Chapter 5: Rapid Breakthroughs

Black tendrils whisked out of Darcel's palm and wrapped around the small dark bug. Fruitlessly the bug couldn't even dream of escaping once Darcel got his hand on it.

His eyes slowly closed while his mind relaxed into a tranquil state. Carefully, Darcel pulled the bug inside his Darkness Element.

And immediately, Darcel's eyes nearly burst open! The absorption was immediate as he sensed and felt the mass wave of Qi wash over his whole body!

Vibrant, refreshing Qi coarse through his body, significantly changing and improving Darcel's body.

Moreover, Darcel was in total control of the amount of energy he wanted to absorb from the bug.

Everything went as smoothly as possible. There wasn't a single hint of harmful effects by Darcel absorbing other people Qi.

It was then a mental block suddenly formed in his mind. This block attempted to confuse him and damage his mind as he tried to increase his cultivation realm.

However, Darcel merely smiled as he thought, 'The comprehension of cultivation...so it's as I guess. Just like the first time, everything is incomparably clear for me…'

For any Qi Foundation realm cultivators, the essence of Qi itself should be an incredibly confusing and profound topic to comprehend.

To breakthrough, one simply can't just gather more Qi that exists in the air. They would have to first comprehend every mental block that forms in their mind when advancing to the next level.

And if your comprehension abilities are low. You can forget about ever breaking through since the mental block will prevent you from doing so.

In combination with the comprehension, there's also the matter if a person can correctly absorb Qi and efficiently control it throughout their body.

Failure to do so would result in wasting whatever amount of Qi one had absorbed.

But for all these matters, such things had never once been an issue for Darcel. During the most crucial step for cultivators to sense out the mystical Qi and absorb into their head.

Darcel encounters zero troubles when doing so! Even when his first-ever mental block formed, Darcel had smoothly comprehended a small meaning of Qi on his first try.

Surely this level of talent would've been monstrous! Unfortunately, Darcel had an unexpected cruel twist in his life.

At least now he's able to make up for lost time…

'Bang!'

Accompanied by the sound of something popping in his mind, Darcel smoothly broke through the mental block and could sense a higher layer of Qi!

This layer was far more profound and powerful, yet Darcel wasn't done.

Slowly and accurately, Darcel absorbs more Qi from the bug, eventually coming across more mental blocks.

He went from the second layer of the Qi Foundation realm to the,

Third,

Fourth,

'Bang'

The fifth layer of the Qi Foundation realm! Immediately, Darcel stops the absorption of the bug energy. His black tendrils kept the bug inside his hand, suppressing it to make sure it doesn't affect his body.

And on the outside, Darcel was slowly refining the fifth layer of Qi inside his body. Even if he had genius comprehension, it was impossible for Darcel's body to keep up.

If he were to absorb more energy, then not only would it damage his body beyond repair. It would also heavily damage his lying foundation for cultivation.

Taking his time, Darcel familiarizes himself with his body's whole new tier of strength. It was a fantastic feeling...like he could punch through a tree with ease!

Furthermore, he no longer felt any pain from his torn open stomach! The wound, because of his repeated breakthroughs, had entirely healed!

After an unknown amount of minutes, Darcel slowly opened his eyes. And the first thing he noticed was a putrid stench coming from him, along with uncomfortable sweat that stuck to his clothes.

Looking down to the ground, the spot he was in had this disgusting black substance all over the dirt.

'So this washes away the impurities. Good thing, I remember this neat trick.' Darcel thought, and a small ball of black Qi appeared above his finger.

Because of his inborn powers, this was the color his Qi would form and then, with a snap of his fingers,

'Chi!'

A black flash shined on Darcel's body. With no effort at all, he was clean enough to smell decent and got rid of all that uncomfortable sweat. Darcel cracked his eyes and took a fresh breath of air.

'Now if only stabilizing my body was this easy...oh? What's that noise?' While Darcel was humoring himself, the sound of rustling grass and twigs slithered into his ears.

Because he didn't hear any people talking and it is the night's dead-end, Darcel had a guess on what it could be.

Carefully he peeked out the bushes without making too many noises, and his suspicions were indeed correct. Even at the first layer of the Qi Foundation realm could Darcel see well in the dark.

And what his eyes gazed upon were two intriguing figures. Decked out in full-on blue fur were two Spirit Monstruosos beast wolves, several meters long, slowly scouring around this woods area.

Their snouts were at the ground, continually sniffing as if they were searching for something or someone.

In a more control state, Darcel was able to study the woods better. Besides the ominous black color trees, the leaves and bushes were in this odd blue color.

Some trees as well were freakishly tall being able to scrape out the midnight sky.

Looking towards the Spirit wolves again, Darcel began to ponder. They both seemed highly intent on suddenly searching over here. And he just had a recent breakthrough.

Deciding to test a guess, Darcel formed a minuscule black ball of Qi. And his suspicions were soon immediately proven right.

The two wolves' heads perked upright when Darcel formed his Qi. Although because it was extremely tiny, they had no way of following that magnetic sensation that brought the two here.

Following that, Darcel dispersed the Qi after only seeing a second of their reactions. And a second was all he merely needed.

'So this another special property of my Darkness Element. Well then, let me see first…'

Darcel had suddenly closed his eyes and fell into deep focus. Sensory abilities was a topic someone at his realm shouldn't even think about it. But Darcel still put all of his attention on these wolves.

And just barely, Darcel felt a layer of Qi similar to his own! His eyes had then snapped back open while his forehead was sweating some.

'Past tricks really are useful sometimes. And since I just recently had great breakthroughs, I might as well nip the stabilization problem in the bud right here.'

Darcel calmed his mind to its best-performing state. His blood began to bubble a bit in excitement, and his hand clenched while still keeping his eyes on the wolves.

This shall be his first battle in a new world! Moreover, now he could freely use his prowess and abilities without the constant threat of someone breathing down his neck.

Sneakily Darcel maneuvered out of the bushes without making a noise. With the course these wolves were taking, it would only be a few seconds until they would notice Darcel.

The wolves were several feet away from him, putting a reasonable distance between the two.

But this distance matters little for Darcel. Without any weapons and just his fists, Darcel bent his legs and concentrated more Qi there.

In a natural state, Qi always flowed through Darcel's body. Still, he could also amplify certain parts of his body to boost that attribute of his strength.

And when the wolves had started to turn around to his location, Darcel zeroed in on one wolf!

'Swish!'

Leaves, trigs, and bushes were all chaotically blown by a massive gust of wind! Dirt scattered in the wind among the intense pace of the wind.

The wolves' head snapped towards Darcel's location, but it was already too late. A smiling human that held that faint magnetic sensation popped right in front of them!

Several feet of distance was crossed in a mere second by Darcel! And instantly, Darcel inflamed his hand in Darkness.

"Rwa-"

The wolves attempted to react as their pupil had suddenly diluted. However, Darcel had the superior speed!

His Darkness hand sailed with lightning swiftness causing,

'Bang!'

One of the wolves to launch off like a ragdoll! The wolf boomed like a bullet and crashed hard into a tree, making several cracks form along the tree.

"RWA!!"

Immediately in blood lust, the second wolf pounced at Darcel. Its large mouth opened, revealing sharp bloody teeth, and it precisely went for Darcel's throat.

Nevertheless, Darcel's speed was once again a vital advantage.

Skillfully he narrowly dodged the wolf pounce with lightning-like reflexes! And using his same Darkness hand,

'Bang!'

Darcel violently struck the wolf on its colossal head, sending it crashing into the ground. A long thin crack formed under the wolf just from the sheer force behind Darcel's punch.

'Now then, let's finish this.' Darcel thought to himself and felt his instincts scream at him from behind.

"HWO!!"

With limited intelligence, the second wolf used its incredible speed to once again pounce at Darcel's neck.

At such speed it was going, it would've been extremely difficult for any other 5th layer Qi Foundation cultivator to react.

Darcel, however, swiftly turned around and increased the amount of Qi in his hand. Right when the wolf reached close to him, Darcel ducked under its swipe and,

'Chi!'

Tore through the wolf stomach with his Darkness fist! The tough fur and bones were like soft tofu for Darcel.

"Hwuu!!"

Blood spurted like crazy from the wolf's stomach. Its eyes enlarged from the incoming pain and from a second fist appearing in its vision!

Quickly, Darcel tore his hand out of the wolf and sent another punch towards its head, violently knocking it to the ground.

Relying on his instinct again, Darcel crouched down to avoid another pair of sharp bloody mouth. And using his same hand, Darcel punched up without even looking.

'Chi!'

"Hwoo!!"

A similar roar of pain echoed out from above him. Again his fist effortlessly tore through flesh and bones as fresh blood sprayed out in the air.

Moving over a bit, Darcel took his hand out of the wolf and let it fall to the ground like a puppet with its string cut. Two fifth layer Qi Foundation wolves now layed heavily damaged at Darcel's feet.

Amplifying the Qi in his foot, Darcel lifted it over one of the wolves head and,

'Bang, Bang!'

With two sickening loud crunches, Darcel shattered the wolves' skulls, brutally killing them. Blood poured out from their heads, dying the ground red, but Darcel ignored that.

After the fight, Darcel felt far more in tune with his body. His explosive Qi was now smoother control, and he felt his comprehension deepened from the battle.

'Still, I didn't expect to achieve this level of strength at just the mere fifth layer…' Darcel thought as he cracked his knuckles.

Combined with his superior speed, the wolves didn't stand a chance at all. This highly impressive fight surely would've caught anyone's attention.

And only seconds after Darcel's battle did he now clear and loud rustling of leaves.

His attention spiked, and his guard was put up. Although there was a faint feeling in his mind that whoever this person was, was far stronger than the wolves.

It was then a smooth girl voice called out to him saying,

"Well now, that was quite the impressive battle boy. Do you have time for a small chat?"