Chapter 635 - 0635 – A Momentous Occasion – Part 2

In a separate room, Elizabeth Carlson was busy changing into a rather unusual outfit, a double-layered bodysuit sewn entirely from Sovereign Silk with rubber-reinforced seams that covered her from head to toe, leaving only a circular opening for her face.

Between the layers of this bodysuit was a completely set of chainmail, made from the densest Mortal Grade steel alloy available.

Just manufacturing this chainmail suit had been a challenge, even with all the upgrades to the Balfour Family’s forge. Lucas even had to design and build a new wire-drawing machine to speed up the process, but it was an absolutely necessary if they wanted to have any chance of success today, so the boy and his smithing partners had spared no effort.

In order for this breakthrough attempt to have a chance at working, Elizabeth’s body had to be put under as much stress as possible while still allowing her complete freedom of movement.

Submerging Elizabeth in water was a good start, but that alone wasn’t enough.

Since his Master wouldn’t allow him to take apart what he suspected was a kind of gravity generator installed on the Sunchaser, Lucas next best idea was to simply add weight to Elizabeth’s body; however, they couldn’t just strap on a set of iron shackles and call it a day.

In order to achieve the best results, the extra weight had to be evenly distributed while simultaneously not affecting her mobility or her ability to absorb World Qi.

That was what this special chainmail bodysuit was designed to accomplish.

Sovereign Silk had excellent World Qi conductivity and permeability, and because chainmail was porous by nature, it wouldn’t obstruct a person’s absorption ability.

At the same time, thanks to the materials used, the suit itself weighed almost 170 kg, which was more double Elizabeth’s weight.

In previous tests, after putting on the suit and submerging herself into the water, Elizabeth had confirmed that she had to exert over 10 times as much effort to perform even simple movements.

Now, as a veteran Peak-Rank Martial Initiate, if she were to reinforce her body with her Martial Qi, this kind of exertion would be nothing to Elizabeth, but while cultivating did circulate one’s Internal Qi, it did not activate or expend it.

Many times, people used these terms interchangeably in casual conversation, but there were actually subtle and important differences between them.

In any case, this whole setup was designed to give Supreme Elder Carlson the best possibly chance to break through, even though she was only using the basic Unarmed Foundations Art to do so.

"Ready?" Celestina, who had been assisting Elizabeth in getting dressed, asked.

Rolling her shoulders and cracking her neck, Supreme Elder Carlson nodded, "Ready as I’ll ever be."

Clenching her fists a few times, the elderly woman looked up at her old friend and smiled, "Thank you."

Flashing her trademark confident grin, Celestina shook her head, "No, thank you. Today is a momentous occasion, and it’s mainly thanks to your tireless efforts."

"You flatter me," Elizabeth waved off the compliment, though the smile never left her face, "We’ll celebrate after I break through."

"En," Celestina nodded, "Let’s do this."

.....

Handing over a full-face snorkel made from glass and rubber he had personally crafted to allow the old woman to breath through her mouth and nose as well as see clearly underwater, Lucas smiled, "Good look, Supreme Elder."

Patting the young boy on the head, Elizabeth Carlson smiled back at him, "I won’t disappoint you all."

Fitting the mask to her face, Elizabeth sank herself into the pool and made her way to its centre.

This wasn’t the first time she had done this, of course. Several test-runs and practice sessions had been conducted already, but those had all been short or small-scale.

Today would be the real deal.

Receiving a thumb’s-up from Elizabeth, another of Lucas’ little quirks he had introduced to everyone, Celestina nodded to the others who then activated the Spirit Tools, causing the entire pool to glow faintly as World Qi from 1,000 Low-Grade Spirit Crystals began seeping into the water.

Feeling the surge of World Qi around her, Supreme Elder Carlson began executing the Forms of the Unarmed Foundation Art.

Outside the pool, everyone with a Soul Sense carefully monitored the situation, trying to gauge how effective this new, experimental methodology really was while simultaneously not disturbing Elizabeth.

It was a delicate balance, but for Lucas, Celestina, Farah, and Louise, it was still doable.

Everyone wore an expression that was a mix of eagerness and anxiousness, understanding that they were witnessing something historic, but no one said a word.

Even submerged underwater, with her sharp senses, Elizabeth Carlson would undoubtedly hear them if they began talking, so despite very much wanting to discuss the former’s progress, or the effectiveness of this setup, they all remained silent.

.....

Time ticked by agonizingly slowly for the observers, as it tended to for those watching someone else cultivate while being unable to cultivate themselves, but to Elizabeth, time lost all meaning as she entered into a deep meditative state, a testament to her mental discipline, focus, and her exceptional familiarity with the Unarmed Foundations Art.

Despite being underwater, in a heavy chainmail suit, the Carlson Family’s Supreme Elder was still moving with both a purpose and grace that belied her aging body. Each motion smoothly connected to the next without any sense of awkwardness.

As for how long this breakthrough attempt would take?

The only limits were Elizabeth’s determination and the supply of Spirit Crystals.

The former wasn’t an issue. This was Elizabeth Carlson’s chance to not only break through, but to significantly extend her life and regain some of her youth, nothing was going to stop her now other than total exhaustion, or a realization that this method was not feasible.

As for the second limitation, that was a bit trickier.

Celestina had actually prepared 100,000 Low-Grade Spirit Crystals for this attempt, the equivalent of about 1.2 million Gold coins, but that was only enough to power this setup continuously for 5 days straight.

If, at the end of 5 days, it looked like Elizabeth might succeed given a bit more time, Celestina was willing to invest even more, but if the attempt looked more like a failure, then these Spirit Crystals would, in essence, have been wasted for nothing.