"Break it! Now!"
I pressed my teeth down as hard as I could, crushing the pearl between my teeth.
At once I felt like cold liquid was flowing in my mouth, far too much of an amount than a pearl of that size should hold.
Still I crushed the pearl grinding between my teeth, breaking the crystal fragments to make sure the essence spread properly.
"Ukkk." The pearls' fragments sliced through my tongue, gums. Tiny shards of its crystal body embedding in me and ripping everything they came in contact with.
(This… pain.) My instincts were screaming to just vomit it out because the pain was unbearable.
But I didn't.
I kept chewing, breaking them smaller and smaller.
If I were to open my mouth and let anyone peek into it, they'd be horrified and pass out from shock. The pearl fragments covered every surface and gap between teeth, some embedded in flesh. Hot blood filled my mouth from dozens of small cuts, mixing with the liquid essence as heat and cold mixed together.
I couldn't process what was happening externally as my awareness turned completely inward, the coldness from the water pearl was spreading fast through every meridian and organ, meeting the fire essence, colliding with it as the two opposing forces clashed violently in the same space.
But they didn't destroy each other. Instead, the metal pearl's foundation held them both, containing the opposition and letting them coexist.
At that moment, a wave of power erupted from me. My cultivation base increased, breaking through in rapid succession, but something else was happening too as I started sinking deeper not physically but mentally, with my consciousness slipping away from the physical world.
I drifted into the depths of unconsciousness, and found myself surrounded by darkness. The darkness however I felt, was not scary, it was as if a warmth that welcomed me.
(So peaceful.) It was like this situation was familiar to me, yes just like how I was in my mother's womb.
"Stop it...you…..had.. spit it.."
.
.
I heard something distant, like a voice calling from far away.
"Wake up..."
Again… it was louder now, but I ignored it and sank deeper, letting the void pull me in.
"Fu Yang..."
(Mm..)
"Fu Yannnnnnnng!"
CRACK.
"WHAT?!" My eyes shot open and my body jolted like I'd been struck by lightning.
Slowly, my vision cleared and the first thing I saw was Elder Han's face right in front of mine, his hands holding my shoulders and shaking me, while Elder Shen also stood at my other side. Both of them were staring at my face with expressions caught somewhere between worry and shock. And when they saw I was back, they relaxed.
But the relief did not last long.
"How is your cultivation?" Elder Shen's voice cut through. "Check it now. Tell us."
I couldn't understand why they were so worried or why they were looking at me like that, but I did what they asked and examined my cultivation base.
My core, it was still immature but more solid and properly shaped now.
I sensed deeper and checked the meridians, and all eleven primary meridians were there but now connecting differently, attaching to the forming core and creating a more complex network.
Three meridians had already fully integrated with the immature core, with complete and perfect circulation.
QI Condensation Middle stage.
I couldn't believe it, for from Foundation Establishment Peak I had jumped straight to Qi Condensation middle stage skipping the early stage entirely, just as Elder Han had said.
"What is it?" Elder Han asked, his voice tense.
"What happened with your cultivation?"
I smiled, which was enough for both of them to relax as they sat back heavily and released my shoulders.
"Haah..."
But then Elder Han stood up abruptly.
"You brat! You were supposed to spit out the chewed pearl pieces! Are you an idiot?! How could you chew the crystal pieces?!"
He was shouting, genuinely upset, and confusion flashed across my face.
But, what spit it out? He hadn't said that. Had he?
Elder Shen stopped him and raised one hand.
"Wait. Fu Yang, open your mouth first."
I obeyed and opened wide as Elder Shen leaned close and examined the interior carefully.
His expression shifted to surprise then relief.
"It's... clear."
He straightened himself and sighed."The essence must have dissolved everything, even healing the cuts as it spread."
Then he looked at me directly. "Go see the mirror."
Mirror?
Why were they being so dramatic? The cultivation breakthrough worked and that was what mattered, but Elder Shen's tone left no room for argument.
I stood, my legs shaky and weak from the ordeal and there was a small bronze mirror mounted on the wall, so I walked to it and looked.
A reflection stared back.
Which froze me completely.
(That... this isn't my face.)
No, it was my face but many things had completely changed. My skin was WHITE like pure ice, and my hair, the black I'd always had, was gone and replaced by bright metallic silver, even my eyebrows.
Only my eyes stayed the same.
I touched my face with trembling fingers, the skin was ice cold as if touching frozen stone, but as my warm hand pressed against it, warmth slowly returned and the coldness faded.
"What the—"
Elder Shen's voice came from behind me, calm and explaining."The water pearl must have caused this, for your flesh absorbed its essence directly and the physical transformation.. it looks permanent as your body has been fundamentally altered by elemental energy."
He paused, his tone becoming more serious. "If someone had taken a water pearl like this, breaking and trying to absorb how you did, and without the fire pearl they would have instantly turned into frozen sculpture and died.
Haah.
I stared at my reflection. ( Really, I was only one step away from becoming a frozen corpse.)
"Looks like heaven is with you," Elder Shen said quietly.
But right then laughter erupted behind us.
"Hahahahahahahahaha!"
Elder Shen turned with confusion on his face as Elder Han was laughing, not with relief but with something manic and uncontrolled.
"Hahahaha! If I'm correct... no, it has to be! Is this the way? Wait... can it really be done like this?! Oh heaven, yes heavens planned this."
He was talking to himself.."I'm a genius! I'm a GENIUS! Hahahaha!"
This geezer had gone completely crazy.
"Elder Han, are you—"
But Elder Han snapped into focus suddenly and then sprinted toward the door, bursting through it without opening it properly, wood splintering as he disappeared.
Gone.
Elder Shen and I stood there, stunned.
What the hell just happened?
Just ten seconds passed, maybe less, before Elder Han burst back in as a blur of movement, and in his hands was a dark grey stone about the size of two fists and carved with formations.
I recognized it immediately; the Soul jade stone, the one used to measure a cultivator's sprite root qualities, how well they could absorb spiritual energy and how far they could potentially advance.
Elder Shen's eyes widened as if he had understood it too.
"You think...?"
"I KNOW!" Elder Han's voice was triumphant.
He placed the stone on the ground in front of me and fixed me with that wild intensity.
"Brat! What was your spiritual root quality when you first came to this sect? What color did it glow?"
My heart started beating faster and my pulse climbed, I instantly realised now what this geezer was thinking.
"Low grade, and it glowed faintly yellow."
Low grade spiritual roots, the mark of limited potential, someone who could cultivate but would struggle and advance slowly.
"Mm." Elder Han nodded sharply. "Place your hand on it, exactly like you did back then."
I stepped forward and knelt beside the stone, placing my right hand on its surface with my palm flat.
Our eyes locked onto the stone as all three of us froze, holding our breath.
The stone remained dark for a moment.
Before…