Tribulation

A day later. 

Everett's Mind Sea was awakened and the tribulation had started. It was a lightning one as well. 

So far, things were going smoothly due to Leo's instructions and Everett hoped that the same would continue in future as well. The trust in Leo was starting to solidify and anyone could tell from his way of conducting things that he was someone much different than the arrogant youngsters of the Ignis Family.

Everett pulled the various essences from the surroundings and did the same things as Leo, fixing the damage done by the tribulation in the Mind Sea.

Another half a day later, Ellyse had successfully awakened. She was the slowest in this group and it was understandable, given her identity as a tansmigrator. The speed wasn't fast, but it also wasn't slow. She could be said to have done a decent job. 

The three were undergoing tribulations and the amount of energy they were pulling from the surroundings was increasing with each passing second. Their body was like a bottomless abyss, no matter how much energy they took in, it never filled or saturated. 

The intensity of the tribulation increased for all three, especially for Leo. 

His facial expressions were twisted and that of pain as he hurriedly channeled the essences from the surroundings to his Mind Sea.

He was sweating like a pig and by another half a day later, the intensity of the tribulation had gotten so high that the lightning seeped out from his Mind Sea and could be seen crackling around his glabella. 

Everett and Ellyse were also in the same conditions as him. Their tribulation was just as intense as him for reasons unknown. 

The more intense the tribulations got, the more they pulled the energy from the surroundings. After a point, the essences around them were so concentrated that they broke the equilibrium they were in and seeped out, appearing like colorful strands of silk.

All essences were in equilibrium with the world and each other. They weren't visible due to this very reason. 

To break such an equilibrium, one had to increase the concentration of the particular essence they wished to see to a really high degree. One could hold the energy once they materialized, but of course, that would be dangerous if the person wasn't trained. Coming into contact with such concentrated amounts of energy could potentially kill them.

In the abode the three were in, lots of concentrated strands of essences were visible. Green was Life, golden was Heaven, brown was Earth, and white was Spiritual. These strands were at the edges as in the center, all spiritual essences were revolving like a vortex and getting channeled into the three's bodies.

While one may think it was awesome that the three were able to pull off such a thing, the reality was far from it.

Away from the three… 

In a far away abode, the essences in the surroundings lowered. The speed at which this happened was tremendous and in just a few minutes, the abode lacked any type of essence, becoming totally desolate.

The ones sitting in a meditative state in this place snapped their eyes open and looked around.

"Huh? What? I can't feel any spiritual essence?"

"I can't feel any life essence either!"

Being at the far end, they already had less energy around them, and now it had totally vanished. They were servants of the family, and without any energies, their awakening had come to a halt.

"Shit! What now?" One of the servants asked. "We won't be able to awaken with such conditions. What to do!?"

"I don't know!" Another replied. "I am more concerned about our health rather than the awakening. We are in a cave which has no food or water. We would die if this continues on!"

During the awakening process, the essence of life, heaven, and earth would flow into a person. It would nourish their bodies temporarily and one won't have the need to eat, drink, sleep, or excrete. It was the reason why everyone could stay in a meditative state for days at a stretch. 

With the essences gone, there was nothing available to nourish their bodies, putting them ones in the cave in severe crisis. They panicked and roamed around the cave with grave expressions, trying to think of a way to survive until the portal opens up again, which would happen in around four days. 

Away from their abode, at the halfway distance from Leo's abode, three dark red-haired youngsters snapped their eyes open. 

"What?!" One of the youngsters from the branch family said. "I can't feel any spiritual essence!?"

"Me neither!" The other one stood up and said in panic. "How is this possible?"

"You guys, what's happening?" The third youngster stood up and asked with a concerned voice. "I was about to finish forming my Mind Sea but suddenly, the essences vanished!"

"Yes, the same happened with me and we're wondering what's the cause of it."

"Shit… what now?"

"I don't know… let's try to figure something out…"

Similar scenes occurred in most abodes as the essences from their place disappeared. It did not vanish in thin air, rather, it concentrated itself towards Leo's abode. 

The pull from him, Everett, and Ellyse was so strong that the essences had turned into thick ropes woven together. These energies were swiftly moving inside the three's bodies and nourishing their Mind Sea from the damage caused by the tribulation. 

The three had unknowingly sucked out the essences from everyone around them and it was only their abode that had energies. 

Leo's abode was in the center of an unknown mountain and everyone else was spread out beneath and above him. 

The ones at the highest and lowest end had the least amount of essences available while the ones closest to him had the highest with Leo possessing the most.

With the pull he and his companions had caused, the entire essences within the mountain converged at his abode and concentrated itself, hindering everyone else's awakening process.

As the caves were secluded and indestructible by mere strength of mortals, there was no way of knowing what caused the sudden disappearance of the essences, leaving the majority in panic.

The minority that wasn't panicking, it belonged to the youngsters closer to Leo. They did not feel the disappearance of the essences as quickly as the rest and had successfully awakened by the third day and were undergoing tribulation. 

One should know that the people at the ends did not have a talent like Leo and their awakening speed was slow. Hence, taking everyone into consideration, a seven day period was given to all. 

Naturally, the ones closer to Leo had astounding potential and had awakened just a little later than Leo. Tribulations took time and if Leo's wasn't over yet, it meant that the same was the case with others.

However…

Right now… with the essences gone from the abodes of even the ones near Leo, there was nothing available for them to replenish their Mind Sea from the harsh onslaughts of the tribulation. 

Many bright red-haired youngsters present around the halfway mark from Leo's abode spewed out blood and collapsed while the ones closer to Leo…

Yu had a solemn expression on her face as she battled the tribulation. She was furiously channeling the essences in her Mind Sea to heal it, and although it was taking a toll on her, she was starting to get the gist of it and persist. 

A few minutes into it, Yu suddenly could not channel any essence into her Mind Sea.

'Huh!?' She exclaimed internally as she watched her Mind Sea.

BOOM—!

"Ahhhhhh!"

Lightning descended down in the green waters and burnt a small area in her Mind Sea. With the lack of essences, she howled in pain and fell down to the side while clutching her head. 

BOOM—! BOOM—! BOOM—!

"Ahhhhhhhhh—!"

There was no end to the tribulation and the lightning eventually dried up the entire Mind Sea and caused a crack in its wall, giving Yu a head splitting pain. 

Yu screamed and thrashed around in agony. Such an intense level of pain had assaulted her that she could not think of anything but pain itself. 

Under the faint blue glow of the abode, on the walls of it, Yu's thrashing shadow could be seen. A last streak of lightning crackled around her head and eventually…

BOOM—!

SPLAT—!

The walls of the abode were dyed a deep crimson as the thrashing shadow burst apart. Following it, there were two more bursting sounds, and these belonged to Yu's servants. 

Similar things happened to the ones undergoing the tribulation. The only ones that did not die were the ones who did not form their Mind Sea fully yet.

Unaware of what he had accidentally caused, Leo was focused on fixing his Mind Sea from the damage done by the tribulation. For some reason, it was getting progressively easier with each passing second. He did not know why was such the case, but he was happy that this was happening. 

Just a while longer and Leo would successfully avert this crisis and officially become a Rank 1!