Chapter 26: You have overstayed your Use.
The girl's writhing stopped. Her body became limp and simply hung from his hand. The pond's water began eating through the layer of Void Qi he covered his hands in. Though the process was tough, thanks to its nature. He threw the girl onto the fleshy floor.
"Your assessments were correct. Mostly-"
"Just wait a bit. Within ten or so minutes her body will start automatically absorbing the harmful qi and purifying-," Elrand interrupted.
Long Wei raised a palm to stop his burst of information. He knelt and kept his eyes focused on the anomalies occurring within her meridians. Every minute detail didn't escape his eyes. From the trickle of harmful qi through her pores and into her nine nodes, to the purification process that occurred at a snail's pace within her meridians. The harmful qi never reached the Mindscape Barrier located within her mandala. The Mindscape Barrier was something bordering between corporeal and incorporeal that existed within every cultivator's body as with a cultivator's Nine Heaven Nodes and the meridians. It was the gate to the Mindscape so to speak.
Soon the purified qi started escaping her body like cascades of water on a waterfall. With a thought, the purified qi slithered through his pores went through the nine nodes, and finally entered his meridians. He pushed it through his meridians through the barrier into his Mindscape. His Nascent Soul took over, guiding the qi into the hilt floating in front of it. The hilt vibrated in joy as more qi flooded into it.
"Your constitution is far too weak to directly absorb the purified qi from his hody. So you need to use a pill? Am I right? " Long Wei asked as he continued absorbing the qi directly from the girl's body.
"Yes. The qi that comes from the liquid purification process has remnants of the pond's ability to paralyze a Heavenly Door cultivator in seconds. The alchemical process was able to grind out that remnant power. Though my Dao in Alchemy is far too weak to comprehend the process, " Elrand said.
"What stage is your Alchemy at? "
Elrand reached into his pocket and pulled out a bronze badge with two stars.
"Only a Two-Star Mortal Alchemist? "
All the effort he put through, and the alchemist he was hoping to meet was nothing more than a Two Star Mortal Alchemist? With that level of Alchemy, Elrand didn't even qualify to be a herb boy in the Imperial Alchemy Department. He dragged a hand right through his hair and bit his lip. As he did, the last of the purified qi gushed out of the girl's body. Her pendant glowed and her figure disappeared.
"A disappointment. Can you even be called an Alchemist? "
An arrow struck Elrand's heart. The Dao of Alchemy was vast and endless. When placed on an objective difficulty scale, Alchemy was close to the top. Like most things it was easy to start, but almost impossible to master. Only one person was given the title of Master of Alchemy, and that was the current leader of the Saint Alchemy Association. Throughout the countless Chaos Cycles and Eras, he was the first to truly master the Alchemic Dao. The fact that he became a Two Star Mortal Alchemist in less than thirty years proved his talents for the art, yet Wei dared to call him a disappointment. They truly lived in different worlds.
"Don't bother explaining yourself," said Long Wei the moment Elrand's lips quivered.
There was a total of thirteen bodies left in the cavern after the series of battles. Ten were the Fullreach Academy students that survived, two being Elrand and Oliver, and the last being the scared girl constantly clinging to Oliver. Based on the feedback he gained from the girl that recently exited the trials, he could gather enough qi to squander for the next few days without touching his reserves. But that would be bad usage of what he observed. A technique. He could create a simple Qi Conversion based on the principles he saw using his Heaven Shrouding Eyes.
His foremost theory was that for the paralysis effect of the water to take place, the water needed to freeze over one's mindscape or fill it. Once it did, it gathered the harmful qi from the atmosphere like a spirit magnet. And forced it into the meridians where it purified the qi and pushed it outwards.
What if he simply absorbed the water and restrained it close to the vortexes using the Void Dragon Arts? First, he needed to gather enough qi to squander. Use that qi and activate his Heaven Shrouding Eyes to the max, and see the liquid's effect on the Mindscape. Then only would he have enough information to create a spirit qi Absorption technique suitable for this environment.
There had to be countless more ponds. Even if there were only three throughout the system of caves. Once he had that much liquid he could theoretically absorb the harmful qi without having to touch his reserves. It was obvious that most of the Transcendent Talents could figure out a technique or two to purify the harmful qi. But none of them had the advantages he had: Void Qi. Void Qi at its peak could absorb all things. His Saint Realm cultivation heavily limited its capabilities, but even in its limited form, few could compare to it.
" Alright. We had a wonderful chat. I've learned a lot. Though I'm sad to say that you do not qualify to breathe the same air that I do. Only Elrand over there has the potential. If he was let's say, an Eight to Nine Star Mortal alchemist. So work hard, " Long stood up and clapped his hands.
The crisp crack of his palms slapping into each other shook the cavern. Chunks of flesh and some of the stalactites crashed into the floor. He stopped.
"What do you mean? " Elrand's voice squeaked out his lips.
Oliver just gave a wrathful glare, realizing what Long Wei meant. He blamed himself for his idiocy earlier. But that didn't mean he was going down without putting in his last words. He popped four Blood Ignition pills into his mouth.
His skin redden in an instant as the Flaming hot energy reached his nine nodes and seeped into his meridians. He channeled the Celestial Gorilla Arts to the best of what he could manage. His robes burst apart as each Fibre in his body bulged to countless times their original size. Alresia flew back from the instantaneous burst of Force slamming into a stalagmite. Elrand shielded himself using his robes. Through it did little. The Flaming force singed his face and shot him against a thick flesh pillar that jutted to the cavern ceiling.
Oliver didn't let the pain get to him. As long as he beat Wei he could worry about recovering later. He still had nine recovery pills left. The qi wreaked havoc through his meridians, he had no choice but to let it all out.
The cavern rumbled. Bits of flesh rained down from the ceiling. Long Wei wasn't having it. A few seconds ago he let him posture around with his attacks. Thirty of the Forty students were forced to exit the trial because of that. Then he didn't know that they'd be vital. But now. He knew.
"Celestial Gorilla Arts: Heaven Breaker! " he bellowed.
Oliver bellowed and struck the air once with his fist, building the required moment for the next part of the technique. His qi had built up to the ultimate technique he planned on keeping as a trump card: Heaven Breaker. His figure disappeared in a flash, appearing on Long Wei's left side in an instant. He threw a flurry of punches, fueled by all the qi he mustered with the aid of the Blood Ignition pills. A million punches smashed against the left side of Lonh Wei's face in less than a decisecond. An attack that was bound to blow off any other unguarded cultivator's head off did little to Long Wei. The immense force behind the attack didn't even force him back.
He wrapped an olive hand around Oliver's fist, cutting his Heaven Shaker technique with little ease. Using his hand, he lifted him into the air and tossed him into the pond.
When Long Wei's hand wrapped around his fist, Oliver felt oddly afraid. It was as if a Primordial beast left the confines of its territory to terrify the new beasts that never learned of its fearsome reputation. Space seemingly obeyed Long Wei and froze him in his place. He felt like prey. Simple as that. He couldn't disagree with that. Next, he noticed his body shuttle through the air. Then cold seeped into him. Only then did he feel his robes and the water. He didn't regret his decision. At least he tried.
The damage he should have caused to the cavern was no way to be seen. All he saw were the other students still wailing in pain.
"Tell the Lecturers at Fullreach Academy that Long Wei is displeased with the way they are teaching."
"Why? "
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Unholy_Dragon_God
Unholy_Dragon_God You may have noticed my week updating stability this week. A lot happened: I moved to a new place, had blackouts and my phone is on the cusp of breaking. This means I'll need to be close to my laptop to write which might be slower than usual. So that ends this Sunday, I'll return to normal with the Daily Updates.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone