Meanwhile, Vaan continued to temper his body in the first stage wholeheartedly, oblivious to the outside world.
After the third day, the fourth and fifth days came.
Dragons and wyrms came and went, but only Vaan stayed behind in the first stage.
Many found it strange and felt he had no intention of leaving the first stage. As such, they all thought there was something wrong with his head.
After all, if he could endure for so long in the first stage, it was better to advance to the second stage for much faster and more significant gains.
However, unbeknownst to them, they all thought wrong.
After Vaan soaked his body in the first stage's lava for five consecutive days, achieving 64% fire affinity, it became progressively harder for him to stay in the lava pool.
It was like getting a tattoo.
Although the pain might be tolerable at first, it would become unbearable after extended periods, even when the pain level remained consistent throughout the process.
At Vaan's present level, the heat of the first stage shouldn't be able to harm him. And yet, he indeed started to feel pain all over his body.
However, the pain didn't encourage him to leave the lava pool, nor did he think something had gone wrong.
As the saying goes; no pain, no gain.
'To feel pain at this stage, it seems like I am close to uncovering the secret of the first trial,' Vaan silently thought.
Shortly after, he re-entered deep meditation and immersed himself in the tempering process.
Finally, on the seventh day, something happened.
Ding!
<Your body has been tempered by fire>
<You have gained three points in defense>
<You have gained five points in strength>
<Your fire affinity has increased>
…
<Your fire affinity has reached 65%>
<Your Fire Spirit Body (Low-rank) has improved>
…
<The purity of your Fire Dragon God Bloodline (Divine-rank) has increased>
<Your Fire Dragon Physique (Low-rank) has improved>
<Your Dragon Force has been strengthened>
…
=====
[Dragon Force (Low-rank) (Upgradeable)]
Effect: Passively increase your base strength by 12% and base defense by 6%.
=====
Ding!
<You have tempered your body to the absolute limit in the present environment>
<The present environment will no longer affect your body>
…
pAn,Da-n0v e1,c
The only reason he could still gain benefits in the first stage despite being far above the pre-requisite level was thanks to the blood essences of the Fire Dragon God.
Although he did not know how many drops of the Fire Dragon God's blood essence were diluted into the lava pool, he could confirm its presence.
After all, his Fire Dragon God Bloodline and Fire Dragon Physique would not have improved otherwise.
Since he had reaped all the benefits of the first trial, it was finally time to descend to the next stage.
Vaan hopped out of the lava pool and landed on the nearest rock island before turning toward the direction of the second whirlpool, which led to the second trial region.
[Why aren't you staying anymore?]
Just as Vaan was about to leap into the whirlpool, the ever-silent Quasi-Divine Fire Spirit took the initiative to contact him.
"I've already strengthened my dragon bloodline and physique. There's nothing more to be gained from staying here. That is why I am leaving," Vaan stated.
[You still haven't collected your quota of one fire-attribute magical plant.]
"I don't need it," Vaan replied after a short pause. "I rather come back when the fire-attribute magical plants have matured to Rank 3. I have no use for Rank 2 magical plants."
[Oh? Even though there's a chance that all the Rank 3 magical plants might get snatched up by others before you do?]
"If others get it before me, then that's their good luck. I don't really have much use for Rank 3 magical plants, anyway."
[I see. Very well, then. You may continue with the trial.]
Shortly after the Quasi-Divine Fire Spirit spoke, Vaan nodded before he took a big leap into the second whirlpool of lava, entering the next trial region.
…
The scenery of the second trial region did not differ much from the first trial region.
It was still the same vast open space, lava pillars, inferno geysers, and floating rock islands filled with fire-attribute magical plants.
However, there were twice as many fire pillars, the inferno geysers erupted more violently and frequently, and larger rock islands contained higher-quality fire-attribute magical plants.
More importantly, the scorching-hot air and overall temperature reached a frightening level and couldn't be compared to the first stage.
Only Rank 4 dragons with at least 30% fire affinity could endure this heat.
Anything weaker would be burned inside out.
Nevertheless, such a high level of temperature still wasn't a problem for Vaan. It was expected that only the third stage onward would pose a problem to his body.
After Vaan manipulated his rate of descent and softly landed on one of the larger rock islands below, the Quasi-Divine Fire Spirit reached out to him again.
[Congratulations on passing the first stage perfectly. You will be awarded three drops of the Fire Dragon God's blood essence.]
[Additionally, your magical plant quota for the second stage has been raised to two. Note: Exceeding your quota is still punishable by death. There is no leniency for greed.]
Shortly after the Quasi-Divine Fire Spirit delivered its message, a miniature fire phoenix broke away from a nearby lava pillar and flew towards Vaan.
Upon reaching him, the miniature fire phoenix's entire body of flames dispersed into thin air, dropping a small ceramic bottle right into Vaan's hands.
After Vaan opened the ceramic bottle's cap, he noticed it contained precisely three drops of the Fire Dragon God's blood essence.
'Interesting,' Vaan thought.
Fortunately, he had chosen not to pick a fire-attribute magical plant from the first stage. Just because he could didn't mean he should.
As a result, his quota increased to two for the second stage.
That said, Vaan had no intention of picking up any fire-attribute magical plants from the second stage either.
If he could, he would save his quotas until he reached the last stage.
Perhaps he might really need it then.
And if not, he could use his spare quotas to repay Khaleesi for the Peak-Rank 4 Bloodvein Ganoderma he consumed.
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