Where Is My Limit?

Su Yu had never imagined that his primary job on his first day at the research institute would be doing chores. After toiling for over two hours, he barely managed to clean up the living quarters. "What a pigsty!" Su Yu cursed under his breath, panting. It was filthy! How could anyone live like this? Bai Feng seemed to stay here often; Su Yu had spotted plenty of his daily necessities. Since the man was so untidy, where did the clean clothes he wore outside even come from? "Did he buy hundreds of identical outfits just to rotate through them?" Su Yu muttered to himself. Having finished cleaning, his curiosity was piqued, and he decided to tour the research center. The research center had three floors above ground and three below—six floors in total. Each floor served as its own zone. Right now, he was on the ground floor, which was the living area. It had a dining room, a kitchen, a lounge, and more—plenty of space to accommodate dozens of people. At present, however, not a soul was here. Their entire faction was deserted. Su Yu could easily picture how bustling this place must have been in its heyday. There were over a dozen rooms. The main experimental area occupied the third basement floor, the holding cells were on the second basement floor, and the warehouse sat on the first basement floor. The second floor above ground held the secondary experimental area, while the third floor housed the archives. As things stood, Su Yu was only permitted to move between the first basement floor and the second floor above ground. He lacked clearance for the other areas. Bai Feng had warned him sternly, so Su Yu didn't dare wander around recklessly—he had no desire to die here through sheer bad luck. *Let's check the warehouse first... Maybe there's some good stuff left?* Su Yu felt a spark of anticipation. Could the warehouse of such a massive research institute truly be completely stripped bare? He refused to believe it! ... A few minutes later. Staring at the warehouse spanning over a thousand square meters, filled with rows upon rows of storage shelves, Su Yu finally believed it. It was genuinely empty! "Flying Tiger Blood Essence (Tengkong)" "Soul-Devouring Demon Blood Essence (Tengkong)" "Golden-Winged Roc Blood Essence (Lingyun)" "..." Looking at the storage bins and the labeled names on each one, Su Yu stood dazed for a long time. He could only imagine how wealthy this place had once been! Blood essence from Tengkong and Lingyun experts, all belonging to formidable races—they had possessed so much. Yet now, nothing remained! Only an empty warehouse was left! Wait, there was something! After rummaging around for a while, Su Yu actually found a vial of blood essence that hadn't been cleared out. "Fire Swine Blood Essence (Wanshi)" A small vial of Fire Swine blood essence, likely forgotten and tossed aside in a corner, left completely neglected. Su Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry! Fire Swine blood essence wasn't bad, but compared to the other labels around it, this vial looked like absolute trash. It wasn't even as good as Ironwing Bird blood essence. At most, it provided some slight benefit for tempering the physical body in the Qianjun and Wanshi Realms. *Could the research institute be going under?* Su Yu grew suspicious. With the warehouse completely depleted, did that mean research could no longer continue? Or was it nearing its final stages? *If the research institute really goes bankrupt, could it be sold for hundreds of thousands of merit points?* Su Yu couldn't help recalling Xia Huyou's words. Could it be... that having just joined, he might soon inherit a massive fortune? Shaking his head, Su Yu gave a wry smile. Looking back at the shelves labeled with blood essence—and even deeper inside, labels marking god and demon blood essence—Su Yu felt both regret and awe at the institute's former prosperity. They had even used god and demon blood essence for research! He spotted the names of many among the top hundred races of the myriad realms. Hong Tan was truly an extraordinary figure! Su Yu couldn't help but marvel. Closing the heavy warehouse door, he got the distinct impression that without the proper clearance, even a Tengkong Realm expert might not be able to force it open. "This would actually make a great hiding spot..." Su Yu muttered. The warehouse was empty anyway, and Bai Feng clearly hadn't set foot in here for ages. Stashing things here would be ideal. Su Yu didn't take that lone vial of Fire Swine blood essence. It belonged to the research institute. Even if Bai Feng had forgotten about it, who knew if it was some kind of test? Losing out on a larger opportunity just to pocket a single vial of Fire Swine blood essence and getting kicked out as a result wouldn't be worth it. Plenty of people still had their eyes on this research institute, and Su Yu wanted to see just how much benefit he could reap here. ... Aside from the warehouse and living quarters, Su Yu could only visit the secondary experimental area. Before heading upstairs, right as he stepped out of the warehouse, he suddenly caught the faint echo of a roar reverberating in his ears! *Rumble!* The ground trembled slightly. Su Yu, still on the first basement floor, felt the vibration beneath his feet and shuddered. The commotion was coming from the holding cells! There really was something alive down there! *The leftover myriad-race creatures Bai Feng mentioned?* Su Yu's heart skipped a beat. Were there truly living myriad-race beings imprisoned below? Creatures at the Tengkong Realm or above? "Kujili..." A muffled voice drifted up, accompanied by roars and anguished shrieks. Su Yu listened closely, but couldn't understand a word. It didn't belong to any language sequence he had mastered. *A racial language I haven't learned...* Su Yu raised an eyebrow. The creature was an intelligent species. While some myriad races possessed little sentience, the beings imprisoned down here were clearly sapient. He listened for a moment longer, not daring to linger. Just as he was about to leave, the language below shifted into the All-Races Common Language. "Let me out!" "Do you hear me? Let me out! Release me, and I will grant you supreme treasures..." "..." The voice was slightly garbled, making it hard for Su Yu to hear clearly. The creature below had likely sensed something, realizing the presence wasn't Bai Feng or Hong Tan, and began roaring relentlessly. Taking a deep breath, Su Yu didn't stay. He hurried away at once. He wouldn't dare do anything reckless! He had just tested the ground; stomping down with all his might hadn't produced the slightest reaction. Yet that creature could make the entire floor shudder, meaning its strength was terrifyingly vast. Su Yu was genuinely worried it might breach the floor and charge up to slaughter him. This place didn't feel safe at all. ... After Su Yu ran upstairs, down on the second basement floor... Row upon row of metal cages lined a massive hall. Many cages stood empty. Only a handful still contained creatures—some completely silent, appearing long dead, while others were reduced to dry skeletons with their flesh completely rotted away. At that moment, inside a massive cage, a golden, lion-like beast slammed repeatedly against the metal framework above it. Arcs of lightning-like electricity lashed into the golden lion, blasting it into a bloody mess! The golden lion paid the wounds no heed. It let out another roar, and once it no longer sensed any movement from above, it finally quieted down. Its lantern-sized eyes scanned the surroundings, and it let out a low bellow. "We are going to die! Sooner or later, we will perish here! If we don't save ourselves, we will never return alive!" Using the All-Races Common Language, the lion roared toward the other cages holding living beings. "Hong Tan has left, and a newcomer has arrived! Entice him, and we have a chance to get out..." The lion continued to roar. A moment later, a faint, eerie voice drifted over. "Give it up. We can't escape at all. Just wait for death! Every cage was sealed by Hong Tan with divine characters. We have no way out. Save your strength—unless a Shanhai Realm expert breaks in to release us..." The golden lion roared back, "No, we still have a chance! If the newcomer gains clearance, he can unlock the cages for us..." "This is a human Civilization Academy. Even if the cages open, we won't get far!" The eerie voice replied again, "There are too many experts here. Shanhai Realm masters are everywhere, and Xia Longwu himself resides in the city. Even if we flee, where could we possibly go?" The golden lion fell silent. A dead hush descended. Indeed, escape was impossible. Even if they broke out of this place and slipped from Hong Tan's grasp, where could they run? This was the human race's heartland! The eerie voice spoke once more. "Quiet down. Stop wasting your energy. There is no yuanqi to replenish ourselves here. Live one more day while you can." The golden lion erupted into fury once more. "I refuse to die like this! To die so pathetically! I want the humans to pay! Just let me out—even if I am struck down, I will slaughter the humans until rivers of blood flow!" With that, the lion turned toward a cage in the corner, where a faint, shadow-like entity resided, its presence barely perceptible. "Shadow, there's still a chance! Even if we can't escape, you can! As long as the cage breaks, you can hide in someone's shadow and slip away..." The shadow's eerie voice drifted back. "Impossible. After being locked up for so many years, my innate ability has long been unusable. Without our innate ability, any Tengkong cultivator can kill a Shadow race member at will, and any Tengkong can perceive my presence!" The golden lion roared in frustration again! It refused to accept this! It refused to remain a prisoner, a test subject for Hong Tan, drained of its blood time and again to produce blood essence! It had once roamed unchallenged across the All-Heavens Battlefield! It had once been a genius of its clan! It refused to perish here in obscurity, forgotten by all! Yet... it couldn't leave. This was a prison arranged by a Shanhai Realm powerhouse. The cages were specially forged, enveloped by divine character restrictions. It had no way out. ... Su Yu didn't witness what transpired on the second basement floor. Nor did he dare go down to look. The earth-shaking vibration from earlier had left him thoroughly shaken. Down below were myriad-race creatures at the Tengkong Realm or above. Who knew if they were Lingyun Realm or beyond? Going down there risked being swallowed whole. He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he reached the second floor. The second floor was partitioned into several areas as well. Su Yu noticed various rooms labeled with laboratory names: "Blood Essence Separation Room" "Blood Essence Fusion Room" "Divine Character Fusion Room" "Dissection Room" "..." The secondary experimental area contained over a dozen laboratories. Walking all the way to the end, Su Yu finally spotted the "waste disposal area" Bai Feng had mentioned. It was a dedicated zone with a central hallway. To the left lay the "filtration chamber," and to the right was the "fragment chamber." Beyond those, there was another area ahead. Su Yu looked up and saw a sign reading: "Discarded Divine Character Area." He froze. Discarded divine characters? Divine characters could be discarded? Could divine characters even be stripped away? Once a divine character manifested, unless it was preserved for permanent transmission, it dissipated quickly. What on earth was this discarded divine character area? Su Yu hurriedly retrieved the small booklet from his robes: *Newcomer Essentials*. This was what Bai Feng had tossed onto the sofa before leaving. Flipping through it, Su Yu soon found the description for the "discarded divine character area." "Divine characters can only hope to be passed down permanently and achieve eternal manifestation at the Shanhai Realm and above!" "Discarded divine characters are products akin to civilization chronicles. After myriad-race Civilization Masters die, their fragmented divine characters remain unusable yet not fully dissipated. All of them are stored in the discarded divine character area, primarily utilized for characteristic transfer and fusion." "Most discarded divine characters in the Wen Tan Research Center originate from the myriad races, while a small portion are remnants of failed characteristic fusion experiments from past years." "Characteristic fusion and transfer was once the Wen Tan Research Center's proudest research breakthrough. However, due to an excessive failure rate, it has long been sealed away. Only theoretical knowledge remains preserved, and human trials have ceased. The academy's characteristic fusion course merely introduces the basic theoretical concepts." "..." The booklet provided detailed descriptions of past trials in characteristic transfer and fusion. There had been successful cases—quite a few, in fact. Yet failures had been far more numerous! Failure meant either ruined divine characters, shattered seas of will, or severe rejection between divine characters and their characteristics. The majority ended in disaster. Consequently, decades ago, characteristic transfer and fusion had been mothballed. The technology was no longer open to the public. The course offered at the academy covered only rudimentary theory, strictly serving as reference material for students. In reality, Hong Tan no longer accepted applications for characteristic fusion or transfer. Naturally, as a student of Hong Tan's lineage, Su Yu had the privilege to study this craft in depth. However, *Newcomer Essentials* explicitly stipulated that no human trial applications were permitted. Continued testing could only be conducted on myriad-race subjects to raise the success rate; only if the rate exceeded ninety percent could human trials resume. In recent years, Hong Tan had been preoccupied with a new project. Originally, others had been researching this, but once most members departed, the fusion and transfer technology was shelved completely. "Such an incredible technique, yet it's been sealed away. What a pity!" Su Yu felt a twinge of regret. Of course, he also understood that the new project had to be far more important, which was why Hong Tan had abandoned further research on this one. Bai Feng and the others likely lacked the time and energy to pursue it as well. Even so, people in the academy were probably still studying it. Though the technique was sealed, the theoretical knowledge and materials had been submitted by the Wen Tan Research Center to the academy. After all, the academy wouldn't have consistently funded the research center over the years without the substantial contribution of that past breakthrough. "Discarded divine character area..." Su Yu glanced once more at the large laboratory but didn't enter. While discarded divine characters intrigued him, he was far more interested in the other two rooms right now. ... Standing outside the fragment chamber, Su Yu took a deep breath, swiped his student card, and the door slid open. What met his eyes was a mountain of bone and beast hide fragments! All of these had once been willpower texts. With their internal willpower thoroughly depleted, they had turned into scrap. Su Yu couldn't fathom how many willpower texts had been discarded here—it was an astronomical figure! Just how many merit points had that cost? Stepping forward, he felt as though he had bumped into an invisible wall. Ripples spread through the air, and an instant later, Su Yu breached the barrier, officially entering the fragment chamber. The moment he broke through the rippling wall, a loud boom echoed in his sea of consciousness, and it began to tremble. His two divine characters seemed to awaken from their slumber, vibrating ceaselessly. Su Yu's face instantly went pale. His willpower surged, clashing against the scattered willpower radiating toward him. He was still quite some distance from the mountain of fragments. Even so, he felt a crushing, mountain-like weight bearing down on him! What Su Yu didn't realize was that this chamber was divided into sections. Successive divine character restrictions separated the mountain of fragments from the outside world. He had only entered the very first section; without sufficient strength and willpower, he wouldn't even be able to breach the second barrier. Even here, Su Yu could barely endure it! Heavy beads of sweat rolled down his face. Pale and strained, his willpower drained steadily—he could clearly feel the rapid depletion! This was vastly more intense than when he had contemplated the bone fragment back home. It wasn't just a single stream of willpower, but countless distinct varieties merged together, bombarding his sea of consciousness. There was no inheritance of knowledge here—only occasional, chaotic bursts of unrecognized characters that vanished in the blink of an eye, transforming into raw willpower to assault him once more. "It's so chaotic!" Su Yu stopped trying to perceive any inherited knowledge. These were broken remnants, mere refuse. If he kept trying to comprehend them, he would drive himself mad. Panting heavily, he felt his willpower steadily draining away. Was this the purpose of the fragment chamber? His thirty-percent fullness felt like a lone boat tossed on a tempestuous sea. Willpower from all directions slammed into him relentlessly, making him drift helplessly, on the verge of capsizing at any moment. After a short while, Su Yu felt his willpower running completely dry. Just then, his sea of will trembled faintly, and a wisp of newly born willpower emerged. This hadn't come from the booklet; it originated from his sea of will itself. When willpower was excessively depleted, fresh willpower would naturally be generated. This was the secret Civilization Masters used to strengthen themselves! Having tasted the sweetness of progress, Su Yu, who had been planning to retreat, took another step forward instead. He decided not to leave just yet. He would hold out a bit longer to see if his willpower could be tempered further! At that point, needle-like agony assaulted him. His frail willpower clashed against the scattered willpower pressing in from all sides, subjecting him to excruciating torment. It felt as if he had returned to his nightmares, slaughtered over and over by those monsters! Su Yu gritted his teeth and held on. He felt he hadn't reached his limit yet. According to *Newcomer Essentials*, one had to leave when their head felt like it was about to split open—that was the sign of extreme depletion. When the sea of will underwent violent turbulence, one had to withdraw immediately. He hadn't felt that sensation yet, which was why he dared to push forward. Since that phenomenon hadn't occurred, it meant he could still hold out. Ten minutes later, tears welled in Su Yu's eyes! "Am I... still not at my limit?" He suddenly began to wonder if his limit was abnormally high. The pain was unbearable—he felt like he might die from the agony. It was more agonizing than being killed dozens of times, yet why hadn't he felt any turbulence in his sea of consciousness? ... What Su Yu didn't know, and couldn't see, was that the golden booklet was quietly exuding faint wisps of energy, stabilizing his sea of consciousness. Under normal circumstances, his sea of consciousness should have destabilized long ago. But each time it showed signs of churning, the golden booklet stirred slightly, anchoring it in place. Thus, Su Yu's limit exceeded his wildest imagination. But the pain he endured did, too. A man without a reachable limit continued striving for it, bearing ungodly agony! Su Yu kept waiting for his sea of consciousness to destabilize, waiting for the moment he could no longer hold out before leaving. But evidently... he was waiting in vain! Fifteen minutes in, Su Yu collapsed onto the floor, tears blurring his vision. *Am I... not resilient enough?* *Am I not ruthless enough with myself?* *Have I never truly reached my limit before?* "I always thought I was struggling on the edge of my limit, but what does this mean... Have I never pushed myself to the brink?" Su Yu felt like weeping. Could it be that all those past agonies of being killed, swallowed, and torn apart hadn't pushed him to his true limit? Was his endurance far greater than he had ever imagined? After twenty minutes, Su Yu began crawling out on all fours! *I quit!* *Forget it, I'm just not ruthless enough on myself. If I keep going, I'll die of pain before I ever reach my limit!* A minute later, Su Yu crawled out of the chamber. Looking back at the fragment chamber, a lingering dread gripped his heart. Yet he also felt frustrated and helpless! "I... really can't bring myself to be cruel enough to myself!" His very first visit to the lab had ended in defeat; he hadn't even managed to hold out until his limit arrived. According to the manual, enduring until one reached their limit on the first attempt provided immense benefits. At this moment, Su Yu began to doubt himself. Liu Wenyan and Bai Feng had both said his tenacity was extraordinary. Zhao Li had also mentioned that he only considered taking Su Yu as an apprentice because of his resilience. Su Yu had taken their words to heart. Yet now... was he truly that tenacious? Sprawled on the floor, Su Yu questioned his very existence. He had felt like he was about to die of pain. Could so many people truly endure all the way to their limit? "Could this manual... be lying to me?" ... Meanwhile. Bai Feng was wolfing down food while holding his communicator between his ear and shoulder. "Leave him be! Just toss him in the lab and let him play around! Look, stop worrying. If you're really that concerned, go check on him yourself..." "Senior Brother, I'm the one taking him as an apprentice, not you. What's your rush?" Grease smeared Bai Feng's lips as he ate. Once the person on the other end finished speaking, he continued, "I sent him to the fragment chamber. He'll mainly be using that to build his willpower from now on. The kid's got decent grit; with thirty percent fullness, holding out for a few minutes won't be an issue." "..." "Don't worry. When he hits his limit, he'll back out on his own. Even if he doesn't, the moment his sea of will destabilizes, the restrictions will throw him out. It's not like he's going to die!" "..." "Five minutes is a benchmark. If the kid can endure five minutes, step out, and recuperate, gaining one percent fullness per session will be a breeze!" "..." Bai Feng chatted for a bit, chuckling. "Going in once a day—even if the effect diminishes later, gaining one percent every three days—means he has a shot at reaching Character Cultivation in two or three months!" "..." "I know, don't worry. I won't let him go in every day. Once he tastes the pain of reaching his limit, he probably won't want to enter daily anyway. Going in every few days, he'll reach Character Cultivation within six months at most!" Bai Feng chuckled. "If he reaches Character Cultivation in six months, combined with advancing his physical body to the Qianjun Realm and coordinating with divine characters, even if he doesn't make the Top 100 Rankings, he'll easily place in the top one thousand students! In a year, I'll have him challenge students on the Top 100 Rankings!" "Who did you say? Liu Hong's younger brother?" Bai Feng sneered disdainfully. "I know a bit about that kid. Before coming to the academy, he had already reached Character Cultivation and the Kaiyuan ninth layer, and he'd finished outlining his divine character. Breaking into the Top 100 Rankings was entirely piled up with resources from Liu Hong. How could that compare to Su Yu entering the Top 100 Rankings in a year?" "..." "Of course I'm confident. If he can't make the Top 100 Rankings within a year, I'll admit I misjudged him. Just focus on your own business and leave mine alone. Let the kid suffer a bit first, lest he get too arrogant!" Hanging up the call, Bai Feng wiped his mouth, turned to look at the distant research base, and smiled. *Brat, reaching your limit feels awful, doesn't it?* *Painful, right?* *Doesn't having your sea of will destabilize make you wish you were dead?* As for whether Su Yu could hold out until his limit, Bai Feng didn't doubt it for a second. If the kid lacked even that much tenacity, then he truly had misjudged him. "Ah, I forgot something important!" Bai Feng suddenly blurted out, "I should've written some records in that manual! Like how I held out for ten minutes back then... *cough, cough*—thirty minutes! That would've really bruised the kid's ego!" Bai Feng felt a pang of regret. He really should have included a record of time. Holding out for ten minutes... *cough*, thirty minutes! Ten minutes wouldn't showcase his brilliance properly! If the kid lasted a few minutes and saw that record, wouldn't he be so embarrassed he wouldn't dare show his face? The next time he saw Bai Feng, he wouldn't act so proud, right? He'd finally understand what a true genius looked like! Shaking his head, Bai Feng felt full and satisfied. He couldn't be bothered to care about Su Yu anymore. Gathering his things, he paid the bill and left. He would get some good rest today, and tomorrow... he'd go cause trouble for Hu Wensheng! If he didn't show Liu Hong some results, that stingy fellow wouldn't part with a single cent, and Bai Feng was practically running out of money to eat.