46: Chapter 46 Snake Gallbladder and Snake Meat All Packaged! Mysterious Palace Gravity Staircase?

Lin Feng retracted the foot he had just lifted.

He squinted, staring at the sand figure bulging around the metal plate.

The sand figure stopped after only bulging halfway, as if lacking energy, and slowly collapsed back into the sandy ground.

"Tsk, gave me a fright."

Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed to be just some residual defense mechanism that had failed with the death of the black-robed priest.

"Still, it's never wrong to be cautious."

He took a few steps back, not jumping down directly.

Instead, he turned around and walked toward the giant deep pit where the Black-Horned Magic Snake's corpse lay.

He had been so focused on fighting the sand figure just now that he almost forgot he hadn't collected all the most important loot yet.

"Snake gall... snake gall..."

Lin Feng muttered as he jumped into the deep pit.

Broken scales and charred chunks of meat from the magic snake still remained at the bottom of the pit.

After rummaging for a long while, he finally found the snake gall, which was slightly charred from the explosion, among a pile of shredded meat.

It was as large as a washbasin, dark purple all over, and its surface was covered in fine golden patterns.

It felt heavy in his hand, cool with a hint of warmth, and it throbbed slightly as if it were alive.

【Domain Lord Level Magic Snake Gall (S-Rank Material)】

【Quality: Purple (Downgraded due to damage)】

【Uses: Top-tier potion brewing, special cooking, Physique tempering】

【Effect: Direct consumption can permanently increase toxin resistance +5% and Physique +20; effects are better when brewed into a potion】

【Description: The essence of a Domain Lord Level Black-Horned Magic Snake, containing terrifying toxins and vitality; a highly nourishing item】

"S-Rank material! It adds 20 Physique just by eating it?!"

Lin Feng's eyes widened.

What did 20 points of Physique represent?

It was equal to 200 Health Points and 20 points of defense!

His total Physique was only 135 right now; this single item could increase it by nearly 15%!

"But... will it be poisonous if I eat it directly?"

Lin Feng hesitated for a moment.

He remembered his textbooks saying that Advanced monster Materials often contained deadly toxins or violent energy and required professional processing to be used safely.

"Forget it, I'll keep it for now and find a professional to handle it once I'm out."

He carefully stored the snake gall in a separate corner of the wanxiang ring.

Then, he looked at the snake meat scattered around.

Although it was charred by the explosion, the meat in many parts was still relatively intact, and the size of the pieces was staggering.

"Meat from a Domain Lord Level monster... should be good stuff too, right?"

Lin Feng licked his lips.

He pulled a sharp bone knife out of the ring—it was a drop from the sand warrior earlier, Green quality, but better than nothing.

Then, he began to carve the meat.

Sizzle—

The blade sliced through the charred snake skin, revealing the dark red snake meat beneath.

The meat was dense with clear texture, and it emitted a faint, strange aroma similar to musk.

"Smells pretty good..."

Lin Feng swallowed his saliva.

He picked the most intact and thickest parts to carve.

One piece.

Two pieces.

Three pieces.

Each piece weighed dozens of catties.

He only stopped after carving over a dozen pieces, estimating he had about four or five hundred catties.

【Obtained: Magic Snake Meat (B-Rank Ingredient)】

【Quality: Blue】

【Uses: Consumption, cooking】

【Effect: Can rapidly restore stamina after consumption; long-term consumption can slightly increase Physique】

【Description: The flesh and blood of a Domain Lord Level monster, containing rich nutrients and energy】

"B-Rank ingredient, not bad either."

Lin Feng nodded with satisfaction.

He stored all the snake meat away before climbing out of the deep pit again.

The automatic essence blood collection device was still working and had already collected most of the sand people's essence blood.

The storage tank displayed 【Current Storage: 427/100 Units】.

"Efficiency is decent."

Lin Feng let it continue working while he walked toward the collapsed building once more.

This time, he no longer hesitated.

He jumped straight down.

His feet landed on the rubble and debris with a "crunch, crunch" sound.

He was only ten meters away from that metal plate now.

The earthy yellow light spilled softly onto his face, warm but not blinding.

Lin Feng approached step by step.

He could feel the surrounding air vibrating slightly.

It wasn't a dangerous vibration, but... some kind of resonance?

It was as if the energy within the metal plate was responding to something inside his body.

"Is it Earth Element Affinity?"

Lin Feng looked down at the scepter of sand in his hand.

The cracked yellow crystal at the head of the staff was also glowing slightly now, its frequency matching the light from the metal plate.

"It seems this scepter and this metal plate... share the same source."

He walked up to the metal plate and crouched down.

Observing it from up close, he could better appreciate its exquisite craftsmanship.

The surface was silver-gray, the material neither metal nor jade, feeling warm and smooth to the touch.

The patterns carved on it were dizzyingly complex, like a star map or some ancient Formation.

And the earthy yellow crystal in the center was breathtakingly beautiful.

The size of a fist, its interior looked like flowing liquid gold, with a seven-colored halo shimmering on its surface.

The most miraculous thing was that it was pulsing.

Like a heart, it throbbed rhythmically and slowly.

Thump... Thump... Thump...

With every pulse, the light grew a bit brighter.

"A holy relic..."

Lin Feng murmured to himself.

He reached out, wanting to touch the crystal.

But halfway there, he stopped.

"Wait... that priest said before he died that the Sand Clan's curse would follow me forever..."

"Could this thing... be some kind of trap?"

He hesitated.

But a second later, he shook his head again.

"Whatever, I'm already here."

Fortune favors the bold.

Lin Feng had made it this far by being willing to take risks and fight.

"Just one touch, just one."

He took a deep breath and slowly pressed his right hand toward the crystal.

The instant his fingertips were about to touch the crystal—

Buzzing!!!

All the patterns on the metal plate lit up simultaneously!

A blinding earthy yellow light erupted, instantly swallowing Lin Feng's figure.

Lin Feng only felt an indescribable, massive suction force coming from inside the crystal.

It wasn't pulling his body.

It was pulling his... Soul?

He felt his consciousness being gripped by an invisible giant hand, forcibly being torn out of his body!

"Oh no—"

Just as the thought arose, everything went black.

It wasn't a faint; it was true, absolute darkness.

All five senses were lost.

He couldn't hear, see, smell, or feel anything.

Only his consciousness remained, like a lone boat floating in the void.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Maybe a second, maybe a year.

When Lin Feng regained his perception, he found himself standing in... a completely strange place.

Beneath his feet was a white jade floor as smooth as a mirror.

Above his head was a dome emitting a soft golden light that seemed to have no end.

All around were massive walls carved with complex reliefs.

And in front of him—

Was a staircase extending upward, its end out of sight.

The staircase was ten meters wide, each step crafted from pure white jade, with a faint golden halo flowing over the surface.

At the end of the stairs was a golden palace so magnificent it was beyond description.

The palace floated in mid-air, supported by seven-colored auspicious clouds, exuding a holy and majestic aura.

Above the main gate of the palace hung a massive plaque.

On it, four large characters were written in an ancient script with complex strokes.

Lin Feng didn't recognize a single one.

But the Concept contained within the characters directly imprinted itself into his mind—

【Trial Heavenly Palace】

"Trial... Heavenly Palace?"

Lin Feng murmured those four words.

He looked around.

Except for the jade plaza beneath his feet and the stairs ahead, every other direction was a void.

There were no walls, no boundaries, only faint golden mist flowing slowly.

"This place... is no longer the Desert Golden Sea."

Lin Feng could feel that there wasn't the slightest bit of the desert's dry heat or earthy smell in the air.

There was only pure, heaven and earth energy so dense it felt like it couldn't be dispersed.

Moreover, the space here was terrifyingly stable.

He tried to circulate his mana and found that his casting speed had slowed by at least thirty percent.

"An independent space? Or... a Secret Realm within a Secret Realm?"

Lin Feng's heart rate accelerated.

Textbooks mentioned that some Advanced Secret Realms hid even more secretive Small Worlds, known as the "Heart of the Secret Realm" or "Legacy Grounds."

They often contained greater opportunities, but were also accompanied by greater dangers.

"Looks like... I've hit the jackpot."

He gave a bitter laugh.

That metal plate wasn't some holy relic at all.

It was a teleportation gate!

It had teleported him to this godforsaken place.

"What now?"

Lin Feng looked toward the only path—that staircase extending upward.

The staircase was very long, at least a thousand steps.

The golden palace at the end emitted an enticing glow.

"I'm already here..."

He gritted his teeth and stepped toward the stairs.

Since there was no other way, he could only go up.

Maybe there would be some clues on how to get out in the palace, or... even greater treasures?

Lin Feng walked to the front of the stairs, lifted his right foot, and stepped onto the first step.

The moment his sole touched the jade—

Boom!!!

An indescribable, terrifying pressure suddenly descended from the heavens!

Like a massive mountain, it slammed down onto him!

"Ugh, ah—!!!"

Caught off guard, Lin Feng was pressed forward, falling to the ground.

His knees slammed heavily onto the step, making a dull "thud."

He felt every bone in his body creaking, and his internal organs felt like they were being squeezed by an invisible giant hand, making it impossible to breathe.

Fine beads of blood even began to seep out from the surface of his skin.

【Subjected to gravity suppression: Current gravity is 10 times that of the outside world】

"Ten... ten times gravity?!"

Lin Feng's head buzzed.

He struggled desperately, trying to crawl up.

But under ten times gravity, his body weight had skyrocketed to over a thousand catties!

Forget about crawling up; even lifting his head was a struggle.

"Get... up!"

Lin Feng clenched his teeth, propping his hands on the ground as the veins on his neck bulged.

Bit by bit, inch by inch.

He struggled to lift his upper body, his knees still kneeling on the step.

Sweat poured down like a waterfall, instantly soaking his clothes.

"Ha... ha..."

He gasped for air, his lungs feeling like a broken bellows, every breath carrying the taste of blood.

"No... I can't get up like this..."

Lin Feng knew very well that with his current physical strength, being able to barely kneel under ten times gravity was already good enough.

Trying to stand up and walk?

A fool's dream.

Not to mention climbing all these thousand-plus steps.

"I must... back off first..."

He moved his knees with great difficulty, backing away bit by bit.

Finally, his body left the first step.

The pressure vanished instantly.

Lin Feng collapsed onto the jade floor with a "thud," like a fish out of water, gasping for air.

He was soaked through, as if he had just been fished out of a river.

His muscles were trembling uncontrollably, and bouts of sharp pain came from his bones.

"These damn stairs..."

Lin Feng lay on the ground, looking up at the golden dome, a wave of lingering fear in his heart.

If he had persisted for a few more seconds just now, he suspected he would have been crushed to pieces.

"Ten times gravity... who could possibly withstand that?"

He rested for five minutes, and once his stamina had recovered somewhat, he struggled to sit up.

He looked at those stairs, his gaze solemn.

The stairs lay there quietly, each step emitting a faint golden light, appearing holy and solemn.

But Lin Feng knew that Hell was hidden within them.

"A gravity trial... a typical test of Physique."

He recalled the records in his textbooks.

Some ancient Legacy Grounds would set up gravity stairs to filter out inheritors.

Only those with a sufficiently powerful Physique could reach the top.

"My Physique... Glory Corona is Prodigy-level, and my base attributes aren't weak."

"But ten times gravity... would require at least the top-tier level of an Elite Physique, or a middle-tier level of a Prodigy Physique to withstand."

Lin Feng frowned.

He was only Level 16 right now, with 135 points of Physique.

[part:gemini-2.5-flash]

Converted to HP, that's 135, and defense is 135.

At Level 16, this is considered top-tier, but within the entire scope of Prodigy-level Physiques, it's only mid-to-low.

"Directly tanking it definitely won't work."

He stroked his chin, beginning to ponder countermeasures.

"Is there any way... to counteract or reduce the gravity?"

He looked at his equipment.

The holy light wing cloak—adds spirit, adds light attribute damage, allows flight, but there's no mention of gravity resistance.

The war soul greatshield—adds defense, adds HP, but it's also purely physical defense.

The scepter of sand—adds spirit, adds Earth Element Affinity... wait, earth element?

Lin Feng's eyes lit up.

Gravity, in essence, is also a manifestation of earth Law!

Could Earth Element Affinity counteract some of the gravity suppression?

He quickly grasped the scepter of sand and tried to mobilize the earth element energy within it.

The cracked yellow crystal at the head of the staff glowed faintly.

A warm, heavy surge of earth element energy flowed into Lin Feng's body along the staff.

He felt his body lighten slightly.

But it was still very heavy.

"It works, but the effect is limited."

Lin Feng estimated it could reduce gravity by about 10-20%.

Meaning it would drop from ten times to eight or nine times.

Still couldn't bear it.

"Are there any other methods...?"

His mind raced.

Fusion Talent?

Could he fuse a skill or equipment that resists gravity?

He glanced at his skill bar.

Of the sixteen basic skills, none were related to gravity.

"How about... trying to create a new skill?"

A bold idea popped into Lin Feng's mind.

He brought his hands together, palms facing each other.

This time, he chose two seemingly unrelated skills.

Left hand—Earth Wall Technique (Earth element, changes terrain).

Right hand—Wind Blade Technique (Wind element, cuts).

"Can the Fusion of earth and wind... produce 'buoyancy'?

He injected one thousand mana and attempted Fusion.

Buzz—

Two streams of energy intertwined in his palms.

But soon, they began to conflict.

Earth element is heavy and stable.

Wind element is light and flowing.

Their attributes clashed, making Fusion extremely difficult.

Lin Feng gritted his teeth and persisted, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Five seconds later—

Poof!

The energy conflict exploded, and Fusion failed.

Lin Feng was thrown back two steps by the backlash, a stinging pain in his palm.

"No... the attribute conflict is too severe."

He shook his head.

He tried several more combinations.

Earth + Water = Mud, even heavier.

Earth + Fire = Lava, irrelevant to gravity.

Earth + Lightning = ...conducts electricity? What the heck.

He tried seven or eight times, all failures.

Lin Feng slumped to the ground, feeling a bit dejected.

"Could it be... that I really have to wait for my Physique to improve before I can go up?"

He glanced at his experience bar: Level 16 (320/500000).

Five hundred thousand experience points to reach Level 17.

And even if he leveled up, each level grants +3 to all attributes and +2 free attribute points. Even if all were added to Physique, it would only be an increase of 23 points.

From 135 to 158, the improvement is limited.

To withstand ten times gravity by leveling up, he would need to gain at least ten more levels.

That would take forever.

"No... there must be another way."

Lin Feng forced himself to calm down.

He looked at the staircase again.

The staircase was very long, over a thousand steps.

If every step had ten times gravity, what kind of monster would be able to climb to the top?

"Wait... every step is ten times?"

Lin Feng suddenly thought of a question.

If the gravity was the same on every step, what would be the point of this trial?

It would weed out 99% of people on the very first step.

"Could it be... that the gravity is incremental?"

This thought made his heart sink.

If it was incremental, then ten times on the first step, eleven times on the second, twelve times on the third...

He might reach a hundred times gravity halfway up.

That's not meant for humans to climb at all!

"It shouldn't be that abnormal..."

Lin Feng shook his head.

He stood up again and walked to the front of the staircase.

This time, he didn't rush to go up, but observed carefully.

The jade steps of the staircase, the golden halo flowing on their surface, seemed to... have a pattern?

The halo on the first step was the faintest.

Looking up, the halo gradually deepened.

By around the hundredth step, the halo was so dense it looked like solidified golden liquid.

"Indeed... the gravity is incremental."

Lin Feng sighed.

But at the same time, he felt a sense of relief.

Incremental meant the first step had the lowest gravity.

If he could withstand the first step, he might be able to gradually adapt through some method and climb up step by step.

"Adapt..."

Lin Feng's eyes narrowed.

He recalled the knowledge he learned in school.

The human body undergoes adaptive changes when continuously subjected to pressure.

Muscles become firmer, bones become harder, and organ functions strengthen.

This is why some Explorers specializing in Physique actively seek out gravity environments to Cultivate.

"So... this staircase is not just a trial, but also a training ground?"

Lin Feng's heart pounded.

If that was the case, then climbing this staircase itself was a process of improving his Physique!

As long as he could withstand the initial pressure and persevere, his Physique would continuously improve!

Ultimately, reaching the summit wouldn't be a dream!

"Let's try..."

Lin Feng took a deep breath and lifted his foot again.

This time, he was mentally prepared.

His right foot slowly stepped onto the first step.

Boom!

Ten times gravity descended once more.

But this time, Lin Feng wasn't crushed.

He gritted his teeth, his leg muscles tensed, and little by little, he shifted his body's center of gravity onto the step.

Then, his left foot also lifted and stepped onto the stair.

He stood firm.

He stood on the first step, his body trembling slightly, but he truly held his ground.

"Ha... ha... I succeeded..."

Lin Feng's face broke into a smile.

Although it was strenuous, at least he didn't kneel.

"Now... let's see how long I can last."

He began to count silently in his mind.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

After ten seconds, he felt his legs starting to weaken.

Twenty seconds, his knees began to bend.

Thirty seconds, he couldn't hold on anymore.

He quickly stepped back, returning to flat ground.

The pressure vanished.

Lin Feng collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Thirty seconds... that's my limit."

He wiped away his sweat.

But his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Because during those thirty seconds, he could clearly feel subtle changes happening in his body as it resisted the gravity.

Muscle fibers were tearing and reorganizing.

Bone density was increasing.

Even blood flow became smoother.

"It's effective!"

Lin Feng was excited.

This staircase was indeed a treasure trove for Cultivation!

As long as he could keep climbing, his Physique would continuously improve!

"However... thirty seconds is too short."

He frowned.

He could only last thirty seconds each time, and then needed several minutes of rest to recover.

The efficiency was too low.

"I need to find a way to extend the duration."

Lin Feng looked at the scepter of sand in his hand.

Earth Element Affinity could reduce gravity by 10-20%, and he had already used it.

What else?

He touched the wanxiang ring on his chest.

The ring had an elemental shield, but that was for absorbing damage, ineffective against gravity.

Void Walk? Short-distance teleportation, but could it be used in a gravity environment?

He tried to activate it.

Buzz—

His body became ethereal.

But the next second, he was forcibly pressed back into a solid state by gravity.

"As expected... gravity is an environmental effect, not an attack."

Lin Feng shook his head.

He also tried the flying ability of the holy light wing cloak.

The result was even worse.

As soon as the Holy Light wings spread, they were directly crushed by the ten times gravity, and the wings snapped with a 'crack'.

Although the cloak had a self-repair function, Lin Feng winced in pain.

"It seems... I can only rely on brute force."

He sighed.

But just then, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Wait... am I being stupid?"

"Gravity presses down on my body."

"But what if... I reduce my own 'weight'?"

Lin Feng's eyes suddenly widened.

That's right!

Gravity = mass × gravitational acceleration.

If he could reduce his own mass, wouldn't the pressure he endured be less?

"How to reduce mass?"

He looked at his skill bar.

Wind-type skills... could they generate buoyancy?

Water-type skills... could the buoyancy of water counteract some gravity?

Even... light-type skills, does light have mass?

Lin Feng felt he had grasped the key.

He began to experiment frantically.

Wind Blade Technique—cuts the air, creating airflow, but the airflow couldn't support him.

Water Arrow Technique—summons water, but water became even heavier under ten times gravity.

Light Bullet Technique—pure energy attack, no mass.

He tried them all, none worked.

"Could it be... that I need to fuse a skill specifically to counter gravity?"

Lin Feng gritted his teeth and brought his hands together again.

This time, he chose three skills.

Left hand—Wind Blade Technique + Ice Cone Technique (Wind acceleration + Ice solidification).

Right hand—Earth Wall Technique (changes terrain).

"Wind, Ice, Earth... can I create an 'anti-gravity field'?"

He injected five thousand mana and began Fusion.

Buzz—

Three streams of energy wildly collided in his palms.

This time, the conflict wasn't as intense.

Wind and ice, one flowing and one solidifying, actually created a wonderful balance.

And the earth element, as a base, provided stable support.

Ten seconds later.

Fusion successful!

In his palm, a mass of... pale blue mist appeared?

The mist slowly rotated, with tiny ice crystals and sand particles dancing within.

[Obtained: Micro Gravity Field (Temporary Skill)]

[Effect: Generates a Micro Gravity Field with a radius of three meters, reducing gravity within the field by 5%, lasting 30 seconds]

[mana Cost: 300 points/use]

[Description: A wondrous combination of wind, ice, and earth elements, temporarily altering local gravity rules]

"It worked!!!"

Lin Feng was so excited he almost jumped.

Although it only reduced gravity by 5% and lasted only thirty seconds.

But this meant he could reduce ten times gravity to five times!

He should be able to withstand five times gravity!

"Let's try it!"

He immediately activated the Micro Gravity Field.

The pale blue mist spread out from him, forming a spherical Domain with a three-meter radius.

Within the Domain, the air became lighter, and the light slightly distorted.

Lin Feng took a deep breath and stepped onto the first step again.

This time—

The pressure was still there, but noticeably lighter!

Roughly... five times?

He stood steadily on the step; though still a bit strenuous, it was completely bearable.

"Success!"

Lin Feng's face showed wild joy.

He tried walking up a few steps.

The second step, the third step, the fourth step...

He walked all the way to the tenth step before the pressure increased to nearly six times.

But he could still withstand it.

"At this rate of increase... I can at least reach the fiftieth step!"

Lin Feng calculated in his mind.

At the fiftieth step, the gravity would be around fifteen times.

With the Micro Gravity Field halving it, it would be seven and a half times.

He should still be able to endure.

"However... the Micro Gravity Field only lasts for thirty seconds."

He glanced at his mana.

Each use costs three thousand, and he had a hundred thousand mana capacity, so he could cast it thirty-three times.

But there was a cooldown after each cast—about five minutes.

"I'll walk while waiting for the cooldown."

Lin Feng made up his mind.

He looked up at the golden palace at the end of the staircase.

Determination flashed in his eyes.

"Trial Heavenly Palace..."

"I'm coming."