Chapter 116: Rapidly Growing Strength

And so, it hit a bottleneck!

Rumble! Rumble!

As these thoughts crossed his mind, a sudden sensation of overwhelming fullness surged through Zhou Yi’s body, jolting him into instant awareness.

"Now is not the time to be dazed. Even if my cultivation of the Mountain-Crushing Technique has stalled, and even if I might soon be destroyed by my own reckless ideas, I am still alive for now!" A fierce look of resolve shot through Zhou Yi’s eyes. He dismissed the stalled technique, shifted his mental projection, and instantly vanished from the dantian space.

Whoosh!

Standing in the darkness, Zhou Yi’s eyes snapped open. His brows arched as he looked up at the three hundred and sixty-five acupoints glowing like moons above him. With a tremor of his body, a ray of light shot forth from his forehead into the void, instantly dividing into three hundred and sixty-five fragments, each piercing into an acupoint.

Boom!

These rays were extensions of Zhou Yi’s will. Divided into three hundred and sixty-five strands, they poured into each acupoint, merging with the internal Light of Enlightenment, which suddenly flared with blinding intensity.

"With my will guiding it, I can push the Light of Enlightenment to its limit, maximizing energy absorption, converting it into illumination, and expanding the space!" Zhou Yi stood straight, eyes gently closed. In his mind, three hundred and sixty-five images appeared like a grid of screens.

These were the scenes within his acupoints!

"Even if I am to die, I will shine with the most brilliant radiance before the end!"

Given his current state, even if he utilized energy to the absolute limit, and even if the acupoint spaces expanded at maximum velocity, the rate of consumption could not keep pace with the influx of the energy river. At this rate, he would eventually reach his limit and be shattered!

Zhou Yi understood his predicament; he knew he was doomed. After all, his acupoint space was only at the second stage of the False Core, the "Pool Acupoint" level.

The energy he had drawn from the river was of a heavenly grade. Although his lack of true enlightenment prevented him from channeling the full power of heaven and earth, its essence remained divine. Even if the energy was significantly reduced by his limited comprehension, what did it matter? To a bowl, was there a difference between a basin of water and a barrel? Either way, the bowl would be overwhelmed in an instant.

By now, it was too late to sever the connection to the aura of heaven and earth. The mere fact that he had established this link for so long meant he had already drawn in enough energy to blow himself apart countless times over—not to mention that he could no longer stop the process even if he wanted to.

Severing the heavenly label? Once he had branded the acupoints, the fate was sealed. He realized this only after the deed was done. A sinking feeling of dread had flickered in his heart the moment he realized his mistake. He knew he had overplayed his hand, but he had never imagined things would escalate to this degree.

Removing the heavenly label from his acupoints was impossible; it was like trying to put a newborn back into the womb.

"Very well. Let’s see just how far I can go before I hit my absolute limit!" Since things had reached this point, worrying was useless. Zhou Yi was not a man of sentimentality. His only thought now was to push himself to the brink and see what level of strength he could attain before the final moment arrived.

The space trembled. Waves of energy transformed into light, permeating the entire void, and the dimensions began to expand silently and rapidly.

Zhou Yi focused intensely, overseeing every acupoint space. He directed the Light of Enlightenment with precision, his consciousness saturating every inch of space, ensuring the light fell evenly to maximize the expansion.

As the spaces grew, profound mysteries bloomed within his mind—the insights that came with the growth of his acupoints. These mysteries were absorbed into his soul instantly, and in the process, his cultivation and magical power surged. Because these insights were born from the growth of his own acupoints, they were perfectly attuned to him, requiring no time to digest.

That was the advantage of the Acupoint Growth Method.

The Acupoint Infusion Method relied on pumping in power, sacrificing the future to gain immediate strength. The Acupoint Growth Method, however, relied on natural evolution; every inch of expansion brought forth corresponding enlightenment. For the practitioner, these insights were a panacea—perhaps a slight exaggeration, but not by much.

They increased both his cultivation and his magical power!

While each individual insight granted only a small boost, the sheer volume was staggering. With his acupoints expanding at the limit, the insights flowed like a river, endless and constant. Naturally, Zhou Yi’s strength grew at an exponential rate.

There was no need for time to digest, and there were no side effects. For any practitioner, such a situation was a stroke of divine fortune—a moment to celebrate with fireworks!

Boom!

Time passed, though he could not say how much. As Zhou Yi remained fully absorbed in controlling the Light of Enlightenment, a sudden, thunderous roar jolted him awake.

Zhou Yi shifted his focus, peering into the surroundings.

A vast, empty, and boundless space greeted his eyes.

"This is..." Looking at the chamber that had expanded beyond measure, Zhou Yi was momentarily stunned.

Rumble! Rumble!

The confusion did not last. With another roar, streams of pitch-black energy poured into the empty space. Zhou Yi understood immediately: this was still his acupoint space, just vastly larger.

"Did I break through?" Once he realized it, he felt a daze. The space had grown so much, and it now carried a distinct, tangible quality—a qualitative change.

As he pondered, a surge of information flooded his mind. Because of his intense focus, he had subconsciously ignored all other input, but now that he had regained his composure, the information regarding his breakthrough finally surfaced.

"Is it that simple?" It had happened silently, without him feeling a thing. Zhou Yi was taken aback. This breakthrough felt too effortless, too quiet, and too sudden. This was a breakthrough, after all; it shouldn't be this easy! It should have... it should have been...

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

His moment of hesitation was cut short. Before his eyes, in a mere instant, waves of black energy flooded in from the outside, filling the boundless space to the brim.

"No time for sentimentality!" As the space went from empty to overflowing, Zhou Yi offered a bitter smile. He pushed aside all other thoughts, his expression turning grave as he resumed controlling the Light of Enlightenment to swallow the energy and continue the expansion.

The third stage of the False Core had been reached.