Chapter 236: The Second Threshold— Arrival

As soon as Chu-Hua stepped foot on the second threshold, she encouraged me to step forward, telling me that I could do it.

“Come on, if you can get to the second threshold in just one day, then I’ll give you a reward.” She prodded, still wearing the mischievous smile on her face.

Honestly, I don’t know what she wants from me but I think I’ll be sure to know it as soon as we get to the third threshold. No matter what she does though, it wouldn’t shake me off my goal, that is, to enter the Black Spirit Tournament and buy some time from everyone below. I don’t know when they’ll be strong enough to climb to the Higher Plane but one thing’s for certain, they aren’t resting and so I won’t. Some of them, like Zenith, is stronger than me and if I didn’t work my butt off right now, I’m sure she’d surpass me even more.

Beads of sweat trickled on my face from my forehead as I inched my way towards the twentieth step, the Second Threshold. I could feel myself nearing my limits the closer I got to the threshold. I could feel the invisible barrier, pushing me out of the way as I stepped closer. It was like a force field that wouldn’t let anyone in unless his or her power level meets the minimum requirement.

“Whatever, let’s just get through with this,” I told myself, clenching my fists and butt cheeks as I stepped to the second threshold,

BOOM!

It’s as if a battering hit me and once again, I was sent flying out of the Second Threshold as soon as I stepped in. I underestimated the division between the nineteenth and twentieth steps, thinking that the gap would be quite small. But as it turned out, there was quite a leap in the density of the Qi Energy at the twentieth step, thus marking it as one of the thresholds.

I thought that I would get thrown towards the zeroth step and I’d have to climb back up again but fortunately, Chu-Hua was quick enough to catch me. With her arms outstretched, she managed to grab me before I passed the nineteenth step. “Are you all right?” She asked.

While tasting a bit of iron on my lips, I nodded back and forced myself to stand up on the nineteenth step as I regulated my Qi Cores once again. My mind was still fixated on not using any skills and so I didn’t use my Holy Qi Core that much when fixing my slightly uncontrollable Qi Cores. It took longer than ten minutes to eventually return to my ideal state but I made sure to rest on the nineteenth step and continue my cultivation there.

“Are you all right? You took a direct hit back there.” Chu-Hua muttered, sitting down by the second threshold as she watched me cultivate.

“Nice catch. And thanks. That would be a pain if I have to start on the first step again.” I said.

“Hehe, I can do more than just catch you. Don’t worry! I’ll make sure that you get to the Third Threshold before the Black Spirit Tournament, and then you can claim me as your woman.” She continued, twirling her fingers as if to tease me.

Well, she’s just probably saying that to encourage me to keep going up. Kudos to her, I guess.

“You can go on ahead. I’ll be sure to get to the third threshold in a few hours.” I said with resolute confidence. Now that I know the difference between the nineteenth step and the second threshold, I just have to cultivate until I reach the bare minimum and then continue my ascent. This won’t take long, or so that’s what I’d like to believe.

“Nope, I’ve already gone to the third threshold so I don’t really have anything to do right now. I’d rather wait for you here than wait for you up there, you know.” Crossing her arms, she softly denied my suggestion while watching me cultivate as if that was the most interesting thing in the world.

With eyes closed, I proceeded with my cultivation, slowly condensing all of my Qi Cores to stabilize them even more. With my current cultivation level, going to the Second Threshold would just send me flying once again since my Qi Cores couldn’t take the amount of Qi Energy on it. Although condensing my Qi Cores is a bit redundant, I’m an expert at it. There’s no way I’ get bored even though I stay for days on end attending to my Qi Cores.

That aside, I do feel uncomfortable when someone watches me cultivate. That’s why I prefer cultivating in secluded areas or a spot where not many people are present. It’s good training though since I’ve never experienced a prepossessing woman watch me while I cultivate.

Not that I’d say that in front of her face.

“Ah!” Chu-Hua suddenly broke the silence, making me almost lose focus. “You just thought of something obscene, did you?” She coquettishly giggled, leaning her visage closer to mine as if she was about to kiss me.

Fortunately, I’m perfectly aware that she was just riling me up. Otherwise, I’d have flinched and lost my focus on my cultivation. I could feel her soft breath, tingling my nose as she continued speaking in my face.

“I did not.” I answered straight away. “Please don’t stick your face closer to mine. I may be cultivating but I’m not devoid of touch nor emotions.” I continued.

Honestly, if she were to kiss me right then and there, I wouldn’t have whipped my face out of the way. Cultivation comes first after all. I can just worry about her actions later on unless of course, she takes it a little too far. If that were the case, then I’d have to stop my cultivation and address her.

The moment her lips touched mine, I finally finished my cultivation and I’m fairly certain that I can finally take the Second Threshold on. With that in mind, I returned her kiss and stood up. “What are you doing?” I asked as if I didn’t kiss her back.

“Ah! Eh… ” She stammered, touching her lips since she wasn’t expecting my assertiveness.

Hah! Serves you right. You thought I was the one whose guard was down but it was you.

Before she could regain her composure, I stepped towards the Second Threshold. Once again, huge amounts of Qi Energy tried to push me back but I was prepared for it. I tightened my whole body, making me bite my tongue as I fought the Qi Energy Pressure. Just as expected, it really is hard not relying on any of my skills.

I managed to step into the Second Threshold though, so it’s all well and good.

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