A poor soul demonstrated as an example to teach the preceding generations an unforgettable lesson.
As an above average Sky Arena member, his highest score was only 50 meters down the Pool of Endurance, before backing out due to the relentless and plummeting temperature.
"Yan! Yan!" The man rocked Elder Yan violently, who was snoring away on a foldable chair. "Look at what your complacent behavior has done!"
"What did I do to bother you!?" Elder Yan woke up, grunting indignantly.
"Did you warn these kids about the forbidden rules!?"
He raised a pen over his head, its blunt tip inflicting a dangerous threat. "Yes, I did! And I assume they listened because I even threatened them to recite it with my pen!"
One after another, the Warriors who exited the pool with sheer intoxicated, were attracted by their inconclusive internal bickering.
"Count the numbers! Medics! Be prepared to execute a rescue mission!"
One reliable urban legend that widespread across the Coiling Dragon Arena was about a legendary Galaxy Arena Warrior who made a bet against another Galaxy Arena Warrior. He was challenged to plunge down the Aura Accruing Pond and reach rock bottom.
There comes the bad news: he was severely injured. Fortunately, his rank did not deteriorate and eventually recovered to full health.
From that day on, he never dared to enclose the Pool of Endurance, or even just the Dragon's mouth. And whenever anyone speaks of it, he would tremble as if enduring the unbearable treachery all over again.
"8... 12... 14." Elder Yan counted the number of heads on shore. He then calculated the one's still fighting for greater results in his mind. "14 in the water? The quality of Warriors have improved tremendously from last year!"
Other than the two strongest Tier 3 Axonns, the ones in the water were mostly Tier 2 Warriors, who usually has greater durability than Tier 1. There were only 3 Tier 1s struggling to maintain vigilance from the unforgiving Aura attacks.
It appears that there were at least one Warrior missing.
"Oh no! I forgot about Atlas!" Elder Yan stomped his foot, crushing his cheeks with his palms. "He woke up late so I ignored him and ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ (pronounced as threatened) the others first. I totally... argh! Wait, actually..."
As if having a urgent change of mind, his tone switched into unbent calmness as he slumped back comfortably on his foldable chair, fanning himself with insignificant gusts of cool Aura.
"What are you doing?!" The man bellowed, positioning his sword as if wanting to pick up a fight, his stand and reaction tangent to Elder Yan's.
"Patience Jiao. Patience. Haven't I taught you that before?" He scrubbed his silky white beard, glancing at the pond. "I don't think a superior's recommendation will fall into this type of trance."
"Superior recommendation?" These two words calmed Jiao down.
The two kids could solely depend on Lady Luck and Faith now, because when he thoroughly thought about it , this is actually a once in a blue moon opportunity to immerse oneself completely under rewarding pressure.
A more fruitful development in harsher environments.
If they push through, they gain unimaginable benefits. But if they don't... they might perish before his eyes.
Another drenched Axonn leaped out of the pond. He was a Tier 2 Tyro, now a Tier 2 Expert. But none of them had interest in him, because compared to light that shines upon Atlas and Nova, others are only a mere flare.
[Nova, go down 3 more meters.... gurg...] Atlas mouthed to Nova, accidentally swallowing the waters.
If it weren't for the brain freezing coldness of the pond, and the fact that there had been probably thousands of sweaty guys 'showering' in this Aura Accruing Pond, he would have otherwise been gulping down the domineering Pool of Endurance due to its benefits. Plus, it was mildly sweet, just the way he likes it.
They dived into the water from the shore, where the floor was about 1.4- 1.5 meters shallow, and the more receding they swam from the shore, the deeper it got.
By the time they reached the center, their feet could not touch the ground anymore, despite their 1.85 meter height.
Taking a deep, long breath, they dived down.
The water felt more dense, inserting greater amount of pressure to prevent them from exploring.
They paused at about 5 meters deep.
Atlas hand signaled Nova, showing a weird sign that was meant to be a turtle.
Nova nodded to assure, giving a thumbs up for confirmation.
"ัฯ ััโั ะผัโฮนัฮฑัฮนฯะธ". A very weird name for a very weird cultivation exercise.
Very openly and widely introduced to Warriors, this technique is most popular amongst assassins or mercenaries.
It is just basically a special routine of Aura cycling, instead of using the casual way, which is running it along the veins and meridian. Sounds simple, in actuality, sophisticated and hard to master.
ัฯ ััโั ะผัโฮนัฮฑัฮนฯะธ allows Warriors to conceal their presence by relaxing their soul and mind, controlling Aura to flow a shard-like pattern continuously; maneuvering to achieve the pattern of a turtle's shell.
Hilariously, it does not increase one's defense like its name suggests, but instead indicates how turtles can completely close the gaps in their shells to survive any environment outside. With this meditation technique, one can be temporarily invisible, unless he unleashes an intention to kill.
When he was on a mission with the Blood Hound Mercenary, they had to plunged into a swamp in the rainforest in order to escape the enemy's pursuit.
His mentor always emphasized its usage.
That was the day he discovered its other potential: to increase lung capacity.
They managed to maintain composure for few hours as their heartbeat reduced to single digits per minute, exhausting the opponent's and fleeing successfully.
The genesis of the Aura Accruing Pond was uncertain, gushing out a well, double the size of a manhole.
Contrasting vividly with the virescent luminescent, it connected to eternal darkness.
As adventurous teenagers, they dived down three more meters.
Freezing pain intensified relentlessly, and they required to grab hold of something to suppress it.
With a firm grip, their hands locked onto the protruding rocks on the side of the well.
Tugging to inch forward, their bodies floated into a concave structure, supposedly manually dug from most likely, past participants.
There, they rested to cultivate. There, their palpitating heartbeat reduced to nearly zero. There, they unleashed their maximum power to fully challenge the relentless torment.
Another Tier 2 Expert, who was previously a Tier 2 Tyro, exited the pool,
Inside the pond were only 3 contenders left: a Tier 3 Tyro, one Tier 2 Elite and Petal.
Few moments later.
"Ah~~" Petal trotted out with her long Sakura pink hair flowing down to her waist, stretching her sore, voluptuous body as an alluring moan of satisfaction escaped her lungs.
All on shore drooled, even Elder Yan and female Warriors started to succumb to ogling. Fortunately, it was all except for Jiao.
"Watch out for the perverts." Jiao tossed a towel at her.
Petal quickly cloaked herself in the oversized towel, glaring gallant and convulsively at the perverts.
"Whoosh!" An immense storm of coercion blasted out her body.
Tier 2 Expert! She jumped one whole Tier!
"Make that three geniuses!" Jiao smiled, patting her shoulder. "Congrats on being top 5."
"Top 5?" Everyone stared at the man carrying a sword as if looking at a idiot.
"Isn't it top 4?" Elder Yan snickered with mockery. "Only Atlas dived down."
"No, that's the other thing I wanted to state. There are two people who dived down. The boy you just mentioned, and a boy with twin colored hair."