Level Up in Martial World

Chapter 184: Breakthrough

"This river is truly endless," Lu Zhen thought, unable to see the bottom even after swimming deeper and deeper for two hours. He had already reached his limits; if he went any further, he felt like he could die from the sheer pressure of the water.

Staying where he was, Lu Zhen felt as if he were carrying more than fifty tons of weight. However, that wasn't the main problem, because the pressure came from all sides. While he was confident he could carry a fifty-ton weight, being squeezed by a fifty-ton weight on every part of his body and at every single moment?

His body was already breaking down, with internal organs constantly being damaged. However, Lu Zhen was healing at a rapid pace, monitoring every single part of his body for any variables that might occur.

Every time he was injured, he would heal after a short time, his internal organs growing stronger. Gradually, he adapted to the environment. His muscles started to condense again, and Lu Zhen could feel his physique becoming stronger and stronger with every passing moment.

"At this rate," Lu Zhen's mind swirled with calculations as he estimated all the factors and said, "it might take me three hours." A small frown appeared on Lu Zhen's face as he contemplated this.

"Forget it; I'm not risking my life just to progress faster. There is a difference between stupidity and bravery," he thought, deciding to remain still in that position. Silently, he closed his eyes while holding his breath.

Suddenly, he sensed a being in the distance, causing a frown to appear on his face as he looked.

However, the moment he looked, his eyes widened.

He saw a huge snake in the distance, but the special thing about this snake was that not only was it bigger, but it also had two arms and wore an armour of an unknown material that Lu Zhen couldn't discern.

"This…" Lu Zhen carefully sensed the faint aura emitting from the beast, and his expression relaxed a bit.

"Looks like this is only a martial trainee beast. Why is it so gigantic?"

Suddenly, he thought of something that made him nod his head in understanding. Since it was water, aquatic beasts who lived underwater didn't have to hold their own weight like creatures on land, where they had to support their weight due to gravity. So, it was natural for them to be bigger while the creatures on land were naturally smaller.

However, Lu Zhen didn't dare to take the snake lightly. Although its body was probably adapted to living in this kind of pressure environment, it should naturally be stronger than an average martial trainee.

To be honest, even the creature in front of him, now revealed to be a martial trainee beast, emitted a faint sense of danger which made him doubt his eyes and senses.

"Is this guy some kind of protagonist playing a pig eating tiger?" However, the aura Lu Zhen sensed was undeniable, and it was for sure a martial trainee, unless it had skills like Lu Zhen's aura control skill, but he doubted it.

Even an old monster like Elv was shocked to see that he could manipulate aura. This meant that even in the mage era, manipulating aura should have been impossible, so there was no way the guy could do it.

"Let's mind my own business," Lu Zhen suddenly felt uncomfortable just staying at these places, not because of the pressure from the water but because even a small character like a martial trainee could give him a faint sense of danger.

Although the snake was travelling around the place, it couldn't find Lu Zhen, as he was hidden very carefully so that no martial trainee could even detect him.

Lu Zhen ignored the snake and instead meditated on the spot. He found that when he was resting, his body recovered faster. Although it barely boosted his regeneration, it was better than nothing. So, he gradually fell into meditation, ignoring the searing pain from the body.

After all, Lu Zhen had gradually adapted to pain.

"Strange, why did the elder ask me to go out? I can't find any intruders here," the snake spoke human-like language as it muttered to itself.

He looked around, seeing only water all around with nothing in sight.

"Still, I have to follow the old man's word," the snake spoke out loud in frustration as it continued to search around; however, it was just a superficial search at most.

Lu Zhen's ears twitched when he heard this, and his mind went into a turmoil of emotion. Just the sentence of the snake revealed a vast amount of information that sent him into a spiral of thoughts.

"If what these snakes thought is really true, then…." he thought of the terrifying possibility which sent a shiver down his spine.

His back was already soaked in cold sweat as it was constantly eroded by the water.

"I should return to the surface after I make the breakthrough," Lu Zhen thought as he calmed down slowly from all the information he could gather from the snake's words.

"Where the hell is that bastard? If I find you anywhere, I will grind you to pieces," the snake roared as it intensified its search in frustration.

Lu Zhen ignored the snake's frustrated words as he continued to meditate.

"I am very close."

He could feel the shackles to his body loosening, as his muscles contracted faster and faster, while his internal organs and bones were being rapidly strengthened.

In his previous cultivation, only Lu Zhen's muscles were being tempered, and although his organs and bones were also strengthened, it was very subtle.

Now, everything in his body was strengthening in the same ratio, creating a symphony and harmony between them.

Every element in his body was being fortified simultaneously.

Crack!

Suddenly, a crisp cracking sound emanated from Lu Zhen's body as it reverberated around the water creating thousands of ripple in water.