Chapter 100: Triple Gravity

After Xiao Nan learned the extent of the little girl’s progress with sword practice, he became reflective.
So talent, he realized, was indeed graded by levels.
With the Bronze Mirror at his side, he felt that even if something strange happened, he would no longer be surprised.

After Xiao Bei learned the Three Swords of Spring and attained the Fusion Realm, he was also able to draw out qi.
That there had been no apparent qi infusion into the body, no visible increase in blood-and-qi amplification training, was likely not due to incorrect practice, but rather to her level of comprehension not yet being high enough.
It was possible her physical constitution was not yet qualified.
Of course, it could also have been due to her spiritual realm.
In any case, he did not want to dwell on it.
She was only in the first year of middle school, still too young. For now, there was no need to force things of blood and mind; as her strength grows, it should all improve.

After lunch he rushed the little girl to school, then resumed swallowing Vital Breath Grass and practicing the Mind-Intent Body-Forging Art.
His blood-chi value was rising a little faster than before.
At first, he had worried that once he finished the herb he would still fail to reach the 5.0 threshold.
Now, with the Three Swords of Spring directly drawing in qi to temper the body, his blood-chi had risen more quickly; with both methods combined, he should reach the limit soon.

Half a stalk of Vital Breath Grass, used to clear away the Yin-Cold force and restore his body, took two days.
The remaining one and a half stalks took him a full six days to digest.
On the ninth day he finally felt a deep, filling sense of satiation in his body.
Both body and mind possessed a power he had never known before.

That day he returned to Four Seasons Sword Hall.
Last time, the owner, Jiang Yu, had handed him a card and said he was welcome to train there at any time,
including in the simulated otherworld practice chamber.
Training all day at home, one person locked in alone without any reference, could never be perfected.
Tomorrow was the school blood-chi exam, and he wanted to come to the hall and unify everything he had learned.
Even when a lion hunts a rabbit, it is correct to exert every ounce of strength.

“Thank you for your trouble.”
“Not at all, not at all. Student Xiao Nan, slots in the training room are very limited. Qi recovers slowly inside, so it is only open six hours a day.
Five hours have already been used today. You have one hour, so please watch the time.”
The service attendant said with a politely ingratiating tone.
There were bright sparks in her eyes.
She had seen both the duel at the hall and Jiang Yu’s invitation afterward.
She clearly understood that the young man before her, though not yet an elite disciple of Four Seasons Sword Hall, was only temporarily so—
if he accepted, his standing would soon surpass that of Jiang Lin, Deng Sifang, Tong Xinjie, and the others.
With that thought, her manner toward him became unusually warm.
Besides, the boy’s features were striking and his air was congenial; one could not keep one’s eyes off him.
And he had a pleasant voice.
Even if his ability was lacking and his prospects dim, it was still no harm to look at him a little longer and speak with him.

“Very well.”
Xiao Nan answered with a smile.
He had no special feelings for the girl opposite him.
If she wanted to steal glances at him, that was only natural; one glance would not make him lose an ounce of flesh.
He stepped into the training chamber and pressed the gravity-control key as instructed.

A low hum sounded.
The room’s atmosphere shifted, and his body felt as if a great boulder had been set upon it.
It was not only the external weight; veins, muscles, and even internal organs felt a downward, tearing force at their most delicate points.
His head swayed faintly, and only after three seconds did he recover.
Triple gravity was a tremendous burden indeed.

At first Xiao Nan only guessed at it, but suddenly he understood why the Martial Arts University set the passing line for the blood-chi examination at 3.0.
A normal person with triple-strength physique was required to withstand the gravitational suppression of the other world.
With less than that, entering the other world would risk rupturing blood vessels.
One could hardly talk then of ferocious combat trials soaked in blood.

He drew two heavy breaths and carefully felt the density of qi around him.
It seemed, in the scorching heat of summer, to be like submerging in cool lake water—refreshing in a way words could not hold.
The flow of blood in his body slowed, and he could hear his heart beating with force.
As his intention turned, blood and qi moved in tidal waves through his limbs and marrow;
he could almost feel his skin tighten and his pores contract.
His muscles, too, tightened and relaxed of their own accord.
In that environment, he even felt an inexplicable urge to lash out with arms and legs.
It was the will to live, the instinct of evolution.
He needed no analysis to understand: environmental optimization was of immense benefit to cultivation.

“No wonder masters keep appearing in the other world.
Simply living under triple gravity can already make one’s bones firm and muscles powerful.
Add to that everywhere the dense qi in the air, and even a warlike boar could become terrifyingly fierce.”
The thought of a boar made Xiao Nan remember the book of strange beasts that Zhang Xiaorou had bought, which indeed included accounts of boar-headed men.
He shook his head involuntarily.
Though boar-headed brutes were not highly ranked—listed only as First-Rank Savages—they still held a great advantage over ordinary humans.

After adapting a while to the gravity, Xiao Nan began moving his body and then practicing swordwork.
In this environment, the Three Swords of Spring offered him fresh understanding, and even the vitality within him seemed stronger.
His blood tides also moved more actively.

He withdrew his spirit, pictured starry skies and a bright moon, and gradually forgot self and object alike.
His body bent and writhed on its own, rising and falling, breathing long and forceful.
Wave after wave rolled through his muscles, through bone and viscera.
Qi seeped from the air and into him, slowly strengthening marrow and channels.
In such surroundings, the advantage of the Forgetting state became all the more efficient.
Once the mind issues the command, quieting the spirit until there is no ripple and reaching a selfless state,
the body can continue physical training in its best condition without exhaustion.
He no longer worried that fluctuations of thought would agitate qi circulation into tremors.
This mattered greatly for the speed of Mind-Intent Body-Forging practice.

Human disposition is strange: at all times it can recall endless things.
One thought appears, and ten thousand follow like shadows—rising, falling, never ending.
Even when one reaches a state of spiritual concentration and gathers everything into a single thought, some trace of thinking still remains.
That thread of thought can affect the forging effect and prevent it from being perfect.
In Forgetfulness, by contrast, one forgets even the last remaining thought; the body enters a state beyond self, and the forging effect multiplies.
In that dim inward space, the moon in his mind slowly dissolved.

When he came back to himself and gauged his condition, he found his blood rolling like polished pearls, qi moving lively and smooth, and his body a little harder.
He could feel skin and muscle tense; once tightened, they were rock-solid.
“At this point,” he thought, “I am clearly already on the path toward advancing as a First-Rank Warrior.
By Zhang Shu’s own words, the quickest shortcut is this: build on the foundation of Mind-Intent Body-Forging, take medicinals inwardly, and forge through external striking.
Only then can skin and muscle transform quickly.
It is a pity I have not yet broken into the Fetal-Breathing Realm.
I have heard that once one reaches that stage, the spirit drives blood and qi, the body breathes on its own like an infant,
and the world qi comes in waves like the tide, washing skin and muscle clean.
At that point, even external striking-forging can be omitted.
With the spirit guiding qi, heaven and earth as the hammer, blood as the furnace, and the body as the anvil, nature itself hammers one’s flesh.
It could break through the skin-and-flesh barrier within a single day and night, break past the First Rank, and reach a state of body like stone, impervious to spears and swords.”

As he noticed time nearly running out, he thought of the sword puppet Jiang Yu had mentioned and cast his gaze to the corner.
There indeed stood a puppet.
Its whole body was white as jade, made of some unknown metal, shaped like an ordinary human.
In its hand it held a long sword, standing silently in the corner.
Xiao Nan, recalling the attendant’s guidance, pressed another switch on the room console.
A red light shone from the puppet’s eyes and it awakened.
A pin of red light fixed on Xiao Nan; with a series of dull thuds, the puppet rushed forward with sword in hand, coming in to stab.
Its blade intent was fierce, bloodthirsty.
“This is the Blood-Dripping Ten Forms.”
Xiao Nan’s hand trembled slightly as he swept out a blossom of sword-light and intercepted the strike.