It was a place surrounded by mountains. There was a forest nearby, and a small river flowing through. The place was called "Beast Valley". In this valley, ferocious beasts roamed around. Sometimes, hunters come here to hunt beasts. Most of the beasts here are not that strong, all within Grade 1. But recently, there have been reports saying that a powerful Grade 2 beast has appeared in the valley and it goes to rampage the villages above the mountain. It also killed many hunters and now, the hunters dare not come here to hunt. Finally, a request for help was sent to the southern academy after the locals sent a complaint to the Governor of this region.

Although there are cultivators even in the Shell Shattering realm in the Southern Academy, it is only because it is one of the four great academies of the Green Veil Country. Throughout the country, most people are common folks without any cultivation. Less than 10% of the country's people are cultivators, and the majority of them are in the Physical Essence realm. Only in the four great academies and the Royal Capital can someone find cultivators in the Body Metamorphosis Realm and higher. In this country, Body Metamorphosis realm cultivators can Govern an Entire Region, and a Shell Shattering realm cultivator can become a mayor in a big city. As for someone in the Qi Accumulation realm, they can even become the principal of one of the four great academies or can get a high position in the Royal Capital.

At this moment, two shadows were seen walking out of the Beast Valley. One of them was dragging a dead body of a beast. The body was bloodied. It seemed that before dying, the beast put up a big fight.

"No wonder even the local authorities had trouble dealing with this beast. To think it was in the Eighth level of Grade 2!", said the shadow dragging the beast.

"Well, you are still not good enough with your combat capabilities, or you could've finished off this beast without me needing to interfere.", said the other shadow.

"You expect too much of me, how do you expect me to take down a beast in the eighth level of grade 2 while only being in the sixth level of the Body Metamorphosis Realm? I am two-level lower, and beasts are even more powerful than the same level humans!", the first shadow grumbled.

"Well. Ferocious Beasts are mindless beings. Although they have greater raw strength compared to cultivators, they are not smart enough to use them properly. On the other hand, while beasts do have a fierce instinct for battle due to their beastly nature, if you know what type of beast it is and know their behavior patterns, you can predict the way they fight and easily find a weakness to counter them. Beasts aren't smart enough to adopt a new fighting style after their weakness is discovered.", the second shadow explained.

"Well, I guess I am still not an expert fighter like you.", the first shadow sighed.

"You can slowly learn from experience. Now that I am guiding you, you aren't that bad either.", the second shadow said.

At that moment, both of the shadows were finally out of the valley. Sunlight finally fell upon them and revealed their faces. One of them was Robert, the other one was Edward. Robert was the one dragging the dead body of the beast.

It has been almost three months since Robert and Edward left the Southern Academy for their training while completing missions. Although they were supposed to take only two B-rank mission and a single A-rank mission, in the end, Edward decided to exploit his connections with Old Summer to get ten B-rank missions and 3 A-rank missions. By now, they have already completed all the B-rank missions they took. Currently, they were in an A-rank mission, which was to kill this level eight grade 2 beast in the beast valley. With this, they have now completed two A-rank mission. The final A-rank mission they are going to complete is in a place near Tulip Village, so they left that mission for the last since they were going there anyway.

In these three months, Robert has broken through to the Sixth Level of the Body Metamorphosis realm, and his seventh Physical Essence Sphere was 90% formed. On the other hand, Edward was currently at the peak of the Body Metamorphosis realm, with all nine Essence Spheres completely formed.

"We have to give this beast's corpse to the local authorities as proof. Man, that's a pain.", Roberts cried.

"Let me handle that. You are about to break through to the Seventh Level of the Body Metamorphosis realm, so you should meditate here and focus on your breakthrough.", Edward said.

"That's great! Thanks for the help. By the way, I still can't believe our cultivation progressed so fast in these three months.", Robert said with a satisfied tone.

"Well, I have already taught you to control your inborn aura. Those with control over awakened inborn aura can cultivate faster much than normal in the early cultivation realms, and the same goes for me. What helped us boost our hidden potential was all the challenging missions we completed in the past three months. After all, a battlefield is the greatest place for training.", said Edward.

"Anyway, don't get complacent with this meager cultivation speed. The higher the level, the tougher it becomes. See how I am stuck at the peak of the Body Metamorphosis realm for almost a month? Breaking through to the Shell Shattering realm is really tough. This is the final shackle of the body in the mortal's path. After crossing this realm, we reach the shackles of the spirit. To reach the Shell Shattering realm is to shatter the shell of your mortal body. It is a complete qualitative change, unlike the previous realms. Even a hundred peak Body Metamorphosis realm cultivators put together can not beat someone who has just stepped into the Shell Shattering realm. The power gap is vast." , Edward explained.

"Well, from what I have seen from you, I think it wouldn't be too tough for you to breakthrough.", Robert said with confidence.

"I hope so.", Edward said with a smile. Then he left taking the corpse of the beasts they killed in the valley.

Robert sat on meditation, preparing to break through to the seventh level of the Body Metamorphosis realm.

Their next destination was a place called "Lake of tears." It is only a few miles away from Tulip Village. This place was a major place for cultivators to visit until recently when mysterious disappearances started occurring there. Since then, the place has become haunted. The southern academy was sent a request to investigate that place. This mission is at the top among all the recent A-rank missions in the academy. No one has yet dared to take that mission, but Edward wasn't afraid. He was more interested. After Robert breaks through and Edward returns from delivering the beast corps, they will start there journey again towards the Lake of Tears.

Who knows what secret awaits them in that mysterious place?