"Edward! Edward!", Robert called out.

He tried to go close to Edward but the fiery Qi on Edward's body was too intense. He couldn't get to close.

The firey Qi soon burned out. Edward finally looked at Robert.

"Don't worry. I'm fine.", Edward said.

"Your whole body is full of cuts and holes, and more than half of your body was on fire. You still say you're fine?", Robert didn't know what to think about this situation.

"Although I have taken a lot of damage, due to the Seed of Origin Life, my injuries are healing at a rapid speed. Also, my Qi has gained Healing Attribute due to the presence of the Seed of Origin Life within me."

"Your Qi?", Robert was shocked. "Don't tell me you have already.....", he couldn't finish his words due to shock.

"Yes. I have already broken through to the Qi accumulation realm.", Edward confirmed Robert's estimation.

"Unbelievable! How did you break through so quickly?", Robert asked, still in shock.

Breaking through to the Qi Accumulation Realm was a big hurdle. Accumulating Qi takes a lot of time, and one has to do it slowly. Being the first shackle of spirit in the mortal's path, the Qi Accumulation realm is a great challenge for all Shell Shattering realm cultivator, and usually takes at least a year or two, and for some, it takes several years. Even the fastest ones usually take a few months. Edward did it in less than a month after breaking through the Ninth Level of the Shell Shattering realm.

"Well, I knew that Accumulating Qi through normal cultivation sessions will take a lot of time, so after thinking a lot, I found another way. That was to expose myself to intense Qi flow and adapt my body to it. With the exposure to intense Qi, my body would slowly adapt to it, while I could see with my own eyes how Qi works. With that, I could accumulate Qi very, very fast. And the best way to do that was to battle someone at the Qi accumulation realm or a grade 4 beast. The battle had to be life-threatening, while I had to have exposure to intense Qi attacks, so a wild beast with the bloodline of the flaming lion was the best choice, which was the Hundred Beast King.

"So, this battle, it was all planned? You intentionally waited till the Hundred Beast King broke through to grade 4?", Robert asked.

"Yes.", Edward nodded.

"You are really insane! Don't you care about your life?", Robert asked.

"Of course I do. But with the help of the Seed of Origin Life, I cannot die even with the worst of injuries. As long as I have a single breath left, I can heal and come back to life.", Edward said.

"So you are now basically immortal?", Robert asked.

"Not immortal. You could say 'Half-immortal'. For example, if someone cuts my head off or completely destroys my heart before I can heal, I'll definitely die. But that would take someone way more powerful than me. Cultivators who are in the same realm as I can't kill me even if they are strong enough to defeat me in battle. If I want, I can even escape death from opponents of a higher realm.", Edward said with a confident look.

"That's crazy! On top of that, with your current cultivation speed, you don't even have to worry about Julian, Snow's fiance."

"I don't think so. A year ago, he was already in the Heavenly Wisdom realm. By the time I reach the Spiritual Phantom realm, he will have already broken through a higher realm. Let's not forget that after the Spiritual Phantom Realm, it would take at least around 7-8 years to reach the Heavenly Wisdom realm no matter how fast I cultivate. The Heavenly Wisdom Realm is not about cultivation, or cultivation speed either. It's about achieving Wisdom from the Heavens. It is something you can't force or rush through. So, now imagine, how far do you think Julian will be after those 7/8 years when I finally reach Heavenly Wisdom? the gap will only be wider."

"Than what can you do? The battle is already lost.", Robert said with a sigh.

"Not yet. I can not just give up like that.there has to be a way.", Edward said. He was also trying to convince himself, but he couldn't see a way either.

After resting for a while, Edward brought out a Firey Red Beast Core. It was the beast core of the Hundred Beast King.

"What are you going to do with that?", Robert asked.

"My cultivation isn't stable yet. There is still a lot of energy bottled inside me. I am going to use the energy within this core to neutralize the energy within me and solidify cultivation and stabilize my Qi.", Edward said.

"How long will it take?", Robert asked.

"Around ten days.", Edward replied.

"Ok then, I'll also cultivate for these ten days.", Robert said.

**********

Ten days passed by quickly. On the morning of the eleventh day, Edward woke up from his meditation. After absorbing the Qi from the core of the Hundred Beast King, he was feeling stronger than ever.

Robert also opened his eyes. He was smiling, with a smug look in his face.

"Why are you smiling like that?", Edward asked.

"Among all the beast cores I've got, there were some grade 3 ones. I was able to absorb the physical essence from those, and I broke through. I am now at the Fifth level of the Shell Shattering realm. What? Are you surprised?", Robert said with a proud look.

"Not really. I also broke through. I'm now already at the Third Level of Qi Accumulation realm."

"You! You are truly a monster. How can you cultivate so fast?", Robert was frustrated.

"It was a stroke of one-time luck. I had the help of the Hundred Beast King's core, which I have used up, and I don't think I will be having any more breakthroughs before joining the Royal Academy.", Edward said.

"Why?", Robert asked.

"I don't have any manual on the Qi Accumulation realm. I don't know how to move forward with a solid foundation. Before I cultivate any further, I must get a deeper understanding of this realm, which I don't think I can get before reaching the Royal Academy. But it's not bad, for a while, I will focus on technics. Well, I've also got another problem. the Great eruption Art is a low-level art only meant to be used with physical essence. But now that I am in the Qi Accumulation realm, the Great Eruption Art is useless to me. I need to get a mid-level cultivation art, for which, I will also have to wait till we join the Royal Academy. it seems my training and cultivation is pretty much halted till I go to the Royal Academy.", Edward sighed.

"Well, you have to take things slowly sometimes."

"Why? Are you happy that you now have time to catch up to me?", Edward said with a smile.

"Not really.", Robert denied.

"Hahaha hahaha.", suddenly, they both started laughing.

**********

Edward and Robert, running through the green fields, slowly passed by Tulip Village. The mountain range they trained in was on the west of Tulip village. So, on their way back, they had to head east first to pass by Tulip Village and then head straight north, towards Southern City.

While passing by Tulip Village, Edward took a few looks. He was especially looking south, towards the Uncrossable Forest.

"What? Do you miss your village already?", Robert asked.

"A bit.", Edward replied.

"Shouldn't you be more concerned about crossing the Uncrossable Forest?"

"Not anymore. We have already uncovered the mysteries of the uncrossable forest. We now know that we have to return after reaching the Spiritual Phantom realm and take one of the two paths after crossing two-third of the forest. We now know everything there is to know. It is not an enigma anymore.", Edward said with confidence. Yet for an instance, his heart skipped a beat, as if a premonition, but Edward didn't take it too seriously.

"I guess you're right. the next time we return, crossing it won't be a problem.", Robert also agreed.

They kept running to the south, towards the city, having solved the enigma of the Uncrossable Forest, their journey was now over.

But as we've heard before, 'Man proposes, but heaven disposes'. As they were returning to the academy, thinking they have solved the enigma of the Uncrossable Forest, something otherworldly was going on in the depth of the Uncrossable Forest. Deep within the forest, where it was darker than night even during the daytime, where the forest divided into two paths, something was happening. Slowly, but certainly, trees were withering away, clearing up. The grass was disappearing and the ground was expanding. Unbeknownst to Edward and Robert, a third path was slowly appearing between the forementioned two paths.

What lies beyond that path?

Only time will tell.

End of Arc 4: Enigma of The Uncrossable Forest

Arc 5: Grand Academy Tournament