Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

Chapter 168 Gravity Chamber Seclusion Cultivation, Breathing Technique

Whoosh!

Water splashed everywhere.

Xilun emerged from the pool.

He was shirtless, and his once thin and sallow body had undergone a dramatic transformation.

At this moment, his shoulders were broad, and his muscle lines were as perfect and smooth as an ancient Greek sculpture, with every inch of his skin seemingly containing explosive power.

The faint black "coiled dragon" pattern was faintly visible between his skin and flesh, exuding an indestructible and solid feeling.

What terrified Marshall most was the aura emanating from Siron.

If Xilun before entering the water was like a dagger hidden in its sheath, occasionally revealing its sharpness, then Xilun now emerging from the water is a primordial whale that has just swallowed the entire deep sea and is now coldly looking down at its prey!

Xilun has absorbed all the essence and energy from the bottom of the ice pool.

His breathing was steady and deep, and with each exhale, the surrounding air seemed to vibrate.

He slowly turned his head, his gaze piercing through the rising mist, and landed on Marshall, who stood frozen on the shore.

The instant Xilun opened his eyes, a pale red light of data surged forth from the depths of his pupils like a waterfall, and panel prompts, visible only to him, continuously refreshed on his retina:

[Skill: Sea Whale Guidance (Tier 3)]

[Progress: 770/1000]

"You—you're still alive?!"

Marshall's voice was shrill and distorted with extreme shock and fear. He pointed at Siron, his fingers trembling uncontrollably: "This is impossible! Three hours at the bottom of the pool—how could you possibly do that!"

Xilun did not answer immediately. He took long strides and waded through the cold pool water, walking step by step toward the shore.

With each step he took, a faint ripple would spread across the water beneath his feet, a sign that his immense inner strength was unconsciously overflowing.

Reaching the shore, Xilun casually picked up the shirt he had folded earlier and slowly put it on.

His movements remained calm and natural, as if he had just taken a stroll in the back garden.

Only after fastening the last button did Xiren slightly raise his eyelids to look at Marshall, who was tense and on high alert.

"I told you so."

Siren's voice echoed through the empty cave, devoid of warmth, yet carrying an irresistible sense of oppression: "You are the challenger!"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Marshall's somewhat agitated aura due to insufficient absorption, and a mocking smile curled at the corner of his lips: "Looks like you didn't manage to grab any of the scraps I left you in these three hours."

When Xilen exposed his most embarrassing secret, Marshall's face instantly turned a deep purplish-red. Humiliation, anger, and fear intertwined, pushing him to the brink of madness.

In the dim and damp underground passage, the gas lamps on the walls hissed softly, their dim yellow light swaying in the puddles.

Xilun, wearing a coat, walked out with steady steps.

Beneath his skin, the blood and qi that had just absorbed the pure essence of extreme cold were slowly calming down, and each breath carried a trace of heat.

He lowered his eyes slightly, his mind replaying Marshall's face, contorted with extreme anger.

"I wonder if what I just said completely fooled him," Xilun thought to himself.

He knew very well that a genius like Marshall, with his innate strength and profound knowledge, hated nothing more than being looked down upon.

His own sense of entitlement and mockery had just been like a poisoned nail, driven firmly into the other person's most vulnerable self-esteem.

It's best to thoroughly enrage him. A raging bear that has lost its mind and only knows how to recklessly squander its strength is far easier to deal with than a calm and lurking hunter.

Stepping out of the monastery's inner courtyard, a cold wind swept over me.

Lund was leaning against a moss-covered stone pillar, smoking a cigarette. Hearing footsteps, he turned around, his sharp eyes, hidden in the shadows, scanning Xiren up and down.

For just a moment, Lund's fingers holding the cigarette paused slightly.

He keenly sensed that Xilun's already solid aura had undergone a dramatic change.

It was a profound and heavy feeling, as if the person standing in front of him was not a young student who had just been baptized a month ago, but a giant beast lurking in the deep sea.

"Looks like you ate a good meal down there."

Lund nodded slightly, threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out, his tone revealing undisguised satisfaction.

Xilun didn't say much, but simply returned a polite glance.

Just then, heavy and chaotic footsteps came from deep within the passageway.

Marshall strode out behind his mentor, Rick.

His chest heaved violently, his face was flushed, and his eyes were bloodshot. He was like a live volcano that could erupt at any moment, radiating a suffocating sense of oppression and anger.

Rick stopped in his tracks, his gaze lingering on Xiren for a moment, his brows furrowing tightly.

The elderly mentor turned his head and looked at his proud disciple.

He was somewhat puzzled to find that although Marshall's aura had increased, it was by no means a complete transformation and was far from the effects contained in the ice pool.

Only after Siren and Lund disappeared outside the monastery gates did Rick turn his gaze away and ask in a deep voice, "What's wrong? What happened down there? Your aura—seems to have changed little."

Upon hearing his mentor's question, Marshall's face instantly turned purplish-red, and a surge of intense anger and embarrassment welled up within him.

Firstly, he recalled the terrifying act of Xilun lurking underwater for three hours, and he vaguely felt that he had really been intimidated by that slum bastard, and even felt a sense of indescribable fear.

Secondly, this tempering in the ice pool at Bath Abbey is an extremely precious opportunity, one that each person only has once in their lifetime.

Because he was in a state of mental confusion, he only managed to obtain a very small amount of peripheral benefits, and watched helplessly as the most essential core essence was plundered by the other party.

"tutor----"

Marshall clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white from the force, and muttered, "That guy named Celen—"

Something seems off.

Rick frowned even deeper, keenly sensing his disciple's unbalanced state of mind. His tone became more serious: "Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Marshall gritted his teeth and recounted in detail how Siron mocked him on the surface of the water, how he sank directly to the bottom of the extremely cold pool, and how he emerged from the water three hours later with terrifyingly high temperatures.

After hearing these words, Rick fell into a long silence.

The wind outside the monastery ruffled his graying temples, and a flicker of surprise crossed his experienced eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.

"This phenomenon is truly unbelievable. I believe what you saw is real."

Rick spoke slowly, his voice low and steady, carrying a soothing power: "But, Marshall, I think you should understand."

Everyone in this world is different, and that's not surprising.

He extended his withered palm and patted Marshall's hard, iron-like shoulder.

"Take you for example. Your bones and muscles are extremely heavy, and your skin and flesh are as hard as steel. With a little training, you can crush other species of the same level in a head-on melee."

This is your talent, and also your confidence.

He, Xilun, may have some unique abilities, such as the ability to withstand extreme cold, but that doesn't mean his combat prowess surpasses yours, nor does it warrant your attention.

Rick stared into Marshall's eyes and said, word by word, "Whatever his special qualities may be, judging from his previous matches, his direct offensive power is only comparable to that of Philip."

Once you're in the ring, in a brutal, hand-to-hand combat, he has absolutely no chance against you.

After listening to his mentor's meticulous analysis, Marshall's heavy breathing gradually calmed down.

The confusion and fear in his eyes began to dissipate, replaced by an extreme anger at being fooled.

"Yes! You're right, Professor!"

Marshall suddenly realized something, and looked up abruptly. "This guy named Celen might really have some special cold-resistant constitution, but so what? His direct strength is nothing special!"

The thought that he had been so frightened by the other party's boastful words and charade of diving that he had missed the opportunity to absorb the essence of the ice pool made Marshall feel like he had been made a fool of.

"That damned bastard—how dare he lie to me!"

Marshall growled, his voice filled with barely suppressed savagery.

He secretly vowed that in the final arena six days later, he would use his fists to smash that pretentious bastard into a pulp and show him what absolute power really is!

Meanwhile, on the steam train returning to Saint Laurent.

The carriage echoed with the rhythmic roar of machinery, while the scenery outside the window rushed past in the rain and mist.

Lund leaned back in his velvet chair, looked at Siren across from him who was resting with his eyes closed, and broke the silence with his voice.

"You have already digested the essence of the Ice Pool, and your strength has indeed improved considerably."

Lund exhaled a smoke ring. "But Marshall isn't Philip; he won't leave you with so many fancy openings."

For the next six days, I will specifically train you in one skill.

If you can learn this, you can increase your chances of winning the final by 20%.

Xilun slowly opened his eyes, his dark pupils devoid of any emotion, and calmly asked, "What skill?"

"A method for risking everything." Lund didn't elaborate further.

After the train arrived at the station, the two transferred to a horse-drawn carriage, which traveled through the bustling city center and finally stopped in front of a building that was huge and hemispherical, resembling a steel fortress.

Xilun stepped down from the carriage and looked up.

Huge gear decorations hang on the exterior walls of the building, and steam pipes, like blood vessels, wind around the surface of the walls, emitting a low rumble.

"This is the largest comprehensive stadium in the city."

Lund walked ahead without turning his head and said, "Only in top-tier venues with official backing like this would you find a special training room."

Xiren noticed that there were long queues in the plaza outside the stadium.

Many extraordinary individuals, dressed in training clothes and with bulging muscles, are anxiously waiting to enter.

Lund, however, showed no intention of queuing. He went straight to the VIP window on the side of the venue, took out a black business card with a gold trim from his pocket, and gently handed it in.

The female employee at the window was initially a little impatient, but when she saw the badge on the business card, her expression instantly became extremely respectful.

"My lord, please come with me."

The female employee immediately stepped out from behind the counter, personally pushed open a heavy brass door, and invited Xilun and his companion inside.

The people queuing nearby were stunned by what they saw and began to speculate about the identities of the two people.

After passing through the noisy outer training area, the female staff member led them to the deepest part of the venue.

The air here became unusually stuffy, and even breathing seemed to require more effort.

"I need to book a gravity chamber," Lund said calmly, stopping in his tracks.

When Xilun heard the words "gravity chamber," his heart skipped a beat.

He had seen such facilities in the Brotherhood's materials; they were said to be extremely expensive to build and capable of altering the local gravity environment through mystical arrays.

"Yes, sir."

The female employee bowed respectfully, then pointed to a row of dark stone chambers in front of her and introduced, "As the largest venue in the city, we have three basic gravity chambers and one intermediate gravity chamber inside. Considering that your student is currently at the baptism level, please use the basic gravity chamber, as the load there is more suitable for a first-order extraordinary individual."

Lund nodded, gesturing for the female employee to leave.

Xilun walked to the door of the dark stone chamber.

The walls of the house are not made of ordinary stone, but of some kind of sedimentary rock salvaged from the deep sea.

The wall surface is densely covered with complex occult runes.

Xilun is now considered a semi-novice in the mysticism, and he can vaguely recognize some of the ancient characters that represent "applying pressure" and "multiplying gravity".

"What I'm about to teach you, you'd better memorize it perfectly."

Lund turned around, his expression becoming more serious than ever before.

"The extraordinary beings of today refine their energy through breathing techniques. There was once a term to describe this process: Qi Refining."

The vital energy circulates within the body, nourishing the skin and flesh; this is the proper way.

Lund paused, his gaze sharpening: "But correspondingly, in the past, the extraordinary beings also explored another extremely extreme way of using physical strength in order to survive in desperate situations."

That is, "breathing".

Xilun listened attentively without interrupting.

"This is a technique that has very little use in regular combat, but it is extremely useful in special situations, such as when you need to unleash power beyond your own limits in an instant."

Lund stared into Xiren's eyes. "And now, facing Marshall, whose background is far more profound than yours, you desperately need this method."

"Breathing—what exactly does that mean?" Xilun asked.

Lund took a deep breath and explained, "When you draw energy into your body, don't rush to let it enter your meridians for further refinement."

Instead, they forcibly blocked the acupoints, pressing them firmly inside the chest and abdomen!

His voice lowered: "As this breath is trapped in your body under high pressure, your body will be compressed like a spring, and your strength will briefly lose control and enter a berserk state."

This is a method that can cause some damage to internal organs, but in return, your muscle strength and explosive speed will be multiplied. It's terrifying.