Accumulation

The bell rang before dawn.

Lin Shen was already awake.

The pain from the previous day lingered where it always did, in his shoulders, spine, ribs. But something about it was different. It had not spread during the night, the ache remaining contained, heavy but stable.

Assignments were issued without ceremony again. The outer sect disciple read from his slip in the same bored tone as always, never once lifting his gaze.

When Lin Shen's number was called, the order did not change.

"Stone haul. Lower route."

Lin Shen stepped forward, moving to the crossroad.

The narrow passage waited as it always had, wedged between two stone faces. The air within pressed inward, constricting breath and weighing down the chest.

He entered without hesitation.

The familiar sensation of air pressing against him struck him, his body forcing him into the state of Embryonic Breathing again.

He moved down the path, his muscle still strained from the previous day.

He arrived at the stone blocks, each of a different shape and size, unevenly stacked.

Lin Shen chose one and lifted with his might.

The weight immediately struck his shoulders and spine, driving a sharp flare of pain through muscle and bone. His breath hitched for a brief moment before he forced it steady. His arms, already fatigued, trembled greatly as he straightened.

He forced himself to climb.

He had to climb.

By the third trip, sweat soaked through his clothes. By the fifth, the splits in his palm reopened, blood seeping between his fingers. By the eighth, his nose began bleeding, blood beginning to pour into his mouth, tainting it with the taste of iron.

The strain was constant and unrelenting, but it did not worsen.

Another initiate, similar to yesterday, briefly appeared at the entrance to the narrow path, seeing Lin Shen, hesitating to enter alongside him, deciding to turn back.

Lin Shen had noticed a boy collapse, the stone slipping from numb hands and crushing them. The boy cried out immediately, hyperventilating, blood seeping from underneath the stone, the stone having completely amputated his hand.

Lin Shen paid it no mind. He could not help either way.

The overseeing disciple watched the boy with disdain.

By midday, the wider paths grew crowded. The narrow passage remained empty.

Except for Lin Shen.

Each climb he made dulled something within his body. It was not pain, but rather resistance. His breathing began to hold without conscious effort and the ever-so-small recovery he had between lifts shortened. He felt the muscles that once tore carrying these rocks begin to tighten, fatigue sealing inward rather than out.

This was no sudden improvement. There was just a slight adaptation his body had provided him with.

It was accumulation paying its due.

Food distribution came late.

Lin Shen received the same meagre portion as before, a lump of grain paste and a thin strip of dried meat. He ate slowly, chewing carefully, using his breath to trap what little warmth the food could provide.

Nearby, he observed an initiate argue with a disciple over rations.

He was struck once and dragged out.

The argument ended.

Night settled over the terraces by the time Lin Shen had returned to the sleeping hall. His body felt heavier than usual, but it no longer felt fragile and brittle.

He lowered himself carefully onto the thin mat near the wall, the cold stone pressing against his back.

He stared at the ceiling calmly, ignoring the pain.

The ache remained, but it had not multiplied.

"So it took this long," he thought. "Mid-stage Body Reinforcement."

The assessment he made came without the common excitement.

"So this is why most cultivators had not lasted," he continued. "The pain wasn't the problem, it never was."

"It was the delay, all the suffering before anything changed. Perseverance was the only thing that mattered. That is why it was abandoned in my previous life."

"The Heavenly Dao truly favors the easy way rather than the one that requires effort."

"Xu Yan had probably already stepped into Body Reinforcement, in the early stages. This is no problem for me, it will be a while before I cross paths with him again."

"As for Zhou Kai.... I do not remember him rising to fame in my previous life, could he have died in this camp?"

Tomorrow would not be easier and the pressure would remain. The stones would weigh the same.

But the damage would no longer pile up.

That was enough for Lin Shen.

Outside, the wind howled through the terraces, carrying distant shouts and dull sounds of stone against stone. The Outer Sect continued its work, indifferent to all else.

Above it all, Heaven observed and found nothing worth correcting.

Lin Shen closed his eyes, breathing steady despite the lingering pain.

He had endured that phase.

Now, he could last.