Last Stage of Training!

As if on cue, the Castellan appeared again, clapping. This time though, he had more of a look of bewilderment on his face.

"Lance, what the hell is it you do every night for an hour?", he asked, even forgetting to congratulate him for the amazing result.

The past month had been a nightmare for the research and analysis wing. Lance's brainwaves had constantly been under observation to detect any anomalies. This was not the first time that a talented initiate was subjected to the difficulties of training alone at such an early stage in their cultivation.

In ancient times, there had been no way to detect any threatening situations. Now, due to certain breakthroughs, it was possible to analyze the brain wave of a person in the beginning stages of cultivation and detect situations where they might be driven insane or astray.

In Lance's case, there was a high risk that he might loose sanity completely due to the loneliness.

This was, after all, something that even cultivators who had been on their path for years were susceptible to. For Lance, it had just been months.

Thus, the idea was that there was a certain point when the signs of insanity reached a peak. At that point, the person in charge of the room would take control and make Lance faint. If detected and saved at that moment, it was possible in a way to "reset" the brain and bring back the person from the verge of insanity.

Of course, this resulted in the lowering of the overall potential of the person in question. Yet, this was still the choice taken as a person with lesser potential was a much better option than one completely driven mad, beyond any hope of saving. The path of cultivation was such. After that point, even the most experienced of cultivators or the most advanced of technology could not save them.

In the case of Lance, a mental 'rebirth' of sorts had been occurring every night like clockwork. For an hour, his brainwaves would become hazy. Afterwards, his mental state would be completely healed, as if he had had slept for days or spent time doing something that made him truly happy. This was basically the method used to heal signs of insanity-to provide again what was missing which caused the insanity, or to spend time doing something that gave true happiness.

Lance did none of these things, yet was back to normal. This was simply a miracle that had never been seen in a cultivator at the initiate stage. It was nothing special if a Legend or a Master could just meditate for an hour and throw away large amounts of mental fatigue, but if an initiate could do the same? It was simply impossible. Or so everyone had thought until this moment.

"I just laze around...", answered Lance by instinct. After answering, he wondered why this had been the first thing his master brought up after not seeing him for months.

The Castellan first looked at Lance oddly for a few moments before shaking his head and saying, "Anyway, congratulations! Lets get you healed up first."

The now familiar flick was heard as Lance suddenly found himself floating in the air, his whole body surrounded by a white translucent substance. It looked and felt like jelly, but Lance could still breathe inside it.

He felt all the injuries caused by the wishroot absorbing energy vanishing rapidly. Although the effect was not as good or as fast as the ambrosia, it was still pretty marvelous.

"This is a much more weakened version of the ambrosia you experienced. It will take half an hour to fully heal your injuries. Meanwhile, your ears are still open so let me explain to you the last stage of training. Oh and by the way, you are leading all of the competition by 2 months. You have made me and a lot of people very, very proud. Just make sure to keep the same pace and the ultimate prize could be yours. Besides, you can even look forward to some other gifts that your faction members are repeatedly requesting me to allow to be gifted to you. I disagreed till now because I did not want you enamored by treasures at such an early stage, but your results are simply astonishing. I might just agree."

With a broad smile, the Castellan sat on the plush chair that had appeared, preparing to explain the next stage.

Lance also smiled broadly as the joy of achievement spread through out his body. Along with the pleasant healing sensation, he felt as if he were in heaven. All of the effort had been worth it!

Now, Lance let go of his body, pleasantly floating, waiting for the Castellan to begin his explanation.