Leo laid there on the mountain until he had the strength to get up. Once he recovered he disconnected his mind and let go of the pillar the usual way for the first time.
Once he let go, he looked at the Elder and fell back. Even though he wasn't thrown, Leo still passed out from mental exhaustion. Goutheesh smiled and asked the men to grab Leo like usual.
Leo awoke around midnight. Staring at the ceiling of the hut, Leo couldn't help but remember what the buffalo man told him.
"Boy, it is not the mountain you need to conquer but your misguidedness."
"Where have I gone wrong, that the other two did right away." Leo spaced out into deep thought. He laid awake all morning till Goutheesh came to greet him.
Leo was impressed by this man's generosity every day. He never met a man that gave so much and asked for nothing in return. The answer Goutheesh always gave Leo was it is the Hindu way.
"Elder, I think I will meditate on past trial and see where I am going wrong."
Goutheesh nodded and let Leo be. He knew sometimes you needed to train the body as much as the mind.
Leo sat down and started meditating on what the man told him and his last few attempts. He finally was able to draw in enough mana, but he wasn't at the Create level of the law. He cannot create earth from anything. Maybe he can use one mountain to make his.
Leo started to practice this concept behind his hut. He would float up a stone and destroy it. The broken stone would then be used to reform a new one. The problem is Leo failed until he wasted all of his mana.
After draining all of his mana, Leo would go back to absorbing mana and blood from Preaza's core. This process was painful, but it allowed Leo to get his mind off the task of raising the mountain. The physical torture was his escape from the current problem.
The next few days flew by quickly. Leo would practice with rocks in the morning and train his body in the afternoon. The 1st domain was full of mana and allowed quick recovery.
In six days, Leo made significant leaps in the study of earth laws. On the seventh day, he woke up to tackle the trial again.
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"Oh looks like your boy finally going to attempt the trial. Due to our agreement, he has to pass today."
"Yes, yes, yes. I know." Mahisha looked sad. He expected great things from this boy, but all he did was train. If he just tried to do a smaller version, he would have been fine. Why was this boy so hardheaded?
"Mahisha, I think he is as ready as he can be. I wish you the best of luck." She laughed a bit at how the boy he wanted as a disciple was such a dunce. She looked at Mahisha and thought that the two made quite the pair.
Many years ago when the two of them were young, Mahisha never took cultivation serious until he met the beauty that was the female figure. Her battle prowess impressed him so much. Mahisha trained hard so he could win her heart.
Mahisha challenged her 99 times and lost every single one. The female figure didn't care if he was weaker than her. She fell in love with his determination.
Most of the martial arts world hated Mahisha, for he born a slave and became strong by his own power. All of the top cultivators condemned his and the female figure's relationship. The only one who didn't hate the pairing was Brahma.
The two even left a wisp of their soul here in his palace to be together forever. Ever since then, the two of them accompanied Lankani in guarding the dwelling.
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Walking up the trials, Leo realized people quit trying to attempt the earth pillar. Its laws were too complicated, and none of the Elders taught classes on it. While training at his shack, Leo heard the Elders give lessons on attuning yourself with each element.
The two laws no one taught on was Earth and Death. This didn't surprise him too much. No one here had a personality for the element of Death and Earth was the hardest element next to metal for humans to learn without the proper technique or cultivation.
Leo walked over and touched the pillar. Once again Leo was transported to the mountain landscape in his mind.
He wasted no time and spread out his arms. "Earth Control!" gathering all of the mana in the area into him. He decided to use the third level of earth laws. He destroyed the mountain himself. The mountain crumbled in an instant and Leo received its mana.
The mana from the mountain told him how to rebuild it just like when he shattered the rock and rebuilt it by his shack.
Mana was swirling all around. Rocks and soil were building upon each other. The mountain was slowly rebuilding itself.
Leo was dripping in sweat, and his temple was pulsating. He had to continue and push through.
Ther mound was growing larger and larger. The dust formed rocks, and the rocks formed the mountain.
Leo's eyes were bloodshot. Tears rolled down his face. Leo was in severe pain. The mana he absorbed was rushing in and out of him faster than he could handle. Even though the body in his mind was imaginary, Leo still felt like his pores were on fire.
"Arghh..." Leo fell down onto one knee. Still holding his arms outward, Leo continued.
The peak of the mountain was forming slowly. Leo had barely any mana left or willpower.
Mahisha was watching from the sky in Leo's mind. He had to view it himself what the boy would do. In the end, he still chose to build a replica.
Watching Leo almost finish, but running out of steam. Mahisha released some of his own energy to help give Leo the last little nudge he needed.
Leo felt the new stream of mana come into him. He didn't care where it came from and had to use it before he passed out.
The last bits of the peak formed. Leo completed an entire mountain at the Tempered Body level. Mahisha was thoroughly impressed.
Everything hit Leo at once, and he blacked out.
In the 1st domain, Leo let go and fell to the ground.
"He failed again. Poor boy, I can't understand why he hasn't passed yet," Goutheesh wondered.
All of the warriors around him felt sympathy for him. The usual guys walked over to retrieve him like they always do when a golden aura grabbed onto him.
A tunnel opened up, and the aura lifted him into it.
"He passed! The boy was accepted! He ascended to the next domain. Everyone here, take this lesson to heart. If you put your mind to it anything is possible." Gutheesh was proud. He felt all humans should be unwavering. This event even made him want to train and retry his luck with the pillars. A smile stretched across his face.
"Men, I shall take my leave. I'm going to seclude myself and attempt the pillars again in a few days. Until then you men take care of everything." Goutheesh headed to his shack to train until he felt ready to re-challenge the pillars.