Chapter 144 - 144. Seventh layer
"I think it's time to move."
Nigel said as he stood up.
Errol also stood up and looked at the other two students still sitting on the ground.
June opened her eyes and nodded, joining the others in their stare at Noah.
Noah had no other choice but to stop his meditation.
'If I had this stone for a whole year, I would reach the second rank of the dantian way easily.'
The density of "Breath" near the mineral was more than twice the one in his accommodation.
They had spent more than three months in the inheritance ground which didn't allow them to train much.
However, just by cultivating for a month in front of the "Breath" blessing, Noah felt that his advancement could match those that he would have obtained if he had spent that time in the academy.
'I think they actually surpassed them by quite a margin. Well, that's also due to the fact that I only focused on my dantian and body.'
Since there were no restrictions on his technique in front of the mineral, Noah chose to put momentarily aside the training with the Kesier rune and focus only on the Yin body and on the Dark vortex technique.
'A twofold density coupled with twice the amount of time that I usually spend in meditation, it's as if I cultivated for more than four months! Considering that we used two months concentrated only on clearing the layers, I basically gained one month of training for free!'
He was always satisfied when he shortened the time required for his breakthroughs, he only felt disappointed that it had to end so soon.
"I have to say, your dedication is admirable."
June spoke when he stood up.
"I agree. You basically never slept for the entirety of the month, we should take a day or two to stabilize our gains and to recover from our intensive training."
Noah's eyes lit up and nodded but Nigel continued to speak.
"Without the "Breath" blessing in front of us. I'm honestly afraid that you might forget about our mission if you keep cultivating like this."
Noah wanted to argue but he noticed that the other two students agreed with Nigel's opinion.
He sighed seeing Nigel taking the mineral inside his space-ring and went to one of the branches of the trees to rest.
Only then he realized how far he had pushed his limits, his mind was exhausted and his dantian showed signs of instability.
He slept deeply for one entire day and focused on stabilizing his power on the following one.
On the third day, they were ready to enter the passage for the seventh layer.
They slowly crossed a wooden door that had appeared on one of the trunks and moved carefully.
On the other side of the passage, a desolate area appeared in front of them.
It was a plain with a tall mountain at its center.
There were few traces of vegetation and many holes in the terrain, it was as if someone eradicated all the plants and trees that were supposed to be there.
The mountain was devoid of any life too and there were many cavities on its sides.
They resembled small caves and there were more than three hundred of them.
However, the students sensed no trace of life at all, the layer seemed completely empty.
'Those should be nests for bird-types magical beasts but with that number, we should at least feel them even if they tried to hide.'
Noah analyzed, he had a bad feeling about that environment.
For some reason, his instincts told him that the situation was similar to Twilboia Cliff.
The students advanced cautiously, they were looking for anything that might reveal the entity of the test.
"Vance, what do you think?"
Nigel broke the silence and asked for Noah's advice.
Noah gazed at the mountain before speaking.
"It's strange. This place was clearly supposed to contain various lifeforms and I also believe that those cavities up there had to be the nests of a bird-type pack of magical beasts. However, the layer seems to be completely empty."
Nigel's eyebrow arched.
"Are you saying that they starved to death? There had to be at least one hundred peak rank 3 magical beasts here according to the increase in the difficulty."
At these words, Noah finally realized the situation they were in.
His eyes widened and he raised his head to the sky.
The sky was filled with clouds that obscured the artificial illumination of the floor.
"I think that we should retreat."
He said, slowly taking a few steps backward, his gaze never moved from the clouds in the sky.
"Why do you say that?"
Errol said frowning.
At that point though, a small black dot appeared in the clouds.
Noah shouted and turned to run in the direction of the passage.
"RANK 4!"
The eyes of the other three students widened and June immediately followed him.
Errol panicked a bit before going after Noah while Nigel shot a short glance at the sky.
In his field of view, the clouds were pure white but there was an enlarging figure nearing his position.
He hastily began to run in the direction of the sixth layer.
Yet, it was too late.
The figure slammed into him in less than a second, creating a loud thud that made the other three students turn their heads to look in its direction.
'Rank 4 Cloud eagle!'
Noah yelled in his mind.
'This specimen must have been a bit stronger than the other peak rank 3 beasts in the pack and it must have eaten them during its time in the inheritance, finally reaching the fourth rank! However, the "Breath" in the environment wasn't enough to sustain its higher rank so it devoured every lifeform remaining in the layer. For how long did it manage to survive without a proper meal?'
The Cloud eagle behind them was enormous.
With its wings unfolded, it was more than thirteen meters wide.
Its strongest characteristic was its diving speed, it could reach the ground from the sky in an instant, not giving its prey enough time to escape.
The dust created from the impact of the magical beast with the terrain settled, showing Nigel's body pierced by the three claws of the eagle.