As Wang Hao descended deeper into the pond, the pressure on his body intensified with each passing second. His bones felt on the verge of cracking, his organs seemingly shifting under the immense weight.
He understood that everyone in that room was a mortal with a null grade or low-grade aptitude. If they dared to enter the pond, they would experience the same crushing pressure.
Opening that iron door and taking those first steps meant showing resolve, but enduring true pain to back up that resolve—that was the real test here.
Wang Hao's momentum kept building, faster and faster, while his breath neared its limit. This pond, or rather, this pool leading into the abyss, wasn't empty. Only two creatures swam in its depths: a white koi fish and a black koi fish.
They appeared suddenly beside him, their presence both calm and unsettling, as if guiding him, watching over his fall into the unknown.
Wang Hao felt his world turning upside down, left to right, yin to yang. The dimension seemed to be reversing everything he had known. As he stared at the two fish spiraling around his body, he felt earth change to heaven, and heaven change to earth.
Suddenly, he realized that the force pulling him was not mystical, but gravity at its maximum output. The natural forces were strong enough to drag him what seemed to be kilometers down to the surface level, or bottom level—at this point, the logic of this never-ending pond became confusing.
That's when he saw it—the bottom, or the top, of the pond. Wang Hao changed his body's direction from up to down so his head would burst through the water barrier at the bottom.
As he hit that surface, or bottom, he felt gravity no longer pulling but pushing and pulling simultaneously. His head shot through the water's surface, and he opened his eyes, not to some underground training grounds, but to a vast sea or ocean. His hair drenched, he quickly searched for any land, spotting a large island within sight.
Wang Hao swam closer and closer. That pond was holding another hidden realm, which reversed the origin of the law, thus up was down and down was up.
He swam ashore, dragging his tired body across the wet sand, expelling the contents of his stomach. Wang Hao slicked his long black hair back, breathing in the fresh, salty air that he had yearned for these last couple of days.
As he lay on the sand, uncertain whether he was facing the real sun or a man-made replica in this different dimension, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching his location.
Before Wang Hao could escape into the nearby woods, a woman's voice startled him.
"This early? Impressive. I was still preparing when a contender found the passage between realms so quickly."
To his surprise, it was a large middle-aged woman, her robes barely containing her substantial figure. Wang Hao could sense that her body didn't emit the energy of Gu masters, but something more raw, more primal, yet also sharper.
"Greetings, esteemed one. I am uncertain if I have arrived at the correct location," Wang Hao said, clasping his hands together and bowing respectfully.
The woman's eyes narrowed. "Are you implying I'm old?"
"Not at all. I meant no disrespect," Wang Hao quickly clarified.
She waved her hand dismissively. "No matter. Since you're first, I will announce your rewards later. For now, wait here for the others. Once we gather all the qualified candidates, we can officially begin allocating training and housing."
Before Wang Hao could respond, he heard a splash in the ocean where he had just emerged. It had only been a short time since his arrival, but someone else had followed.
The oversized woman lifted her eyebrow in surprise. "Two promising seedlings. Very good," she remarked.
Two more sounds of water followed in quick succession.
This time, the woman didn't speak but took her time analyzing each new arrival.
As for Wang Hao, he could only think, "Interesting, truly interesting."
The second person after him was the white-haired woman, which caught him by surprise. She had been the first to question him and now the first to follow, second only to Wang Hao himself. She was clearly no ordinary individual.
The third person didn't shock Wang Hao but put him on alert—it was Fang Tian, the giant descendant.
The fourth was a red-haired young man. Wang Hao recognized him as the youth from Gate Fourteen, his face still swollen from their earlier encounter.
They all noticed Wang Hao, which meant he needed to adjust his plans. Status was one thing, but if those two males revealed anything about his identity, he would lose a significant advantage in these training grounds. One knew he was the ex-clan head's son, while the other knew he could be ruthless.
Indeed, this situation was becoming increasingly intriguing.