Chapter 233: Qi Energy Pressure

Reaching the first threshold in just a few hours was unheard of and it became the talk of every Gulong Household member who hasn’t reached it. They were shocked to see that such an ‘under leveled’ cultivator managed to reach the first threshold without difficulty… if only they knew, they’d probably reach the first threshold in a snap of a finger.

Upon reaching the first threshold, I met at least five cultivators who were staying in it. I didn’t bother asking their names since they seemed too tired to even speak. They occasionally stole glances at me before going back to whatever they were doing.

To give details as to what the first threshold looked like… well, it’s just a small lodging house where cultivators can rest for the night. It’s a pit stop in every sense of the word.

Every ten steps up the Qi Energy Ladder is a threshold, and from what I heard, the higher thresholds are better than the lower ones. With that said, however, I have no way of comparing the first threshold to the other thresholds since I haven’t seen them.

As I said before, the first threshold was like a boarding house wherein anyone who got there could stay. It can easily fit fifty people, more or less. And, it’s complete with a kitchen and dining area, a living room area, two separate bedrooms which could fit at least a dozen cultivators, and a common area where everyone could relax. I decided to go to the common area to take a breather. I wanted to scroll through the System Shop just so I could waste some time. Now that I have enough Shop Coins to buy anything I want in the System Shop, not to mention the three shop tickets I have at the moment, I decided to just keep it on hold for now. I’ll just spam the purchase button once I maxed out the System Level and unlock everything in the System Shop.

“Oh, a new face.” Someone called out, handing me a bottle of what seemed like wine but smelled like coffee. “Where are you from? Which branch?”

“Um… ” I trailed off, unsure what to answer. “I just got here, Yan Sun personally recruited me.”

“By that you mean… you’ve arrived two months or so ago, right?” He asked.

Now that I got a good look at him, I realized that the man who was addressing me was twice my height. But the most notable feature he had was his bald head.

“No, what I meant by that was… I just got here a few hours ago.” I told him.

A series of chuckles erupted from the other cultivators in the first threshold as they waved their hands in rejection of my statement. Although I was serious when I said that, they still thought that I was joking. But then again, there’s no point in trying to prove anything with these bunch. Heaving out a sigh, I continued scrolling through my System Shop.

That’s when I felt it.

Before I could shield myself from the potential danger that I sensed, it already hit me right through my Qi Core. Blood came out of my mouth as internal bleeding ensued. It only took a split second for me to realize that the bald man began pressuring me with his Qi Energy, oppressing me without reprieve.

Fortunately, I managed to erect a Qi Energy Barrier all around me with the help of Hui-ying and the System. There’s no time to relax however since my Original Qi Core and my Virus Qi Core were severely damaged. I immediately accessed my other Qi Core while cultivating the two broken ones. I know for a fact that if I were to leave these two Energy Qi Cores unattended, a strong outburst of Qi Energy would explode from within my body, shattering me into little pieces with instant death.

Sweat trickled on my forehead as I tried to stabilize my Qi Cores, maintain the Qi Energy Barrier, and fight through the pain caused by the intense pressure that almost flattened me to the ground. This was the first time I felt my life threatened with just mere Qi Energy pressure. Seriously, I’m not ready for this. Why am I even here in the first place?

Oh right, I did it to buy some time for the Sky Knights and my allies. I wonder how they were doing.

The expression on the bald man’s face turned sour after seeing me get comfortable with the pressure he was releasing. I could see his brows furrowing as he unleashed more pressure, which turned out to be effective. The next thing I knew, my barrier was disintegrating and I only had a split second before the Qi Energy Pressure hits me and I die with my body exploding that would be a gross way to die, to be honest.

“You leave me no choice,” I said underneath my breath as I called out to Yinghua and my Astral Lion. I didn’t want to do this but the situation called for it. Besides, they’d probably be gravely injured as well if I were to die right now. After all, they’re strongly connected to me.

By a stroke of good luck, Yinghua the Quetzalcoatl and the Astral Lion responded to my beckoning and they gave me enough Qi Energy to solidify my Qi Energy Barrier. The bald man continued bearing down on me as time went on, but my Qi Energy Barrier just won’t budge anymore, thanks to the Mythic Beasts that helped me out.

Pretty soon, the bald man used his maximum Qi Energy Pressure and the cultivators around him felt it in an instant. A few spectators started watching the entire ordeal. They were probably wondering how someone like me with low cultivation could defend against an Astral Realm Cultivator. They were intrigued, to say the least, since their expression was that of worry and amazement.

“Rutger, you should probably stop it. The kid didn’t do anything to you.”

“Yeah, aren’t we all part of the same household here, you should stop before you do something irreversible.”

“Wait until Yan Sun hears about this.”

Hearing the threats and the placid manner of everyone’s speech made Rutger rethink all his actions. At first, he just wanted to test out whether the Heavenly Realm Cultivator (which is me) was not lying about what I said. But when I proved my statement with my strength, he started losing his temper.

“I-impossible.” He stammered, finally releasing me from the bondage of his Qi Energy Pressure. “J-just how?”

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