"Follow me," Hu Ninger motioned and made a beeline to the front of the queue. I silently followed behind and used the chance to appreciate her swaying hips and jiggling ass; if only her robe weren't so modest. I can't blame her as it is the sect's regulations.

"Look, it's goddess Ninger," our arrival unsurprisingly attracted unwanted attention. The whole commotion started with one observer, but soon unrest spread through the entire queue with everyone struggling to feed their eyes; I imagine this is how I would react if a real god were to descend before me.

"Who's that asshole behind the goddess?" The asshole in question is me, as for the reason I am suddenly marked as such, I don't know, ok maybe I know butI ignored the commotion and continued to follow Hu Ninger. The best way to avoid trouble is to ignore them.

We arrived at the tower entrance. Its grandness made me feel like an ant before a human. I calmed my excited heart and waited for what Hu Ninger would do.

"Do you see that?" My eyes followed her pale slender finger and landed upon a giant stele with a grey metallic luster. Thin golden writings were neatly engraved on it. The absolute majesty of the gravity tower had prevented me from spotting it despite its huge size, "go and engrave your name on it using your qi," I squinted my eyes and finally realized the tiny writings are actually names of people.

"What's the use?" I asked, feeling a little curious.

"It automatically determines your progress on the tower and ranks you," I nodded to her explanation.

"Then what is your rank?" 

"Twenty-four," her lips curved into a satisfied grin. She must be proud of her achievements. I followed her instructions and moved towards the stele. I circulated my qi and neatly curved my name on it. Immediately, it glowed with a golden hue and mysteriously moved to the very bottom of the list; as of now, I'm the number [2574].

"Hu Ninger, this young master hasn't seen you for a while," after engraving my name. I walked back to Hu Ninger only to find a black-haired youth holding a black fan close to his mouth talking to her.

"Tian Wei, please stick to your matters and leave me alone," she shot the man a glare and said. "Are you done?" She then turned to me and asked to which I lightly nodded.

"Who's this brat?" Tian Wei eyed me with suspicion. "Brat, identify yourself," he pointed at me with his sharp fan. Why is this guy so arrogant? The fact that I can see his cultivation proves he's nothing much. If I'm careful enough, a fourth layer like him shouldn't be impossible to deal with.

"So what next?" I ignored the silk pants and asked Hu Ninger. She gestured for me to follow her, which I did. To my surprise, no one objected to us cutting the line. The ones at the front were going as far as moving out of the way. Once inside, my view was once more shattered. I had my estimates of the inside, but it's about twice my estimation, to my surprise. 

For a moment, my eyes remained glued to the vast silvery halls. I spotted disciples in meditative stances and eyes tightly closed.

"On the first floor, the gravity is the same as the outside, but once you step on the first stair, things will change," I quietly followed her towards the stairs where the other disciples were peacefully meditating.

"Kid, did you just ignore me?" Of course, things wouldn't be this easy. I had expected Tian Wei to act sooner or later; he grabbed me by the shoulder and said. Not giving him a chance, I reached for his hand and skilfully twisted it. For a fourth layer, the guy is surprisingly weak. I then used his body weight and forced him to the ground with a plop. He hit the ground face first.

"Who gave you permission to lay your filthy hands on me?" I coldly asked him. For a moment, I almost lost it and burst into a hearty laugh seeing his bewildered expression.

"Boy, you actually dare?" He furiously asked after his body recovered from shock while frantically trying to get to his feet. If it weren't because fighting is prohibited and I'm just from a case, I would have used this chance to smack him silly. "A second layer dares to embarrass this young master?" I could tell he just confirmed my cultivation, "then don't blame me for retaliating," saying that, he spread his fan, and I could see a thin shining metallic edge. I had long guessed it was a weapon, but that didn't worry me, even after he mobilized his qi and lunged at me. I remained unmoved.

"Bold!" Hu Ninger's fiery voice resounded as she made a move. Before Tian Wei could reach me, he was already subdued; by subdued, I mean sent flying across the room. "How dare you try to fight in my presence? Have you forgotten who I am?" Tian Wei struggled to his feet and hatefully looked at us.

"Hu Ninger, my senior brother, won't easily let matters go. Are you prepared to face his wrath?" He tried to get a reaction out of her, but when he failed, he turned to me, "all you can do is sneak attack. Why can't you face me like a real man and stop hiding behind women?"

"If you dare to fight Hu Ninger, then I will also openly fight you," there's no way I'll agree to fight him in a fair match knowing he is stronger than me.

"Hmph, let's see if that bitch will protect you all the time," saying that, he hurriedly limped away.

"Who's this guy? He dares to fight Tian Wei? Tian Long won't let matters go."

"It seems the coming days will be enjoyable to watch."

"Hold on, didn't you guys see the goddess defend him? His background shouldn't be simple."

It seems our commotion attracted onlookers, and they easily came to their ridiculous conclusions. Is Tian Wei's so-called brother Tian Long? On the stele, I saw Tian Long ranked at eighth place.

"Just ignore them," Hu Ninger turned and said. "Now, where was I... yes, apart from helping you practice martial techniques. The tower will also help to refine your body," I shuddered at Her words. Body refinement isn't a new concept to me, but there is a reason I have avoided it until now; that's because it involves subjecting your body to unimaginable torture, at least that's what the books said.

"Is it a must to practice body refinement?"

"It isn't but using the tower will force you," I nodded and weighed my options. In the end, I decided to follow through with it. If I don't want to be useless once my qi is sealed or something like that, then I'll have to refine my body; as far as I know, body refinement is divided into tiers. A tier one body refinement has the same power as a qi gathering expert.

"Are you willing?" She asked to which I nodded. If she can do it, who am I not to? "Then let's start," she walked to the first stair. I followed suit and felt a slight resistance. It isn't that bad. I smiled at the ease and quickly went for the second stair, but that's when things became tricky. If the first stair was like carrying twice my weight, then the second is like carrying thrice. I gritted my teeth and went for the third stair.

*Crack*

For a moment, I thought I heard my bones cracking under pressure, but I ignored it and proceeded to the fourth stair.

"Don't rush it. Let your body slowly adapt to the pressure before climbing further," Hu Ninger kindly advised, but it was like she hadn't said anything. Her advice would have been useful if my goals weren't different from what she's thinking. What I intend to do is to increase my pain tolerance. I have watched high-leveled cultivators pummel each other during sect wars. The injuries they suffer require a nature-defying pain tolerance to continue fighting. So I better adapt my body now and have an easy future.

With that, I stepped on the fifth floor. This time I swear I felt a blood vessel rupture, but I ignored it. Only four stairs remained to the second floor; I endured and went further. The trick is to accurately time and regulate breathing with movement.

"Jiang Ming, don't..." Hu Ninger tried to stop me, but I didn't listen, especially after only one stair remained. With one last heave, I threw myself to the second floor. The pressure was more than I thought. I couldn't stand it anymore.

*Crack*

I heard my bones crack, and accompanying it was a warm liquid flowing on my face. I'm bleeding, I guessed.

"Here, use this," Hu Ninger forced something in my mouth. I almost reflexively spat it out, but I endured and swallowed the bitter pill. Immediately, the pain lessened. A soothing and pleasant feeling assaulted my being, and finally, I was able to get up and sit in a meditative stance. "You know, you're really stubborn but at the same time amazing. The first time I only managed the third stair and stayed there for a whole week."

"Should I celebrate now?" I asked with a light laugh.

"You should," she failed to notice my joke.

"How are you able to heal this fast?" As I was standing, she asked in surprise.

"I don't know," I shrugged her question. I have always noticed my body fast healing, but the reason as to why has always eluded me. Some would say I'm just built differently.

"How come I don't feel the pressure anymore?" To my surprise, once I stood, the pressure on my body could be compared to the one on the second stair.

"That's because you're already at the first tier of body refinement," she said with a charming smile. "The hardest part is usually the first time you are exposed, but the pressure becomes negligible once you get used to it. Like me, I can freely walk up to the seventh floor."

"So, what do I do to fasten my martial practice?"

"Try attacking me," she said and got in a defensive stance.

"Are you sure?" I asked, to which she confirmed with a nod. I hesitated no more. I used the first technique, entwining my attacks with the wind element. A crescent shaped wind blade immediately rushed to her, but she didn't move. No, she didn't need to move because the wind blade missed her by a huge margin. What?

Thinking the problem was my aim, I tried again, carefully this time, but the result was the same. The attack wasn't even close to grazing her.

"You should've noticed it already. Attacking under increased pressure is hard, if not impossible. Your aim should be to attack as close to me as possible. Once you hit me, your comprehension should increase," I nodded and continued with the attacks.

****

After some time, we got off the tower. I felt accomplished even though I still didn't manage to hit her. I asked her if we could go higher, but she said going higher will need spirit stones. So I postponed it until I had more.

"Have you been to the forest?" She suddenly asked, and I shook my head. "If you want to earn stones fast, you should try going there, though it is hazardous as those beasts are unpredictable and weird," for some reason after she suggested the forest. I thought of Feng Lin. He wouldn't dare. I tried to reject the idea of him going to the forest, but the uneasiness kept spreading and churning in my stomach, now that I think about it. He shouldn't have a faction to rely on; hence his only option is going to the forest and hunt.

"Can you take me to the forest?" I asked Hu Ninger.

"Right now?"

"Is there a problem?" I shot her a question in response to hers.

"No, it's just that..."

Junior_elder

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