Chapter 573: Master, You're Killing Me Here

The cruise from Douluo to Star Luo was set to take about two months, and that was at speeds only possible with the latest government-researched technologies. 

The curtain of night fell and Tang Wulin prepared himself for the trial that was to come by meditating. With a belly full of food and having already experienced numerous brushes with death, he had nerves of steel. Since he couldn’t escape from these trials, he could only face them directly. 

“Today is the forty-ninth day,” Mu Ye said, rousing Tang Wulin from his meditative state. 

Tang Wulin remembered that the first stage of this cultivation method would take forty-nine days total. And now the end was in sight. The forty-nine days had gone by in a flash, an insignificant amount of time compared to the ten years he had spent cultivating prior. However, in this short period, he had struggled on the precipice of life and death daily, and each day had seemed to drag on for an eternity.  

Throughout these crises, Tang Wulin had grown thinner and leaner and sensed the strength building within him. His potential had constantly been dragged out from the depths of his core. The cycle of daily brushes with death and highly nutritious food the next day roused explosive growth. After these forty-nine days, it were as if he had reborn into a different person. Whenever he peered into himself, his bones, muscles, and organs would shine with a golden light. Furthermore, recalling Old Tang's words, he didn't need to take medicine to break the fifth seal anymore. His body was sturdy enough to withstand the tyrannical energy. He could smash open the seal whenever he wanted. 

The mere thought of saving money filled Tang Wulin’s heart with motivation. But he didn’t plan on tackling the fifth seal just yet. Once he did, he would have to begin preparing for the sixth immediately after. It was better to milk as much time as he could from these circumstances. 

Old Tang had appeared on the tenth day of the forty-nine day ordeal, assuring Tang Wulin that this extreme training was undoubtedly beneficial to him. That he had to persevere until the end. Since Old Tang pushed him to endure, Tang Wulin could only grit his teeth and push on. 

On the eve of the forty-ninth trial, Tang Wulin’s soul power was highly condensed and at the peak of rank 39. Since the last rank before every new soul ring was the hardest, this was astounding growth in such a short span of time. 

Tang Wulin balled his hands into tight fists. It’s finally here! The last trial! 

“In a sense, today is a major milestone for you. But the time it takes to succeed in the first stage of training isn’t strictly forty-nine days. That number is just the average. If your martial soul reawakens today, then that’s proof that you have the potential to become one of the elites of the Body Sect. If not, we’ll need to start another cycle of forty-nine days, and we’ll continue to do so until you get your second awakening.” Mu Ye spoke softly, but his words were like thunder in Tang Wulin’s ears. 

T-this isn’t the end? 

In truth, Mu Ye was bewildered as well, lying through his teeth. As the master of the Body Sect, he naturally held a deep understanding of their cultivation methods and kept a key piece of information from Tang Wulin. That in reality, a forty-nine-day training cycle to reawaken a martial soul far exceeded the standard length. 

Tang Wulin’s body simply hid too much power and potential. In the entire history of the Body Sect, there were only a few records of people like Tang Wulin. And they all ended up becoming Limit Douluos. Because of this, Mu Ye’s expectations for him were exceptionally high and he imposed the harshest challenges for the sake of wringing out all of Tang Wulin’s potential. 

But the truth was this: ninety-five percent of the time people experienced their second awakening after ten or so brushes with death. In other words, practically everyone who had been subjected to this forty-nine-day training cycle triggered their second awakening. 

Most people would have had their bodies and wills broken after one session. Since Tang Wulin survived the first night, it was unlikely he would share this fate in the future. Therefore, Mu Ye had thought Tang Wulin would experience his second awakening long ago. Yet forty-eight days later, this still hadn’t happened. This was truly abnormal!

Generally, anyone who could endure this training and experienced a second awakening possessed a powerful martial soul. The later they awakened, the more powerful their martial soul was. But forty-nine days was usually the limit. Only the last five percent of trainees took this long. 

The other reason why Tang Wulin might not have reawakened his martial soul proved far less glamorous. Perhaps his martial soul was too mediocre and he possessed not the slightest trace of an ancient bloodline. In that case, a second martial soul awakening was more of a pipe dream.

But Mu Ye refused to believe that. Tang Wulin was an elite of Shrek Academy. He powerful body and willpower surpassed those of his peers. If he couldn’t reawaken, that would go against all reason! 

Now that the final day of training was here, Mu Ye’s mind spun and tossed in a more anxious circle than Tang Wulin’s. For the sake of rousing Tang Wulin’s second awakening, he had prepared a special challenge. 

Tang Wulin coughed, drawing Mu Ye’s attention back. “Master, you shouldn’t underestimate my conviction!” 

Mu Ye walked approached him. He touched Tang Wulin on the shoulder, a stern expression crossing his face. Tang Wulin had never seen Mu Ye with such a grave air around him before. “Tonight’s trial is different from the previous ones. I won’t save you if you fail this time. I vow this on my honor as a Titled Douluo. Even if you face death, I will not help you. The only one you will be able to rely on is yourself. Today is the final day and your final trial, so survive!” 

Then out of the cabin they flew. 

Mu Ye spent tens of minutes in the air instead of immediately diving into the ocean. Once several kilometers away from the two ships, he stopped above the water. “Survive!” He let go of Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin pierced the ocean with a splash, frigid water instantly swallowing him whole. 

After overcoming numerous confrontations with drowning in the ocean, Tang Wulin had grown to be a masterful swimmer. The instant before submersion, he had sucked in a deep breath and expanded his chest to gather as much air as possible. But to his astonishment, Mu Ye didn’t drag him into the ocean’s depths. He rose back to the surface a moment later. 

As Tang Wulin treaded water, he cautiously examined the area to determine his challenge. Thinking back to Mu Ye’s grave expression, he was certain that tonight would be the most dangerous yet, even if it didn’t involve drowning. But no matter what the challenge was, he would face it head on.

Some time passed and still, nothing happened. Is Master Ye just testing how long I can survive in the ocean? He touched his storage ring. I should be good for ten days and more with how much food I have. Well, there’s plenty of fish in the sea too. Though most are a bit lacking in nutrition. 

Moonlight reflected from the surface of the slowly churning ocean, a shimmer of silver. Then in the distance, Tang Wulin caught sight of strange grey specks. At first, there were only a couple, but soon the number breached into dozens. He flicked his gaze around. Hovering in the sky, Mu Ye shot blast after blast of green energy into the ocean, rumbling splashes following each one.

What is Master Ye doing? But Tang Wulin soon had his answer. Upon closer inspection, those grey specks were, in fact, shark fins! They cut through the waters like silver arrows heading straight for him. His face paled in horror. There’s so many sharks! It looks like a whole herd! Do I run? Tang Wulin wracked his brains on a way to escape, but it was hopeless. No matter how skilled a swimmer he was, he could not win a race against sharks. 

Tang Wulin finally understood the night’s challenge. He had to survive the onslaught of a shark herd. Furthermore, these were not ordinary sharks, but the fabled great white demon sharks! 

Master, you’re killing me here.