It was as if the surrounding magma was waiting for his change in mindset.
The second he reaffirmed his determination, a change took place in the surrounding magma sea.
The still magma that had been simply burning him constantly for the past unknown amount of time was now actively surging towards his body.
But strangely enough, the impact brought no pain. Or rather, this particular sensation of pain no longer registered as pain in his mind.
It was actually slightly pleasurable instead.
The magma once again burned away his skin, but this time it didn't regenerate. Instead, the magma charged into his bones and was absorbed by it.
With every passing second, more and more magma entered his skeleton, causing his bones themselves to turn the same red as the ground.
"Nngh!"
A slight groan of pain echoed in the surroundings, even though Damien had no vocal cords to groan with at the moment. It was another odd phenomenon.
His red bones showed signs of melting as the amount of magma contained in them reached the peak, but they didn't melt. They compacted and grew at the same time, maintaining their shape but becoming much denser than they were previously.
The magma within his bones churned and whistled, turning into solid matter that substituted the extra material his bones needed to continue their transformation.
After all, there was no way to maintain their shape while becoming denser if there was no material to use to do so. The magma was acting as a stand-in for such material, and becoming his bones themselves.
This process lasted for what felt like hours before all the magma had solidified, becoming one with him. But the quantity of magma encasing his body was still large. Evidently, this was a multiple-step strengthening process.
Damien smiled when he realized this. It was a horrifying smile made by a skeleton with only two hearts and a brain other than its burning red bones.
'So there were rewards for the suffering I was put through, huh. In that case, it can be considered worth it.'
Soon enough, his muscles, tendons, and ligaments were reformed. Along with this, his internal organs once again took their rightful places within his body.
And after the partial regeneration was complete, another surging of magma entered his body. His internal organs had previously been strengthened by the devouring of the Sea Dragon, but that was incomparable to the current progress.
It was like the rebirth ability of a Phoenix, but for his physical body only. This level of strengthening was a true boon.
'If it's this good from just the first trial alone, how good is the true strengthening of the fruits of the Primordial Undying Tree?'
It was exciting to think about. The level of power he might reach within this realm… it was truly something to look forward to.
But Damien's thoughts hardened at that moment. 'There's no way it's only me being strengthened here.'
Similar things were most likely happening to all the others who entered. Or at least, those that were able to maintain their sanity within the burning magma.
As for the rest, there was no doubt in his mind that there wasn't even a corpse left of them.
He suddenly felt extremely worried for Ruyue. She was still an innocent girl in his eyes, no matter what kind of cold front she put up.
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He remembered the way she cried for those villagers months ago, and he remembered the way she explained her determination to Tian Yang when they first entered the mountain range.
The difference between the girl he knew at both times was vast, but she was still the same person. He was afraid that she didn't have enough time to become someone who could handle a trial like this.
Luckily, Ruyue had pulled such a stupid yet sweet move before they were dropped into the secret realm. Whatever this thing within his mindscape was, it was his assurance that she was still alive and well.
When Damien's muscles and internal organs finished their strengthening, his skin soon followed. A fully intact Damien was now seated in an egg made from crystallized magma.
With nothing to worry about, Damien happily sat and received the baptism of magma that he was currently drowned in.
***
All throughout the secret realm, similar scenes to what Damien experienced were taking place. But naturally, not all of them went through the same thing.
A portion of them were drowned in magma like him, some were stuck in a flood and drowned in water the same way, some were trapped in unending blizzards or sandstorms.
No matter where the geniuses landed, they were always within some sort of disaster that tested their will.
And obviously, not all of them could survive. Damien wasn't truly oriented towards a particular element, so there wasn't an environment that would truly be of benefit or detriment to him.
But this wasn't the case for others. Those who were specialized in flames but were unfortunate enough to land in a flooded atmosphere were naturally at a disadvantage. The same with other examples.
Although their mana and abilities couldn't be used, the affinity of their body would still stay the same. It would be extra difficult for them to pass the trials they were given, and even if they passed, they wouldn't be able to maximize the benefits due to opposing natures.
As for others, they were simply too weak. No matter what the atmosphere of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range was like, all these geniuses had been fostered by their respective powers.
Some had naturally been pampered or raised differently. Even if they were harshly trained in preparation for the Primordial Undying Realm, the level of pain tolerance they had simply couldn't keep up with what they were being forced to endure.
Ruyue was almost part of the latter group. She had never experienced such extreme pain before in her life. That wasn't the environment she was raised in.
Even though she was dropped into a sub-zero blizzard that wouldn't be detrimental to her, she still almost gave up due to the intensity of pain.
But somehow, she had managed to survive. She thought of the man she had given her soul to, and the adventures she could have with him around the myriad worlds of the universe.
Such a prospect wasn't something she was willing to let go of so easily. Her determination wasn't like Damien's. It hadn't been forged in the depths of hell.
It could be said that her will was currently in the process of being formed. Through her adventures with Damien and the plethora of things they had experienced, a firm determination had been growing within her.
The current trial, the trial that tested that budding determination, it served as a grindstone for her. A way for her to completely and wholeheartedly commit to that determination and make the conscious decision to never waver.
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As such, she passed with flying colors and received the baptism of ice the same way Damien did with magma.
But it was a truly hard thing to do. It was easy to describe for those like Damien and Ruyue, but not everyone was a monster.
During this trial alone, 250 geniuses had died.