Huang Kexiu felt that his spiritual power had reached a new balance, and the sense of swelling at the edge of his Sea Of Consciousness had completely disappeared, as if his thinking had become much quicker. He knew that his training in the Basic Altar Space was coming to an end.

As far as the trial was concerned, he had already met the most basic requirements; his spiritual power had increased by thirty percent. This was a very gratifying change, indicating that his strength had improved and his control over his own power had reached a new level.

Foundation Establishment competes in mana, Golden Core in spirit, Nascent Soul in Upper Dao Realm—this is the unchanging rule of cultivation.

When he felt that the dispersion and recovery of his spirit had formed a natural cycle and could no longer provide him with growth, he faced a choice.

If he continued to circulate his spiritual power, he would be sent by the Altar Cave Heaven to the next altar, starting the process anew and further increasing his spiritual power. But if he didn't want to take the risk, he could stop here and wait for the Altar Cave Heaven to send him out.

After not progressing for a while, the Cave Spirit wouldn't expend heart power to retain a guest, and this is the rule of the Altar Cave Heaven.

Of course, he wouldn't just stop here; otherwise, why would he have exchanged all his wealth for a Space Treasure? Surely, no cultivator would stop at the Basic Altar Space—such a lack of ambition. The difference lies in how many steps they wish to climb, using their strength to strike a balance between risk and gain.

Seeking the greatest gain within the capabilities at hand.

His goal was to increase his spiritual power by sixty to seventy percent, which would require him to take three to four more steps.

If his spiritual power increased by sixty to seventy percent, his combat power in the real world would at least double. This is the assistance spiritual power provides to a Golden Core Cultivator.

How much time had passed, there's neither day nor night in the Altar Cave Heaven, but through the operation of the Inner Secret, he estimated it took him three days for this foundational cultivation. It's neither a good nor a bad result—mediocre, the average.

Maintaining the cycle of spiritual power in this way, he marveled at the mysterious spiritual reflection in the Altar Space and realized that the core of the Altar Space might be on the wall of the altar. Each time his spiritual power dispersed out, what was reflected and refracted back increased by two or three tenths, which was the key to his spiritual power growth.

He was now waiting for another person among his twenty-something fellow disciples to also seek a breakthrough upward. Then, the two of them would collide into an Altar Space, deciding who would stay, who would quit or die.

Strength would determine if he could stay, and treasures would decide if he would die after failure.

Having waited for several hours, he felt the altar flip, and although the surrounding spatial conditions hadn't changed, the feedback from the dispersion of spiritual power had altered. He knew he had arrived at the Second Altar.

But now was not the time for cultivation, as he first faced another opponent.

Gently levitating, mana circulating around his body, adjusting to a combat state, soon, a figure gradually appeared in his view.

Huang Kexiu slightly bowed, "Senior Brother Zhou, please guide me."

The opposing Daoist also bowed, "Junior Brother Huang, forgive me."

The relationships among the brothers within the Heartless Dao are very indifferent; this is a feature of their Daoist tradition, where everything emphasizes competition, contention, and seizing. Having many friends becomes very troublesome—would they act against each other?

If you can't act, it shows you lack the potential for heartlessness, so, they are fellow sect members but also competitors and enemies.

Raising a hand, Heartless Water spread forth, Senior Brother Zhou on the opposite raised his hand, and Heartless Ring whistled out... In the competition among fellow brothers, there is no shortcut to take nor any trump card to use; they all roughly know each other's limits, ultimately comparing mana cultivation, spiritual power, and the subtle manipulation of the Heartless Daoist Method.

It's plain, but within such mundaneness, hidden dangers lurk; no one holds back, soft-hearted people have no place in the Heartless Dao.

After a quarter-hour, Huang Kexiu slightly gained the upper hand. The life-and-death struggle in the human-demon war benefited him greatly, which is why even if his mana cultivation isn't remarkable, he still has a lot of confidence.

After two quarters, his advantage expanded, establishing the base for victory. During this process, he didn't relax for a moment, nor did his opponent show any discouragement. Ever since entering the Heartless Dao, they were accustomed to such fratricidal conflicts among fellow sect members; no one holds back, no one begs for mercy.

After an hour, Huang Kexiu seized a weakness when his opponent was beset on all sides, pursued relentlessly, broke through Senior Brother Zhou's defense, and the Heartless Stab plunged into the opponent's inner circle,

"Heartlessness is born from affection, come the next life, still be a heartless person, Senior Brother Zhou, farewell!"

Under the Heartless Stab, Senior Brother Zhou sighed to the heavens and closed his eyes to await death.

Then, at the instant the Heartless Stab touched his body, Senior Brother Zhou vanished without a trace.

Huang Kexiu let out a light breath of relief; the opening wasn't bad. He had a sense of judgment about his own strength, being among the upper middle in his twenty-seven fellow sect members. As long as luck wasn't too bad, the chances of surviving two or three rounds were quite high.

The only surprising thing was, what treasure did Senior Brother Zhou offer to the Cave Spirit to gain the privilege of escaping death? It seems that he wasn't the only one among these brothers willing to invest.

But death spared, the opportunity lost, in situations like Senior Brother Zhou's, he had already lost the chance to advance further. What awaited him was being kicked out by the Cave Spirit, ending this trial.

No matter what, offering a treasure does have benefits, preserving one's life and somewhat improving one's strength.

Taking a deep breath, he no longer thought about these miscellaneous things, focusing his attention back on spiritual cultivation. This was the Second Altar; the increase in spiritual power was one percent higher than the Basic Altar Space, but it also required considerable dispersion and recovery of spiritual power to achieve.

Don't think it's only one percent higher than the Basic Altar, but in the cultivation world, such a gap of one percent can screen out many people. Everyone knows that spiritual power is hard to cultivate, and every small increase is worth celebrating.

Accumulating steps, going a thousand miles, how can there be sudden unexplained qualitative changes?

In the entire Altar Cave Heaven, many cultivators are like him, but there are also as many as unfortunate as Senior Brother Zhou. For those who fail, whether the Cave Spirit lends a hand has no definitive judgment; the Cave Spirit's recognition of space treasures has no reliable standard, entirely dependent on the Cave Spirit's understanding or mood?

From past experiences of entering the Altar Space, it is seen that most of the treasures offered by cultivators actually cannot help them. According to the understanding of the Heartless Dao cultivators, if the Cave Spirit can learn something new from the treasure, then it can spare your life; if it's all known to it, then it's trash, worthless to it.

It's also a gamble of luck; who knows what the Cave Spirit understands and does not understand?

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