While the old man and the young lady were stunned at Grey's stunning ability to actually survive the effects of the orb without exploding, Grey was fighting for his life.
Even though he looked calm on the outside, he knew for a fact he might actually die. He was already caught in a predicament, either give up on it or try to hold on for as long as he could. The small time he had held on, he had actually absorbed almost as much as the young lady had during her time.
His eyes were calm while internally he was panicking.
"Give up." The young lady said once again.
She was starting to get a bit impatient since she could feel the orb was actually being absorbed by Grey. The light it was giving was not as brilliant as it used to be, although she could tell Grey was not doing fine, she still felt a bit skeptical about the ordeal. First off, Grey should be dead, but he's not, and he's somehow magically absorbing it. Second, in the short time of a minute or so, Grey had absorbed a large amount of it.
If things continued in this manner, Grey might not die and she'll watch him absorb it within the next five minutes.
"I'll attack you if you don't give up now." She warned.
Seeing that Grey was showing no signs of wanting to give up, she attacked. A light beam shot at Grey.
Grey tried to manipulate his elements so he could block the attack, unfortunately, there was no way for him to do that. With no other option, he used all his willpower to enforce the armor, at least, he should be able to block her attacks with it and his strong physical body. Under his clothes, Dragon scales covered his skin, reinforcing his defense.
Boom!
The attack hit him, but the armor and his Dragon scales were able to block the attack. Although he was forced to take a few steps back, he wasn't harmed by the attack.
The young lady was only in the Fourth stage of the Elemental Venerable Plane. Even though Grey's cultivation stage was only in the Second stage, his physical body had gone as strong as those in the Fifth stage, adding the Dragon scales and armor, he had no issues with blocking the young lady's attack.
Unfortunately, he can't keep that up for long. The continuous attacks would make the effects of the orb even worse. Just one attack had already disrupted his innards and he started bleeding internally.
The young lady looked at him, stunned. She never expected him to be this powerful. Even without doing anything, he was still able to block her attack given his current situation. Her eyes turned cold and she continued attacking, this time, more ferociously.
If she doesn't stop him, then her trip here was a failure.
Grey focused on increasing the defense of the armor, this was the only thing he could do. Hopefully he successfully absorbs it in a shorter time.
When the next attack came crashing down on him, his figure was sent flying, and blood started to drip from the side of his mouth.
'Damn it! Why is this thing taking so long?' He complained.
From what he had experienced, he knew he would be able to hang on until he completely absorbs it, the only issue was that the young lady was not going to give him that chance. He could sense the cold aura coming from her.
He picked himself up and wanted to leave the room, but the young lady blocked the way.
"You can't use your elements. This makes you a sitting duck, are you really going to take all my attacks just because of this? You might die from it." The young lady's eyes turned colder than it previously was.
Grey didn't reply to her words as he continued doing what he was doing. He needed this inheritance, at least. Giving up on two inheritances was not something he wanted to think about.
The young lady attacked when she saw that Grey was not showing any signs of wanting to speak.
Boom! Bang! Bam!
Grey's figure was like a ragdoll, being beaten and sent flying from one side of the room to another. No matter how he tried to circulate his elemental essence, he was unable to.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood, the orb leaving his mouth in the process.
The eyes of the young lady turned bloodshot when she saw that the orb had already been halved by Grey. She was about to heave a sigh of relief since it was no longer in Grey's mouth, but Grey opened his mouth and swallowed it once again.
'I have a thick skin. I'll take her attacks for now. Once I'm done absorbing this, I'll teach her a lesson.' Grey snorted inside, but he didn't try to speak. Absorbing the orb madly.
The young lady attacked again, but Grey managed to block it. His robe, which was made from the armor, started to show signs of breaking.
Having to constantly defend without much reinforcement, no matter how powerful the armor is, it still wouldn't be able to hang on for long.
Grey's hands were soon exposed and his white Dragon scales came into view, stunning the young lady for a few seconds.
"Those Dragon people?" She muttered to herself.
She had heard of a powerful Family that had some sort of ties with Dragons and could even get some abilities from Dragons, but this was her first time seeing one of them.
Grey's Dragon scales were sparkling, but it didn't stop the young lady from continuing her attack.
Grey's face was covered, so she didn't know what he looked like, but at least now she was sure of his identity.
"I know your Family is strong, but they wouldn't hide you from our wrath if we decide to take revenge. You've already absorbed more than half of it, give it back." The young lady tried to reason with Grey.
Grey decided to be shameless and acted like he couldn't hear a word she was saying. At this point, it had been around two minutes or so since he started absorbing the orb.
He had absorbed more than half of it and knew that as long as as he held on for two more minutes he would be able to completely absorb it. His only concern right now was that the more the robe was destroyed, the more heartache he felt. He would have to spend a lot to fix the armor, this was something he knew. Not just resources, but it would take a lot of effort from him as well.
The young lady started attacking again when he didn't say a word.
Grey's robe slowly started to fall apart and before long, his upper body was almost bare. Luckily, his scales were covering him up.
The young lady attacked even more aggressively as the light started to dim. Grey was almost done absorbing it. Once that happens, she might be in danger.
Since Grey could block most of her attacks without doing much, it meant that he is stronger than her.
The young lady attacked, but unfortunately, it was of no use. Grey's skin was too thick and she was unable to break through it.
"Phew.. I thought it would never finish." Grey finally spoke, heaving a long sigh.
The young lady on the other hand who was on the verge of attacking him paused, Grey had finished absorbing the orb. Now, he could attack.
She gritted her teeth and said, "Do you know what you've done? My father won't forgive you."
"Do you think I'm afraid of your father?" Grey asked calmly.
The young lady looked at him, her fist tightly clenched.
"Pass on a few of the things you've learned to me. My father sacrificed a lot to get this." She pleaded.
"So you guys opened this place just for your own benefit?" Grey raised a brow, his tone amused.
The young lady looked to the side, not answering his question.
"Alright. I'll do as you want, besides, I'm the biggest winner here. Passing on the techniques I got from it isn't much of a big deal." Grey surprisingly agreed to pass the techniques to the young lady.
Of course the technique was the most important thing, but it was not the only thing in the orb. There was still a lot of essence that could accelerate one's cultivation speed.
The young lady's face showed gratitude since she didn't think Grey would actually pass on the techniques to her.
Unknown to her, Grey still hadn't gotten control over his essence yet, he was only being mysterious just to stop her from attacking. Actually, he's in a worse state compared to when she was attacking him. Presently, he couldn't even use his scales.
The young lady sat opposite him and he truly started to pass on the techniques to her. It wasn't a bad thing to do, after all. He was only using it to buy his life.