“Over a hundred meters?” Stout and Judge both exclaimed upon hearing his words.
“Yeah.” Keith Bowman responded.
“Elder Bowman, are you telling me that this entire pool of water is filled with the essence of heaven and earth?” Judge continued. “Since there’s so much, why only allow forty people here? We should bring everyone from the town and take turns receiving the baptism.”
Keith Bowman and the four elders all coughed at the same time.
“This young man is joking!” Keith Bowman composed himself and continued, “Although this water pool is named the spiritual spring, not the entire pool is filled with the essence of heaven and earth. The water you see now is pale green because the essence of heaven and earth has been greatly diluted. The deeper you go, the greener the water becomes and the higher the concentration of the essence of heaven and earth. Within a range of thirty to forty meters below the water surface, it doesn’t have much effect on War God-Emperors. For Sovereign martial artists, they have to dive sixty to seventy meters deep to receive the baptism of the spiritual spring.”
“Damn!” Soul Chaser exclaimed, “Elder Bowman, are you saying that we have to dive sixty to seventy meters to get any effect?”
“It’s not necessary to reach that depth, but the effect will be minimal, probably not what you desire,” Keith Bowman responded.
Soul Chaser clicked his tongue.
“After you enter the water pool, do your best to dive as deep as you can using your abilities,” Keith Bowman then looked at the group and continued. “Then, activate your cultivation techniques to absorb the essence of heaven and earth, and resurface periodically to change your breath. Once you feel that your body has reached its limit, you can come ashore.”
Everyone nodded simultaneously.
“I want to emphasize one thing – do your best, but don’t force it!” Keith Bowman spoke again. “When you’re underwater, no one knows your condition, so it’s all up to you.”
“Understood!” They nodded once again.
“Lord Dragon, lead everyone down, while I and Elder Guzman wait for you up here.” Keith Bowman then looked at Billy.
“Alright.” Billy nodded and looked at the group, “Let’s go down! Remember Elder Bowman’s words, do your best!”
“Got it!” Harleen, Casey, and others responded loudly, their eyes filled with enthusiasm.
After Billy finished speaking, he plunged into the water. Without any hesitation, the other thirty or so people followed suit and jumped in.
After entering the water pool, Billy took a moment to adjust to the temperature before taking a deep breath and diving down. Initially, as a Sovereign martial artist, he could use his chi energy to repel water and stay dry. But doing so would also keep the essence of heaven and earth out, so it wasn’t an option.
After a while, Billy estimated that he had reached a depth of fifty meters. He could clearly feel the essence of heaven and earth entering his body through every pore, making him feel comfortable all over. As the depth increased, the water became greener, and visibility decreased. Billy closed his eyes and relied on his spiritual power to sense his surroundings. However, the coverage of his spiritual power was limited within the the spiritual spring. He could feel that the spiritual energy here was several levels denser than above. Every pore on his body seemed to be in an unusually active state, greedily absorbing the surrounding nutrients.
Billy had originally wanted to continue diving, but he quickly dismissed the idea. After all, he had plenty of time and there was no rush. Instead, he suspended himself in the water and activated the Heart Sutra of the Azure Void to receive the baptism of the essence of heaven and earth. If someone were watching him now, they would surely be jaw-dropped by the scene before them. The previously relatively still water soon formed a vortex around Billy, and its speed increased, as if there was an external force pulling him. At the same time, the color of the water around him continued to change. The dark green water soon turned into a light green color. Then, the water flow further away followed the vortex towards his body, diluting the dark green color once again. And so, the cycle repeated.
This process was obviously caused by Billy continuously absorbing the essence of heaven and earth, but his absorption speed was ridiculously fast. At this rate, it wouldn’t take more than two or three days for the entire pool of water to be diluted into clear water. This was related to his awakened golden bloodline. After awakening his bloodline, his body underwent a rebirth, reaching a near-perfect state in all aspects. Therefore, his absorption speed of the essence of heaven and earth was far higher than others.
Boom!
After about four or five hours, a violent momentum burst out from Billy’s body, causing the entire pool of water to churn. Those who were deep in their closed-door cultivation couldn’t help but open their eyes. Everyone knew that someone had made a breakthrough. Unexpectedly, this disturbance was much more than they thought.
And as everyone suspected, Billy did indeed break through. Originally, with his cultivation of a Half-Step Ninth-rank Sovereign, after crazily absorbing a large amount of the essence of heaven and earth, Billy’s body surged to the next level beyond his control.
Soon, when the water flow calmed down, Billy began to float to the surface.
“Lord Dragon, did you break through?”
After Billy surfaced, Milo Guzman curiously asked, with Ernest Shepherd and Otis Hum looking over as well.
“By luck!” Billy smiled lightly as he walked out of the water.
“Congratulations, Lord Dragon!” everyone, including Keith Bowman, spoke up together.
“Thank you!” Billy replied with a smile.
“Lord Dragon, your body is different from ordinary people. Your absorption speed of the essence of heaven and earth is far higher than others.” Keith Bowman continued. “If nothing unexpected happens, within two days at most, you should be able to successfully break through again and become a Saint Realm powerhouse!”
As a genuine Saint Realm powerhouse, Keith Bowman could see that Billy’s body was different from others.
“No hurry!” Billy smiled lightly. He knew that if he really let go completely, he wouldn’t need two days. Perhaps in another day, he could break through. However, in that case, he estimated that he would consume more than half of the essence of heaven and earth in the pool alone, which was not what he wanted. His goal was to use the spiritual spring to help the people around him grow as quickly as possible, so that they could assist him in showcasing his abilities in the polar Domain.
Afterward, after greeting a few people, Billy sat cross-legged on the side. He had just broken through to the Ninth Rank realm and needed some time to consolidate his cultivation.
Time flew by quickly, and before he knew it, seven days and nights had passed. During this period, people surfaced one after another to replenish their breath, and there were occasional disturbances in the water, clearly caused by breakthroughs. The color of the water in the pool had also become much lighter. The water surface, down to thirty or forty meters, had completely turned into clear spring water.
“Elder Bowman, has anyone reached the bottom of this pool?” Billy asked him one afternoon.
“No one!” Keith Bowman shook his head in response. “I’ve tried before, but I could only go down to around one hundred and forty to fifty meters and couldn’t continue.”
“Is it because of water pressure?” Otis Hum asked.
“Water pressure is only one aspect, but it’s not the main one. It’s because when I dived to that depth, I felt an inexplicable force stopping me from going further down. I’ve tried two or three times, but every time I reached that depth, no matter how much force I exerted, I couldn’t go any deeper.”
“Oh?” Billy paused for a moment.
Even a genuine Saint Realm powerhouse couldn’t reach the bottom, which made him even more curious about this pool.
“I’ll go down and try!” After a brief thought, Billy stood up and walked towards the pool.