...

Shin was currently lying on the ground as he struggled catching up his breath. At the same time, some parts of his body were swollen due to the stings of the bees that attacked him earlier. Fortunately, those bees were not poisonous enough to threaten him with their bites – all that they could do was turn his body numbed at the very most.

But despite being in a sorry state, Shin was still feeling overjoyed because he was finally able to see the effects of his newly acquired techniques. And from here on out, he was sure that these techniques would give him a lot of benefits in his future battle.

…

In the next few days, Shin spent his Martial-Art Training honing the new techniques that he recently learned. But training them just became his 'warmup' for the next training session. Because the next training routine that was given to Shin was the set of moves and skills under the 'Black Dragon Style'.

After doing his reflex training as per usual, Professor Plum would personally be going to oversee his next training session.

There was actually no problem at training the Martial-Art Skills under the Black Dragon Style since Shin was only doing the physical movements instructed on the manual so that he could familiarize himself with executing them.

The only thing that needed Old Plum's presence was the Meditation Training right after Shin was done practicing the skills of the Black Dragon Style. Because the said Meditation Training was meant for Shin to train the 'Demonic Qi' that he possessed.

Shin was already familiar with the process of properly circulating the 'Demonic Qi' on his meridians because he already read the manual that Old Plum had given him before. And not only he memorized the entire manual, but he also read it multiple times to make sure that he didn't miss anything.

But despite that being the case, he still didn't dare to start practicing it alone because he was aware of the consequences if something went wrong.

Moreover, he also couldn't shake off the words that David had told him before when they had a brotherly chat.

During that time, David told him what happened when a Martial-Artist who had a 'seed of hatred', suddenly went out of control

He said that during that time when his master's husband suddenly lost himself, not only he sent the members of the 'True Order' ran away with their tails between their legs, but he also destroyed the whole Kingdom of Solomon 'unknowingly'.

So, afraid that something similar might happened to him, Shin waited for Professor Plum to oversee his Mediation Training before practicing the 'Qi Circulation Method' specified for the 'Demonic Qi' inside his body.

At the same time, Professor Plum was also helping Shin to complete the three 'Qi Reinforcement Skills' that he gave at the latter. And with his help, Shin was able to complete the three of them without encountering much problem when practicing them.

Moreover, Old Plum told his disciple about the counterparts of the said skills which were focusing on using the 'Demonic Qi'. Though, he instructed Shin not to practice them yet since he was still familiarizing with the three 'Qi Reinforcement Skills' under the 'Sacred God Physique' (Mentioned at Chapter 139).

Due to all of this, Shin's Martial-Art training was extended until afternoon while his Mentalism Training was rescheduled during night.

Fortunately, his Mentalism Training was only focusing on training his Mental Energy and honing his Mentalism Techniques. And since he already familiarized himself with using the Mentalism Runes and Mentalism Enhancement Techniques that he just learned, all he needed to do during night was to perform some deep meditation to further strengthen his foundation on Mentalism.

Aside from that, he was also starting to learn how to draw a more detailed Rune Sequence so that he could create a Talisman with a higher tier.

Compared to Shin's Martial-Art Training, his training on Mentalism was quite relaxed. But despite that being the case, his growth in the latter discipline was still much faster compared to the other one.

In fact, Grandmaster Benn was even expecting that Shin was going to create his own Specialized Mental Energy and reached the Peak Stage of the 'Grandmaster Realm' at the end of the special training.

The Specialized Mental Energy was on par with the 'Natural Force' (Higher Form of Internal Qi) of the Martial-Artist who was in the 'Ethereal Opening Stage'. So, if Shin managed to create such energy of his own, then he was going to rival an Ethereal Opening Stage Expert with the help of his Mentalism alone.

But despite Shin showing an insane rate of growth, he was still having a hard time doing this special training. His time was growing tight due to the increasing load of the training routines; aside from eating and sleeping for a few hours, he didn't have any free time to relax his mind and body even for a bit.

Being aware of it, the two old men made sure that Shin was still going to have enough time of rest despite having a very hectic daily schedule.

At the same time, Grandmaster Benn was also giving Shin a daily check up to make sure that he was not going to suffer any kind of drawbacks after undergoing those training sessions.

Shin spent the rest of the time of his special training doing all of those. Meanwhile, the two old were checking his progress by doing some 'practical exams'.

For his Mentalism, he was going to spar with David as usual. As for his Martial-Art Training, he was tasked to hunt down some Monster Beast with the rank of 5 to 6 stars.

But Shin was not only the one who was improving greatly. Due to Shin's rapid improvements, David couldn't help but also do some intense training.

It has been a while since he did something like this, so he personally asked Grandmaster Benn for some instructions. Though, it didn't long for him to regret it later.

Old Benn seemed to be expecting him to ask for instructions, so the intensity of his training was much higher than Shin. And it was already too late for him to back down from it during that time.

But the one that really showed the greatest improvements during this special training was Laura. Her foundation on Mentalism Runes and Sequences, was much more solid than Shin. Even David who was confident about his Mentalism Talent couldn't help but doubt his foundation after seeing her progress.

Even though she still hadn't started any kind of Mentalism training, her skills at drawing a talisman already surpassed most of the Advance Talisman Masters – it was according to what Grandmaster Benn had claimed.

Though, the talismans that she was creating didn't have any kind of effects due to the lack of Mental Energy. But at the same time, those talismans were drawn so perfectly that even David started to doubt his own ability at creating the same type of talismans. Even Shin was getting pressured every time he compared the talismans that he created with hers.

*******

Meanwhile, Arthur was brought by Nathan in the other part of the Souring Continent.

"Hey, Uncle! Can we at least take a break for now? I am too tired already." complained Arthur as his butt fell on the ground.

Meanwhile, Nathan looked at him with a knitted brow before saying. "You are the one who asked me to bring you here, so you don't have the right to complain."

Hearing that, Arthur couldn't help but glared at his uncle while complaining a little more. "That is only because we are going to catch some of the accomplice of the b*st*rds that hit us last time."

"But we already caught those guys a few weeks ago! So, do I really have to be locked in here and fight without rest?"

Nathan chuckled a little when he heard those words. Then he looked at Arthur with a mocking look on his face while saying. "Don't tell me that you already forgot about the mess that you have done during the mission?"

Arthur's face suddenly twitched when he heard that and started defending. "T-that… was only a-an accident… Uncle! And I only did that because you asked me to deal with it personally, so why are you blaming me now?"

Nathan suddenly smirked when he heard that Arthur was putting the blame on him now. And because of that, he threw a vicious glare at the kid and said. "Because of you, the operation almost became a failure. So, you need to stay in here and reflect your actions."

After saying that, Nathan suddenly turned around and started walking out of the room that they were currently in. And when Arthur saw that, he started shouting out loud while begging his uncle to free him.

Unfortunately, his ruthless uncle ignored all of his pleas and left him locked inside that room. And right after that door closed, Arthur suddenly heard a bunch of eerie sounds coming from the darker side of the room which sent shivers on his back.

Though, Arthur immediately recovered himself and quickly turned his body around to face that direction. "D*mn it! I am currently in a very bad mood, so if you guys don't want to be the target of my anger, then you better not provoke me right now."

But regardless of his threat, the eerie sounds that were coming from the dark side of the room became even more district as if they were being provoked instead.

And when Arthur heard that, he immediately released his 'Eternal Flame Internal Qi' while saying. "You guys asked for this, so don't blame me for being ruthless."

********

At the same time, a huge incident took place in the Eastern Sea Region.

A hideout of a ruthless and notorious syndicate was suddenly exposed, and that news immediately spread across the Region.

But that was not the real reason why all of the citizens near that location were shocked. Instead, it was the fact that the entire base became a devastated place as if a huge calamity suddenly went through it.

Meanwhile, the criminals hiding on that base became a group of corpses piled inside the base. Rumors said that a strong expert attacked the said location and slaughtered all of the criminals within a night.

But the police and military forces didn't know whether to side with that expert or not. It was because of the horrifying sight that greeted them when they arrived right after receiving the report.

The entrance of the said place was packed with reporters who were trying to test their luck at getting a good article. But the police forces were blocking their path, preventing them from getting anything.

Leonard watched the chaos on the entrance of the place for quite a long time before turning his body around.

"There are only two more groups in the list. I guess I need to move a little faster this time so that I can have my rest way sooner," muttered Leonard to himself as he walked away from that place.

...…