Chapter 40 I Want to Become an Immortal (Part 9)
As soon as Liu Sheng stepped into the blood pool, the moment the pool water touched her ankles, pain surged like a tide, wave after wave, mercilessly attacking her every nerve ending.
The pool water was bottomless, and soon her entire body was completely submerged within it.
As her whole body was immersed in the viscous, murky blood, Liu Sheng felt as if she was being pierced by countless needles from head to toe; every heartbeat was like a small bomb exploding within her body, the pain penetrating deep into her bones.
Her limbs were in too much pain to make any swimming movements, and she eventually sank uncontrollably, her mouth and nose filled with the taste of blood.
She sank deeper and deeper, as if she was about to die.
Liu Sheng seemed to have sunk to the bottom of the pool, unable to open her eyes at all, the air in her lungs almost completely depleted.
Even Little Tentacle didn't dare to come out, silently seeping into Liu Sheng's bone marrow, saying that if it came out, Liu Sheng would be even more unable to pass.
Could she really die in this first trial?
She didn't know how many times this seven profound token could perform high dimension analysis; what if it was only once? Would she forever miss this opportunity to seek the Dao of cultivation?
Liu Sheng was unwilling.
She wanted to cultivate!
One day, she even hoped to become a Human Immortal, just like Taibai Sword Immortal!
This unwillingness quickly calmed her down; although her entire body still felt like it was being pricked by needles, she gradually regained her Comprehension Ability.
This was only a root bone test for outer Courtyard Disciples to ascend to inner Courtyard, it would definitely not be a death trap. She had just seen at least three inner Courtyard Disciples who had already passed the test, which meant there was still a chance of survival.
But the bone-deep pain made her unable to move, and the despair that almost suffocated her made Liu Sheng nearly fall unconscious from lack of oxygen in her brain.
No, she had to stay awake, and extremely calm!
She recalled the method of divine meditation she had learned before. The Instructor had once said: "The method of meditation involves guarding the mind internally, quietly contemplating and finding peace. Observe one's heart, and with no distractions, the spirit will naturally become clear. Over time, one may even reach the realm of communicating with spirits."
Indeed, although she couldn't communicate with spirits, she sometimes used meditation and breathing exercises to calm herself when she felt irritable.
So she stopped her futile struggles and very naturally began to meditate; although she couldn't breathe here, at least her mental state needed to be there.
It could be said that perhaps due to Liu Sheng's high Comprehension Ability, her speed in entering a meditative state was among the best in the academy. Therefore, before the root bone test, everyone thought Liu Sheng was truly a heaven-sent genius.
Furthermore, carrying the seven profound token, it resonated with the meditation method, allowing her to smoothly enter a deep meditative state of complete mental tranquility.
Unexpectedly, the pain in her body gradually became less unbearable because of this. It wasn't that the pain disappeared, but rather that this pain was shielded by Liu Sheng from her mind, allowing her to calmly observe it from an outsider's perspective.
Liu Sheng finally managed to control her hands and feet, slowly swimming towards the surface.
As she swam, she could clearly sense that the pain in her body originated from a type of energy in the blood pool that was seeping through her pores into her body, corroding her skin, muscles, and finally her internal organs.
As that energy moved through every inch of her muscles, Liu Sheng's Physical Body was decaying, slowly revealing the bones beneath her muscles.
By the time she surfaced, she had become a skeleton wearing clothes.
It seemed she had swam up for nothing; she no longer needed to breathe.
Although the entire process was horrifying, Liu Sheng's mind remained as still as water, not allowing her spirit to waver in the slightest.
When Liu Sheng no longer had muscles to obstruct her view, she could finally see what that energy moving beneath her muscles and above her bones was.
She looked down, and although she didn't know what organ she was using to see, it turned out to be countless leech-like blood-red creatures, densely wriggling on her bones, all of them swollen and distended from being engorged, their outer skin stretched so thin it was almost transparent, revealing bright red blood plasma beneath.
I'm not flustered at all, I'm not scared at all, I'm still alive, I'm an emotionless skeleton, Liu Sheng constantly reassured herself.
After one round of reassurance after another, once these leeches had crawled over Liu Sheng's bones, they suddenly exploded with a series of "Papapapapa" sounds, creating a mist of blood that obscured Liu Sheng's vision, making her unable to see anything.
Liu Sheng subconsciously raised her hand to wipe her eyes, then wiped her face.
Wait, she had a face!
Her hands could touch her soft cheeks again!
And her hands were fleshy too.
She opened her eyes and saw that her hands were covered in blood, but at least they had skin and flesh covering the bones.
Looking at her body again, it was no longer in the skeletal state it had been just now.
Moreover, she didn't know when, but the pain had completely disappeared.
What on earth was going on?
Liu Sheng couldn't figure it out yet; she decided to swim ashore first.
By now, a man and a woman were sitting by the edge of the pool, both looking shaken.
Liu Sheng also sat to the side, her clothes soaked in blood, dripping wet, and emitting a bloody smell, which made Liu Sheng's scalp tingle uncomfortably.
After Liu Sheng, another man swam up.
After that, there were no more figures in the blood pool, only some floating and sinking white bones.
"It seems the others didn't pass the test, which is regrettable," the female Instructor said, looking at the remaining people. Her eyes indeed showed regret, but it was probably regret that not everyone had been annihilated.
"To test the root bone, one naturally has to peel back the flesh to see the root bone. The sooner one finishes the test and recovers their Physical Body, the more superior and clear their root bone is. Some people, their root bones are just too poor, it takes forever to see them clearly." The female Instructor kindly explained, and at the last sentence, she gave Liu Sheng and the last man a particularly deep look.
"Of course, those whose root bones are extremely poor, who don't even have the possibility of Immortal Ascension, naturally don't need to continue living," a male Instructor beside her said with a chuckle.
The other Instructors also laughed heartily.
"Today's Ascension Examination has concluded. Your root bone conditions have been recorded in your respective seven profound tokens." The female Instructor performed a hand seal, and words reappeared on Liu Sheng's and the others' seven profound tokens.
Liu Sheng looked down:
Name: Yao Sujin
Age: Nineteen
Identity: Seven Profound Academy Inner Courtyard Disciple
Time of Entry: Tianhe Twenty-Third Year
Courtyard: Xichun Dormitory Ugly Twelve
Root Bone: Inferior
Comprehension Ability: Unknown
Cultivation: None
Liu Sheng hadn't expected Yao Sujin's root bone to be so poor, but at least she passed the test. She would see what came next.
As Liu Sheng followed the other Disciples, dragging her tired body outwards, the female Instructor's voice suddenly sounded in her ear: "Heh heh, you wouldn't have made it either, but you've practiced Divine Sense, haven't you? You actually managed to endure it."
"You are someone I've taken a liking to. As long as you come to Qingxu Hall, I will claim you. Don't be afraid!"
The voice was so close it was as if she was speaking right next to her ear, gentle and intimate like a lover's whisper.
Liu Sheng looked up in surprise, but saw that the others seemed to have heard nothing. She figured this was a sound transmission technique, likely because the female Instructor was displeased that she hadn't died in the first trial.
But from it, she vaguely caught some information. She didn't pay it any further mind, nor did she look back, walking straight away.
Seeing Liu Sheng's reaction, the female Instructor was displeased, her coldly smiling face shrouded in the darkness as the Qingxu Hall gate closed behind the departing crowd.
Liu Sheng exited Qingxu Hall and saw a solitary figure in the distance, descending the jade steps one by one. It was the inner Courtyard Disciple who had just entered; it seemed only one person had survived.
That person, like them, was completely soaked in blood, which dripped from the bottom of their clothes onto the white jade steps, like countless red plum blossoms blooming on snow.