At dawn, when the first ray of sunlight shone upon the sea, Hai Ming was already tied to the stone pillar. He would not waste even a minute. If Bo Saixi had not needed so little time to send him back, he might not have gone home to rest at all.
"Teacher, I think I can make it through six hours today. What do you think?"
Before the first wave arrived, Hai Ming actually still had the mood to chat with Bo Saixi.
"If you can make it through six hours, then I'll make the decision: once you pass your fifth trial, I'll give you a Soul Bone. A very good one."
A faint smile curved Bo Saixi's lips, like delicate snow beneath the blazing sun, leaving Hai Ming invigorated!
For a Peak Douluo to call it "very good," the Soul Bone Bo Saixi intended to give him had to be of an extremely high grade!
A hundred-thousand-year one was not impossible!
But why after the fifth trial?
Since the trials were carried out one by one, Hai Ming did not know what came after the third trial. Perhaps Bo Saixi knew through the Sea God's guidance; otherwise, she would not have said that.
Huff!
Taking a deep breath, Hai Ming began adjusting his breathing, synchronizing himself with the waves. At the same time, he did his best to relax his body. After so many days, he had discovered that when his body was balanced on the threshold between relaxation and tension, the waves had the best effect in strengthening his muscles!
After several hours of wave impacts, Hai Ming's face had turned somewhat pale. Every muscle in his body was twitching, and he had nearly reached his limit!
"Huff... It's been six hours! Push a little harder. One more second is still one more second."
Hai Ming gritted his teeth. He could no longer freely control the tension and relaxation of his body, and his soul power was nearly exhausted. He could only passively endure the waves' assault.
[The next wave will be the first wave of the sixth hour. Be careful!]
Since the third trial began, Kyogre had seemed to be asleep. Even when Hai Ming complained to it, it had never replied, yet today, it unexpectedly gave him a warning.
"Be careful of what?"
Hai Ming froze for a moment. At the same time, the hundred-meter-tall wave crashed into him!
Buzz!
Boom!
An nonexistent roar made Hai Ming spit out a mouthful of blood. His vision went black, stars exploded in his mind, and he completely lost control of his body. He fainted on the spot!
A blue light descended onto Hai Ming, calming the raging sea as it pulled him back to shore.
At that moment, Hai Ming felt like a grain of sand swept by a violent wind into a boundless sea. The endless impacts gave him no chance to recover his senses!
Bo Saixi sighed. She took a small jade bottle from her robes, gently flicked her hand, and poured out a tiny golden pill. Placing it into Hai Ming's mouth, she raised her voice slightly as she instructed him.
"Don't swallow it. Meditate and recover!"
Her voice carried a trace of soul power that struck Hai Ming's mind, causing his muddled thoughts to hitch for an instant. Seizing that brief pause, the golden pill in Hai Ming's mouth released a fragrant scent before flowing into his mind and soothing his injuries.
N-No... I can't... I can't swallow it...
Hai Ming struggled to sit cross-legged. His vision was still completely dark, but he could think again.
Closing his unfocused eyes, Hai Ming began Meditating. The round object in his mouth steadily shrank, and once it had diminished by roughly half, Hai Ming let out a soft breath and recovered!
"I almost died!"
Hai Ming spat out the pill in his mouth. Its fragrance cleared his mind, and it felt as though all five of his senses had been enhanced.
Bo Saixi watched Hai Ming stare at the sea with lingering fear and shook her head helplessly. She handed him the bottle she held.
Hai Ming took a look. There were nineteen golden pills left in the bottle, each twice the size of the one he had spat out. More accurately, the one he had spat out was half the size of those inside.
"This should help me pass the third trial, right?" Hai Ming shook the bottle, his gaze thoughtful as he looked at the golden trident emblem on it.
On Sea God Island, worshipping a statue of the Sea God or painting images of the Sea God was perfectly fine, but no one used the trident symbol. So, were these pills in his teacher's possession bestowed by the Sea God?
"This third trial actually set a trap for me!"
After thinking it over, Hai Ming felt rather helpless. He had originally thought the third trial only tested endurance. He had not expected the Sea God to so deviously include a test of spiritual power as well!
Hai Ming was no fool. Without any warning, he had been overwhelmed by spiritual power as vast as the sea. Was that not precisely the process of tempering spiritual power?
Fortunately, the Sea God only wanted to temper Hai Ming's spiritual power. If it had been a malicious expert proficient in spiritual power, Hai Ming would have either died or become an idiot.
"Is this third trial supposed to be completed by both my soul and body? It really feels like the Sea God is in a hurry..."
Hai Ming had ten thousand curses he wanted to blurt out, but when he looked at his teacher before him, he swallowed them back down.
So what if he was being toyed with!
Who hadn't been toyed with when they were young and weak?
Hai Ming was a man who had survived even after his father slipped up and dropped his own son straight from above his head!
(A true... true story!)
How could such a tiny setback possibly stump him!
Still, although his body had not reached its limit today and his spiritual power had recovered well, Hai Ming did not intend to return to the sea. After all, he had just had his head smashed with a hammer; he needed time to recover.
The next day, Hai Ming climbed onto the cross-shaped pillar again like a warrior walking to the execution ground. This time, rather than focusing all his attention on controlling his body, he nurtured his spiritual power and waited for the Mental Shock after six hours!
To ensure that he could withstand that first Mental Shock, he had Meditated all night. Before climbing up, he had even placed the half-used pill in his mouth.
"This time, it should really be foolproof!"
Six hours later, Hai Ming looked at the wave that blotted out the sky and tried his best to spot the difference from before. Unfortunately, he was too weak and could not see anything.
Boom!
The Mental Shock came again, and Hai Ming's face turned pale. This time, he was prepared. The instant the wave touched his body, his tongue pushed the pill down his throat. The mental recovery brought by the pill, combined with the spiritual power he had saturated through a night of Meditation, barely allowed him to withstand this first wave!
Pfft!
Hai Ming spat out a mouthful of golden Divine Blood. Slowly raising his head, he broke into a grin, a trace of smugness in his eyes!
"I saw it!"
He had seen it!
Behind the waves, there was a man radiating golden light, as vast as the sea itself!
Woohoo, I ended up playing myself to death today, so I had no time to update One Piece~ I can only take a leave...
But as for how I managed to play away all my time... I can't say that!
Before you continue