Chapter 98: Chapter 90 Enlarge_2

“Anyway, that person said the boost is very strong, hence he sensed the presence of Martial Arts Will.”

The two chatted a bit more, then the person left.

Zhou Leng looked at Xu Qingjin’s leg and said, “Are you planning to heal first or directly participate in the challenge?”

“I want to rejuvenate my energy first,” Xu Qingjin replied.

“I’ll take a short nap too,” Zhou Leng said, taking out two camping mats from the Magic Spirit Bag, laying them on the ground, which had been collected along the way.

Zhou Leng covered Xu Qingjin with a thin blanket and said, “You sleep first, I’ll chat with Molten Hammer.”

“Okay.” Xu Qingjin glanced at the other mat beside him and lightly nodded.

Zhou Leng chatted with Molten Hammer for a while before returning.

The dim light of the old phone screen shone on Xu Qingjin’s face.

Xu Qingjin was charging the phone with a power bank while browsing materials related to Divine Text.

“Are you studying Divine Text?” Zhou Leng asked.

“Yeah, a few days ago the instructor asked us to decide whether to follow the martial or scholarly path. I’m really not good at fighting, so after discussing with my mom, I chose the scholarly path. I’m trying out several fields including Pills, Divine Text, Demonization, and languages, but haven’t decided yet.”

“What’s your own thought?”

“My humanities grades are good, but my science grades are terrible. Pills and Demonization require scientific and engineering thinking, so I’m thinking of going for the Divine Text or Alien Race language route.”

“As long as you like it,” Zhou Leng said.

“What’s your view?”

Zhou Leng thought for a while and said, “Alien Race language is important, given that humanity will increasingly interact with different realms. But the problem with regular languages is that after reaching a certain level, they’re not very useful.”

“Divine Text is different, after all, it’s a cultivation language. Many Divine Text researchers may not be strong in combat, but their own power increases with Divine Text research.”

Xu Qingjin nodded and said, “Yes, I think the same. I now prefer the Divine Text path.”

“I’m also learning Divine Text.”

“Ah? Really? Then we can study together,” Xu Qingjin said, showing happy excitement.

“Once we’re out of here, let’s find a fixed time each week to study Divine Text together at the school library.”

“Okay!”

“Sleep then.”

“Mm.”

The two lay on the adjacent mats, looked at the sky, and slowly closed their eyes.

Fights were forbidden within the aperture, ensuring peace.

Upon waking up, Zhou Leng and the others took Advanced Marching Pills and Ten-Perfection Pill, lined up, and used the white Spiritual Light to participate in the challenge.

“Welcome, child…”

“You will face harsher winters, lonelier nights, and deeper sea bottoms…”

Zhou Leng’s vision turned from darkness to light, finding himself on vast snowy grounds.

Ahead, mountains appeared dark, distant barren trees swayed lightly, the cold wind roared, the wind howled, and the sky was filled with swirling snowflakes.

At first, Zhou Leng felt a bit cold, but it quickly dissipated.

“Why is it different from what was said, why is the coldness so mild.”

Zhou Leng sat cross-legged on the snow, observing his surroundings, contemplated briefly, and emptied his mind.

Errant thoughts continuously assaulted, constantly discovered and eliminated these thoughts, continually emptied his mind, cycling in such a way.

Soon, Zhou Leng felt drowsy and didn’t resist, naturally sitting as he fell asleep.

Upon waking, he sat upright among the snow again, clearing his mind of nuisances.

Only by doing so could he combat the lengthy monotonous time.

Day and night cycled, seasons changed, and time flowed.

Year after year.

Zhou Leng remained unmoved.

“Congratulations, child, for completing the First Layer of the Land of Extreme Cold…”

The scenery changed before him, Zhou Leng found himself on an ice mountain, surrounded by vast ocean.

The ice mountain floated, drifting with the waves.

From within the sea, giant black shadows occasionally emerged.

Lingering fear hung over Zhou Leng’s heart.

Initially, Zhou Leng felt indifferent, but day after day and year after year, the pressure from various black shadows slowly swimming in the darkness intensified.

This pressure wasn’t natural, but rather an additional oppression.

This oppression not only came from large objects but also magnified weaknesses within the heart.

No one is without fear.

But some can face fear directly.

Zhou Leng felt his inner fear magnified, trying every means to combat it, but with little success.

The fear even began to affect his physiology, causing erratic breathing and chest tightness.

Zhou Leng thought for a moment and reused his previous stubborn trick.

Visualizing Elder Tree.

In Zhou Leng’s consciousness, a giant Frost Giant Tree appeared, starry lights swirling around it, roots reaching countless universes.

Unexpectedly, his fear of the ocean and giant objects began to dissipate.

Zhou Leng sat alone on the ice mountain, amidst the ocean, yet his spirit roamed the starry sky, visualizing the Frost Giant Tree.

As the stars shifted and time passed, an unknown number of years went by, and the voice of the Celestial Ladder sounded again.

“Congratulations, my child, on completing the second trial in the Land of Extreme Cold…”

The iceberg melted, and Zhou Leng slowly entered the sea, submerging completely.

Endless darkness, the bone-piercing seawater, overwhelming water pressure, shadows in the distance, and the unknown world…

Multiple fears weighed heavily on Zhou Leng, making it hard to breathe.

The cold, once intangible, gradually intensified.

After a long while, Zhou Leng sensed a faint light from below — a beach, and he secretly let out a sigh of relief.

With a rumble, the sea floor collapsed, forming a deep black hole, vast and endless.

Zhou Leng’s body, drawn into the black hole, descended slowly.

An indescribable fear of the deep sea assaulted Zhou Leng’s spiritual will.

An invisible giant hand tightened around Zhou Leng’s throat.

At first, Zhou Leng could endure, but soon realized that his fear was being slowly magnified.

Double fear, triple fear… tenfold fear, elevenfold fear… a hundredfold fear, a hundred and onefold fear…

When it reached a hundredfold, Zhou Leng’s eyes widened.

In the depths of his mind, a massive shadow slowly wandered.

In his Martial Arts perception, his meridians were slowly freezing.

His blood vessels were gradually being crushed by the water pressure…

Fear materialized, transforming from illusion to reality.

Just as he was about to give in, the phantom of Martial Arts Will within his mind quivered gently, dispersing the fear.

Zhou Leng took a deep breath.

Then, the fears of the deep sea, cold, water pressure, giant creatures, darkness, and solitude… all surged again in waves.

And they continued to grow larger.

After being magnified a hundredfold, fear once more transformed from illusion to reality.

An invisible force clutched Zhou Leng’s heart.

Zhou Leng wanted to close his eyes but found them unresponsive, everything around was vividly etched in his sight.

Two hundredfold fear, three hundredfold fear…

On a spiritual level, this fear surpassed even the thousand cuts of the first layer of the Gate of Purgatory.

Even for the Innate, enduring it might be impossible.

Zhou Leng had no other means. He had tried all the methods from the Miscellaneous Collection of Zhao Dongjun.

Some methods were indeed effective, but due to his lack of power, they were useless.

Zhou Leng could only grit his teeth and forcefully visualize the Frost Giant Tree.

While witnessing the terrifying unknown world, he imagined the Frost Giant Tree.

In the starry world, the giant tree was eternal.

Zhou Leng finally stabilized on the brink of collapse.

His body continued to sink into the dark abyss.

Physical pain could become numb, but spiritual fear was relentless.

Fortunately, the magnification of fear did not remain at a thousandfold.

After persevering for a while, it returned to a single-fold and gradually increased.

Uncertain of how much time passed, Zhou Leng felt his Martial Arts Will becoming stronger through this unending forced tempering.

Before a hundredfold fear, he was almost unaffected.

Without relying on visualizing Elder Tree, reaching this level would be far off.

With each wave of fear, Zhou Leng’s inner fear slowly diminished while his Martial Arts Will grew stronger.

“Congratulations, my child, on passing the third trial…”

The voice reappeared.

Although Zhou Leng originally felt nothing towards this voice, now it seemed as familiar as seeing family elders.

The test of magnifying fear was utterly inhumane.

He would rather endure a thousand cuts than face such mental torment.

Zhou Leng suspected that if the magnification of fear existed within the Gate of Purgatory, it would undoubtedly be on a high level.

Suddenly, he noticed a crystal drop-like ice crystal falling from the void, its surface faceted like a diamond.

Passing through the top of his head, it entered the depths of his consciousness.

Boom…

Zhou Leng felt his consciousness explode, fluctuating between hot and cold, his body trembling.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the abnormality dissipated.

Within the depths of his consciousness, there was now a small mountain, a foot high, entirely transparent.

It was the shadow of the Mountain of Martial Arts Will.

Zhou Leng’s eyes shone brightly; he had finally formed the initial Martial Arts Will, taking a significant step forward even if it was just a shadow.

Many Martial Artists spend their entire lives unable to condense the Mountain of Will.

The ice crystal droplet floated above the mountain of will, slightly smaller than before.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep