16 Rank 20

After the second round was over the squad from victory village returned to their hotel.

"That was amazing Lee Zheng! You took care of all three of them in one go." It was Wang Wei who complimented him.

"It's nothing. I just broke through to rank eighteen so it was fairly easy. Also now that I'm rank eighteen I believe I am the strongest."

"That might not be true Lee Zheng." It was teacher, Li Yun. "You two lied about your rank in the first round, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry teacher. The truth is that we have already both broken through to rank nineteen." Wang Wei said.

"What? Rank nineteen. I would have expected from Long Yue, but you as well Wang Wei? That is unbelievable you have the red snake soul form how did you do it?"

"I don't know. First I found a habitat that helped me cultivate so that was a big help but also in the time we had before the tournament I understood something. The red snake isn't trash it's the people that believe it's trash who are trash. The red snake soul form is really common but almost no one has soul energy when they have the red snake. Those who do don't progress well but that is because they lack the resolve to train hard since they think it is no use. So if you motivate yourself and train with all you might you can do great things. Because the red snake is neutral and can integrate with both holy and unholy soul jewels it is like a white canvas waiting to be painted on. When I understood this my cultivation has been soaring. But since I hit level eighteen and I was on the threshold of level nineteen my cultivation returned to its normal pace. I did reach level nineteen and I am close to level twenty but I still have a long road ahead of me."

"My cultivation has been soaring as well I am only a step away from level nineteen. It shouldn't take long before I reach rank twenty." Long Yue said.

As it was late the boys went back to their rooms to meditate.

Deep in the night, a bright light shone in Long Yue' room.

The next morning.

"Wang Wei, good morning."

"Oh, good morning Lee Zheng."

The two boys sat down at the dining table ready for breakfast. Teacher Li Yun was already eating.

The table was filled with lots of delicious kinds of food.

"Woooooooo!"

"What was that?" Wang Wei asked.

"I don't know."

Long Yue was running towards the dining room full of energy and excitement.

"What's wrong with you? Today is our day off, take it easy will ya." It was Wang Wei and he wasn't very happy since he just woke up.

"I'm sorry Wang Wei but I have the best possible announcement to make. Teacher, Lee Zheng, Wang Wei. I Long Yue have broken through to rank twenty I am ready to go hunt for my second soul jewel."

"What!" everyone said in unison.

"Yeah. It happened last night while I was cultivating."

"That's amazing!" Wang Wei said. "Since we have the day off we could try and look for a soul beast that you can get a soul jewel from."

"Yeah, sure. I would like to get a second soul jewel so that way I can surprise everyone at the tournament that I have two soul jewel."

"What kind of soul beast are you looking for or what type of soul technique do you want?" Li Yun asked.

"I don't know but I think I should go for a defense type soul technique. Because I already have speed from my holy claws and attacking power from my first soul technique I think I should go for a defense type soul technique this time."

"If you want a defense technique I think you should go and hunt for a boneclaw bear." Lee Zheng said. "And as long as it is a holy beast you can integrate with it."

"Yeah, that's a pretty good idea. For now, let's have breakfast and after that let's get ready and set out for the holy forest next to this city and hope I can find a nice soul jewel."

"Okay." Li Yun said. "I will stay here and wait for you three to return. This will be a nice practice and will help you with your coordination in battle and since you three are skilled soul experts I think you have nothing to worry about and you can easily defeat any kind of soul beast that resides in the forest next to this city. However, don't go too far. This forest is connected to the nature realm."

"Nature realm? What is that." Wang Wei asked.

"Let me explain." Li Yun said. "The world we live in is seen as the main world. There are subsidiary world which we call realms. The one I spoke of, the nature realm, is a realm in which the strongest soul beasts live. There are even one-hundred-thousand-year-old soul beasts that live in the nature realm. Apart from the nature realm, there are a limitless amount of realms. There is even a legend that speaks of a realm which is only accessible by the strongest and those with the most potential. It has no name. That's why it is referred to as the mystery realm. The only thing we know is that the strongest soul beasts to have ever existed reside in that realm. There are no humans there which is why we don't know anything about it."

"Oh. Well, then we will be careful to not wander off into the nature realm." Long Yue said.

"It's okay, you can't just wander into the nature realm. There is a special cave or circle which needs soul energy to activate. I am telling you all this to prevent you from exploring those caves or circles with inscriptions and accidentally going into the nature realm and getting killed by a strong soul beast. So you are not allowed to go anywhere near those spots. Understood?"

"Yes, teacher." The three boys said.