The old man could not help but be impressed. This was supposed to be a stiff test due to the Black Spot's power and advantage in environment, but the duo used the snake's habits against it, and marvellously at that. Not to mention…

"Jumping off a hammer and landing on target at high speeds, this Lara has more than meets the eye. Truly a prodigy trained by the royal family." Said Lady Katya as she stood next to the old man. Darius was terrific, but he already belonged to the old man who was no doubt a powerhouse in both power and authority—having the ability to turn a time-honoured tradition into his playground.

"Excuse me young ones I have to attend to something."

The wily old fox left the room, and his destination was obvious. He found the door he was looking for and phased through it like he was a ghost. Within the space, Darius was on his bed, rocking back and forth.

"You won't die Darius."

"You won't die Darius."

"You won't die Darius."

"You won't die Darius."

"You won't die Darius."

He repeated it like it was a religious mantra. Once he got back to his room and soberly analysed what he had done, he freaked out and had a panic attack?

"Indomitable me is nuts! I knew I couldn't trust him! Just one millimetre! If he had been one millimetre wrong, I could have died! Fuck that idiot!

"You won't die Darius."

"You won't die Darius."

"You won't die Darius."

The old man genuinely pitied Darius but could not help but be disgusting at the boy's sheer cowardice.

'This cowardice is what fuels the shamelessness, so I need him to remain a coward, but that is not manly!'

The old man was born in a chauvinist society where men were expected to be tough! Manly! So, going through with this plan was tantamount to blasphemy! Alas, he had no choice but to calm down and accept the lad. His criteria for a true disciple were too stringent!

Darius noticed the old man come in and held a pillow at the latter, "Stay away, harbinger of death!"

The old man laughed and said, "I have an idea to help you out, activate Imperishable, then run data simulations on the odds of your survival in that event."

Darius was freaking out, but the old man's idea wasn't bad, he needed to know, what were the odds? Because he just went with his intuition instead of logic for some unknown reason.

Darius activated Imperishable and momentarily calmed down, he did rough calculations considering his body's skills and ability and the result shocked him. It was at least 98 percent! He could pull this off 98 times if he tried a 100. If he had sparred with the beast a few times and understood under him, the success rate shot up to 100 percent! Even with Imperishable gone, Darius was stunned. His intuition was right again.

With two hammers Darius did not doubt that he could dispatch the giant snake while keeping the others at bay, so even if the battle became a bit longer than planned, it would only be to his advantage.

Darius got off his bed end, said wearily, "What do you want here old man."

The elder grinned and said, "I came with some tips that might help you increase your power by a fold!"

Darius raised a brow and said, "No man acts for free, at what price?"

"Follow me, I will explain along the way." Said the old man as he gestured to the door. Darius slumped his shoulders but had no choice but to follow the old man. There was no telling what he would do if he refused, and he was still jittery from the day's events. His intuition told him.

'Go, you will be safe.'

When they arrived at a warehouse, the duo sighted upon a marvellous sight. It was a marble-like sphere the size of a tractor with all colours of the rainbow showing. It was incredibly radiant and glittered with splendour.

Darius had already activated indomitable. He felt it was needed.

This was a dantian. The old man had a simple request; he wanted Darius to smite this dantian. One of his students had reached this stage, and the old man wanted to see how skilled Darius was, so he wished for Darius to finish the job.

The old man agreed to give Darius a clue and allowed him to use his abilities. The better the quality of the finished product, the more skills and spirit arts the old man would impart to Darius. This was a non-lethal action, so Darius had no issues with agreeing to it.

Standing in front of the unfinished Dantian, Darius squeezed his hands. He remembered the sensation of smiting his first dantian. It was incredibly pleasurable and made him feel like he was at home ,like this state was what always wants to bask in. He yearned to reach this state and now had the chance to do this in a safe environment! Even if the old man had not offered rewards, Darius would have agreed anyway upon seeing that rainbow-like pearl.

His blood started boiling as he and the old man walked toward the pearl. Darius placed his hammer on the dantian and said, "Okay old man. Three strikes of the right sound to help me out." The elder smiled and brought out a similar-looking training hammer, except this one was brand new and a newer model. The old man calmed himself and focused. Darius was already at the peak of his focus.

Ting.

Ting.

Ting.

The elder tapped the right frequency three times. Darius heard it with his ears and felt it with his hammer right next to the old man. The old man put his hammer away as if he had teleported it silently and started to walk back slowly. Darius had his eyes closed, feeling what he should feel, hearing what he should listen to.

Ting.

'Wrong.'

Ting.

'Wrong again.'

Ting.

Ting.

Ting.

Ting.

'There we go.'

Ting!

These few knocks would sound the same to the average person, but the old man heard it. Darius gradually reached the required sound produced by the right frequency, in only seven knocks!