Back In The Night

Left all alone in the room, Pao Dai sighed in admiration. "In a day, he's already on my level. I would have never believed a genius can come from a no-name background."

He then turned over to Captain Lee, his expression turning slightly worried. "But, will it be right to alright broadcast this news, Captain Lee? I know the Fang Family is particularly antsy to cut down any of our family simmering potentials."

"I'm aware of this and have the same thoughts. However, until the Commander gives further instruction, this news will only be shared by the higher-ups. Not only would Chao have threats to his life. But there will also be other competitors who simply would want to recruit Chao on their own. Hopefully, the commanders will come to the best decision..."

...

Night soon befalls over Creek City. At this time, a lone youth could be seen slowly strolling through the gate leading to Creek's wilderness.

A youth so daring could only be Chao.

After his promotion, Chao wore his new badge rank as a sign of achievement.

Luo, Dui, and Shi were all in awe and admiration of Chao. They knew they would be split off but still told Chao if he ever needed help to just use their contact rings.

None of them showed any dissatisfaction, only a desire to get closer to Chao.

Not only did that trio instantly show Chao more respect, but even other fellow cultivators in the Western District also showed more respect in their gazes.

Chao was no longer some unimportant grunt. Now, he reached a status that people need to consider before causally messing with him.

It also helps that Chao didn't restrain his Origin Aura. Because of his deep foundation, that is filled with dense and thick energies, many cultivators could feel that Chao was a formidable warrior.

After a calming walk home, Chao didn't see Qiao Lie with his sister and her friends. He didn't think much of it and gave Chen Li more Spirit crystals so she and her friends could enjoy themselves.

Naturally, Chen Li and her friends were in awe of Chao's higher rank. They couldn't fully grasp how much he changed since they were mortals, but they knew their lives will even improve at a better rate from now on.

Once Chao finished sneakingly protecting his sister's group during their shopping, he went home to cultivate.

At least, he tried to cultivate.

But it was during this night that Chao discovered how slow his own cultivation truly was. He could only form 22 Origin Qi strands and slightly improve his Law comprehension only after using an abundance of Spirit crystals.

What he used had to be over 100 low-grade Spirit Crystals!

But this number was no problem for Chao since he looted very wealthy people these past days. But even with this sum, his cultivation couldn't rapidly advance.

No matter if Chao sensed breakthrough sensations for his base cultivation and Asura Ice Law, it wouldn't matter if he can't quickly form more Origin Qi strands to strengthen his dantian's space stability.

Chao still had the nurturing fruit from that one Fang Family member, but he didn't want to use it.

A resource like that would be far better to use in higher cultivation realms.

Chao had a great desire to increase his cultivation. His drive burns to the point that sleep was barely necessary to him.

Moroever, cultivation itself acts as a light form of sleep that rejuvenates his mind and body.

Since he didn't need sleep, Chao turned to the best way he knew how to increase his cultivation.

This all leads to Chao strolling back into Creek's wilderness for any lucky opportunity. Whether it was a human or a Vicious beast, he was ready to kill.

Nothing particularly worried Chao. Even if he encounters a Tilted Origin powerhouse, Chao only felt the drive to test his might.

The wilderness was as eerie and quiet as usual. Only the occasional sounds of twigs crunching and a beast howl entered Chao's ears.

Chao walked without any specific direction, basically waiting for his system to alert him to anything.

When Chao finally reached a couple of miles into the wilderness, his system didn't disappoint.

An alert ranged in his mind as his system notified him.

'Special mission alert. Three miles to the right of the host is a special swamp created by the Heavenly Origin and Law essence of a Tilted Heavenly Origin cultivator. This contains the cultivator's Spiritual Sea perception on both Origin Qi and 4th level Ordinary Laws. It also contains a small portion of his dantian's energies. If the host can fend off the swamp's misty energy and reach the center, the host can comprehend the essence and unseals 5% of talent. At 5% host's overall prowess will considerably increase once again.'

The smile that formed on Chao's face couldn't be broader. He was finally rewarded after taking such a long, boring walk without any action.

His soul sense pinpointed the energy trail, and he then picked up the pace.

On this trail, he still didn't encounter any other Vicious beast or cultivator squadron.

In fact, the farther he walked down here, the quieter Creek's wilderness became. He couldn't even hear the faint beast roar or the crunch of twigs or leaves.

After a short while of walking, Chao witnessed a peculiar sight ahead.

A hazy green mist covered the whole region ahead. No matter where Chao looked, the green mist permeated. It felt as if this part of the wilderness was split off into two regions.

Crossing over into the mist would be like walking into another world.

When Chao probed the green mist with his soul sense, his brows tightly knit together. Just merely probing already caused a slight pressure within his mind.

Chao poured a small portion of soul energy into his Spiritual Sea to simply clear away the pressure. But the fact remains that going into this green mist wouldn't be anything easy.

The principles of the mist were exceedingly complex. If Chao had to guess, not even a 3rd layer expert would causally mess about here.

Thankfully, Chao wasn't some ordinary 3rd layer expert. Not only his prowess exceeds a peak 3rd layer, his Spiritual Sea perception abilities most likely greatly surpass any 3rd layer.

The only reason his Spiritual Sea hasn't increased at rapid levels was because of his slow dantian energy accumulation.

Chao felt some confidence in tackling the green mist. But he didn't foolishly go in without proper preparations.

His soul energy linked to his bloodline veins, activating the Asura Aura state. He then poured out a stream of Asura Ice essence that quickly converged into a blue icy energy aura.

The energy aura appeared far more pronounced than what Chao usually has in battle. It made him seem like a mysterious ice spirit who has a mesmerizing presence.

In this state, Chao's defenses greatly increased. He had full-on confidence defending against numerous peak 2nd layer attacks without a scratch.

The added defense trades off with the fact that Chao's attack would be severely lacking.

No matter how amazing his overall prowess was, Chao still is an Ordinary 2nd layer Origin warrior. He hasn't yet achieved the state where he'll have a natural protective Origin Aura at all times. Nor has his Origin Qi or Law Core condensed enough where merely pulling out energies from his dantian creates a proper energy aura.

Chao's mindset was always that the best defense is the best offense. But for this situation, a turtle defense was the best option.

A calm breath to quell his nerves leaked from Chao's lips. His eyes soon blazed with determination.

He took slow, easy steps into the hazy green mist.

Just a few steps in, Chao already felt a great sense of pressure, forcing him to stop. An uncomfortable tightness formed within his chest, a putrid odor assaulted his nostrils, and his mind even felt slightly delirious.

Chao wasn't going all out, but he was still affected to such a degree.

If this was any other ordinary 3rd layer expert, they most likely would be gasping for air at this point.

This couldn't dissuade Chao in the slightest. He simply focused on himself and release the entire force of his Asura Aura and Asura Ice Arts.

The icy energy aura shrouding him intensifies. It dazzled out a beautiful glow that could pierce through the skies.

Everything that was affecting Chao nearly vanished altogether. Enough for him to comfortably walk around, at least for a few minutes.

This state couldn't be held on for a long.

Not wanting to waste even a moment, Chao bent his knees and then sprang forth at his maximum limit!

The ground beneath him quite literally shattered apart! It formed a three feet craters in the wake of his speed and power.

Chao seemed like a blue trail of light as he brazenly rushed through the green mist. His speed was amazingly quick. In just under three seconds, Chao soared over 600 meters!

This kind of speed would shock anyone in Creek City considering Chao was only a 2nd layer Origin warrior.

But while fast he was, reaching this deep in the green mist caused an immense pressure to crush down on Chao's body. This force felt as if it was grinding down on his bones and organs to smash them into little bits.

The pain nearly made him shout out loud. Not even Chao's pain tolerance can simply ignore this nigh unbearable pressure.