The pools with no liquid in them were empty, with no one occupying them. While the pools with students in them were filled with some kind of energy-rich mystical liquid.
Zoe and Evelyn went to their respective area that had magic pools and spirit energy pools while Arkhen, Makoto, Ellie, and Dionne went to the uni energy pool section.
After they entered the empty pools, they started filling up with black liquid with white sparks in it. This liquid gave off a similar power as Primal energy.
A hologram also appeared in front of them from a tiny device at the edge of the pool, there was also a red button beside it—-[Close your eyes to focus before trying to absorb the energy from the pool and use it to refine your core. If you can't endure anymore, press the red button]
'Velshi, I have already gone past 10,000 energy power. Will I still be able to increase my EP through this?'
[Yes, my lord. From the quantity of this primal essence in the pool, you can increase your EP by 10,000 as long as you absorb all of it into your core. But despite so, your skills and superpower will only have 10,000 EP worth of a power in them. Unless, of course, you strain your core to bring out more power despite the suppression]
'Got it. Then I'll absorb all primal essence from the pool,' Arkhen declared in his mind with a determined grin on his face.
[Good luck, my lord]
…
"Aunt, please spar with him in pure martial arts," Sierra said with a somber expression.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"What if he wins against me?" the middle-aged woman with a long black ponytail said with a speechless expression. Her name was Ruchina. She was Sierra's aunt and one of the upper echelons of the academy that was not part of the council but held equally powerful authority.
"If he wins against you, then I will learn from him," Sierra said, biting her lips in frustration. Shaking her head, she spoke, "Zhin Huang, I can't beat him in pure martial arts and I am also not sure about a full-out fight after seeing his battle yesterday."
"If you want, I can cancel the challenge and you can forget about Damo's blessing," Ruchina said with a wry smile.
"No," Sierra shook her head with a stubborn expression. "We were the ones who proposed this deal and challenge, so how can we go back on our own arrangements?"
"Sigh, fine. I'll fight against that boy in pure martial arts. Bring him here," Ruchina said.
…
It turned out that the trial pools were extremely tough. Every five minutes, one could increase their EP by 1000. But so far, no one could last for more than 30 minutes inside.
The girls had toughness and endurance hammered into them by Arkhen's tough martial arts training and heavenly massage art, so they lasted around 30-33 minutes and gained 5000-5500 EP.
"New record! Ushan Dhir lasted for 41 minutes! He gained 6200 EP."
"Anyone knows how long miss Sierra lasted?"
"She hasn't arrived yet but considering her backing. She must have already absorbed the benefits of these mysterious pools. I wonder how did the academy get them?"
"Yeah, they did say that the world is going to change drastically soon and it will start with our big competition. What was that all about?"
"Meh, no use speculating in empty air. We will know when the time comes."
…
Inside the headquarters of the Prime-Star academy, council hall…
"How much quantity of pools is left now?"
"72% left. I guess we can let most of the students get at least one dip into the pools."
"We have to hurry. Tomorrow, give all of them two suitable skills and start teaching them. The competition is going to be observed by a Galactic Alliance of the Milky Way. We have to show a good performance."
"Tang, how many Karnex coins are left in our vault after buying those tanks of essences?"
"We are downed by 93%. Only 34,650 Karnex coins are left."
"Let's hope these spendings can return the benefit we are expecting. Though I won't be here to observe it since I am close to my ascension to the 1st realm," said the old man with a long white beard with a smile.
"Damn, old man. How many days left?"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"I can feel the connection solidifying to late stages. Probably a month or two before I am gone."
"We'll make this planet enter into galactic civilization before that. Two months, let's do it, y'all."
"Fool, we haven't even unified the entire planet yet," the old man said with a rueful smile. "Just get the backing of GAM by showing them our competence and get their aid on unifying the planet. Don't be in a hurry and mess up. If some idiots started nuke wars, all will be for naught."
…
"Hey, come out, man! Stop being stubborn!"
There was a huge commotion in the trial pool. Evelyn, Zoe, Makoto, Dionne, and Ellie were a bit away from the pool in which Arkhen was absorbing the essence, but it's already been over 50 minutes and his condition was getting worse.
Arkhen's eyes were red and his body was constantly trembling.
"Brother…" Zoe bit her lips. The girls wanted to pull out Arkhen, but he already flared up once and told them not to say it again.
"Fuck, since he wants to die, then let him die," someone said before leaving the group.
Sierra also arrived at this moment as she wanted to call Arkhen to spar with her aunt. She also saw the commotion and found out that Arkhen was the cause of it.
"Arkhen, it's not wise to throw your life for something trivial, I also only managed to stay in for 48 minutes," Sierra said indifferently as she looked at the constantly trembling Arkhen in the pool.
"Fu-fuckers, shut up and go away!" Arkhen couldn't hold his words at first, but then he firmly shouted. 'Velshi, how is my condition?'
[It is dire. The heart might stop in the next minute. However, I trust you can endure this. You must break your limit]
'I sure damn will break my limit!'
There was a fire of stubbornness and resolve in his eyes. He didn't want to remain at the bottom or even mid. He wanted to be superior to everyone!