Bang! Bang!

Propelling an endless amount of blows at the tree, Cale's whole armor shook from the intense pressure. Finally, after a few more hits, he stopped as he sighed deeply.

"I've finally managed to become comfortable with Qi," Cale muttered proudly. All this time after he awoke in this new body, he had been training and experimenting with the energy.

Qi control certainly became bizarre since he no longer had muscles, blood, or organs. Every time Cale tried to pump Qi into a certain part of his body to strengthen it, he had to concentrate harder than before. All of his True Qi was distributed in his bones rather than settling in one place, which made the method of surging it more troublesome.

Of course, there were also some obvious benefits to his new body. From the moment he became a skeleton, he didn't need to train at all and could still become stronger simply by absorbing the light balls. Moreover, Cale had the luxury of having that insane regeneration.

'I wonder...if my head was cut off, would I still be able to stay alive?' Cale thought before silently disregarding all the useless worries aside. Even if he could stay alive after being torn into many pieces, he'd rather not try. Just regrowing his hand took nearly ten days, and other bones would probably require even more time.

"Are you finally done? Should we start moving?" Leo asked, coming out of the corner.

"Hmm," Cale nodded without any disagreement.

"Cale...umm ...did you do that?" Leo pointed at the broken tree in confusion. "Now that I think about it...you never told me how powerful you are"

"Middle-Rank Disciple" Cale replied calmly.

'Middle...rank?' Leo thought with a deafening smile. Subconsciously, an ominous atmosphere spread throughout his body, encompassing the whole vicinity in the din. Even Fenrir, who was leisurely eating a bone, stood up in hysteria.

"Can we spar? I want to know the difference between our powers," Leo muttered in pure excitement.

"A spar? Since when did you get so cocky? You may be progressing quickly in cultivation, but you have absolutely no experience in actual fighting," Cale sighed.

"Well, isn't this a chance for me to learn?" asked Leo as he got into a fighting stance and charged forward, not paying attention to Cale's words anymore.

'I should teach him a lesson,' Cale thought before interlacing his hands.

Pow! Pow! Pow!

Leo began to maneuver his body as he craftily tried to land some hits on Cale's armor. Unfortunately, every time he got close to him, Cale would easily dodge to the side.

Annoyed at the way he was being played with, Leo picked up the rock from the ground and threw it full force at Cale's head.

'Trying to distract me?' Cale smiled as he caught the stone effortlessly with one hand. Leo, who was fastly advancing forward, didn't expect Cale to undercut his attack so smoothly, but it was too late to stop.

Cale threw the rock back at the teenager, who noticed it flying at his forehead but wasn't quick enough to dodge.

Thud!

With a loud thud, Leo's body spun 180 degrees in midair before falling to the ground. Blood ran from his forehead and covered his entire face in red.

"You want to have some more fun?" asked Cale.

At the moment when Leo heard those words, something inside him snapped. The previously beautiful image of the surroundings suddenly turned red, and Leo found himself sinking into the ground. Looking around, he saw many familiar villagers looking at him, their eyes filled with black liquid.

"Do you want to have some fun?"

The same phrase rang in Leo's ears, but this time the voice was uncomfortably familiar.

"W-what...the hell are you doing here? Why aren't you dead!" Leo was deeply shocked to see the figure standing before him. It had imprinted itself so deeply into his memory that he recognized it at first sight.

"Want to have some fun?" Warden smiled wickedly before advancing with a smooth, yet menacing stride.

"Don't come near me!!!" Leo immediately crawled backward, but a sudden sensation on his shoulder forced him to look behind.

- "Why didn't you save us?"

- "Why are you so weak, Leo?

- "I'm disappointed in you, son."

Several people rose from the red ground, including his family members and even Layla, as each of them began muttering something that Leo couldn't clearly digest.

"Wake up, Leo! What's wrong with you?"

Another voice rang in his ears as everything around him returned to normal. Warden and the villagers were nowhere to be seen either.

"Puff...Puff," Leo breathed twice as he looked around, horrified.

"Are you all right? You suddenly fainted?" Cale asked with a concerned voice. He wanted to teach the boy a lesson, but he certainly didn't want to kill him. After all, he's one of the most useful figures in his future army.

"Yeah...I just didn't expect such an attack, that's all" Leo replied as he ran his hand through his sweaty forehead.

'Is it actually everything there is to it?' Cale wondered before saying, "Anyway, don't let your defeat discourage you. You just need more combat training, and we'll focus on improving that from now on."

"Yeah..." Leo smiled bitterly as he hid his trembling hand behind his back, not wanting to be seen in such a pathetic state. After witnessing such a horrible scene, Leo's mind was flooded with endless hatred again.

"Let's go" Cale moved away from the fuss, failing to notice the fluctuations on Leo's face.

-

Screech! Screech!

In the middle of the forest, a carriage could be seen making its way through the woods, constantly making screeching noises.

"Damn it! This sound is so annoying! When are we going to get there?!" exclaimed Eva with an annoyed look on her face.

"Just be patient. It's not like we have any other means of transportation," Chad sighed helplessly.

"I hope the war starts soon so we don't have to be broke anymore!" Eva tried to hit the wooden wall, but Chad was able to stop her in time.

"We barely had enough money to rent this carriage! Do you really want us to go completely broke?!"

"Tch...whatever," Eva rolled her eyes, not feeling like talking about this matter anymore.

"Don't worry, once we clear the dungeon, I'm sure we'll make a lot of money," Chad smiled as Eva's expression softened. No longer arguing, both of them proceeded to hit the horses, increasing the speed of their advance.