A flaming red crystal cocoon sat silently within a wasteland where even the cracked ground was the same color.
The crystal was semi-transparent, but even if one looked inside, one would only see a murky black fog.
Crack!
Soon enough, cracks began to form on the crystal before ballooning and covering the entire surface.
Boom!
A glistening white hand reached out of the largest crack and grabbed onto the side of the crystal. Soon enough, a second hand followed. Once they had gotten a firm grip on the hard crystal layer, they pulled apart, causing the already fragile material to shatter.
The murky black fog that filled the crystal parted before suddenly gathering towards a central point, as if being attracted by a suction force. And in the next instant, it disappeared.
What was left was the naked body of a man who stood at 1.9 meters tall. His skin was like a flawless jade and as smooth as a baby's bottom. His eyes were a swirling yin yang of amethyst and red, and his hair was midnight black with streaks of silver like shooting stars.
This hair, which had once only been shoulder length, had grown to the point where it cascades down the man's back, almost touching his buttocks.
"Ahhh…" A refreshed sound left the man's mouth as he regained his bearings, his sparkling eyes gazing around in wonder.
'I feel like I've been reborn.'
The man, who was naturally Damien, felt like ages had passed since he had entered the Primordial Undying Realm that he was currently within.
After the first round of strengthening he received from the strange magma that flowed from the ground beneath him, he had entered a strange state of meditation where he couldn't feel the passing of time. His only focus was the constant changes in his body.
'Damn, my internal body clock feels out of wack.'
It could've been days or it could've been months, he honestly didn't know how much time he had spent. But he was extremely happy with his gains regardless.
Swoosh!
He waved his hand in the air. There was no mana imbued into the action and he didn't even try to put strength into it, but this small movement caused the winds around him to whistle.
'The space here is incredibly sturdy, even sturdier than it is in the 3000 Beast Mountain Range. But the power of my motions right now…if I was on earth it wouldn't be difficult to crack space with just this much.'
It was amazing. Not only did the strengthening improve his physical strength and defense, but it also affected more elusive things. His throat which had been strengthened to breathe the breath of a dragon and even his eyes which he received from a spider, even these received a portion of strengthening.
'But if I walk around with this much power, I might accidentally break shit.'
Cracking his neck, Damien took a stance and began practicing basic fist movements and steps. His feet danced around the cracked ground and his hands waved through the air as if it was an interpretive dance.
In the beginning, each and every step he took caused the ground to crack and each movement of his hands caused the winds to rage, but as time passed, the effects he had on the environment slowly lessened.
What felt like days passed like this, with Damien unceasingly absorbed in consolidating his new strength, and finally, he was able to move normally with steps light enough to not even leave footprints in sand.
When that point was reached, Damien opened his eyes once again, but the first thing he realized was that he was no longer in the same place he was when he started his movements.
'This is…'
Surrounding him, there were roughly 100 crystals that bore striking resemblance to the one he had broken out of only a few days prior.
'Are these the other geniuses that entered with me? Why is there so little?'
But it didn't take long for him to reach the answer. A being like the Primordial Undying Tree, for it, there wouldn't be much difficulty in creating multiple spaces for similar trials to take place.
These must be the survivors from his group alone.
'But why am I out while they're still going through it? Did I not reap the benefits properly?'
But that wasn't it. He was the bearer of the Void Physique. If there was one thing he was confident in, it was reaping all possible benefits of a reward like this one.
'Ah right, that's what it was.'
His Void Physique. It could make the absorption of a treasure that would usually take years to absorb easily reduce to only a few weeks of time.
Like this, it was only natural that he finished before them. It was also natural that he would receive much more strength than them.
'What an overpowered physique.'
To date, he had only discovered the one main function and a few branches of the same function of the physique. He didn't know if there were more benefits for having it, but even if the known function was the only one, he'd be content.
It was an ultimate supportive ability. It would prevent any foreign mana or energy from invading his body, which would counter most poisons as well as more elusive things like possession.
It would also help him safely absorb any kind of treasure as long as it was energy based. As long as the treasure didn't outclass him by too much, he'd be fine.
It was overpowered, but it wasn't broken. But that was perfect. Damien loved training and he loved gaining strength that he earned himself. Even a reward like this one was only granted due to his endurance.
He'd be disappointed if his path to strength was as easy as just absorbing insane Godly Treasures until he reached the peak in one leap.
While Damien was thinking, he sat down in meditation, waiting for the others to wake from their slumbers. It had already been a few hours since he arrived in this area, but he hadn't seen any way to leave it.
Obviously, the next stage or trial or whatever would be something that the entire group would participate in.
Damien's mind drifted away from the current circumstances and began to meld with the space around him.
The boundless wasteland he was in started to feel not so boundless after all. It was just a trick of perception, with space mirroring itself and appearing endless when instead the true area was only a small portion of what it seemed.
Damien felt the layers of space and sent his awareness through them one by one. If the outside world of the Cloud Plane had spatial layers that felt like fabric, the 3000 Beast Mountain Range had layers that felt like viscous water.
As for the space within this secret realm, each layer was like an opaque wall that he had to put genuine effort into passing through.
'Teleportation within this realm will be extremely difficult.'
No, it was almost impossible. His current understanding of space hadn't reached a level even close to being able to freely manipulate the space in this realm.
'As for my offensive abilities…'
He waved his hand lightly, causing space to ripple slightly before distorting into a small black hole on his palm.
'Strange. It's as if there isn't a single law for the space here. It's malleable when it wishes and firm when it wants. It does as it pleases. As long as I'm not attempting to teleport, it doesn't limit my usage of spatial abilities.'
Damien couldn't help but marvel at the abilities of the Primordial Undying Tree. That old monster of a tree was even capable of doing something as unfathomable as this. It was insane.
Crack!
While he was testing his abilities, he heard a light cracking sound from the distance. This sound was soon followed by many others to the point where it seemed like an orchestral crescendo of cracking.
And soon enough, the 99 crystals surrounding Damien were shattered into pieces.
