Northern Spirit Academy, back mountain.
A dense expanse of green mountains and forests, with a large, white waterfall, its waters like a giant serpent roaring down from above, crashing into the protruding rocks to create a magnificent scene.
Teacher Mo stood with his arms crossed on a gravelly patch near the lake at the base of the waterfall. Mu Chen, Tang Tian'er, Mo Ling, Chen Fan, and Huo Yun were all present.
"From today onwards, I will specially train you all. Except for Mu Chen, the rest of you must break through your bottleneck and enter the Spirit Wheel Realm within the next month. If you cannot, then don't even think about the Five Great Academies quota; that person is not qualified."
Teacher Mo swept his gaze over the row of youths in front of him, speaking indifferently.
Hearing every word clearly, the four of them became serious. Their main goal in studying and cultivating at the Northern Spirit Academy was the Five Great Academies quota. If they lost that qualification, all their efforts over the years would be wasted.
"You are all currently at the peak late-stage of the Spirit Movement Realm. Chen Fan and Huo Yun are gradually forming their spirit wheels, but they are still a bit short. Therefore, you need some external pressure to urge the internal condensation into a wheel."
"External pressure?"
Chen Fan and Huo Yun were puzzled.
"Do you see that waterfall?"
Teacher Mo smiled, pointing at the silver-white water roaring down from above, carrying immense force as it slammed into the rocks, sending spray everywhere.
"Starting today, the four of you will cultivate under the waterfall, urging your spiritual power to resist the impact of the waterfall. This pressure will stimulate the development of your Qi Sea, gradually strengthening your spiritual power and condensing it into a wheel."
"Huh?"
Everyone gaped, their hardship unspeakable. Sitting under a waterfall with water slamming into their backs and heads? Even rocks wear down, let alone their flesh-and-blood teenage bodies. They feared they would be dizzy and lightheaded after just a minute of sitting there.
"There are no shortcuts in cultivation. If you want to enter the Spirit Wheel Realm in one month, you must employ powerful methods. If you can't even endure this, then go home; there's no need to compete for anything!"
Teacher Mo spoke lightly.
"Yes!"
The four quickly obeyed.
"If you feel your spiritual power is insufficient, then temporarily leave, recover here, and then continue cultivating in there!"
Teacher Mo's sharp gaze swept over the four of them.
"Yes!"
"Begin."
Teacher Mo waved his hand.
Tang Tian'er and the others stared intently at the fierce waterfall, then gritted their teeth and urged the spiritual power within their bodies to surge out and envelop their entire bodies, launching themselves towards the surging, white waterfall.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
However, just as they set foot on the rocky outcrops of the waterfall, before they could even steady themselves to sit down, the force from the enormous mass of water slammed into them, sending them stumbling and falling into the lake, becoming a group of soaking wet rats.
The four surfaced from the lake, crawled onto the shore, and then continued to urge their spiritual power more strongly, resisting the silver water impacting their bodies. They tried to sit cross-legged, gritting their teeth and enduring the pain brought by the cold masses of water, persistently urging their spiritual power to firmly resist.
Mu Chen watched the four sitting cross-legged on the rocks and secretly clicked his tongue. This kind of cultivation was truly arduous, even if it was just the beginning of the devilish training.
"Mu Chen."
Teacher Mo looked at him, making him jump and turn around, sensing that something not so good was coming.
"You've already read through those two spirit secret techniques, haven't you?"
Teacher Mo asked indifferently.
Mu Chen nodded.
"Your cultivation spot is over there."
Teacher Mo pointed a finger at the lake. Mu Chen looked over and his scalp immediately went numb. The area where Tang Tian'er and the others cultivated still had occasional rock mounds protruding, which somewhat reduced the force of the water. But the spot he saw was completely just white water pouring down from above, with not a single rock outcrop visible.
Beneath that silvery current, amidst the rising mist, two wooden stakes, about the size of a foot, seemed to stand vaguely.
"If you want to know when you've successfully cultivated the Spirit Shadow Steps, it's when you can jump back and forth between these two wooden stakes without getting a single drop of water on your body."
Teacher Mo said lightly, as if it were nothing.
"What?"
Mu Chen was stunned. Jumping through there without getting wet? Was that even possible?
"This waterfall isn't actually a continuous, endless flow. Look closely, there are gaps between the falling water. If you want to cross without getting wet, you have to match the speed of the current and utilize those gaps."
Mu Chen grimaced. That was no small challenge. But it was good, it was truly an extremely suitable environment for cultivating movement techniques.
"Furthermore, the Spirit Emperor Finger is powerful and sharp. You need to train the hardness of your fingers. Since you haven't officially started cultivating the Spirit Emperor Finger yet, take advantage of this to train yourself further. I'll go up above and occasionally drop some wooden stakes down. You need to use your fingers to accurately pierce those wooden stakes for me."
Teacher Mo instructed slowly.
Mu Chen listened, and goosebumps rose all over him. Wooden stakes falling with that terrifying speed in the current? How much impact force would they have? Falling so fast, he wouldn't even have time to dodge. To pierce them, he absolutely couldn't be distracted; he had to accurately seize the opportunity to strike a perfect blow. This was truly terrifying training.
"What? Scared?"
Teacher Mo asked nonchalantly.
"It's a bit troublesome, but scared? Not enough to be."
Mu Chen took a deep breath to calm himself, his handsome face showing a desire to try.
"Oh..."
Seeing him like this, Teacher Mo nodded with satisfaction.
"Then let's begin."
Mu Chen also nodded in agreement, no longer hesitating. He launched himself like a swallow soaring over the lake, landing his feet on a wooden stake outside the waterfall.
"Rumble rumble rumble!"
Only when he got closer could he clearly hear and fully feel the powerful current aggressively pouring down. Mu Chen's toes pressed against the wooden stake, gathering momentum to leap across.
"Splash!"
Despite his confidence, as soon as his body touched the curtain of water, a huge mass of water slammed down on his head, sending him into the lake below. He had indeed focused and seen that the gap seemed quite large, but he hadn't expected it to be so difficult. He had still underestimated the speed of the silvery current too much.
Mu Chen spat out a mouthful of lake water, clapped his hands on the surface, and his body returned to the wooden stake, his expression completely serious. He urged the powerful spiritual energy within his body to envelop him, preparing to try again.
At the beginning, of course, he needed spiritual energy to protect his body and gradually adapt to the situation.
Mu Chen concentrated intently, then suddenly shot straight through the curtain of water, landing on the wooden stake on the other side. As soon as he landed, he also heard a strange sound in the water curtain. Looking up, a dark shadow was fiercely falling from above.
These were the wooden stakes that Teacher Mo was dropping from the waterfall above.
Mu Chen extended two fingers, and his twin fingers powerfully thrust forward.
His twin fingers were like daggers, striking the falling dark shadow with lightning speed.
"Thwack!"
A strange sound rang out. The wooden stake was only deflected and flung into the lake; there was no hole in it at all.
Mu Chen looked in astonishment at his failed attack, the corner of his mouth twitching, a slight grimace on his face. His fingertips were numb with intense pain. The waterlogged wooden stakes were incredibly hard, and falling from such a height, they were actually harder than refined iron. He hadn't used any spiritual power just now, and the numbing sensation made him think his finger bones had broken into several pieces.
"Thump!"
Just a few seconds of distraction due to the pain, and his protective spiritual power was shattered by the powerful waterfall, sending him back into the lake once more.
"Damn it!"
Mu Chen surfaced, pouting and yelping, then gritted his teeth, enduring the pain in his finger, and continued to leap onto the wooden stakes in the lake.
"Boom boom boom!"
Beneath the waterfall, a figure continuously jumped in and out, only to be relentlessly knocked back into the lake below by the merciless current. The powerful force of the water made him dizzy and disoriented, but he stubbornly endured the pain and persevered, constantly increasing his speed.
Occasionally, he managed to avoid the impact of the current, but the few wooden stakes in the powerful water tortured his fingers.
Not far away, several people sitting cross-legged on a rock outcrop heard the noisy commotion, opened their eyes to look, and involuntarily shivered. Even without truly trying that training exercise, just watching was enough to know it was far more dangerous than simply sitting still and urging spiritual power to resist the waterfall.
At the top of the waterfall, Mo Shi stood with his arms crossed, calmly watching the struggling figure below the falls, muttering.
"To succeed, one must first pay the price."
Throughout the afternoon, that person tirelessly moved back and forth through the waterfall. Even though Tang Tian'er and the others had rested and recovered twice, he never stopped his abusive training.
By the time evening came, Tang Tian'er wearily left the waterfall, her body aching, her face pale. No one cared about appearances as they sprawled on the rocks beside the waterfall, savoring the feeling of rest.
Mo Shi saw how miserable they were and then spoke.
"Today's cultivation ends here."
Tang Tian'er heard this and breathed a sigh of relief, only to hear another sentence that made her vision darken.
"We continue tomorrow."
Tang Tian'er lay there powerlessly, groaning. After resting for a while, she involuntarily heard unusual sounds coming from nearby. The group looked over; it seemed that fellow hadn't heard Mo Shi's words at all, still jumping back and forth like a machine, being slammed by the waterfall into the lake, then climbing back up to jump again.
They all clearly saw that the person had slowed down considerably compared to the morning due to fatigue, but his spirit was unshakeable, causing him to get up again countless times after falling.
"Mo Shi... he's incredibly fast!"
Tang Tian'er sighed, unable to take her eyes off that person.
Mo Shi slowly shook his head, softly saying:
"He chose it himself. He is stronger than you, progresses faster than you, not just because his talent is higher. Mu Feng truly has a very good son."
Chen Fan looked at that figure with complex eyes, involuntarily feeling admiration in his heart. Mu Chen's talent was higher than theirs, they would say it was bestowed by heaven, but his will, they couldn't help but admit...
That person... was truly a monster.