Chapter 130: Gravitational Field

Zhou Qi had just taken a step forward when he sensed something was amiss. The further he walked, the heavier the gravity became. No wonder the previous fifteen people had been moving with such difficulty, managing to inch forward only after what felt like half an age; they must have been enduring unimaginable gravitational force.

Shui Bing retained her otherworldly detachment as she walked at the very front. The lotus flower beneath her feet had already vanished—presumably because the gravity was too intense to allow her levitation. Her fair, delicate bare feet moved forward step by step. Although her pace was growing increasingly slower, she appeared far from disheveled.

*Would her feet not get dirty walking on the ground like that?* Zhou Qi thought with a touch of mischievous humor. However, from his vantage point, he could not see clearly; the distance was too great, and even his spiritual perception seemed hampered by the gravity.

Following not far behind Shui Bing was a burly male cultivator, likely a body-refining practitioner. When entering the gateway, he had used a massive saber to force the others back, and his pace was slightly slower than Shui Bing's.

Behind the burly cultivator was a fair-complexion, handsome young cultivator who looked utterly harmless. Yet, Zhou Qi did not dare to underestimate him; among the hundreds who stood out to enter, almost none were pushovers—with the exception of himself, who had gained entry through an array formation.

Zhou Qi silently assessed the gravity. With every step forward, the gravitational force continued to intensify. Body-refining cultivators held a tremendous advantage here; if a cultivator neglected physical refinement, they would have to continuously circulate spiritual energy to resist the pressure. Over a long period, their spiritual energy would inevitably be depleted, hindering their contention for subsequent opportunities.

Zhou Qi did not circulate his spiritual energy to resist. Bearing the invisible pressure, he walked forward step by step with a relaxed expression. Although his previous battle with the eighth-layer Foundation Establishment cultivator had delayed him slightly, the others were not moving fast either; Shui Bing, who was furthest ahead, was only a little over two thousand meters away.

Zhou Qi soon surpassed the last person in line. That cultivator was laboring forward step by step, and upon discovering he had been overtaken, he was utterly shocked. Eager to catch up, he hurriedly took a few rapid strides forward before stopping helplessly. If one took steps too quickly and the gravity shifted too drastically, resisting it became far more excruciating.

Walking forward at a steady pace, Zhou Qi noticed that for every five hundred meters, the intensity of the gravity doubled. When he reached the one-thousand-meter mark, Zhou Qi also began to feel a trace of pressure, causing his pace to slow down. By this point, he had already surpassed twelve cultivators.

In the eyes of these twelve cultivators, Zhou Qi had strolled past them as leisurely as if taking a stroll in a courtyard, seeming entirely devoid of pressure.

"Who is this person? The gravity has virtually no effect on him. If his strength is so formidable, why did he enter so late?" the cultivators thought. Whoever entered first fell behind last; within this gravitational field, the order also reflected the relative strength of each practitioner.

Naturally, the further ahead one went, the stronger one's capability. Though the cultivators did not fully understand the significance of this, perhaps it was a trial set by the Sword Immortal. If one performed outstandingly and earned the Sword Immortal's approval, one would naturally acquire more of the sword intent legacy.

Seeing Zhou Qi overtake them, many cultivators felt unwilling to accept it and began circulating their spiritual energy, silently accelerating. The range of the gravitational field was only three thousand meters. At the end of the path lay a glowing portal, and beyond that portal might well lie the legacy of the Sword Immortal.

There were still three cultivators ahead. After adapting to the pressure at the one-thousand-meter mark for a brief moment, Zhou Qi continued pressing forward at his original pace.

The omnipresent gravity pressed down upon the cultivators like a colossal mountain, bending their figures, yet not a single person gave up. The ever-growing beads of sweat on their foreheads testified to the extreme agony they were enduring at that moment.

Finally, a cultivator could no longer hold out and dropped to a half-kneeling position, only to find that the gravity actually felt somewhat lighter. Advancing on hands and knees or in a half-kneel bore significantly less weight than standing upright. Although the posture was ungraceful, their moving speed increased dramatically.

This half-kneeling cultivator did not share the trick with the others. Moving much faster than before, he overtook quite a few cultivators. His abnormal behavior caught the attention of others, who noticed that he moved faster on his knees than on his feet, prompting them to imitate him. Sure enough, the gravity felt much lighter. Everyone was overjoyed to discover that there was indeed a trick to passing through this gravitational field.

Aside from Zhou Qi and the three cultivators ahead, all the trailing cultivators were now advancing in a half-kneel. Even the beautiful fairies from the Xianxia Sect could no longer afford to maintain their dignity at this moment; lifting their alluring, full curves, they crawled forward. A few cultivators who had never tasted such a fine sight followed silently behind—able to advance while appreciating the scenery, why not?

Zhou Qi walked up beside the fair-skinned cultivator and noticed that the latter's face was already flushed red, the immense pressure causing his knees to tremble slightly. Yet, he still persisted without dropping to his knees. The scene unfolding behind them had long since caught the attention of the front three cultivators, but out of pride, they disdained to learn such a petty trick.

"Fellow daoist, I have yet to learn your name," the fair-skinned cultivator said, gritting his teeth to greet Zhou Qi as the latter was about to pass him.

"A nameless rogue cultivator, not worth mentioning. If fellow daoist can no longer hold on, perhaps you could learn from them and lower your posture a bit," Zhou Qi replied casually.

"Many thanks. I am also a rogue cultivator. I wish fellow daoist strength to surpass Shui Bing, the Saintess of the Xianxia Sect, and slap the faces of those major sects. We rogue cultivators are no worse than them."

Zhou Qi offered a noncommittal, encouraging smile before continuing onward.

The gravity here had reached a terrifying degree. Zhou Qi secretly circulated the Divine Dragon Transformation, pressing forward against the pressure.

As he walked up beside the burly cultivator, he noticed that trails of blood were already spilling from the corners of the latter's mouth. They had now passed the fifteen-hundred-meter mark. Zhou Qi stopped circulating the Divine Dragon Transformation, and his body instantly plummeted under the crushing weight. With a helpless mental sigh, he resumed the cultivation technique. That the burly cultivator could resist purely with his physical body showed that his physique was exceptionally formidable.

Seeing Zhou Qi surpass him, the burly cultivator's competitive spirit was instantly ignited. Ignoring the blood at the corner of his mouth, he circulated his spiritual energy and accelerated his pace in pursuit.

Zhou Qi paid him no mind and pressed forward. By now, Shui Bing was not far ahead. He finally noticed that the soles of her feet remained as fair and immaculate as ever. *How on earth is that accomplished? Although the ground is flat, it is certainly not spotless. To step on it barefoot without gathering a single speck of dust—truly impressive.*

Zhou Qi briefly debated whether he should silently assassinate her right here. She was a Golden Core cultivator, and fighting here would be advantageous to him; however, he immediately dismissed the thought. There were still seventeen cultivators behind them, and slaughtering someone with whom he shared no enmity simply wasn't his style.

Walking up beside Shui Bing, he found that although she moved slowly, she showed not the slightest sign of fatigue, nor was there the sound of heavy breathing beneath her veil.

Zhou Qi had no intention of exchanging pleasantries and silently passed by her side.

"Fellow daoist, you altered your appearance previously, didn't you? Third-layer Foundation Establishment? Could it be that you concealed your cultivation level all along?" Shui Bing spoke abruptly, her voice remaining soft and melodious.

"What do you mean by that, fellow daoist? Have we met before?" Zhou Qi halted in his tracks.

"Why bother putting on an act? Surely you have already realized it in your heart—a fight to the death between the two of us is inevitable," Shui Bing continued.

She truly was the holder of the soul of the Heavenly Mystery True Monarch. In truth, ever since encountering Shui Bing, the Heavenly Mystery True Monarch had concealed his aura, yet he had still been sensed by her.