Seeing the expression on both of their faces, I understood clearly that there was no room to evade the topic anymore .
I didn't know exactly what Old Ma meant when he yelled the words about this being impossible, but I was able to understand that the man in front of me wasn't omnipotent, there were some things that he was still unable to figure out .
That filled me with relief, if that were indeed the case, then it will make the matter of coming up with an excuse a lot easier for me, I looked at the hungry for answers expression on both of their faces and sighed deeply then said :
" I had no idea that what I did back then will end up making me have a double breakthrough like this, I'm still unable to truly believe that this indeed happen, but since Senior Ma had said this, then I find myself obligated to just accept this being the case, even though I had currently no clue how to react to this piece of news .
As I said this, the two guys ears in front of me perked up at hearing these words, seeing their reaction, I inwardly snickered slightly and thought here goes nothing, I continued to say :
" After I went inside, I had no clue about how that Formation worked, all I got was basic instructions like when going forward the pressure would increase, or that was all that I got from my Senior Brother's words and what I personally thought of at first .
" But then I felt how effective was bearing the pressure inside and how beneficial to the advancement in my Martial Realm, I was able to recall that Senior Brother said that I might be able to make a breakthrough here and I finally understood what he meant when he said that .
" I sensed that the pressure I was under still wasn't enough to trouble me, I also sensed that the Tempering of my body was slowing down, so I couldn't help but decide to move forward .
" I continued to go forward and after each time the pressure would increase, I would take some time to adapt to it first, then try to continue forward, I was able to feel that the bottleneck blocking my breakthrough was beginning to disperse at quite the fast rate .
" I sensed them loosing down as I continued further, so in the end, I decided that even if I were to struggle som more, I still wanted to see how far I can go .
" After moving forward for a few more minutes, I found a problem with this way of practice, my body Tempering process and even under this strong pressure I was under, was constantly slowing down .
" I sensed that the problem was with my Blood Vitality, I was about to give up hope, but in frustration, I took another step forward and that step made me a bit expectant to what level of pressure I might be able to finally stop and start practicing under .
" That step me me become under another level of pressure, this pressure allowed me to feel my Tempering speeding up again, even though it was only slightly, but even mosquito meat is still a meat .
" I was about to lose faith in being able to gain anything from this place, so finding that there was still a chance for me to Practice here, I would just need to struggle a bit more and be determined, I calmed down my troubled heart and decided that what I will do is to keep moving forward until I can no longer do this no matter how much did I struggle .
" Until I reach my final limit, only then would I stop trying to go forward, after every few steps I took, I felt the pressure rising a little more and my body was being Tempered a lot more as well, finally after arriving at the entrance where Senior Ma should have found me, I stopped moving forward .
" I understood that this was my current limit, but I wasn't content still, my Body Tempering speed was slightly better than before but only slightly, but at least the Tempering effect was constant so that was great to find out that time .
" Seeing the bottleneck was completely loosened, I decided that this was where I will stop and achieve a breakthrough, just as I started performing the Solid Rock Fist Technique, I felt some kind of inspiration hit me, I was actually able to improve my comprehension and Mastery towards that technique by a lot .
" I was now able to execute the first 9 postures with quite ease and without that much of a problem even though I felt a little bit uncomfortable and unbalanced when I tried to execute the technique there .
" But what surprised me more above anything else was the fact that this sudden improvement in technique, seemed to allow me to bear more pressure than I first thought, I couldn't help but look at the entrance like hole, that Senior Brother mentioned .
" I first need to apologize to Senior Brother, even though I knew you are lacking Flesh Tempering Pills for your next breakthrough, I had kept 3 Flesh Tempering Pills that Master had given me earlier selfishly for my own use, I really hope that Senior Brother can forgive me for that .
Why are you mentioning this all of a sudden junior brother, wait, you can't possibly be implying that you.... .
" It's indeed as Senior Brother should have guessed by now, this was my very first time taking a Flesh Tempering Pills, making use of the situation and wanting to kill the obsession that was starting to sprout in my heart .
" I swallowed the pills one after the other and the moment they melt in my body, looking at the entrance, I felt that I was full of power and had a strong belief that I would be able to cross it now .
" The heat that was devouring my body urged me to move forward, I swallowed the pills due to still thinking that this wasn't my limit, it was began to sow the seeds of obsession inside me, so I was headstrong on solving that issue before it become an actual problem for me, even though Senior Brother warned me before against doing that .
" I needed to find a place to meditate and digest everything that was currently going inside my body as fast as I could, but all I remembered was me getting suddenly pushed back by the strong pressure after I had barely taken two steps inside that central area .
" I don't know what happened after that, all that I know and was somewhat certain of was that in the neck of time, I felt that my whole body was being elevated and determine that I should have been able to successfully achieve a breakthrough .
" I don't know what hit me, but me blacking out might have something to do with it, there was also the probability that it might be my exhausted Blood Qi, I had a few experience was blacking out as due to the severe shortage of Blood Qi .
" That's all that I can remember, if Senior Brother and Senior Ma have anything to share with me regarding what happened, I would be eternally grateful .
After I finished talking, I released a sigh of someone who is at loss of what to do or think, I inwardly gave myself a thumb up, I had improvised a good solution, even though it was still filled with loopholes, all on all, it should be passable .
I also ended up offending senior brother, so the relation between us might not continue to be as good as before, I hope he can forgive me, but even in the worst case scenario and he did end up holding a grudge, or even cut ties with me directly .
I would still find a way to repay him for the misunderstanding I caused him and him being a benefactor to me, after I finished saying all that I have to say, I looked at the two and waited to see their reactions and expression first, before I do anything else .
I don't know if this lie of mine was enough to quench their curiosity, I hope it did, but this is still left to be seen, not to mention that I was still in a better state than I thought I would, even though they might still end up being suspicious at me, at least if what I said was able to fool them, they might be the ones to help me out in this predicament .
I had broken through to the Third Layer of Flesh Tempering, that was currently the most important thing, even though I myself didn't know what was exactly going on with me and how was I able to achieve something like this, all I currently have was doubt and guesses about the involvement of that Mysterious Force that was born from using Dragon-Tiger Transformation .
I'm also glad that old Ma didn't find me still channeling that borrowed strength through the sword into my body, a lot mysteries keep on appearing, I just hope that I would be able to evade the disasters that might come with them .
Looking at the two men in front of me, I saw that for some time my Senior Brother's expression and face were blank, but after I had mentioned taking the pills, I saw that his expression darkened and he become somewhat angry .
As for the old man, his expression was that of bewilderment and nothing more, it hadn't faltered much since then, I didn't know what the two were thinking, but after being asked by me to give their opinion on this, the one who first spoke was my senior brother, he said in a reprimanding tone :
You really put yourself always in a situation that force people to worry about you, I'm beginning to regret even accompanying you here, Master might really skin me alive if something might have happened to you, why did you do something this dangerous, junior brother, I swear you might end up causing my death, or might even drive me crazy .
Don't start apologizing now, I don't know if that is the mean reason to why you keep doing it, but I believe that you thinking it might end with an apology that might help you ease the situation is one of the reasons .
Well, it won't this time, I will be sure to give you a few pointers in our next sparring session, so you better get prepared for this .
Hearing him berating me for my own sake and completely discarding the fact that I had fool him indeed made me want to apologize, but just as I was going to, he said this and completely left me baffled on the bed that I was currently laying on, wherever this place was .
Hearing all what he had to say, instead of apologizing, I wanted to plead for him to be lenient with me, I didn't want to end up like Gu Chu, but just as I tried to persuade him that I had understood my mistake clearly and that there was no need for him to do that, someone with even more worse timing than my Senior Brother spoke .
Old Man Ma who was silent this entire time, actually choose this exact moment to speak out his mind, he said :
I'm not entirely certain at what might have caused this strange development, but if you were indeed telling the truth, then I would want to ask you, how close were you to achieve this breakthrough if you were to have stayed in your original place ? .
Hearing his question, I contemplated for a while on how to answer this, but after taking a few minutes trying to come with a convincing estimation that would be acceptable and also more or less accurate, I finally said :
" It would have taken me half an hour or so at minimum and in the worst case, I determined that maybe even the whole hour would pass and I might still get a feeling of being able to breakthrough, even though I was almost touching the threshold of the breakthrough, I was only a few steps short .
After I finished saying this, I looked at the Old Man opposite to me and saw that he was combing his beard with his hand for a few seconds after I finished talking, then he said :
You are quite courageous to do what you dead, but you might have been been lucky to be able to pull something like this off, without suffering that much of injuries, no,not to mention injuries, any of the actions you went through from trying to enter the central area to you swallowing those Flesh Tempering Pills could have led you straight to death .
Does Old Ma have some idea of what might have had made this development possible, please share it with us .
I don't think that this will benefit you much in your breakthrough, but since you asked, I do have an idea that could explain what was going on here .
Your junior brother might have unconsciously impacted to make use of the Medicinal Energy inside his body from the pills he took and what helped them in doing that was the pressure he was under which helped in making the Medicinal more easy to digest and deal with .
And since he was already close to breaking through, the energy that he consumed for the breakthrough was much, then that Pressure Bubble exploding next to the area he was in acted as some kind of a stimulation for the breakthrough to continue .
With the help of the pressure and his body still Instinctively running Blood Qi as before together with the leftover Medicinal Energy getting in the mix too, all this helped that reckless Junior Brother of yours to achieve yet another breakthrough .
Even though he was severely lacking in Blood Vitality, him being able to execute up to the 9th posture made him being able to circulate his Blood Qi more efficiently, but something is weird with his meridians and body, but what exactly I'm not completely sure, this something might have been the reason to why was able to survive this desperate situation, do you have an idea about this, Fu Liu ?
Hearing what the Old man was saying, I was beginning to feel the heaviness in my chest eased up more and more as the time passed, I sensed that his conclusion was actually quite logical, so wasting no chance, I was about to nod my head, but I then heard the few last words and my heartbeat couldn't help but quicken slightly .
Not able to comprehend what exactly was he talking about, but then I recalled what that crazy thing that I did before was, tempering my head and couldn't help but think that he might be talking about this, so I was at loss of what to say, I waited to hear the reply of my senior brother, he said :
Well Junior Brother here is going through the same route as me with his practice .
Huh, did your stupid master really allowed a guy who severely lacked Blood Vitality and with such an outstanding talent to actually go through the Full Body Refinement Path, has he lost his damn mind ? .
" Well, it isn't like master had much of a choice, you see..... .
I hearing him cursing my Master felt some sense of discomfort swirl inside of me, so even before senior brother said anything, I had already retorted and explained how things became like this .
After hearing me, the old man almost fell backwards from shock, but then a sudden gush of air appeared and the old Man Ma regained his balance, but not his composure, he yelled loudly saying :
You are telling me that you have not only memorized the whole content of the Martial Technique, but you have been also able to successfully practice and improve your mastery over it to this level in just 1 day and night ? .
I nodded my head and the man still in disbelief could only turn to my senior brother to seek the confirmation of my words from him, my Senior Brother answer was to nod his head, indicating that everything I just said was true and not only that, but he also mentioned my other feats as well .
He told him about my performance in Martial Arts, even though my journey had only just started after 1 day, he didn't mention the fact that I had a short encounter with Enlightenment, that was enough to tell me not to bring it as well, after hearing all this, the Old man response was :
MONSTER, YOU GUY ARE A MONSTER .