"Hang in there. Once you hit forty meters, infuse Stellar Power into your body—that's the only way you'll make it through," Evan Chu said.
Evan Chu still didn't feel much pressure. The gravity here was just like what he'd experienced in the Stellar Cultivation Chamber before—walking was a bit strenuous, but it didn't really affect him.
Gavin Wei was already sweating buckets, his breathing growing noticeably rapid and heavy.
Quite a few people around them had stopped moving; one by one, they watched the last two entrants in silence.
When he reached forty meters, Gavin couldn't help but channel Stellar Power through his whole body. The pressure from gravity eased up a lot at once.
At that moment, Evan noticed that every ten meters forward, the gravity increased. Now even he was starting to have trouble breathing.
More and more people were stopping; some collapsed from exhaustion or burning through too much Stellar Power, left lying on the ground—basically waiting to die.
Now Evan understood why everyone who came out looked so pale. It was from using up too much Stellar Power. If you couldn't go any farther, all you could do was quietly hold on with Stellar Power until time ran out.
Some people got crushed while trying to hold on, or ended up coughing blood from serious injuries.
When they hit fifty meters, Gavin said with difficulty, "Brother Long, go on ahead. I can't walk any farther. Don't worry, my Stellar Power will last until the end."
"Alright, but keep an eye on the people around you. Don't do anything reckless," Evan said, then spread Chaos Qi through his whole body.
There were fewer and fewer people ahead. Evan felt the pressure growing as he went deeper—Chaos Qi really was incredible.
After a minute, he reached the sixty-meter mark. Evan glanced ahead; there were still five people left, but walking was starting to get tough.
Slowly, he overtook them one by one. After three minutes, he reached seventy meters. By now, his clothes were soaked with sweat and breathing was much harder.
There were fewer corpses underfoot now. Evan knew that to win first place, he'd have to reach ninety meters—but with his current state, that might be tough.
Seventy meters was another hurdle—the gravity increased a lot again. If he stopped here, he'd pass the trial for sure.
Looking ahead, he saw four people still inching forward. Evan decided he'd push to eighty meters before making up his mind.
He took a deep breath, circulated Chaos Qi wildly inside his body, and started moving forward again.
Right now, Evan felt like he was carrying a thousand-jin boulder on his back—every step was a struggle.
The four people ahead had to be Heaven Martial Realm experts—no one else could reach this distance.
Gritting his teeth, Evan slowly overtook the others. After almost five minutes, he finally reached the eighty-meter mark—two people had been crushed along the way.
One of them stopped at seventy-five meters, staring as Evan passed him, his face twisted in shock.
Evan felt like he was about to reach his limit—he even thought about giving up. Glancing ahead, he saw three people still stubbornly holding on.
"Evan, are you thinking about quitting?" Luna's voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Honestly, I am. The gravity now feels just like the Stellar Cultivation Chamber before. I can barely hold on," Evan admitted helplessly.
"That's not like you at all. This Gravity Chamber is a rare place to temper your body, and you want to quit? The harder it is, the more you should push yourself—it's good for you," Luna said.
"I want to, but I'm afraid if I get crushed I'll die. I can't afford to gamble like that!"
"Don't worry, I'm here. Unleash your full potential—this is a rare chance, and you might gain something unexpected," Luna encouraged.
"Something unexpected?" Evan asked.
"Just try and see. Hurry—you're running out of time," Luna said.
Evan steeled himself—he trusted Luna completely. Any reward she hinted at had to be extraordinary, just like when he'd gotten the Heaven Crystal.
He circulated Chaos Qi again, only to find a third of it was already gone—this trial was really taking a toll.
"Screw it, I'm going all in!" Evan roared, making the three people ahead involuntarily turn to look at him.
The three were close—one was just two meters ahead, the second about three meters, and the first was standing still five or six meters away.
Evan stepped forward. That step nearly crushed him—the pressure made it hard to stay upright, and his legs trembled uncontrollably.
"Damn it, Luna, you're going to get me killed this time," Evan grumbled inwardly.
"You dare curse me? We'll see how you survive this!" Luna retorted.
Evan was frustrated, but he'd already taken one step—he had to take another. Sweat dripped down, and his bones felt like they might snap from the pain.
"This pain—I can still take it!" Evan shouted again.
Step by step, Evan pressed forward. The pain felt no different from breaking through the third layer of the Starforge Body—except this was outside in, not inside out.
Soon, Evan overtook the man ahead. He saw blood soaking the man's chest—the guy was clearly badly injured.
The pain kept intensifying. Evan's face was covered in bulging veins, making him look almost ferocious as he gasped for breath.
Soon he caught up to the second man, whose face was twisted just like Evan's. When Evan passed him, the man said, "Kid, you're strong—to reach this point at your age is rare. But know when to stop."
Evan replied with difficulty, "Thanks for the advice. I know my limits!" Then he kept moving forward.
After about five minutes, Evan reached the first man's position and stood side by side with him. "Keep going?" Evan asked.
The man glanced at Evan's age, his strange face flashing with disbelief, but he said nothing.
Evan kept moving forward. Just then, the general's voice rang out: "Two minutes left! Anyone who wants to sprint, hurry up!"
"Damn, are they trying to get us killed?" Evan cursed inwardly.
"Ah!" The man beside him roared and started moving again.
Seeing things heat up, Evan slowly moved forward too, thinking, "I've come this far—even if I don't get Luna's promised reward, I have to take first place. Only then will people notice me and give me real responsibility."
"If I die, so be it!" Evan shouted. His bones kept cracking, and suddenly the dragon shadow on his Earth Star Pellet seemed to move—a tremendous dragon roar echoed in his heart...
(Author's Note: Still on IV fluids today—sorry for the weak updates these past days. Some readers still tipped and voted for the book. Thank you all! There will be a chapter at noon, and another after my infusion.)