Faith Academy.
The entire academy was oblivious to the attack that had happened in the spring sect.
Grim arrived at the academy two days later. He went to visit his sister, brother, and master.
***
Lou Xiang's Manor.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Come in."
Lou Xiang's voice resounded from inside and the doors opened.
Grim went inside.
She saw Grim and was surprised a bit.
She couldn't see through him as before, and there were only two explanations for the phenomenon.
1. Grim has obtained a skill to hide the cultivation.
2. His cultivation was higher than hers.
Then, she remembered him questioning the breakthrough process for the dominion realm a year ago.
She thought. "He must be at dominion realm. Just how many surprises is he going to pull off?"
Grim nervously said. "Master. I have something to tell you."
Lou Xiang replied. "Go on."
Grim said. "Master, I have broken through the dominion realm."
Lou Xiang was still taken aback.
"I already predicted it was the case. But, hearing from you is no less surprising."
"Congratulations my disciple. You have officially surpassed your master."
Grim replied. "Thank you for the hints, master. I hope you can keep my breakthrough a secret. I just want to cultivate peace."
She responded. "Don't worry disciple, I won't tell anyone. But, are you sure you want to keep secrets from your brother and sister?"
"Yes, master. Once they find out that I'm in the dominion realm, it'll be awkward for them to treat me as a junior brother."
"Very Well."
Lou Xiang agreed with his request.
Afterward, he returned to the room.
***
Back in the room.
"The only training I can perform in the academy is either body enhancement or glaive mastery."
He checked the liquid Qi stock and he was disappointed.
"There are only around two liters left. So, I'll have to practice glaive during the day and body enhancement at night."
He took a rest for the day and went out of the academy to practice the glaive the next day.
Somewhere in the barren land.
A young man could be seen swinging the glaive. If you observed for a bit, you could see that there was no flow whatsoever.
He was swinging glaive as a kid would do with a stick.
He swung it an entire day and started body enhancement training by the night.
He had not made any progress with glaive even after a week.
"Dammit. There's no progress even after ten thousand swings and slashes. I'll return to the academy and check if there are any glaive-related skills."
***
Library.
Grim went to the librarian.
"Greetings, senior Liang."
"Hoho. What brings you here, kid?" asked Lian Wuying.
Grim asked. "Senior, do you happen to have any glaive skills?"
"Wait. Let me check the records."
The librarian went inside the storage room and started flipping the pages.
A few minutes later he arrived with a skill scroll.
"Here kid. This is the only skill we have in the library related to the Glaive."
Grim accepted the skill and saw the details.
[Skill: Basic spearmanship - 100 points]
"I'll take it."
Grim was about to transfer points. But, the librarian declined.
Grim went out of the academy again.
***
Barren Land.
"Let's check the skill."
He started going through pages one by one. There were various postures and spear-handling techniques like 'slashing', 'thrust', 'cutting', and 'sweep'.
He read and memorized all the techniques by the evening.
He wielded the glaive and closed his eyes. Then, he started visualizing all the postures and techniques and started mimicking them.
At first, he made plenty of mistakes. However, he kept on training days and nights without a break until he could mimic the techniques perfectly. It took him two weeks to reach the state.
A cultivator at the dominion realm could go for months without food, water, or rest. So, it wasn't a problem for him to train for a week or two without a break.
"The skill is going to take plenty of time to master, and I haven't showered in a long time. I'll return for now."
***
Faith Academy.
Grim returned from training.
As soon as he entered from the gate, he was greeted by a chaotic atmosphere.
Everyone was busy. Some were packing their luggage, some were closing the shop, and some were running frantically.
Grim approached one of the citizens and asked.
"Why is everyone packing their things?"
"Oh! It's you disciple Grim. We just received a report that the 'Spring' sect was attacked, and we should evacuate the Aran city. replied the man.
"What? Spring sect was attacked? When did it happen? How did it happen?"
Grim started shaking the man up.
"I don't know much about it, Mr. Grim."
The man was scared.
Grim saw his expression and snapped back. Then, he went to the master's manor.
***
"Come in."
He didn't even have to knock this time.
Lou Xiang said. "I know why you are here. Have a seat. I'll explain it to you."
Grim took a seat, and Lou Xiang started detailing.
"The 'Spring' sect was attacked by the beasts. All the sects were focused on the 'Willow' sect, and the beasts took advantage of it to attack the 'Spring' sect. There were two griffins this time. So, they managed to overwhelm even the sect leader. However, 75% of the citizens were saved thanks to his sacrifice."
"Now, all three cities under the 'Spring' sect are suggested to migrate."
Lou Xiang had a sad look on her face.
Grim asked. "Where are we supposed to go, master?"
Lou Xiang replied. "The alliances have decided to help the disciples and instructors to settle within the outer region of their territory. But, the citizens will be allowed to settle outside their territory."
Grim murmured. "It comes down to strength again."
He was no justice warrior. But, it still pissed him off
Lou Xiang saw his reaction and tried to console him.
"Despite being outside their territory, it's safer than other places."
Grim agreed with her slightly. But, deep down he knew who the cannon fodders would be in case of a full-scale invasion.
Lou Xiang said. "Pack your things. We'll depart in a few hours."
Grim politely declined her offer.
"I'm sorry master. I won't be able to join you this time."
Lou Xiang was taken aback and enraged. "What? You won't be with us? Do you think you'll be safe here because of your realm?"
Grim was a bit surprised as well. He had never seen his master being angry before. But, he was happy too.
Grim started explaining. "Master, it's a misunderstanding. I won't be staying here. I know a location that'll help me further with cultivation. So, I'll be going there."
Lou Xiang was still worried. "Are you sure it's safe?"
"I'm 100% sure, master," Grim said with confidence
Lou Xiang agreed begrudgingly
Grim bid his goodbye and headed for the Fiery highlands.
Gu Lan was left with tears. She wanted to stop him. But, Lou Xiang stopped her saying.
"Don't worry. I gave him a map. He will find his way."
***
Two Days Later.
Grim arrived at the entrance of the highland. But, he was a bit sad about the separation from his brother, sister, and master.
"Forget it. I'll meet them in the future." He consoled himself.
He made his way toward the gem.
On his way, he encountered a beast 5km from his destination. He thought nothing of it and disposed of it. However, he came across a beast every few seconds.
"I don't remember there being so many beasts."
He managed to kill around 250 beasts by the time he arrived at the location.
He advanced forward.
Soon, he was greeted by the sight of a thousand beasts around the gem.
The beasts were absorbing the 'fiery aura', and to his surprise, one of the beasts had managed to reach within 70 meters of the gem.
The beasts sensed the presence of a human and jumped toward him.
***
A few hours later.
Thud!
The last beast fell.
Grim canceled his domain.
Phew!
"Now back to business."
Grim went to a distance of 80 meters from the gem and started absorbing the aura.
Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.
"What if I absorb this aura instead of Qi while enhancing my body?"
"It's worth a try."
'Vigor'
He strengthened the body by 67x causing his skin, muscles, and organs to be torn.
'Regeneration'
The injuries started healing causing his body to be locked in a state of constant wear and tear.
Then, he absorbed the fiery aura.
At first, the process went smoothly. But, the aura started burning his body from the inside when exposed longer.
He canceled the process.
"The aura is too much for the insides of my body. I'll go back and try from a distance of 100 meters."
He returned to the distance of 100 meters and started the process again.
'Vigor', 'Regeneration', and aura absorption.
The process went smoothly even after long exposure. It not only improved his body enhancement but also his fire resistance.
"This is what I call 'killing two birds with a stone'."
[Evo points left: 1,244,750]