The next moment, his gaze soon fell on the other increments in his status panel.

Along with the increase in his Qi pool and a slight increase in his Strength stat, his spiritual sea had also expanded by fifty points!

To him, this was naturally the most important factor as it largely enhanced his capabilities.

With more spiritual energy, he’ll naturally be able to make the most of it because of his mastery of the Spirit Guiding Technique.

"How about I give that a try then?" Yi Chen muttered to himself, and the next moment, while sitting cross-legged, straightened his back.

Accessing the spiritual energy within his spiritual sea, he soon guided it outward through his meridians before layering his entire body with it.

’Now!’

His eyes glimmered with white light. The next instant, he felt a force all over his body trying to lift him upwards.

"It works!" he exclaimed while seeing his figure slowly and steadily rising up in the air. However, that happiness didn’t last long, as his attention was immediately drawn to a flashing panel in front of him.

[Spiritual Sea: 108.67]

.

.

.

[Spiritual Sea: 78.12]

.

.

[Spiritual Sea: 47.70]

"Shiiit!"

He immediately exclaimed, seeing the huge chunk of his spiritual energy being drained at a rate he had never seen before.

As a result, he immediately stopped circulating his spiritual energy and dropped back onto his legs with a small thud.

"...Yeah, it’s not a reliable method. Didn’t even go two feet high," he shook his head in disappointment.

Glancing at his drained Spiritual Sea, he didn’t feel too bothered as it was something that would recover naturally when he went to sleep.

"I’m almost done with my night session anyway, so let’s call it night," he softly muttered before arranging his mattress.

A while later, he was lying in his bed with his eyes wide open. Before sleep could overwhelm him, he was overwhelmed by the thoughts regarding his future.

"...So if I go by the pattern that has remained the same until now, then the Eleventh Set of meridians belonging to my left palm would take me eight days per meridian...so that would be about 320 days..."

A bitter chuckle escaped his lips the next instant.

"...That’s another ten and a half months."

With Gao Zhen needing just another month and a half to master the Abyssal Blackglacial Arts, it was obvious that he didn’t have that much time on his hands.

’At this pace, it would take me years to be able to enter the Qi Absorption Stage...’ he thought while clenching his teeth.

It was even more frustrating because he still had the option to completely give up on refining the Godly Meridians and form his first Qi sea.

That way, he would immediately enter the Qi Absorption Stage and fulfil the minimum criteria required to enter the Thousand Stars List.

However, as enticing as the option was, he knew that it was something he should never think of doing. Not just because of his desire to become a god, but also because of the consequences that decision would have.

’The System which I have is called the Godly Cultivator System...it surely would give up on me if I were to take that path,’ he thought to himself before taking a deep breath.

Therefore, there was only one option left.

’Once Gao Zhen had mastered the Qi Absorption Art, I’ll suggest that we should take full advantage of this opportunity and cultivate in this realm for a few more years,’ he thought, conviction apparent in his eyes.

The next moment, tiredness finally began taking over his mind as he fell asleep.

One and a half months went by in a flash.

Gao Zhen, who had been sitting in front of the Black tablet, opened her eyes all of a sudden. A black glimmer momentarily shone in her eyes.

The very next instant, she utilised the Abyssal Blackglacial Arts.

Thik! Thik! Thik! Thik!

A series of similar sounds resonated in the air as a black spherical shield made of ice completely enveloped her figure the next instant.

The subtle smile on Gao Zhen’s lips widened, seeing that it didn’t even take her a second to form this protective shield.

The very next instant, the shield cracked and broke into thousands of shards. However, unlike regular shards, all of them had the exact same dimensions and were as sharp as a sword.

She immediately shot the shards straight up at an angle and saw the volley do catastrophic damage to the place it landed.

"Congratulations. You did it!" Yi Chen, who had been waiting with anticipation in his eyes a few meters away, clapped his hands to congratulate her when he witnessed this feat.

Clap! Clap!

Seeing his actions, Gao Zhen couldn’t help but smile brightly and nod in thanks, "It’s all been possible because of Young Master Chen’s constant help."

She wasn’t being humble when she said that. Without Yi Chen’s presence, she wouldn’t have been able to survive the hordes of Ice Monsters they had been forced to face in these years.

Hearing her words, Yi Chen chuckled softly and said, "Still, without the hard work that you put in, this wouldn’t have been possible. Oh, on that matter. Now that you’ve achieved mastery over this art, I wanted to suggest something."

"Oh? What is it?" Gao Zhen’s eyes grew curious.

"The thing is..."

RUMBLE!

Yi Chen was about to state his intention when the entire landmass began shaking violently.

’Another wave? But didn’t we just take care of one yesterday?’ Yi Chen furrowed his brows, and it was the same with Gao Zhen as well.

That very next moment, both their heads snapped in the direction of the Black tablet to see the countdown. The moment they did, the frowns on their foreheads intensified.

The countdown had disappeared all of a sudden, something which hadn’t happened in years!

Before they could wrap their heads around this abnormality, something else happened.

KRAAAK!

Sounds of deafening cracks resonated all around them as the icy ground, starting a meter away from their campsite and extending all the way to the horizon, began crumbling and breaking down right in front of their eyes. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"This!"

Witnessing this hair-raising event, the two couldn’t help but unconsciously take a few steps back before locking eyes, horror evident on their faces.

"W-What’s happening..." Gao Zhen asked, panic laced in her voice.