Crossing the Cultivation Realm: Two Souls Coexist

The blazing sun hung high in the sky, relentlessly pouring down its light and heat, trying its best to dispel the last trace of chill in the late autumn morning.

On a relatively flat slope a few hundred meters away from the main buildings of the Dongying barracks, three slightly rough but sturdy new wooden houses have been erected.

The old tortoise was leisurely leaning against an old bamboo recliner in front of one of the wooden houses, squinting its small, beady eyes and enjoying the rare sunlight.

It held a seemingly ordinary green bamboo fishing rod in one of its front paws, and the fishing line was lowered into a small, crystal-clear pond that it had somehow created.

Its other forepaw holds a steaming cup of tea, which it sips from time to time. Its wrinkled head sways gently to some off-key ancient song, looking utterly content.

However, in stark contrast to this leisurely atmosphere, the scene downstream of the pool is quite different.

With immense magical power, the old tortoise transformed a section of the downstream area into a huge, viscous, heavy mud pool that reeked of earthy stench.

Hu Qing and Gu Yang were deeply trapped in it at this moment, like insects struggling in amber.

Every handful of soil in this swamp seemed to be infused with lead and mercury, weighing a ton, tightly adhering to and enveloping their limbs and bones.

They had to struggle, twist, and trudge relentlessly just to keep their bodies from sinking any further.

If they slowed down even slightly, the terrible mud would immediately drag them deeper into the abyss.

The scorching sun only exacerbated the pain.

The heavy mud clinging to their skin was quickly dried by the high temperature, forming hard, rough patches of mud that rubbed against their already red and even broken skin like a persistent affliction.

Sweat streamed down their foreheads and temples, mixing with mud and water, flowing into their eyes and mouths, blurring their vision and filling their mouths with a bitter, salty taste.

Both of them were breathing heavily, their chests feeling like broken bellows, each breath accompanied by a burning pain.

They knew that the old tortoise's demand that they reach the peak of the Dust-Severing Realm within a week would be arduous, but they never imagined that this "arduousness" would be such a direct and cruel physical torment.

The immense pressure emanating from the quagmire itself and some kind of invisible constraint was constantly crushing their muscles, bones, and even their will.

Currently, both of them only have the law chains corresponding to their nascent soul limbs that have not yet been torn.

The old tortoise then came up with this seemingly simple and crude, but actually core, "traditional method" to hone their physique and strength, and unleash their potential.

Gu Yang struggled to raise his arm, wiped his blurry eyes with the relatively clean inside of his wrist, and spat out a mouthful of saliva that tasted of mud.

Hu Qing was not far ahead of him, struggling to move forward as if wriggling in sticky glue.

"Here we go again! Get ready!" Hu Qing suddenly roared, his voice hoarse from exhaustion but carrying an undeniable sense of vigilance.

Upon hearing this, Gu Yang's spirits lifted. He forced himself to wade through the mud, which was deep enough to trap a barbarian elephant, and approached Hu Qing. He stood back to back with him, bent his knees and lowered his waist, clenched his fists, and assumed a fighting stance.

Upstream from the pool, there was a heavy log, so thick it would take two people to hug it, completely black, its material unknown.

As if propelled by an invisible hand, it crashed down with a dull thud, carried by the current! Its force was so great that it could shatter stone tablets!

Hu Qing and Gu Yang stared intently at the trajectory of the rolling log. Just as it was about to crash into them, the two of them simultaneously let out a low shout, gathered all their strength, and unleashed a powerful punch!

"Boom--!"

A dull, resounding crash, like the sound of leather being struck, echoed over the mud pit.

The immense recoil caused both of them to groan simultaneously, their arms trembling violently, and their fists instantly swelling and turning red.

But the heavy log, under their combined attack, changed direction and flew askew toward the edge of the mud pit, splashing up a large amount of mud.

This is the result of their training session nearing its end today.

Looking back to the beginning of yesterday, they were completely unable to grasp the timing and force of the rolling logs.

They were mercilessly slammed into the depths of the mud pit time and time again, choking on mud and water, looking utterly miserable. In the end, the old turtle could only use his fishing rod to "fish" them out of the mud pit like dead fish.

After a whole day, both of them were covered in bruises and cuts.

However, the progress made under pressure is also evident.

With their gradually developing tacit understanding and instinct for danger, they were finally able to join forces to resist the sudden attack.

After knocking the log away, the two dared not stop for a moment, continuing to grit their teeth as if rowing against the current.

In the thick, heavy mud, we trudged step by step towards the clear pool upstream that seemed so close yet so far away.

The old turtle promised that as long as they could get out of the mud and swim to it on their own, they would get half a day of precious rest.

Meanwhile, Little Purple on the shore was far from having an easy time either. The old turtle wouldn't show him any leniency just because he was young and small.

At this moment, Xiao Zi was facing something, her little face scrunched up, almost doubting Long Sheng's existence.

Before him lay a stone no bigger than the palm of his hand, its entire surface silvery-white and shimmering with a cold metallic luster—the old tortoise called it "extraterrestrial meteorite iron."

His task was simple yet cruel: to shatter the stone using only the physical strength of his human child form, without using any of the dragon's original power!

Xiao Zi had lost count of how many times she had punched this broken rock.

His hands were already red and swollen, like two fermented buns. Every impact brought excruciating pain and a strong shock, causing his blood to surge and his breathing to become rapid.

But the silvery-white meteorite remained completely still, without even leaving a white mark.

He couldn't help but think of yesterday, and his heart was filled with regret.

When training started yesterday, the old tortoise gave him only a relatively hard "mysterious iron crystal" and asked him to break it with his physical strength.

He thought he was being clever and, in the instant he threw his punch, secretly released a barely perceptible wisp of dragon energy. Although he immediately concealed it, how could he hide it from the old tortoise's perception?

The result was predictable—he was unceremoniously caught by the old turtle with that fishing rod and used as bait, hanging in the air above the pond for a full half day!

Feeling the breeze and the curious gazes of passing soldiers, the experience was indescribably "profound".

Sure enough, retribution came so quickly.

Today's training subject has been changed to this piece of extraterrestrial meteorite that has brought him despair.

Looking at her swollen and stinging little fists, and feeling the dragon power within her body that was strictly imprisoned and unable to be mobilized in the slightest, Xiao Zi wanted to cry but had no tears.

If he hadn't seen Hu Qing and Brother Gu Yang suffering in the mud nearby, and felt a sense of shared misery, he probably would have run away long ago.

Under the scorching sun, one person and two "dragons" endured the "hellish training" tailored for them by the old tortoise in their own ways, struggling and forging ahead for that seemingly impossible goal.