The plan to build "Lin Fan's Exclusive Hypergravity Training Room 1.0" injected a shot of adrenaline into the entire Capsule Corp.
Bulma had shaken off the dejection that had plagued her while searching for materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill. She was now fired up, spending all day shuttling between the lab and the engineering department as she directed a massive team through design, feasibility studies, and material procurement.
All kinds of strange, oversized machine parts began arriving in a steady stream at the enormous laboratory, which had already been designated the "Gravity Test Zone."
Lin Fan temporarily set aside tending his flying sword and searching for materials, making full use of the resources at hand—primarily the highly efficient Modern Multi-functional Spirit Energy Reactor and the automated production line Bulma had optimized.
Body Strengthening Pills and Qi Recovery Powder rolled off the production line like candy.
Lin Fan didn't hold back, treating the pills as "jelly beans" for his daily cultivation.
Aside from tending his flying sword and studying the basic spells in the Great Dao Source Scripture at set times each day, he spent nearly all his remaining time meditating and refining the pills' medicinal power.
The results were obvious.
With an almost unlimited supply of pills, the True Qi in his body, which had been at the middle Qi Refining Stage, surged and grew more concentrated at an unprecedented rate.
What had once been a trickle of True Qi gradually became a babbling brook, then a surging river that raced through his meridians, producing the increasingly distinct sound of tides—one only he could hear.
His skin grew smoother and more lustrous. A glint of light shone deep in his eyes whenever he opened them, and his every movement took on a natural, effortless harmony.
His five senses grew sharper. He could even faintly sense the brain waves given off by Bulma and the engineers as they discussed the Gravity Room's design in the distance, though he couldn't understand their technical jargon.
The range of his spiritual sense also expanded considerably, allowing him to perceive subtle changes in the energy around him more clearly.
The sensation of his cultivation rising so rapidly was truly intoxicating.
Several weeks passed in the blink of an eye.
One day, as usual, Lin Fan took double doses of Body Strengthening Pills and Qi Recovery Powder, then sat cross-legged in his quiet room and circulated the Great Dao Source Scripture with all his might.
The immense medicinal power dissolved and surged into his meridians like a flood bursting through a dam. His cultivation method swiftly refined it into pure True Qi, which flowed into the already vast, rushing river within him.
The True Qi circulated faster and faster, completing cycle after cycle without end.
At last, when the final surge of new True Qi merged perfectly into the river, his entire True Qi system seemed to reach a state of perfect saturation.
Hum!
Lin Fan's body trembled slightly. The ceaseless river of True Qi within him gradually slowed, becoming exceptionally heavy and concentrated. It flowed through his broad, resilient meridians like liquid mercury, perfectly rounded and flawless, with no room left to grow.
An unprecedented sense of power and fullness welled up inside him.
Every movement seemed to hold the strength to shatter stone monuments—though in this world, he might only manage to smash a brick.
Qi Refining at Perfection!
Lin Fan slowly opened his eyes. A tangible gleam flashed deep within them and vanished. His aura was perfectly controlled, his cultivation having reached the peak of the Qi Refining Stage!
He gently clenched his fist, feeling the heavy, unceasing power within him. It was more than ten times greater than before!
If he faced Giran again now, he was confident he could easily win using nothing but his physical strength.
However, that sense of power didn't last long.
When he tried to guide his immense True Qi toward the Foundation Establishment threshold described in the Great Dao Source Scripture, he encountered an invisible obstacle.
The barrier seemed intangible, yet it was incomparably resilient!
His vast True Qi slammed against it like waves crashing against a reef. The attack was imposing, but it failed to budge the barrier in the slightest. Instead, the rebound made his blood and qi stir faintly.
Once, twice, three times...
No matter how he drove his True Qi—even at the cost of burning through the pills' medicinal power—the barrier remained utterly unmoved.
The force of his repeated attempts only left his True Qi somewhat disordered, while a dull ache spread through his meridians.
Lin Fan had no choice but to stop at once and slowly calm his churning blood and qi.
Frowning, he sank into thought.
The Great Dao Source Scripture clearly stated that after Qi Refining at Perfection came the Foundation Establishment threshold.
To break through, one had to shatter the barrier with overwhelming force and reshape one's Dao Foundation.
He was certain that he had accumulated more than enough True Qi—far more than the scripture described as typical for someone at Qi Refining at Perfection. Why couldn't he even make the barrier yield a little?
Was his accumulation still insufficient?
No. He felt he couldn't advance any further. Was his state of mind lacking?
He felt his Dao heart was clear, with no hindrances.
Was he using the wrong method?
There was nothing wrong with his method of attacking the barrier.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind—could it be the difference in the world's rules?
He was cultivating immortality in the Dragon Ball World!
The laws of nature and the very essence of energy in this world might be completely different from those he had known in his previous life, or even from those described in the Primordial World in the Great Dao Source Scripture!
Perhaps the True Qi he had condensed in this world hadn't reached the required "quality" to break through to the next stage.
Or perhaps this world's "Heavenly Dao" demanded more for Foundation Establishment.
It was like forging a weapon from materials of different purities: the finished pieces might have the same size and weight, yet differ vastly in strength and toughness.
His True Qi had reached the required "quantity," but its "quality" might still need work.
And improving its "quality" couldn't be achieved by simply piling on more pills. It would require deeper tempering and insight.
A bottleneck had appeared.
And for now, he had no idea how to overcome it.
Just then, Bulma's excited voice rang out from the lab next door. "Lin Fan! Lin Fan! Come here! The Gravity Room's main frame is finished! It's super cool! Come try out the basic mode!"
Lin Fan composed himself, temporarily setting aside his frustration over the bottleneck, and got up to join her.
In the center of the once-empty test area stood a gigantic silver-white metal cube. Complex energy conduits and heat vents covered its surface, giving it a distinctly futuristic look.
The hatch opened, revealing a spacious interior. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all covered in a special flexible cushioning material.
"What do you think? Cool, right?"
Bulma proudly patted the cold metal casing. "For now, it can hold steady at three times gravity. We're still tuning it to handle higher levels! Why don't you go inside and see how it feels? Maybe it'll help with your 'energy circulation'?"
Lin Fan looked at the "cultivation abode" built just for him, then thought of the bottleneck he had just encountered. A thought stirred in his mind.
Perhaps this Gravity Room was the key to improving the "quality" of his True Qi.
He nodded, drew a deep breath, and stepped inside the Gravity Room.
The hatch slowly closed behind him.
Outside, Bulma pressed the start button on the control panel.
"Gravity setting—three times Earth's standard gravity! Starting!"
Hum—
A low rumble sounded.
Lin Fan suddenly felt his whole body grow heavy!
It was as if several layers of heavy iron armor had been thrown over him in an instant!
Every cell sent a pained wail to his brain! His breathing grew labored, and even his blood seemed to flow sluggishly.
Even the perfected True Qi within him, which had surged like liquid mercury, slowed several times over and became incredibly difficult to circulate.
Enormous pressure bore down on him from every direction, threatening to crush him to pieces!
Yet a flash of delight crossed Lin Fan's eyes.
This was exactly what he needed!
Extreme external pressure was the perfect catalyst for tempering True Qi and improving its "quality"!
He gritted his teeth, ignoring his body's protests and the sluggishness of his True Qi. He circulated the Great Dao Source Scripture with all his might, guiding his now incredibly heavy True Qi through its cycles, laboriously and bit by bit, in the hellish three-times gravity.
Every cycle was agonizing.
But with each one, his True Qi seemed to grow a little more concentrated.
The bottleneck seemed as though it might finally give way.
Outside the Gravity Room, Bulma stared at the monitor. Lin Fan's vital signs and energy readings had changed drastically—though she couldn't make much sense of them, the shifts were intense—and she jumped in alarm.
"Hey! Lin Fan! Are you all right? You look awful! Should you come out?"
Lin Fan's muffled voice came from inside, strained but tinged with excitement.
"It's fine..."
"Keep going..."
"...This is great!"
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