Chapter 10 - Pain

I stood in front of one of the large gates. Up close, I could feel the unique pressure emanating from it. It felt electrifying.

I tried to put my hand on the gate doors, only to recoil when I received an electric shock from it. My eyes were wide open as I stared at the gate doors. That electric shock I got wasn't a 'just for fun' shock like in pranks, it was more like the ones from high-powered tasers. If I was still me from my past life, I would have been knocked out then and there, potentially even killed.

I looked at the gate doors in silent pondering for a few moments. From that shock, I could infer that the situation inside the gates would be quite a bit worse. Should I make a gamble that I could withstand the current inside?

Finally, I made my decision. If I kept staying here, I couldn't do anything other than twiddling my thumbs. The gates are the only lead on getting out of this place.

I braced myself before putting my hands on the gate doors once more. The current flowed through from the gate to my body, giving me a tingly feeling. I took a deep breath before pushing the gate doors open.

When the gates swung wide open, I was greeted by a whole lot of… nothing?

Confused, I stepped through the gates. When I made my first step,

"ARRRGGHHH" I instantly let out a scream of agony as I was hit by the sensation of a hot iron rod poking into my third eye.

The pain was excruciating. I dropped like a puppet with its strings cut as I could only clutch my head in suffering. Countless sensations I couldn't describe replaced each other frequently on my forehead in a seemingly endless cycle.

From the horrible pain, I screamed until my voice was hoarse. Despite that, all I received in return were the echoes of my agony.

Even with all that suffering, I was denied the blessing of passing out. Everytime I felt myself losing consciousness, a new sensation would torture me and wake me up again.

Eventually, in order to latch onto my sanity, I grasped a method to grant myself brief moments of respite. In exchange for stamina, I learnt to produce something I called vital energy to soothe myself for a few moments.

In the beginning, I was very inefficient with the conversion, granting myself only half a second of breathing space despite wasting nearly all my stamina.

I created a cycle where I would use my stamina to create vital energy and when I low on stamina, I would recover with my meagre reserves of spiritual energy. I looked down on spiritual cultivation before, but after this, I gained a newfound appreciation of it.

After what felt like countless years, the pain at my third eye finally began to subside. One by one, the number of torturous sensations began to decrease.

I wanted to shout out in joy when I noticed this fact. If not for the fact my throat was raw from all the screaming and that I could bȧrėly move my body, I might really have done so.

Ultimately, the pain stopped. Words couldn't describe the feeling I felt when I was finally granted reprieve from that horrible torment.

Lying on the floor flooded with my cold sweat, I felt my consciousness recede as my black spots began appearing in my vision.

I really wanted to sleep. I was so tired.

When I came to, I found myself lying on top of lushly grown grass.

I slowly opened my eyes and gently stood up. Pop sounds entered my ears as I got up to my feet. Looking around, a cool breeze blew on my forehead as I was greeted by a familiar clearing.

At the moment, I was feeling really muddleheaded. It wasn't all that different from the time when I first awakened with memories of two lives.

"Huang Yu! There you are!"

Flinching at the loud voice, I turned to the source to see a girl with a distressed expression on her face.

It was Gu Yue.

"Where have you been?! You've been missing for a week! Teacher Wu has been searching everywhe-" Gu Yue suddenly paused as her worried expression changed into a wide-eyed one.

I raised an eyebrow at that. Did I undergo some sort of metamorphosis after that torture? Maybe I became really handsome? Nah, that's too far-fetched.

I followed her gaze before concluding that she was looking at my forehead. She must really like my ban-

Oh shit.

OH SHIT!

It's gone.

Gu Yue seemed to snap out of her trance at that. "W,what was that? Was that your second martial spirit?" Her voice was shaky as she asked the question.

I gave a wry smile before shaking my head, "Sorry Gu Yue, but this is something really private to me. Can you please not ask about this?"

Gu Yue visibly calmed down at that. She pondered for a moment before giving her reply. "Fine. I'll respect your privacy. I won't talk about this with anyone. But if you have any problems, you can always come to me for help. We're friends right?" Gu Yue gave a bright and beautiful smile.

'Thanks Gu Yue!" I grinned widely at her. Oh wait, she talked about me missing earlier didn't she? I should ask about that.

Gu Yue gave a sigh. "C'mon, let's go back to the academy. You'll have some explaining to do to Teacher Wu if you want to get out of this unscathed." Gu Yue turned around before walking away. I laughed nervously as she left.

Looking at her back, I had my own thoughts.

Gu Yue was hiding something. I was certain of it. I didn't notice it in the past, but after opening that gate of wisdom, I could see quite a few tells.

However, I didn't care about that. As long as she kept her lips sealed about my secret, I won't dig into hers.

I shook my head and sighed before chasing after her.