Death… And Me

Chapter 4497: Give or Take

Time continued to pass. Weeks became months, and months became years. All the while, everyone’s adaptation to the new environment continued to improve, although the rate at which that improvement happened grew slower and slower.

What had initially felt like an impossible burden gradually became something they could endure, and then something they could fight against. Even so, none of them had forgotten just how overwhelming the Godly Pressure of Woster truly was. Every improvement they gained had been earned through countless days of struggle.

Now and then, Rean went out with Kentucky and the fox. Since he could use his Light Bending Skill on his own, he didn’t need the airplane and left it behind for the others to use while he was gone. As for the reason they went out, they wanted to venture farther into the areas where the Godly Creatures came from, allowing the fox to hunt for her own Godly Crystals.

She had been improving steadily as well, and there was little reason to waste such an opportunity when the environment didn’t seem to affect her like it did their group.

Roan also went out a few times to check the city located two hundred kilometers away from their current location. He never entered the city, naturally, and he was extremely careful not to bump into anyone while using Rean’s Light Bending Skill.

His objective wasn’t to cause trouble or investigate the city in detail just yet. He simply wanted to have an idea of what they could expect if they eventually decided to enter Dlaval City themselves. Even from a distance, the place already gave him the feeling that there was much more to it than what Coyui had explained.

Arcis, Thery, Flugel, and everyone else had their own agendas as well. Once in a while, they left the vault and the area around the airplane, going somewhere farther away to test themselves or pursue whatever objective they had in mind.

That included venturing into the areas where Godly Creatures could be found. Fighting under such extreme conditions was extremely difficult, but it also had an advantage. Every battle forced them to understand the Godly Pressure a little better, and that kind of exertion stimulated their bodies to adapt faster than simply sitting inside the airplane and waiting.

Nonetheless, there was one thing they never ignored. No matter how far they went or how much they wanted to train, they always returned to the vault to rest, especially because they were all in this together. There was no point in truly separating from one another while they were still inside Woster.

The City Prison was far too dangerous, and none of them knew what kind of situations they might encounter later. Having a secure place where everyone could gather was much more valuable than any temporary gain from wandering around alone.

It wasn’t as if there weren’t close moments where they were discovered, either. In fact, other than Rean, Roan, and Kentucky, the rest of their members couldn’t bend light to hide themselves. Because of that, they were seen a few times by cultivators passing through the Ashen Hills or further into the Godly Creatures’ Territories.

Fortunately, that wasn’t a big deal. This wasn’t some forbidden territory where everyone would immediately attack anyone they encountered. Most cultivators simply took a glance, saw that the group wasn’t interfering with them, and continued on their way. As long as they didn’t attract the attention of anyone truly troublesome, there was little reason to worry.

And so, their strange life inside Woster continued.

—

Six and a half years after they arrived in this place, the twins’ group finally reached the limit of the Late Stage of the Aura God Realm. By then, they had already accumulated an enormous amount of Godly Energy through their cultivation under the intense Godly Pressure. That day, the four of them went out together, found a sufficiently hidden corner for themselves, and began their breakthroughs into the Peak Stage of the Aura God Realm.

Since Godly and Celestial Senses didn’t work in Woster, no one would be able to tell that their breakthroughs had happened. Even if Arcis and the others somehow noticed something different about them afterward, the explanation was simple enough.

They could just say that they had already been close to the breakthrough before entering Woster and had finally made the last push. There was nothing strange about that, and considering how long they had been cultivating in this place, nobody would find the explanation suspicious. They were pretending to use Godly predator Crystals, after all.

Of course, reaching the Peak Stage didn’t mean they stopped cultivating. After spending some time stabilizing their foundations and making sure their newly increased cultivation was completely under control, the twins’ group resumed their cultivation. The environment remained extraordinarily beneficial to them, and wasting even a single day would be a terrible decision when they had access to such a massive concentration of Godly Pressure.

After another day of cultivation, Celis finally calculated that they would need at least thirty years in that place to reach the limit of the Peak Stage.

Yes, that meant they would need more than twice the time required to cultivate through the entire Late Stage from where they had started. When they arrived in Woster, their Late Stage cultivation was already more than halfway complete, and it had still taken them over six years to finish it. Now that they were starting the Peak Stage from the beginning, the time required naturally became much greater.

Then, in the tenth year, Arcis decided to gather everyone to discuss something important.

”Senior Arcis, you seem troubled,” Kentucky pointed out after noticing the expression on his face.

Arcis didn’t bother hiding his concern. ”We have been adapting to this environment for ten years already. Rean, how much of that one-hundred-kilometer marathon do you think we have covered until now?”

Rean immediately understood what Arcis meant. He was referring to the analogy he had used when they first began this training. ”Hum... I would say we’re a little over the halfway mark. Perhaps around 55 to 60 kilometers.”

”Exactly.” Arcis nodded. ”This adaptation is getting slower and slower, just as you and Thery predicted. As I am now, my strength could be compared to that of a Zone God, but even that improvement has slowed down considerably. I’m afraid we’ll need far more time than we initially thought if we really want to reach one hundred percent adaptation. Forget a few decades. Even several hundred years might not be enough to reach that mark.”

The others fell silent. They had all noticed the same thing. They had initially advanced incredibly quickly, covering roughly twenty percent of the metaphorical distance within the first year.

After ten years, however, they had only managed to move a little beyond the halfway point. The difference was becoming more obvious with every passing year, and the closer they got to complete adaptation, the more difficult each additional step became.

”Those who were born and live here have had countless years to develop and adapt to this environment through generation after generation. We don’t have that luxury,” Arcis continued.

”I’ll be honest. I don’t think we can realistically reach one hundred percent adaptation. I wouldn’t be surprised if reaching each additional percentage point after the ninety-percent mark required hundreds or even thousands of years. At that point, staying here would no longer be a matter of training. We’d basically be committing ourselves to living out the rest of our lives inside Woster.”

Rean narrowed his eyes before sighing. ”Yes, I’ve noticed that as well. As I said, we’re a little over the halfway mark, somewhere around 55 to 60 kilometers if we want to be more precise. However, I don’t think we’ll reach the seventy-kilometer mark within the next decade.”

”To be more specific, the concentration of Godly Pressure simply isn’t enough anymore to provide meaningful gains at our current level of adaptation unless we are willing to spend a ridiculous amount of time here.”

Thery couldn’t deny that assessment. ”I agree. I also believe that’s the case. So, the question is what we should do with that information. As I’ve already said, my Thousand-Script Race will not leave.”

Arcis knew that already. ”I’m aware. Still, my group can’t stay here forever. Therefore, I have a proposal. We won’t wait until we adapt one hundred percent to the Godly Pressure. Instead, we’ll wait until we reach the seventy-percent mark, or seventy kilometers if we continue using Rean’s analogy.”

”Seventy percent?” Thery narrowed his eyes slightly. He clearly understood that Arcis wasn’t suggesting they stop simply because they were tired of waiting. There had to be a practical reason behind that number.

”Yes,” Arcis continued. ”At the seventy-percent mark, I believe both you and I should be able to barely display the strength of an Initial Stage Law God.”

Arcis and Thery were actually Middle Stage Law Gods. The good thing about Law Gods was that they didn’t need to rely entirely on their Godly Energy to fight. Their understanding and control of laws also played an important role.

As far as their laws were concerned, neither of them would be suppressed by Godly Pressure in the same way their physical strength and Godly Energy were. Their laws were primarily limited by their cultivation level, and Godly Pressure itself wasn’t enough to directly suppress the laws they controlled. Therefore, saying that reaching seventy percent adaptation would allow them to display Initial Stage Law God-level strength wasn’t an exaggeration.

”Once we reach seventy percent, we should begin our investigation of the City Prison of Woster,” Arcis concluded. ”If Friend Thery thinks that isn’t enough, then I can only say that my group will have to leave Woster earlier and return to Besgol. We can’t remain here indefinitely just because we haven’t reached complete immunity. If anything, letting Besgol know about this place will take priority.”

Thery pondered for a while before discussing the matter with his two companions. They spoke quietly for several minutes, considering the advantages and disadvantages of starting their investigation earlier rather than waiting for complete adaptation. Eventually, Thery turned back toward Arcis and nodded. ”Very well. We will start our investigation once we reach seventy percent adaptation.”

”How long will that take?” Kentucky couldn’t help but ask.

Everyone looked toward Thery and Rean. The two of them had been the ones most closely observing the rate of adaptation, and after thinking about how rapidly the progress had been slowing down, they reached roughly the same conclusion.

”Twenty to thirty years,” Rean finally said. ”If the scaling problem keeps getting worse at roughly the same rate, I’d say that’s a reasonable estimate based on the fact that everyone is adapting at slightly different rates.”

Thery nodded. ”I agree. It won’t be quick, nor ideal, but it is what it is.”

No one objected. Seventy percent adaptation wasn’t complete immunity, but it would already represent an enormous improvement compared to their original state. More importantly, once they reached that point, they would finally be able to begin exploring the City Prison of Woster instead of spending all their time simply fighting against the environment itself. For the moment, they had a goal, a timeframe, and a reason to continue training. That was enough.