Chapter 18: The State of Emptiness

A lap was nearly fifty meters, which wasn’t a particularly long distance for a cultivator.
If it were on flat ground, it wouldn’t even take Su Xuan two seconds.

But this was a steel wire.

And it wasn’t even a regular straight line; it was shaped more like a racetrack, and the four corners made the difficulty skyrocket.

To pass within ten seconds, one had to reach a level equivalent to walking on flat ground.

Zhang Heng produced a deck chair from somewhere, lay on it comfortably, and spoke in an unhurried manner.

“Begin!”

“Oh…”

He took off his shoes and socks, revealing a pair of delicate, fair feet.

Su Xuan nimbly climbed to the top, took a deep breath, and surveyed the nearly fifty-meter track from a bird’s-eye view.

‘There’s a corner about five meters ahead. After the corner, there’s an eight-meter straight section, and then another corner… Whatever, I’ll just start walking and see!’

When a person accepts a challenge, they are always eager to try at the beginning, even feeling an impatient urge to tackle it.

But when you discover that the challenge is difficult to complete, that high morale will slowly diminish, then turn into weariness, and then into disgust.

Finally, when you find you cannot complete the challenge no matter how hard you try, you will despair and become numb.

Zhang Heng narrowed his eyes, admiring those delicate feet and long, slender legs.

He looked forward to seeing that enchanting, fairy-like face reveal a ruined expression.

That kind of expression would surely be

wonderful, wouldn’t it?

‘It’s cold. I can clearly feel the rough surface of the steel cable. And its tensile strength is extremely high. It seems it won’t bend under my weight.’

Su Xuan carefully sensed the cable path.
The cable was extremely stable.

He could rest assured that it wouldn’t snap midway.

Adjusting his breath, he stepped onto the steel cable.

To say he wasn’t nervous would be impossible.

However, Su Xuan could take his time to study it.

Because he didn’t plan on activating the inflatable vest from the start, he had more than enough time.

‘Feel the breath, adjust the breath!’

Su Xuan recited this inwardly, sensing the rhythm of his breathing, the information transmitted from his limbs, and the beating of his heart.

He cast aside all distracting thoughts and began walking forward, step by step, forcefully using his will to control the coordination of his limbs.

Just as he was starting to move smoothly, Zhang Heng, sitting on his chair, suddenly chuckled.

“You’re walking well, but you’re still missing something. That balance is too fragile.”

A silent current of electricity suddenly shot out, striking the stable Su Xuan.

“Ah~”

The sudden attack threw Su Xuan into disarray.

His hands flailed wildly in the air, and his small feet struggled to maintain stability, but it was no use.

After holding on for a short while, he finally fell.

“Thud!”

He fell hard onto the black net.

A jolt of electricity surged through him.

With no time to regret his earlier panic, Su Xuan shot out of the black net’s range like a startled kitten.

Although he was full of indignation, Su Xuan wouldn’t let anyone see his grievance.
After all, no one had said there would be sudden electric shocks.

This meant he had to be constantly on edge about being shocked.

And after falling, he had to get off the black net immediately, or he would get another nasty jolt.

He rubbed the spot where he had landed and continued to climb back up.

Since his body was filled with energons, such a minor injury healed in an instant.

The electric shock was like a knife hiding in the darkness.

He knew it was there, and that he would inevitably be stabbed by it, but he just didn’t know when it would strike.

One could imagine Su Xuan’s state of mind right now; he was truly trembling with fear, as if treading on thin ice.

The power of the electric shock wasn’t just in the jolt itself.

The threat of it constantly intimidated Su Xuan, making it impossible for him to quickly focus his mind and coordinate his limbs.

Several of his falls were not caused by the shock itself, but by him wondering when the shock would come, which caused him to lose his footing.

He wasn’t wearing the inflatable vest yet, but he still hadn’t passed the first corner.
One could imagine the difficulty.

Challenge after challenge had drained Su Xuan’s energy almost completely.

Under the high-intensity exercise, his cells were already consuming energons to supplement his lack of energy.

Every shock would disrupt his breathing.
He was already struggling to coordinate his limbs and maintain a stable breath, leaving him utterly exhausted.

After falling, he had to leave the black net’s area immediately, and the black-hearted Coach Zhang wouldn’t let him rest on the ground for too long.

At this moment, Su Xuan was drenched in sweat.

Thankfully, he was wearing a dark-colored T-shirt; otherwise, the amount of sweat would have been enough to soak a light-colored shirt transparent.

“Learn to control your body, including controlling it the instant you are stimulated.”

Zhang Heng said with a smile, his legs crossed, holding a small watermelon and scooping out the flesh with a spoon.

Su Xuan’s eyes were full of envy.

The profuse sweating had long left his mouth dry, and as the time crept towards noon, the air was gradually becoming hot and oppressive.

If only he had a chilled watermelon right now.

“Don’t look. This is also part of your test. Learn to control yourself in times of crisis and resist temptation. I’ve really spared no expense to test you.”

Zhang Heng ate his watermelon, a look on his face that said this was all for Su Xuan’s own good.

‘Damn it…’

Su Xuan roared in his heart.

This kind of twisted training was really going to be the death of him.

As Zhang Heng ate his melon, he watched Su Xuan turn his back and climb up once more.

He chuckled to himself.

He remembered how this very obstacle had tormented them to the point they wished they were dead.

It had taken them a full half-month of training to barely pass.

But if one wanted to break through to the Initial Form quickly, how could they succeed without enough pressure?

An Initial Form achieved through natural progression was just half-baked, a flower in a greenhouse that shattered at the slightest touch.

Only by constantly facing challenges, by pushing past one’s limits, by forcing every cell into an extreme state, could one continuously become tougher and learn to use energons.

Then, one had to integrate the entire body.
Only by learning to control one’s body could one control the space outside the body.

If you couldn’t quickly master your own body, what right did you have to swiftly break through to the Initial Form?

What right did you have to earn respect on that battlefield where might is supreme?

As Zhang Heng thought this, he looked at that graceful figure and swallowed.

He pressed a hand between his legs, thinking with some shame that he really was a retired soldier.

His control over his own body had declined far too much.

Meanwhile, Su Xuan was struggling to control his exhausted body.

With the loss of energy and water, his brain’s control over his body had quietly weakened.

At this moment, Su Xuan was relying on sheer willpower, suppressing the slight trembling in his limbs caused by extreme fatigue.

Perhaps because he was too exhausted, his mind slowly emptied.

His entire body seemed to be under his own watch.

He entered a mysterious state where his every move was under absolute control.

His breathing became regular and perceptible, and with each breath, a stream of energy was born.

Every bit of energy in his body was under his command.

His cells were like a well-trained army, arranged neatly before his mind, awaiting orders.

This wondrous feeling was grounding and reassuring.

Even if an electric shock came suddenly, he had enough willpower to control his body’s reaction.

“The Void Meditation State? What great progress!”

Zhang Heng swallowed, watching Su Xuan walk slowly along the steel cable.