After swimming for a minute, Yuan immediately gave up on trying to swim normally and propelled himself forward using spiritual energy.
Not only did this help him travel many times faster but it also protected him from the cold. However, because every drop of water in the Sword Pond is covered in Sword Aura, it would shred his spiritual energy constantly.
Fortunately, he could recover his spiritual energy faster than the Sword Aura destroyed it.
About a hundred miles down, the temperature in the Sword Pond changed drastically.
It was no longer cold, but scorching hot, almost as though he was swimming in lava, and it burned through his spiritual energy like a hot knife in butter.
This sudden change in temperatures caught Yuan off guard, and he had to quickly adjust to it.
The temperature was so hot that it constantly burned his skin. If it weren't for his regeneration ability, he would definitely die if he continued diving deeper.
Yuan endured the burning sensation that consumed his entire body and continued moving forward, swimming deeper and deeper into the Sword Pond.
Two hundred miles deep, the temperature changed again, returning to being extremely cold, but it was at least two times colder than before.
This same pattern continued until he reached a depth of 500 miles.
'What is this sensation? It feels cold and hot at the same time.'
Yuan was baffled by this phenomenon that he could not fully describe. His skin felt like it was being burned, yet it also felt like he was cold. It was a weird feeling that he has never experienced before.
However, even more horrifying was the fact that his regeneration ability was barely keeping up with the destruction done to his body, which was a first as well.
'If I continue diving deeper without any plans, I will definitely not make it to the end and die.'
He stopped moving temporarily to ponder a solution.
A moment later, he recalled something that he'd done in one of his previous lives.
'To temper the body is to embark on a journey of destruction and rebirth, tearing down the old and rebuilding the new, like a phoenix rising from the ashes…'
'Ahh… I understand what I have to do… This Sword Pond… It's the perfect environment to temper my body…'
And for the next week, Yuan would remain at the 500 miles mark without moving an inch, letting the hot and cold water continuously destroy his body.
Ding!
<Your skill 'Perfect Regeneration' has reached its maximum potential>
With his improved Perfect Regeneration, Yuan's body was regenerating at a much faster pace than previously.
'Perfect. Now I can continue.' Yuan smiled inwardly as he began moving again.
For the next 500 miles, Yuan would experience even harsher temperature conditions, which made him wonder if there was a limit to it.
When he was just a few meters away from the 1,000th mile mark, Yuan stopped moving to inspect the water with his Divine Sense.
Due to some mysterious force in the Sword Pond, his Divine Sense was limited to only a few meters ahead of him, but that was more than enough for him to see what was waiting for him ahead.
'Fuck me… The Sword Aura has become Enhanced Sword Aura!' He cried inwardly after seeing this change.
Despite the extreme temperatures, he was able to reach this far without worrying too much because his Sword Body negated the most dangerous part of this Sword Pond— its Sword Aura. However, now that the water is covered in Enhanced Sword Aura, his Sword Body will no longer be able to protect him.
This put Yuan in a dilemma, as he wasn't confident that he would be able to survive the Enhanced Sword Aura even with his improved Perfect Regeneration.
However, he still decided to test the water, as he had come too far to go back empty-handed.
Once he was right in front of the water, Yuan shoved his finger into the water with the Enhanced Sword Aura.
'Shit!'
He immediately retrieved his finger the next second, and its skin and flesh was badly damaged, looking like he'd put it in a blender or something.
Once his finger healed, Yuan decided to shove his entire arm in there to see if his regeneration could keep up.
A few seconds later, he retrieved his skeleton arm that was void of any meat and skin. It was clear at this point that he would not survive the Enhanced Sword Aura even with his improved Perfect Regeneration.
After pondering for some time, Yuan stuck his arm in there again. This time, he covered it in Enhanced Sword Aura as a layer of protection.
Yuan gritted his teeth from the intense pain.
However, his little experiment had worked, as the Enhanced Sword Aura was able to protect his arm just enough to let it heal faster than it could be damaged, but it was only slighter faster— to the point where if he removed the protection for a second, his entire arm would be consumed again.
This was a huge gamble for Yuan. He could either cover his entire body with Enhanced Sword Aura and try to swim as far as he could, or he could try to temper his body again like he did at the 500-mile mark.
'Since I don't know how far down this Sword Pond goes, it would be better to temper my body a little more before going deeper.'
After taking a moment to resolve himself and protecting his entire body with Enhanced Sword Aura, Yuan swam into the next challenge.
"Aaaaaah!"
He screamed out loud from the intense pain that covered every inch of his body, but his voice did not make a sound in the water.
After the initial pain, Yuan tried his best to endure it and manage his Enhanced Sword Aura at the same time, as he would die the moment his protection goes away.
And in this constant state of extreme pain that would only get worse as time passed, Yuan eventually could not hold on and lost consciousness for a split second.
This split second of unconsciousness was more than enough to disturb his Enhanced Sword Aura, and just like that, his body became completely vulnerable in the depths of the Sword Pond, where nobody could help him.
As his consciousness returned, a window that he never expected to see popped up before him.
<You have died>