Chapter 12 - Tian Fengmeng's Test

Tian Longmeng looked up slowly to see Tian Fengmeng's frigid stare pierce right into his confidence. "So you want to venture outside? You feel that you are competent enough to embark on this journey?" Tian Fengmeng grimly enunciated every word as if it was judgement being handed to Tian Longmeng.

Tian Longmeng felt very uneasy with the sudden heaviness in the atmosphere, but he had to let his thoughts be transmitted confidently. It was the only way to get through to his father. "Yes, father. I would like to see the world outside the Divine Wilderness. I'm certain of it."

Tian Fengmeng, seeing the determination of the still fidgeting, young boy, sighed deeply and dropped his intense aura. With that, Tian Longmeng also sighed, for a different reason of course, as he relaxed his body a bit more.

Tian Fengmeng casually scanned the place before dashing over and picking up a boulder half the size of the cottage. "2000 jins of pure stone. If you can lift it then good, if you can't, then do not think about leaving this house." Tian Fengmeng nonchalantly threw the boulder up into the air towards Tian Longmeng.

Tian Longmeng's pupils shrank and his muscles tightened; then just like a springboard, he launched himself into the boulder.

"Bam!" Tian Fengmeng watched as the boulder shattered to pieces in midair under the sheer force of Tian Longmeng's swinging kick. He applauded slowly and commended Tian Longmeng, "That saves me the time of giving you the second test. I see that during the time of your absence, you have been training hard."

"There is one final test. If you pass then you have my permission to venture outside. If you fail, then..." Upon saying that, Tian Fengmeng shrugged his shoulders then signalled for Tian Longmeng to be prepared.

Tian Longmeng braced himself for whatever would be thrown at him. Mainly expecting a spar, Tian Longmeng assumed a low battle stance like that of a tiger and shouted, "Ready."

Tian Fengmeng looked at Tian Longmeng's battle chuckled before tilting his head upwards and gently closing his eyes.

All of a sudden, the entire forest became deadly silent. There was no wind to shake the leaves, and no animals to make sounds; it was pure silence.

Suddenly, Tian Fengmeng's presence burst out with powerful ferocity. He stared into Tian Longmeng with eyes that could see the machinations of all living and moving beings in existence.

What followed was an oppressive meteor sized aura that levelled the entire Desolate Wilderness. Tian Longmeng had to push everything he had into reinforcing himself just so that he can remain standing.

Tian Longmeng was bewildered at this gargantuan level of presence that his father somehow evoked. It was as if the father he knew all along was just a shell to cover up the amazing figure that was Tian Fengmeng.

Tian Longmeng was constantly infusing and consuming essence to keep himself stable and before he knew it, he felt as if the flow of essence around his body became much smoother. His flesh became a lot harder and he was able to withstand the weight of the pressure a lot better.

This was because Tian Longmeng transitioned into the Mid Flesh Hardening Stage. Normally, according to the Ark Elder, Tian Longmeng would have to train for 2 months before reaching this stage perfectly. However, thanks to the constant pressure on his body, Tian Longmeng was forced into evolving his body to withstand the weight.

The Ark Elder warned that if he cultivated too quickly, he would not be able to truly display his maximum capabilities in the future. Fast cultivation often gave cultivators the ability to be able to reach stages and levels quickly but they would not have a firm foundation, thus resulting in them reaching a bottleneck and never breaking through for the rest of their lives.

However, this would not be the case for Tian Longmeng here, as due to the extreme conditions, his body was able to consume massive amounts of essence to strengthen his body. This resulted in the natural overflow from the Early Flesh Hardening Stage into the Mid Flesh Hardening Stage.

Tian Fengmeng noticed Tian Longmeng newfound comfort and smirked, "So he got a lucky minor breakthrough. Just the Mid Flesh Stage, let's see if he can manage this."

Tian Longmeng gradually adjusted to the intense pressure so he lifted his head to gesture to his father and show off a little that he passed the test. That when he experienced the most nightmare-ish split second of his life.

Tian Fengmeng's pupils began to duplicate and split into dual pupils that reflected the vast heavens. Afterwards, they began to rotate counterclockwise while leaving duplicate pupils in their former position. This continued until there were as many pupils in Tian Fengmeng's eyes as the stars in the sky.

That when all the pupils stopped and collapsed the center of his eye to form a pitch-black pupil, like a black hole which would steal your soul. These black hole pupils instantly rendered the previous oppressive pressure to nothing.

By the time Tian Longmeng regained his psyche, he was on the floor vomiting and spasming around before his vision blurred out.