Chapter 256 To Overcome Or To Die

'This has to work!' Rocky said to himself as he exerted his spiritual power to connect with the Dragon Flame Pearl in his chest.

But, the Dragon Flame Pearl was not activated even after he almost completely drained his spiritual power from exertion.

'Can I make this work? Or am I doomed here?' Rocky's will started to slip. Thoughts of hopelessness and defeat plagued him. He started to think about giving up and surrendering to the Goddess of Fate as the minutes passed by. He thought about the times when he escaped the grip of death relatively unscathed before. But, alas, this time, it seemed that luck had deserted him completely.

As the thoughts of defeat hovered ever closer, the image of Lena forced itself into his mind. A powerful emotion suddenly filled his entire being. His heart thumped with renewed energy. He realized that he could not allow himself to perish. He knew that he needed to survive for the one who cared deeply about him.

Rocky braced himself with renewed determination. He took a deep breath and slowly, carefully drew forth his last reserve of spiritual power to once again attempt to activate the Dragon Flame Pearl. He steeled his mind for only one acceptable possibility -- he would succeed! At this point, he prepared himself for both absolute defeat and absolute success and held nothing back!

Beads of sweat trickled down from his forehead. His body reverberated from the intensity of his concentration. At length, Rocky's strength started to ebb and give in to the enormous strain. And just as he was about to collapse, a magnificent flame burst forth from his chest. The scorching heat almost melted his skin! The flesh threads that bounded his chest gave out, unable to contain the power of the Dragon Flame Pearl. The pearl then flew into the air as several smaller streaks of fire surrounded it. The entire area looked as if dragons with bodies made of pure flame flashed in fiery waves of orange, yellow and red and played around with the pearl.

"Go!" Rocky exclaimed as he moved his head upward and urged the flames forward. He was surprised that the Dragon Flame Pearl followed his instruction. It flew directly into the flesh pillar. The shroud of fire grew magnificently to engulf the flesh pillar in its searing flames.

A thundering sound filled the area as the flesh pillar disintegrated under the blazing assault of the fire streaks of the Dragon Flame Pearl.

Loud groaning sounds filled the air that came from the spirit-manipulated beast as the flesh wall shuddered violently from the assault.

The white flesh threads stopped feeding on his spiritual power. Its grip loosened which allowed Rocky to move more freely. He reached for his Frozen Wind Dagger to completely free himself of the white flesh threads by cutting them off. Without warning, as if it read his mind, a powerful surge of spiritual power flowed through the white flesh threads and into his exhausted body.

In an instant, Rocky felt the spiritual power from the white flesh threads as it slammed into his body like the waves of the ocean during a storm. But Rocky's body did not have

him. Yet he also continued his same defense as he subdued the alien spiritual power to his will. As he absorbed it into his own reserve of spiritual power, his cultivation base was expected to elevate to the sixth grade of the Earthly Stage.

Two more days and nights passed and he went on the same spiritual battle with his attacker.

But the intensity of the spiritual power attacks weakened as the hours flew by. Rocky felt the end of the struggle drew near. The assaults continued with decreasing intensity until it completely sputtered to a halt.

Rocky opened his eyes slowly. He felt completely relaxed, calm and rested despite the amount of time that had passed. He felt so full of spiritual power. He looked around him and saw the wilted flesh threads that once attached to his body. Even the flesh pillar grew pallid and drooping.

Rocky sat in meditation for a few moments more. He then scrutinized the spiritual flame that blazed inside his body. It was then that he realized he had almost reached the sixth grade of the Earthly Stage. He jumped from a mere fourth grade in a few days.

The danger that came with such a progress was just as enormous. Rocky realized how great the peril and how close he was to death during the entire time. He hardly believed that he was able to survive each danger that blocked his way.

Rocky eventually stood up from his cross-legged position and walked steadily to the side of the flesh pillar. He bent down and then picked up the Dragon Flame Pearl lying silently there. He felt relaxed as the pearl rested in the middle of his palm. "This is a truly valuable treasure for it had saved my life even though I did not expect it to do so!" he whispered to himself.

Rocky was suddenly greeted by a wave of cold air that surrounded him and overwhelmed him. Everything around him was still dark yet he was sure that he had exited the abdomen of the spirit-manipulated beast. Every breath he took now seemed like the freshest air that he had ever breathed. He felt relieved. It was like finally waking up from a very bad dream!