Soon, the blazing storm began calming down as it was being devoured with unexpected rapidity by Mo Fan until, together with the golden aura, it completely disappeared... Mo Fan broke through the Initial Element realm!
...
"Yeah! I finally broke trough! I am now in the Initial Element Realm! Yes! I can now use my Sun Yuan Qi more effectively!" Mo Fan was full of excitement that he couldn't stop screaming. He looked like a kid in that moment. Well, but how could he possibly not be that excited? After all, he was one step closer to reaching the martial peak! "I can even use it to affect even my surroundings! I can create a lot more techniques now!"
"Hehe... I have to show what real power is to Yang Kai! I bet he hasn't reached this level yet!"
...
At Yang Kai's hut...
"Sigh... he's not here..."
"Why is it that everytime I'm looking for him, he's always somewhere else?"
"Sigh... I just wanted a challenge to see how strong I've become... guess that I'll just ask someone else at the sect's main square..."
...
Meanwhile, at the sect's square...
'What's happening?' Yang Kai had come to the sect's square just because he had seen a lot of people gathering up in one place and so was curious to see what was happening, but he didn't certainly expect to see his now friend, Su Mu, being beaten up by someone else in a fight!
But what was startling him the most wasn't him getting beaten, in fact, he couldn't care less about that, it was something else. 'Why does the fight seem so... one-sided? Their Qi pulses are so similar... their strength should be almost the same, so why is Su Mu losing so badly?'
'His opponent lo-'
"Brother Yang!" A voice suddenly called him out, interrupting his thoughts and making him turn towards it. It was one of Su Mu's friends, or, like Mo Fan liked to call them, his 'asslickers', Lin Yun Tian.
"Brother Lin Yun Tian, do you perhaps know what's happening? Like, how is Su Mu losing so badly? Their strength shouldn't be so far off from each other."
"Yes, brother Yang. Young master Su Mu is currently at the Second Initial Element stage, while his opponent is at the third stage. If it were a fair fight, Young Master wouldn't be losing like this! The problem is that that despicable bastard is using an artifact! And a defensive one at that! He's using an artifact even during a friendly challenge with fellow disciples! That's complete cowardice! All of the young master's attacks are not working against that-"
"Defensive artifact you said?" A excited voice from behind the two of them suddenly said, immediately interrupting Lin Yun Tian.
Upon hearing it, Lin Yun Tian's face darkened. How could he not recognize such a voice? The voice of the devil? The voice of the one that forcefully took away his contribution points and his Drunken First martial skill? "M-Mo Fan... what are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?" Mo Fan intimidately placed his arm around Lin Yun Tian's neck. "I don't know if you remember, but I'm a disciple of this sect too, right?"
"Y-Yes... I remember..."
"Then I don't have to give you any explanations..." The golden-headed guy said to him, completely shutting him up and, only then, releasing his neck.
"Yang Kai..." With his eyes shining, Mo Fan then turned towards his best friend. "Today I broke through the Initial Element realm!"
"Oh, congrats..." Yang Kai complimented him, making Mo Fan puff out his chest in pride, but, an instant later, he continued, "I also reached the Initial Element realm today... what stage have you reached? I am currently at the third stage."
"..." Mo Fan was left speechless, his previous pride having completely disappeared now. He was so excited about having reached the Initial Element realm! He had achieved a dream of his that since he was a kid thought impossible! And such a moment had to be ruined by none other than his best friend! Why did Yang Kai have to be such a monster? Yang Kai was weaker than him when they met, and here he was now, ruining other people's happiness by flexing his genius. 'Sigh... I don't even know why I run to him every time that I have a breakthrough, every time he's always one or two stages ahead, and this gap between seems to increase... if I don't find a way to get stronger more quickly, he might leave me to eat dust-"
"Ehm, Mo Fan?" Seeing him like staring at the void, Yang Kai called him out, making the golden-haired guy immediately snap out of his thoughts.
"Yes, Yang Kai... congratulations..." Mo Fan reluctantly said to him before instantly returning to Lin Yun Tian. "Anyway let's return to the main topic..."
Mo Fan's eyes started shining even more than before, his excitement slowly building up as he talked. "That... defensive artifact!"
His excitement now exploded. "Tell me everything you know about it! Those black scales! They are definitely the Black Lizard King's scales! They are one of the most rare and pricy material on the whole world! Those scales are so durable that even a Qi Transforming cultivator would have troubles getting through them! How is a nobody like that guy in possess of such a treasure?"
[Image Here]
"Sigh..." Lin Yun Tian and Yang Kai both sighed at his words. How could someone as greedy and mean as him look so innocent while talking all excited about weapons? Mo Fan really was a mystery...
"First of all..." Lin Yun Tian, since Mo Fan couldn't stop looking all excited at him waiting for an answer, finally gave in and began. "He's not a nobody... that guy's the sect's Great Elder's grandson, Wei Zhuang. Seriously... where do you live to not even know him?"
"So, he's another spoiled heir, huh?" Yang Kai suddenly spoke up. He didn't know that as well.
"Yeah... the tension beetwen the Grand Elder and the Second Elder have been influencing Wei Zhuang and young master Su Mu to view each other with hostility. Now that he has the chance, he's not going to show any mercy to the young master..." Lin Yun Tian continued, but to Mo Fan his words seemed trailing off as his mind went somewhere else.
'The Grand Elder? Didn't the old man forge an armor for him? Wait! Could this be one of the old man's great inventions?'
...to be continued
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Sorry if the chapter wasn't quite great, wrote it in quite the rush as the free time that I have is getting fewer and fewer these days (Sigh... it's a hassle to have a test nearly every day).
Remember to check my other work "Uniqueness Emperor" and "Nano Machine: The Player"