Sam's body began to shake as the immense, scouring pain of four thresholds ripped through it. With his tripartite E Rank form, every threshold impacted every aspect of his being, multiplying the pain exponentially. Each threshold brought a different kind of pain as they wreaked havoc on his body, but as before, and especially now, Wisdom was the worst.
Not only were his errors laid bare before him on a mental level, but on a physical and spiritual one as well. His Dao itself was brought to judge him, to see if he measured up against its concept. At that moment, Sam felt a primal dread as he realized that if he failed here, pain would not be his only punishment. Before, his thresholds were inconveniences, perhaps even scarring, traumatic events, but his will had grown beyond the pain. Now it seemed that there was an actual danger to his life.
Sam waited with bated breath as the pain consumed him, his consciousness condensing down to a tiny kernel of obduracy, withstanding the agony. His Dao blossomed with power, preparing to strike him down. Then it withdrew, satisfied with what it found. The pain ebbed away like the tide, leaving Sam in a supine position, still twitching as the remnants of the torture left.
He heaved breaths in and out, the strengths of his E Rank body briefly overcome by atavism. When death came calling, everyone, from wretch to emperor, returned to their roots. Nobody was born immortal in the world of the System, and life was the most precious thing to a normal cultivator. Power and wealth could be gained and lost, but life could only be abandoned once. There were no second chances, at least at Sam's current level.
He smiled wryly. Power really is everything. I feel like death can eventually be overcome. Perhaps if I can master the Dao of Death itself.
Four notifications waited for him, which he opened to distract from the aftereffects of the trials.
You have passed the Third Threshold of Constitution!
The vitality of a demigod is now your own, the lifeforce to withstand most forms of assault. You can weather extreme radiation, every mundane toxin, and many more things besides. However, many are the warrior who finds themselves trapped by their own might, in a loop of suffering from which there is no end but a death that could be millenia in the coming. Be sure that is not you.
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You have passed the Third Threshold of Dexterity!
Speed becomes you, and perhaps, speed defines you. Speed of the mind, body and soul is a potent gift, allowing for all manner of techniques that can make all the difference between life and death. Despite this, there is such a thing as being too fast. Your ascent has been akin to that of a supernova, fast, and incredibly bright. Such things usually come to a quick end.
You have passed the Third Threshold of Intelligence!
By this point, perhaps you have realized that the boundaries of your intellect are determined not by the things you know, but rather by those that you do not. Knowledge of one's own ignorance is the only sure knowledge in existence. Still, that does not mean that you should not strive for more.
You have passed the Third Threshold of Wisdom!
Your Wisdom has grown to immense quantities, but all the while, you still do not grasp its true nature. No cultivator does, or ever will. After all, to truly claim Wisdom in its entirety would render a being beyond the gods themselves, and perhaps beyond Existence itself.
As usual, Sam read through the strangely opinionated prose of the System, and let it all wash over him. Most of it made no difference to him beyond being an intellectual curiosity. Still, it made him wonder about what the role of the System really was. The way it communicated with its users made him think that it was a sort of godly chatbot, able to tailor its words to whoever read them. Most of his threshold notifications had been somewhat targeted, and indeed, so had many of his skill descriptions.
Regardless, as the pain vanished completely, Sam felt his body tingle with newfound might. So great were his stats now that when the Foreman came back for revenge, Sam was confident in his ability to not only defeat him, but annihilate the man. As he thought this, a pulsing notification appeared, much brighter than usual. Surprised, Sam opened it.
You have entered Floor 8, 9 and 10 of the Gemlands(Challenge Mode)
Enemies stand at every turn, from the Shadow Raven to the invaders from another dimension. What better way to defeat them than to turn them all against one another? Ensure the deaths of every party involved, other than yourself. Given that there are multiple parties involved, ranging from the Foreman to the Shadow Raven, and to some yet unseen, the final quests of the Gemlands have been merged into one.
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