Noah returned to his habitation inside the Royal city.
That new house was closer to the Royal Mansion compared to the one that he had rented previously when he had to experiment in the Elemental forging method.
Since he didn't need a reinforced room, Noah could afford a house with a higher concentration of "Breath" at a lower price than the previous one.
It was wrong to call it a house though, it was only a large room that he and Ivor shared quietly at the price of two thousand Credits per month.
His weekly income had increased since he joined Kurt's hunting group so Noah didn't mind spending a bit more to have that density of "Breath".
That allowed him to make up for the time wasted traveling with his normal training schedule.
Inside, there was Ivor waiting for him.
Lately, he had begun to sleep more, Noah guessed that the damage on his sea of consciousness was slowly increasing its effects on his daily life.
"Ivor."
Noah called and patiently waited for the ruined cultivator to wake up.
"What is it?"
Ivor asked after a bit as he stretched his hand toward one of the jars around him.
"How was your Pain Tribulation?"
Noah knew that Ivor had a rank 3 dantian so it was obvious that his body had been through the Pain Tribulation.
"Mhh…"
Ivor seemed to make a lot of effort to remember that moment of his life and he would lift his jar from time to time as the reviewed his memories.
"Painful."
"…"
Ivor's answer left Noah speechless.
'I guess he is only useful when my doubts concern the Elemental forging method.'
Noah thought, taking out a few thousand Credits from his space-ring.
"I need some time alone, these should suffice for the rent of a cheap habitation and your wine for about a month."
Ivor took the Credits and moved toward the exit door.
As he was about to unlock it though, he turned and said something with a warm smile on his face.
"I remember my Master's words back then when I was about to go through it. He said "Be sure that your entire body is filled with "Breath" before you attempt the breakthrough". Apart from those words, I remember only the pain of the process."
Noah nodded to him and watched as he left the room.
'If it's just about pain, I believe that it will go quite smoothly.'
Noah thought, taking out the "Breath" blessing from his space-ring and placing it on the floor.
The density of "Breath" in the room instantly surpassed that of the best house in the academy.
'First, I need to reach the peak.'
The information about the breakthrough to the fourth rank of the body was already deeply impressed in his memory.
Generally speaking, the process was the same for each cultivator with some slight differences due to the different body-nourishing methods.
A cultivator needed to reach the peak of the third rank, then he had to fill the entirety of his body with "Breath".
Once those two requirements were met, he had to activate his nourishing method to start the reconstruction.
'Many cultivators lose themselves in the pain, some of them die in the process. Yet, the Pain Tribulation is still considered the easiest to pass. After all, its requirements are easy to meet and it's quite common for a cultivator on that level to have a strong will, capable of enduring that terrible pain. It's quite funny that most of those that die in that Tribulation are nobles or wealthy cultivators.'
To withstand pain, one must have a strong will.
Nobles rarely found themselves in dangerous situations and their lofty lifestyle didn't allow them to build a strong personality.
That's why, through history, nobles had the highest mortality rate in the Pain Tribulation.
Noah sat on the floor of the room and focused on his back.
It was still day so he could not cultivate in the Yin body, yet he still had to absorb the "Breath" of the rank 4 Iron-tusks boar that his hunting group had killed.
The energy on his back circulated through his body and reached his dantian where a selection process happened.
The "Breath" of the darkness element was separated and redirected inside his skeletal system which emitted a cold aura that slowly nourished the body.
The rest of the "Breath" was simply dispersed in the air.
"Fuuuuu"
Noah exhaled loudly after the process was complete.
By then, he had become used to using the Blood drain spell to speed up his improvements, yet the quantity of nourishment that came from rank 4 magical beasts always surprised him.
'If I was a magical beast, I could just eat anything that contains "Breath" to strengthen my body, without the need for specific techniques. I have to admit that I quite envy them. Well, at least the potential that humans have due to their three centers of power is far higher.'
From Noah's point of view, the cultivation process of the magical beasts was simply too easy if it was compared to that of the humans.
Nevertheless, when a human had all three centers of power in the heroic ranks, the power that he held was enormous.
'Not yet, I still need a couple of days before I reach the peak.'
Noah calmly waited for the night to come before starting to cultivate in the Yin body.
He wasn't going to cultivate both his dantian and body at the same time, in that important moment, he wanted to be sure that all his focus was on the breakthrough.
The first night passed uneventfully with seven vortexes constantly absorbing "Breath" from the environment and accumulating it below the acupoints.
That cold "Breath" was then rendered harmless with one refinement of his dantian and redirected to his bones.
Noah rested for the whole day, waking up immediately upon the sunset.
Just a few hours after his second night of cultivation, he felt that his bones could not receive any more "Breath" and each time Noah tried to pour more in them, they would just redirect it to other parts of his body.
"Finally, the peak of the third rank."