The Nightmare Of Cultivation

In the private room, Desper focused on his body, particularly on his chest.

 The Root Channel, extending from his black Origin to his spine, gave two small branches of Channels: one going up and the other down

The first would continue to support his upper spine, skull, arms, and some ribs with more Channels.

The latter would do the same for his lower spine, some ribs, and his legs.

With this, all the bones in his body would be dug with Channels. After that, Desper could start digging his muscles.

'The real challenge at the Grafa Level is not digging more Channels, but keeping them from collapsing. During cultivation, I shouldn't only dig more Channels, but reinforce the existing ones with Energy, which consumes even more of it.'

'That is why, the higher your cultivation, the harder it gets.'

Desper stood up and left the private room.

'Even with my black Origin and all these stones, I still can't become a muscle cultivator before the competition,' Desper sighed.

'I am sorry for that, Eland. But I can't achieve what you wish.'

Desper couldn't figure out how he felt about Eland.

'Was he just a fellow disciple? A friend?'

'It feels more like a father who doesn't want his son to suffer the same fate he did.'

Desper felt a shiver run down his spine when he thought about that.

'Let's say a big brother'

He strolled through the sect for a while, then headed to a specific place: the Fighting Ground.

This was where the competition would be held.

On the ground, there were three large elevated platforms, wide enough to hold a lot of duels.

Two of them were empty, while the third one wasn't; there were some duels being held on it.

Surrounding the three platforms were the spectators' stands, arranged in a circle.

The entrance was a gaping spot between the stands.

Facing the entrance on the opposite side was the Ranking Board, with 500 names written on it.

Desper took a seat in the stands as he watched a duel on the platform.

Two disciples were facing each other. One held a wooden sword; the other wore a pair of wooden gauntlets. Between them stood an older man in completely orange robe.

The orange robe was given to those whose cultivation was high in the Grafa Level, but whose bodies had reached their limits. They could retire from being disciples and serve as half-Elders, working as referees, trainers, and in other important roles.

"Remember, it is not allowed to use sharp weapons or injure your opponent; it is a duel, not a real fight. And when I say the duel is over, it is over. Whoever breaks the rules will be punished. Do you understand?" the Referee said firmly, scanning their faces.

"Yes!" both disciples replied at the same time.

"Start!" the Referee shouted.

The two disciples lunged at each other. The boxer tried to close the distance to use his weapon properly, but the swordsman didn't let him, swinging his sword.

Desper noticed that they were both faster than him, but not by too much.

'Even if you are a bone cultivator, the muscles surrounding the bones that contain Channels will be slightly faster and stronger than normal,' Desper analyzed.

"Yaaawn, it's just a fight between two bone cultivators" .

Desper overheard some disciples nearby speaking.

"Digging your bones is the easiest part. After that, when you start digging your muscles, the real challenge begins. You have to dig your muscles while preventing your bones' Channels from collapsing," one of them said.

"You're right," another one murmured. "After I became a muscle cultivator, I was careless and neglected the Channels in the bones of my left arm until they collapsed. I didn't notice, so I used my arm normally... then boom, my bones got shattered under the force of my strong muscles."

He held his left arm and trembled as he said that.

 "I had to rest for two months. After that, I received sect punishment," he added.

Hearing that, Desper felt shivers in his own left arm.

He remembered what he'd heard in the lecture: if your Channels collapse for no proper reason, the sect will punish you.

'So cruel,' Desper murmured inwardly.

He returned his focus to the duel on the platform, but quickly got lost in thought.

He was thinking about what the two disciples had said.

For some time, Desper's expression shifted: contemplative, excited, depressed, smiling…

On the platform, the fighter with gauntlets found an opening in the swordsman's defense.

He bent his knees to lower himself, then struck the other's right leg, making him lose balance.

"The fight is over!" the Referee shouted.

But the disciple didn't hear him as he was too focused on the fight.

He threw a punch at the swordsman's face with all his strength.

Just as his hand was a few centimeters away, it was stopped.

"What do you think you're doing? I said the fight is over," the Referee said angrily, holding the disciple's wrist.

"I'm sorry, Referee! I swear I didn't hear you," the disciple apologized nervously.

"Two low-grade red stones will be deducted from your allowance next month," the Referee said coldly, jotting something down on his scroll.

"But, Referee, I really di—"

"Do you want me to increase them?" the Referee cut him off.

"No, Referee," the disciple said quickly, accepting the punishment.

…

Desper didn't notice the fight was over. He rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes.

'Channels collapsing… I can use this to win the competition,' Desper pondered. 'It would be like cheating, but the Fifth didn't say anything about it.'

'There's another problem: the sect punishment for my Channels collapsing.' Desper was deep in thought.

The disciples near him stood up.

"That was so boring. I wasted my time watching those two play around. Let's get out of here."

Desper stood up approached them.

"Excuse me."

"Hmm? How can I help you?" one of them responded.

"Sorry for that, but I want to ask how the sect punished you after your Channels collapsed," Desper asked the man who had been punished earlier.

The man narrowed his eyes at Desper. "Are you mocking me right now?" He sounded angry.

"No! No! I'm a new disciple here, so I was just curious," Desper said quickly, realizing the misunderstanding.

"Oh, so you're new." The man's face relaxed a bit.

"In situations like that, the sect usually sends us to fight around the Spatial Crack for a few days," he explained.

Then, he added "But you don't have to worry about punishment since you're a new disciple".

"As a new cultivator, the sect gives you three months between the first and second lecture to get used to your new life. If your Channels collapse during those three months, the sect won't punish you."

Desper's eyes widened. He tried to keep his face straight, hiding his excitement.

"So, you don't need to worry if your Channels collapse," the man said, thinking Desper was afraid because it had already happened.

"Thank you very much, big brothers," Desper said, cupping his hands.

He left the Fighting Ground with a big smile on his face.

'I have a big chance to get the pill now, but it won't be that easy' he said inwardly.

Desper decided not to return to his dwelling. Instead, he headed to another large blue building.

It was where Eland lived. Eland had told him the location before he left.

Desper climbed the stairs to the second floor.

"I hope he's not in the private room," Desper mumbled as he knocked on the black door.

After a short wait, the door opened.

"Desper?" Eland looked surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Eland. Sorry for the sudden visit. But I need your help," Desper said.

"Help? Do you need more stones?" Eland frowned.

"No, no, I don't need any more stones," Desper said. "I need you to train me to fight"

"Fight?" Eland was confused. "You should focus on cultivation for now."

"Do you think I can win the competition if I cultivate for one month? Or even three?" Desper asked with a smile.

"You—"

"And don't tell me that I killed a mid-muscle cultivator before, so I can do it again. That doesn't change the fact that I don't remember how I did it," Desper cut him off.

Eland fell silent.

"That is why I came up with another idea," Desper added.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Eland looked surprised.

Desper smiled widely.

Eland's eyes widened at what he heard next.

"At the time of the competition, I won't be a muscle cultivator,"

"Instead, I will be an organ cultivator."