"I still couldn't grasp the method. Master gradually lost his patience and began harming himself. He wouldn't let me sleep and forced me deeper into the Forbidden Zone."
"For seven whole days and nights, my soul and body seemed to have separated. My eyes began to see strange scenes. It was as though great holes had opened throughout the city, with writhing roots and boundless darkness beyond them."
"The terrifying things he'd made me visualize began appearing around me. I couldn't touch them, but I could feel them watching me constantly, always wanting to steal my body and control everything about me."
"Later, I passed out in the Forbidden Zone. When I woke up, I was already back at the Martial Arts Hall. Master had lost an arm. He said it had happened while he was saving me."
"All my fellow disciples respected Master immensely. Some thought he shouldn't have done so much for me. Only Master himself was happy. He told me I'd broken through to the Fourth Martial Path Realm—Intent Through the Heavenly Cycle. My internal breath, will, and body were perfectly united, working in seamless harmony, endlessly sustaining one another."
"Everyone thought Master took such good care of me that I ought to be grateful, but none of this was what I wanted. I was willing to repay him, but definitely not like this."
"After returning from the Forbidden Zone, my mind grew increasingly abnormal. I could see all sorts of terrifying things ordinary people couldn't. They just kept staring at me, while I ate, while I slept. I felt that the moment I closed my eyes, they would draw closer until they burrowed into my body."
An Luan was in immense pain as he spoke.
"I was the only person in the Martial Arts Hall who'd