In the private room, Desper focused on his body, particularly on his chest. The Root Channel, extending from his black origin to his spine, gave two small branches of small Channels: one going up and the other down.
The first would continue to support his upper spine, skull, arms, and some ribs with more Channels.
The latter would do the same for his lower spine, some ribs, and his legs.
With this, all the bones in his body would be dug with Channels. After that, Desper could start digging his muscles.
'The real challenge at the Grafa Level is not digging more Channels, but keeping them from collapsing. During cultivating, I shouldn't only dig more Channels, but reinforce the existing ones with Energy, which consumes even more of it.'
'That is why, the higher your cultivation, the harder it gets.'
Desper stood up and left the private room.
'Even with my black Origin, I can't become a muscle cultivator before the competition,' Desper sighed.
'I'm sorry for that, Eland. But I can't achieve what you wish'.
Desper couldn't figure out how he felt about Eland.
'Was he just a fellow disciple? A friend?'
'It feels more like a father who doesn't want his son to suffer the same fate he did.'
Desper felt a shiver run down his spine when he thought about that.
Desper strolled through the sect for a while, then headed to a specific place: the Fighting Ground.
This was the place where the competition would be held.
On the ground, there were three large elevated platforms, wide enough to hold a lot of duels.
Two of them were empty, while the third one wasn't; There was a duel being held on it.
Surrounding the three platforms were the spectators stands, arranged in a circle around the platforms.
The entrance was a gaping spot between the stands.
Facing the entrance on the opposite side was the Ranking Board, with 500 names written on it.
Desper took a seat on the stands as he watched the fight on the platform.
Two disciples were facing each other. The first was holding a wooden sword; the other was wearing a pair of wooden gauntlets on his hands.
Between them was an older man wearing the Elder uniform.
"Remember, it is not allowed to use sharp weapons or injure your opponent; it is a duel not a real fight. And when I say the duel is over, it is over. Whoever breaks the rules will be punished. Do you understand?" the Elder said firmly, scanning the faces of the two disciples.
"Yes! Elder." Both the disciples replied at the same time.
"Start!" the Elder shouted.
The two disciples lunged at each other. The boxer tried to close the distance to use his weapon properly, but the swordsman didn't let him do that, swinging his sword.
Desper noticed that they both were faster than him, but not too much.
'Even if you are a bone cultivator, the muscles surrounding the bones that contain Channels will be slightly faster and stronger than normal,' Desper analyzed.
Desper heard some disciples near him speaking.
"Yawingg, it is just a fight between two bone cultivators," one of them said.
"Digging your bones is the easiest part. After that, when you start digging your muscles, the real challenge starts. You have to dig your muscles while preventing your bone's channels from collapsing". The disciple spoke again.
"You are right," another one said, "after I had become a muscle cultivator, I was careless and neglected the channels in the bones of my left arm until they collapsed. but I didn't notice, so I used my arm normally, then boom, my bones got shattered under the force of my strong muscles". He said, holding his left arm. "I had to rest for 2 months. After that, I had to receive the sect punishment," he added.
Desper could hear them and felt shivers in his left arm.
He remembered the rule he had heard in the lecture. If your Channels collapse for no proper reason, the sect will punish you for that.
'So cruel,' Desper murmured inwardly.
Desper returned his focus to the duel on the platform.
But quickly he was lost in his thoughts.
He was thinking about what the two disciples had talked about. For some time, Desper's face changed many times: from contemplating to excitement to depression to smiling…
On the platform: The fighter with gauntlets found an opening in the defense of the swordsman. He bent his knees to lower himself, then he struck the other's right leg, making him lose his balance.
"The fight is over!" the Elder shouted.
But the disciple was so focused that he didn't hear the Elder.
He threw a punch at the swordsman's face with all of his strength.
When his hand was a few centimeters away from the swordsman's face, it was stopped.
"What do you think you're doing? I said the fight is over," the Elder's voice was angry while holding the man's hand.
"I'm sorry, Elder. I swear I didn't hear you," the disciple with the gauntlets apologized nervously.
"Two low-grade red stones are deducted from your allowance next month," the Elder said coldly, jotting something down on his scroll.
"But, Elder. I really di-"
"Do you want me to increase them?" before the man could continue his sentence, the Elder cut him off.
"No, Elder," the disciple had to accept the punishment for breaking the rules.
…
Desper didn't notice the fight was over. He rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes.
'Channels collapse… I can use this way to win the competition,' Desper pondered. 'It would be like cheating, but the fifth didn't say anything about it.'
'There is another problem: the sect punishment for my Channels collapsing.' Desper was deeply thinking.
The disciples who were watching the duel near Desper stood up
"That was so boring. I wasted my time watching these two playing with each other. Let's get out of here".
Desper approached them "Excuse me."
"Hmm? How can I help you?" one of them responded.
"Sorry for that, but I want to ask how the sect punished you after your channels had collapsed". Desper asked the man who had been punished.
The man narrowed his eyes while looking at Desper. "Are you mocking me right now?" he was angry.
"No! No! I'm a new disciple here, so I was just too curious." Desper said quickly, realizing the man's misunderstanding.
"Oh, so you are a new disciple." His face relaxed a bit after learning that Desper was a new disciple.
"In situations like these, the sect usually sends us to the Spatial Crack for more few days" he explained.
"But you don't have to worry about the punishment since you are a new disciple." He added "As you are a new cultivator, the sect gives you three months between the first and the second lecture to familiarize yourself with your new life. If your channels collapse in these three months, the sect won't punish you".
Desper's eyes widened as he heard that. He tried to keep his face straight and not let his excitement appear.
"So, you don't need to worry if your Channels have collapsed," the man comforted Desper, thinking that his channels had collapsed, and he was afraid of the punishment.
"Thank you very much, big brothers," Desper cupped his hands and thanked them sincerely.
Desper left the Fighting Ground with a big smile on his face.
'I have a big chance to get the pill now,' he said inwardly.
Desper decided not to return to his dwelling. Instead, he headed to another large blue building.
It was where Eland lived. Eland had told him where he lived before leaving his place.
Desper climbed up the stairs to the second floor.
"I wish he is not in the private room," Desper mumbled as he knocked on the black door.
After a short time, the door was opened.
"Desper?" Eland didn't expect Desper's visit. "What are you doing here?"
"Hey Eland. Sorry for the sudden visit. But I need your help," Desper said.
"Help? Do you need more stones? I don't think you can use all of the 50 stones I gave to you," Eland frowned.
"No, no, I don't need any more stones." Desper denied "I need you to teach me how to fight"
"Fight?" Eland was confused. "You should focus on your cultivation for now"
"Do you think I can win the competition if I cultivate for one month or even three months?" Desper asked with a smile.
"You-"
"And don't tell me that I killed a mid-muscle cultivator so I can do the same; it won't change the fact that I don't know how I did that". Desper cut him off.
Eland fell silent.
"So, I had to think about another way to win the competition."
"Huh?!" Eland was surprised. "What is this?"
Desper smiled widely.
Eland's eyes widened in disbelief from what he heard next.
"At the time of the competition, I won't be a muscle cultivator," Desper said with a big smile on his face.
"Instead, I will be an organ cultivator."