Chapter 319 Level 22
One hour ago, in the Sacred Land with 100 times density.
James hurried over to Fang Xingjian’s training room with worry. ‘The arbitration team sent by the association will be here within these two days, yet Xingjian hasn’t been to Sword Tower for a few days now.
‘As expected, he is probably still too young and wasn’t able to hold it in?’
Thinking of this, James knocked on the door of Fang Xingjian’s training room and shouted, “Xingjian, are you there?” The training rooms in the Sacred Land all had a defensive mechanism, and even James was unwilling to barge in just like that.
Soon after, the door was opened. Fang Xingjian threw a glance at James, then he returned to the training ground and continued with his training for the Aquatic Sword Formation. Streams of Aquatic Sword Qis came together and turned into a long river, hanging in midair. It was as if there was a great river flowing to and fro in the air while releasing rumbling sounds.
When James saw this scene, he was stunned for a moment before he said, “You’re still in the mood to practice your Aquatic Sword Formation?” This was a totally different Fang Xingjian from what James had imagined.
Fang Xingjian said calmly, “Mmm, I want to make good use of my time in training. It’ll give my mind a break as well.”
“Giving your mind a break? True, after focusing so much on the words from the Ancient Era, it’s good to have a break from it too.” James nodded. “There’s still one to two days before the arbitration team arrives. I’ve already contacted all the teachers in the Sword Arts Department. They’ll all vouch for you. The few Headmasters of the Prefectural Academies in the Great Western Region will also be coming over.
“it’s a pity that the National Selection next year is too important that the old farts from the other major regions are all focusing their time on training their students. Otherwise, I’ll definitely call all of them over as well.”
Fang Xingjian nodded. Till now, he had yet to receive any reply from the Second Prince, the Northern Ice Region’s Rehlings, or the Holy Orison. He let out a sigh in his heart. It seemed like he would only be able able to rely on himself now.
James continued speaking, “The arbitration process isn’t complicated. They’ll first investigate the condition of the three students with internal injuries before interrogating our witnesses one by one. After that, they will come to you.”
“Of course, in order to ensure fairness, the entire arbitration process will be made public, and you must be mentally prepared to face the pressure.”
Fang Xingjian nodded. He felt that the association’s arbitration was somewhat similar to the court cases on Earth. It was just that in the Empire, the testimonies and prestige of the strong experts were placed above the testimonies and evidence of ordinary people.
This was especially so for such arbitration cases which were related to sword techniques. The party with more prestigious witnesses would have higher chances of winning the case.
James consoled Fang Xingjian, saying, “Don’t worry, I’ve asked around. Other than a few brats from the association and the people involved in that school, there is no one else opposing us. Our chance of winning is very high.”
If it were purely to provide evidence for the sword technique, James naturally had nothing to worry about. However, he understood that this case was no longer one which was purely concerning a sword technique. Recently, many obvious as well as subtle hints and warnings had come to him. These had all made him feel tremendous pressure even for someone with his experience in life.
However, seeing how Fang Xingjian was still continuing to grow, James felt gladdened.
‘Seems like my old bones will have to hang on for a little bit longer, until Fang Xingjian and his generation matures.’
Fang Xingjian continued his training for the Aquatic Sword Qis. In the next moment, countless streams of Aquatic Sword Qis condensed into a huge wave, turning the entire room into a world of water.
Fang Xingjian’s Aquatic Sword Formation had finally reached level 40.
It was also at this moment that his eyes narrowed slightly as there was even more information than before gushing into his consciousness continuously. The amount of information perceived by the Heaven’s Perception had increased.
As his sword arts mastery increased, Fang Xingjian’s ether synchronization rate followed and progressed further, reaching 30%.
During this moment, countless streams of information of light and sound waves gushed into his brain. He started to be able to ‘see’ light and sounds.
This was a feeling which was many times more amazing than being able to see light with the naked eye and to hear sounds with ears.
One’s vision actually consisted of light reflections the eyes saw, while one’s hearing consisted of the air vibrations sensed by the ears.
As the light frequencies one could see and the air vibrations the ears could sense were limited, there was a limit to the things that humans could see and hear.
However, right now, having reached an ether synchronization rate of 30%, Fang Xingjian was able to ‘see’ a reality which he could never begin to imagine. It was a world where one could ‘see’ light which could not be seen and where one could see infrasonic and ultrasonic waves.
The entire world seemed to have become extremely strange.
However, it was also because Fang Xingjian could now ‘see’ light and sounds that even though his Heaven’s Perception was only applicable within a ten-meter radius, he could see still sense things from an extremely far distance through the reflected light rays and sounds.
At this stage, even though he was blind, his vision and hearing had already surpassed that of an ordinary person.
James looked at how Fang Xingjian suddenly went into a daze and asked, “Xingjian? What’s wrong? Oh, right. You should be trying to hit 30% for your ether synchronization rate soon, right? This Heavenly Barrier is really powerful and dangerous.
“It’s because we humans have already gotten used to our current vision and hearing. It can be said that we think the real world is whatever we are able to see and hear.
“However, when your ether synchronization rate reaches 30%, you will see a part of the real world.
“Simply said, everything won’t be how they used to be. Their colors, shapes, traces, and other aspects will all change. Your aesthetics, preference, habits, and other senses will all go through tremendous changes.
“And the moment you take a step into this world, you’ll never be able to turn back. You’ll be sensing all these for 24 hours a day.
“If your willpower is a bit weak, you may just go crazy.
“Remember, when your ether synchronization rate reaches 29%, you mustn’t get near the Sacred Land. When the time comes, I’ll personally help to make preparations for you to fast, take a bath, and light up incense to calm your mind.
“You must continue to be careful even after clearing this stage. You must learn slowly to filter these information. Otherwise, if you were to immerse in them, your mental state will just get increasingly worse.”
Thinking of these, James let out a soft sigh. Having lived for so many years, he had seen many Conferred Knights who had reached this stage. Yet, because they could not withstand how the world actually was, they had either gone crazy or had part of their powers crippled just so that they could return to their original world.
Each step which Conferred Knights took was a lot of hard work, and it could be said that they were constantly progressing toward an inhumane direction.
James then suddenly looked at Fang Xingjian, who was frowning slightly, and asked, “Why, are you not feeling well?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.” Fang Xingjian shook his head slightly and adapted to the discomfort that the 30% ether synchronization rate had brought him. He said nonchalantly, “My ether synchronization rate has reached 30%. I’ll have to trouble you to arrange for some ferocious beasts for me to kill and gain experience.”
“Oh, your ether synchronization rate has reached 30%? Alright, I’ll arrange to get you some ferocious beasts…” Halfway through his sentence, James suddenly lifted up his head and looked at Fang Xingjian as if he was looking at a ghost.
“Your ether synchronization rate has reached 30%? How long has it been and yet you’ve progressed again? And didn’t I tell you not to do it in the Sacred Land? What about the Heavenly Barrier? Are you affected in anyway?
“At the ether synchronization rate of 30%, the Heavenly Barrier will subject you to various light and sound waves. The entire world will go topsy turvy in your eyes. Many Conferred Knights have gone crazy from this.”
Fang Xingjian turned his head slightly. Right now, the world which appeared in his eyes was densely packed with light and sound waves. All the colors were no longer as they had been before. In comparison to the past, everyone now appeared to be twisted and deformed, and all the sounds seemed to be off-pitched.
It felt as if the whole world had changed completely. If one did not have a strong mind and willpower, he would probably really go crazy.
This was because all the things one would see and hear would be different, while one’s aesthetic preferences would still be the same as before. Everyone else would look like aliens and monsters, while all physical objects would be as disgusting as if they had emerged from hell. They would appear with colors and distortions unlike before.
However, with Fang Xingjian’s strong mind, the ten Heavenly Barriers were nothing to him. He shook his head and said, “I’ve already adapted to it. There are no problems.”