Within the swirling elixir field, a cyclone of blue-green light spun faster and faster, each revolution squeezing the essence tighter until the hue deepened from pale jade to storm-dark emerald.
Again and again, that condensed tide hammered the invisible shell lining the elixir field wall. Hairline cracks spidered across the stubborn barrier with every strike.
Days passed by inside the tower. Beyond its door, only two dawns passed, yet two hundred days burned away beneath the accelerated clock within.
During that borrowed season, Yuliana’s wounds mended completely, Detoxification Pills and rich spiritual energy weaving flesh and spirit back together until not a scar remained. Riding the same current, climbed to Earthly Immortal Realm Level Nine, one breath away from the Human Immortal Realm threshold.
Often sat beneath the Enlightenment Tea Tree, gaze drifting to Jared nearby. Whenever memory replayed the moment his lips drew poison from her, thighs pressed involuntarily together, an aftershock of heat flickering through composure.
Around Jared’s frame hovered a corona of deep turquoise light, tiny arcs of lightning skittering across its surface and echoing the runes carved into the tower walls. Before him, the pile of celestial gems had already sunk by half a man’s height, its brilliance drained to feed his relentless cultivation.
On the final day, as another torrent of energy surged through him, Jared’s eyes snapped open, shards of silver light spearing from his pupils.
“Break!” growled, molding every drop of force into a spectral spear and driving it straight at the fractured shell inside his core.
A crystalline crack rang out within him. At last, the barrier that had caged for so long collapsed like glass against a hammer. Unfettered spiritual energy roared Inward, ballooning the inner vortex until its color shifted to ink-dark jade.
When the storm settled, a solid core of power floated at his center, its aura several times stronger than before.
He had stepped into the Earthly Immortal Realm Level Two! Jared drew his cultivation to a close, the lightning-type current humming pleasantly through his meridians.
For the first time in days, a quiet, satisfied smile crept across his face. He rose, flexed hands and shoulders, and found every latent injury, poison, overexertion, hidden fractures, washed clean.
The pure energy from the celestial gem mine had even tempered his foundations, leaving them steadierthan ever.
“Mr. Chance, congratulations on the breakthrough!” Yuliana called, hurrying toward him, happiness bright on face.
Even from a few paces away, felt the change. His aura now lay dense and unshakable, entirely unlike the man who had first carried Into the tower.
“And congratulations to you as well, Ms. Fiala… You advanced, too,” Jared replied with a small, approving nod.
“Without your Pentacarna Tower, I could never have broken through so fast. I am more grateful than I can say. A-And thank you for removing the poison before, it was… Indispensable…” Yuliana blushed deeply after saying that.
“Think nothing of it. If any trace of toxin remains, I’ll be happy to draw it out again,” Jared answered, utterly at ease.
“Maybe you didn’t get every drop,” Yuliana murmured, shaking head as lips brushed together. “Lately, my skin tingles, little sparks crawling under It like insects. Feels as if the poison is ready to burst.”
Jared flashed a reassuring grin.
“Then I’ll draw out whatever’s left.” said, leaning close without another word.
Ms. Fiala let eyelids drift shut. Supported by soft cushions of starlight inside the tower, surrendered to Jared’s touch, body slack with trust, breath weaving threads of expectation through the hushed air.
After a long, silent while, Jared lifted his head. “How do you feel now, Ms. Fiala?”
“Far better,” answered, rolling one shoulder to test it. “We need to hurry back to Celestia. I fear Ieuan might already be moving against King Aurelius.”
“Understood…” Jared nodded once, decision snapping into place. He raised a hand, and the bronze door of the tower yawned open at his will.
Supporting Yuliana by the waist, guided into the dawn. The moment their boots kissed open ground, the tower shrank to a thumb-sized relic and dropped, gleaming, into Jared’s palm.
Outside, first light stained the horizon. Jared stared toward the royal capital, resolve flickering in his eyes like steel catching the sunrise.
Masking their auras, the two figures blurred eastward, mere ripples of wind racing for Celestia.
