Return

Hao Ren felt happy on seeing the translucent pearl like core in his hands. Hao Ren knew it was a hard won victory, if not for his usual spar with his father when he started cultivating, there would have been no way he would be this experienced in battling.

Hao Ren frequently sparred with his father, although he always came out on the losing end, he never once complained as he new he was improving with each sparring session. His father was shocked when he first noticed Hao Ren's growth when it came to fighting. Hao Ren became very calculative and always goes for a killing blow. Hao Ren knew the world he was in was a world where the strong preys on the weak.

Without sufficient strength, you will quickly be wiped out of existence by the strong. It was because he was strong that he never feared Wu Chen, and because he was also smart he was able to avoid clashing with Elder Wu, that didn't stop him from provoking him though. Hao Ren had a mentality of 'If you're stronger than me, I will just infuriate you until I can beat you'

This mentality also got him in a lot of trouble but he didn't really care about it as his father always deals with it. If he knew you were someone who he couldn't deal with, he will just leave you for the time being. Hao Ren is a very vengeful person so he always remembers to pay back anyone who harms him. He also has a personality of only offending those who offends him. So long as you don't seek trouble with him, he wouldn't be bothered with you.

Hao Ren gained a lot from fighting the beast, he not only got its core, he also knew the height of his current powers and it gave him a huge boost in his plans of returning to the Silver Lining sect for revenge.

Without wasting anymore time, Hao Ren immediately looked for a secluded place to refine the core. He didn't forget to take his roasted pork with him though as it was his and Xiao's dinner. After finding a secluded cave, Hao Ren first ate his fill before anything else.

Gulp..

Hao Ren immediately threw the beast core in his mouth and swallowed it. If others saw his current action, the will sneer at him for seeking his own death. Even without all the impurities, just the amount of world energy alone in the core is enough the suffocate a martial artist at the Second stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Even martial artist at the Third stage wouldn't dare to do it so brazenly and will only refine it meticulously, yet, Hao Ren gulped it down like he was eating a candy.

Immediately the core with into his body, the huge world energy violently exploded out from the core, Hao Ren immediately started using the Dragon-Phoenix technique. The technique immediately came out domineering and completely overpowered the violent world energy that exploded out of the core.

As the energy was being refined, the last part of his new pillars could be seen forming in his Qi sea and the tenth tattoo could be seen forming at a very fast rate. After 5 minutes of refining, the tenth pillar completely formed and he broke through to the Second stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Another 30 minutes went by before he was able to completely absorb the core. By then he had formed another 2 tattoos and his new pillars are already starting to grow out. He was quite excited with his current strength. At least he knew that within this current region, there is barely any youth in the Foundation Establishment Realm talk less of having the strength to defeat a Fourth Stage Foundation Establishment Realm expert.

With Hao Ren's current strength, there was no need to fear Elder Wu any longer. "Now, it time for payback" Hao Ren said with an innocent smile on his face

...............

Back in the Silver Lining sect

Wu Chen just came out of seclusion and he had already broken through to the Ninth stage of the Qi Gathering stage. The entire sect was in a state of shock as Wu Chen only used the space of one month to break through from the Eighth stage to the Ninth.

Elder Wu was so happy that he was seen even laughing with some of the Elders outside. Elder Wu has always had a stern expression on his face whenever he is outside of his courtyard, but currently, it can be seen that he is besides himself with joy because of Wu Chen's breakthrough.

"Wu Chen truly is the most talented disciple the Silver Lining sect has ever had"

"Of course Wu Chen's talent is something that only appears once in 50 years"

The elders had nothing but praise for Wu Chen, even Elder Li who had a grudge against the father and son duo still couldn't help but sigh at Wu Chen's talent. The only person he has seen more talented than Wu Chen was Hao Ren, but now Hao Ren was already dead.

"If only Hao Ren was here, he would have definitely reached this stage as well" Xu Que said while sighing at the back of his master

Elder Li nodded in approval to what his disciple said. He always feels sad whenever he thinks of Hao Ren, he had a very good relationship with Hao Ren and was really close to him

The sect leader and grand elder were also startled by the commotion in the sect. They also quickly knew that Wu Chen had made a breakthrough in his cultivation and was only a stage away from the Foundation Establishment Realm.

"If he can make a breakthrough within the next 10 years he will be the youngest person to make a breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Realm in the history of the sect " the grand elder said with praise in his voice

The sect leader was also happy about the sect having such a talented disciple. A lot of disciples make it to the Ninth stage of the Qi Gathering stage but most of them got stuck at that stage are not able to take the next step.

Wu Chen was extremely happy and his confidence increased. He was proud of himself and has completely forgotten about his defeat to Hao Ren, and after finding out Hao Ren hasn't returned in so long he was happy because now he firmly believed that Hao Ren was dead and he should completely forget about him since it wasn't important any more.

Yun Lu has also broken through much earlier but was not as wise as Wu Chen who stayed in seclusion a little longer to fortify his foundation. As he was too excited by breaking through he quickly came out to show off to the other disciples

Now that Wu Chen has broken through, he can be said to be the number one genius of the Silver Lining sect. The sect has nurtured him greatly and he hasn't failed them with his progress. His current objective was to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm and be the youngest disciple to make a breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Realm in the history of the sect

"Sigh, if only I was half as talented as him"

"Take a good look yourself, Elder Brother Wu is not someone just anyone can say his name as they please"

"Elder Brother Wu truly is the most talented genius I have ever seen"

"How can you say that, have you forgotten about Hao Ren?, he was more talented than Wu Chen and he even beat him when they had a battle"

"Heh, what is the use of remembering a dead genius?"

"How dare you compare a dead person to Elder Brother Wu, seems like you're tired of living"

The disciples immediately got into a heated argument when Hao Ren's name was brought up. The disciples who had a good impression of Hao Ren favoured him for his talent during the argument, although he was dead, he was still much more talented than Wu Chen.

.........

In the forest

After Hao Ren broke through, he decided it was safer to fortify his foundation as he had used the refinement of beasts cores to improve his cultivation. Although it made it fast, he also had to ensure his foundation was stable before making any future advancements and the best way to do that was through training. He could also take some rare pills but he didn't have any now so the best thing to do was to train.

Another week went by in this fashion for Hao Ren as he trained relentlessly

"My foundation is completely fortified now, I guess its time to return to the Silver Lining sect" Hao Ren said as he headed in the direction of the sect. Xiao got excited as they were going out. This is his first time leaving the forest, although he was nervous, he was mostly excited.

After a days journey, Hao Ren got out from the forest. He was a little nostalgic when he remembered everything that happened within the forest. He came here with the hope of fixing his cracked dantian, who knew things would turn out this way?. At first he nearly died, then he was completely ruined, and in the midst of all the darkness a ray of light lit up his entire world and he received something he wouldn't even dream of.

The mission he got was also quite hard but it was a good stimulus for him as the pressure would he him in his future cultivation.

Hao Ren walked in the mountain path and head towards the southeast, the direction the Silver Lining sect was located

Wu Chen, its time to pay your debts