The low hum in Kaelen Vance’s temples sounded like a bronze bell vibrating underwater.
That same evening, after more than twenty-two days of unbroken rest—at Hour 530 and a five hundred and thirty-one times multiplier—the Fallow Slate had pushed deep into uncharted territory. Holding more than five hundred and thirty hours of unvented energy across three separate tracks was like balancing three swollen rivers behind a single wooden floodgate.
Kaelen lay in his canvas hammock, staring at the rosewood rafters.
His dantian was completely calm, an undisturbed lake of crystalline jade Qi. Yet the sheer density of the threefold multiplier created a subtle celestial pressure behind his eyes.
A mild Dao-pressure headache threatened his evening comfort.
Traditional cultivation manuals warned extensively against Meridian Distension Fever. When an ordinary cultivator stored too much unvented Qi, his veins turned into burning wires. He was forced to sprint across mountain ridges, punch granite boulders, or howl at the clouds to vent the explosive buildup.
If an ordinary cultivator felt this much internal pressure, he would panic.
He would sprint outside, break forty stone posts, and ruin more than twenty-two days of hard work, Kaelen thought, gently rubbing his left temple with two fingers. That is why ordinary cultivators never reach seven thousand times. They cannot tolerate a little pressure in their ears.
