparable hidden dangers from an unstable cultivation base. But Tang San was now filled with hatred and the obsession to surpass others. He had long stopped caring about such rules. In his eyes, only by growing stronger without pause and breaking through continuously could he wash away his humiliation and reclaim everything that belonged to him.
He sat cross-legged atop jagged, icy rocks, absorbing the dense yin fiend energy of the valley day after day and tempering his Soul Power and body with violent baleful energy. His clothes had long been soaked through with sweat and seeping blood. Fine wounds covered the surface of his skin as violent Soul Power repeatedly tore apart his flesh, only for it to heal over and over through the formidable regenerative power of the Asura origin. Extreme pain continuously ravaged his body, which had already reached its limit, yet Tang San's eyes remained bloodshot and his will as firm as stone. He continued to grit his teeth and endure this cultivation that was practically self-mutilation.
After an entire sleepless night of relentless tempering, the Soul Power accumulated within Tang San had become increasingly vast and profound. The barrier that had held him at level forty-two had been repeatedly battered by the endless torrent of Soul Power and was now extremely fragile, only one step away from shattering.
Within