Even breathing here seemed harder than usual.
It was like breathing in a sauna, except it was dry and didn't have moisture at all
The feeling of slightly being stinged by heat and the pain that followed was very similar to the time when Gang Xin breathed through the nose in the previous world.
Upon a glance at the surrounding people, Gang Xin spotted a variety of people. They didn't seem to mind the environment much as they sat and recuperated.
However, they all kept a certain distance from each other. There was more than enough space for that, as the first floor was just a huge empty space.
The only thing here would be the staircase that led upstairs.
"Will these fasting pills be of use?" Gang Xin thought as he felt the bag in his pocket. It was given to him by the 2 escorts, and was just enough to consume one pill every day until the end of his punishment.
'These people mostly seem to have entered here comparatively recently. Except that one.' Gang Xin's gaze shifted to a man with full scarlet beard and messy hair.
The person looked very haggard, and his skin also had developed some blotches of red, while the entirety of his skin seemed to have a pink undertone.
He looked very ill, yet Gang Xin couldn't help but feel as if the man wasn't getting damaged by the environment at all. Instead, he even seemed to be resting and collecting his breath.
'In order to survive here, a person must cultivate. Only by cultivating will they be able to circulate their own energy and then use it to protect themselves from this malicious fire qi. I reckon that guy with the red skin is a person who came down from higher levels.'
Gang Xin thought. This time, a smile had formed on his face.
He had been plotting for this moment. First, ever since he had gotten the Undying Phoenix cultivation technique, his mind worked on how to fasten his cultivation.
Obviously first, it was selling the medium grade sword and using it to exchange for artifacts. However, as it was instead needed to cleanse his foundation and reset his cultivation, he couldn't use it.
And even if he did, he reckoned there might not be much benefit he could get. After all, the value of a medium grade sword was only so much.
His next thought was that after cleansing his cultivation and cultivating to a a sufficiently strong level, which in his mind was the 4th star of Form Fighter, he would go and complete missions for the academy.
After all, as he had affiliation with the academy, he had to exchange his efforts for the resources he gets. Previously, he was just that close to exceeding the time limit a person can go without completing a mission.
He had to complete one after every month.
Thus, he reckoned was going to go to the discipline hall anyways. So instead of wasting more time, he decided to take a gamble. Well, not much of a gamble, since he could control the variables.
From Gang Xin's mind, when he first read the description of the Punishment Pavillion, he was really intrigued. Then, when he got the Undying Phoenix technique, it was like he hit the jackpot.
After all, wasn't this place a good source for powerful flame?
Thus, he needed to violently breach a clan rule and get sent there. That preposterous Gang Tu coming his way was just what he needed.
After all, even if trouble didn't come to seek him, he would've sought trouble instead.
Still, there was also a chance that he might not be sent there, and instead receive another hard punishment. Thus, he also had to showcase his fire controlling abilities since there was also a tradition of children going inside the Punishment Pavillion for a brief period of time.
He reckoned that it might have been to taste affinity for fire in a very harsh way. If he were to show promise in fire cultivation, he might enter this place to seek the depth of the water here.
Now that he had finally entered this place, it was time for him to test out whether his efforts have been in vain or not.
Whether he might benefit or even suffer from this venture. His cultivation technique would be the deciding factor to this. If he can tame this violent fire qi and make it his own, his cultivation would be much smoother.
Gang Xin started performing the Undying Phoenix cultivation technique.
He stretched his hands, clawed to the front, and breathed irregularly. His breathing was like a sharp spike some times, and a deep and calm one the others.
His body made strange movements, but he tried to limit it as much as he can.
After all, there were other people here, and they might recognize his technique to be different than the clan's Roaring Tiger.
Instantly, he felt as if his sensed had strengthened by many times. Now, he was perceiving the surrounding fire qi much clearly.
It was like the difference between shiny and smooth table and rough wood you can feel in nature. The former felt comfortable with no details, but the latter one felt authentic.
Sensing this, Gang Xin even took a deep breath unknowingly. He enjoyed this fire qi very very much.
He could feel that in front of his cultivation technique, the corrupted and dominant fire qi was behaving obediently like a puppy. Gang Xin even had the urge to laugh loudly.
However, he kept himself from doing it as it would attract too much attention.
In this manner, Gang Xin was processing the surrounding fire qi with his movements very fastly. They were like clay that was slowly losing their solidness as he refined them, and had more liquid like consistency.
Once they reached the liquid consistency, they would enter his body, and refine his tendons for him. The corrupted fire qi even became an excellent nourishment for refining his tendon.
The whole process felt as easy and smooth as drinking water!