Chapter 11: Moving Forward

"Why do I have a feeling that today is going to be great as well?" As he walked out of his room, Colton Grey emotionally mumbled, he was truly happy.

As to why he was happy? He had no clue.

It wasn't like he was doing better at his training. In facts, the results have actually been getting worse. He found that ever since he entered the eighth rank, the progress of his cultivation was starting to slow down. Especially in the last few days, when there was absolutely no progress made.

But for some reason, instead of feeling sad, he felt extremely happy. Perhaps this was enlightenment? He didn't know, but his mind was telling him that it was.

May Stafford, who had been plotting on how to make Claude suffer, had never imagined that the serious, and dignified Colton Grey would actually have a complete change of attitude so fast.

What happened to him? Why does he keep saying that he's reached enlightenment? What exactly was happening? She had no clue.

As she tried asking him about his plans on dealing with Claude, she heard him say, "I'm feeling extra good today, so I'll let him get away with it for now. Nothing is going to change, May. After all, I'm still better than him. I'll beat him at the Inner Disciple exams, as it is meant to be. "

Although May was extremely displeased deep down, she had no other choice. She couldn't go against him. Thus, she clenched her teeth, and stayed silent.

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Time moved forward, and soon one month had passed. Claude sat crossed legged and surveyed his worn out room, "There is still one more month until the inner disciple contest. In order to win the contest, I have to train even harder.."

He closed his eyes while sitting still. In the past month, Claude had been training relentlessly, and had finally reached the peak of the fifth rank.

As for Colton, he was still stuck at the eighth rank, not advancing in the slightest. But he was getting used to the effects of the drugs, and was slowly returning to his normal behaviour.

Claude first cultivated the Astral Wing Blade technique a few times, then resumed using the Invisible Sword Technique.

He cultivated according to the instructions given. He had nothing weighing on his mind, and had entered into a state of spiritual calmness.

Claude knew that he was not particularly strong. However, through the fine control he had over his techniques and a skillset that had been developed using years of real life experience, he managed to master these martial arts at a much faster rate than most people.

As Claude continued to train, he felt that his body strength had reached a limit now, every time he operated it he felt as if it had reached its peak.

He needed to break through to the next rank!

Claude estimated that he needed at least ten days to reach the next level, which was the sixth rank of the Earth realm.

"Not good enough.. I have to be even faster," Claude said to himself. He took out the rest of the gold coins that he had taken from Aldrich's place. There were still a few coins left.

He then decided to head to the city's biggest medicine shop and buy some 'Cultivation Booster Powder.' With the money he had, he could buy one bottle of Cultivation Booster Powder, which can only be used one time to increase his cultivation skill speed. He had bought a few of them already with Aldrich's money in the past month, and it seemed like this would be his last.

One bottle of Cultivation Booster Powder spent all of Claude's money. He sighed. All his savings were now gone. He had used it all up and he was now broke.

After returning home, Claude immediately opened the bottle of Cultivation Booster Powder and gulped it down in one go, and started to cultivate. All of a sudden, a hot feeling started to ignite within his body. And as time went on, a fiery feeling started to sink into his body.

The burning and intense feeling reverberated within his body and made his training speed increase. He moved even quicker, his muscles reacted even faster, and his attacks became even stronger.

"Come on… I'm almost there…" Claude was shocked but wasted no time in absorbing the energy within the medicine. He could feel that he was about to break through, and he couldn't wait.

He felt that his body was full of energy. The energy was flowing in his body like streams of rivers. It flowed so smoothly, there was no sign of blockage. The energy in his vessels that flowed freely had begun accumulating.

BOOM!

All of a sudden, his eyes widened as if he had some kind of a revelation, and he broke through to the sixth rank of the Earth Realm. The energy released during the breakthrough was distributed in the form of vibrations, comparable to the sound of endless wind blowing and water flowing on earth.

The vibrations faded away slowly, as the energy began to stabilize. He opened his eyes, and felt that his body was light.

The Sixth Rank! He had reached it!