I'm currently sick so might as well focus on getting some chapters pumped out, you might get another one today, making it a tree chapter release today.

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A couple of days already went by and the rumor was spread all across the academy like wildfire.

Jake, the ruthless bully, had finally been defeated. And nonetheless, it was by one of the newcomers. He immediately became the laughingstock of the academy and lost face to his family. It was a great humiliation.

Jake didn’t die, but he was still badly wounded and even with the help of several potions from his family, he took some time to recover.

He brought trouble upon many and was an existence which only served the purpose of stopping the emergence potential geniuses. Several students were bullied by him and now had an easier time. Sadly enough, it would only be temporary.

Jake’s older brother was within the top hundred of the school’s ranking list. Even though he was barely inside it, it meant he was at least fourth stage in power, an entity which Philip wouldn’t be able to resist for even one breath if fought with. The difference in strength between ranks increases the higher one cultivates.

If to look at it from another perspective. A cultivator in early rank two could probably stand his ground versus someone in middle rank two. However, if a cultivator in the early fourth rank faced of versus a cultivator in middle fourth, he would not even stand a chance. That was the difference. The strength multiplied each layer. However, this was only true if the cultivator had the same power and force.

*A month after the fight*

As of right now, Philip was cultivating in his mind world. His sat in the usual lotus position and revolved the star energy from within his body, constantly refining and improving.

Prior to the battle with jake, or rather, the slaughter of jake, he attained middle rank two in power. Now, he was close to breaking through to the late rank two. He just needed a final push and didn't know if it was because he something else than painstaking cultivation.

In a veteran cultivator’s eyes, it would be called a bottleneck. Bottlenecks are common and they’re the reason why a lot people of doesn’t even break through to rank two.

This was Philip's first bottleneck as he was directly promoted to rank two when he entered his mind world and absorbed star energy. Neither did he have one when he entered middle rank two from early rank two because of an external factor, battle stimulation.

He gave up on trying to break through and exited his mind world. Currently it was less than five months until the newcomer’s competition where he had to perform well if he wanted good rewards.

He hoped to become the discipline of one of the teacher, so he really had to impress them. Philip also wanted to show the library guardian his power as of a “thank you” for hinting about this book.

He hadn’t yet started to train any other skills from the book and only focused on the meteor fist. The meteor fist skill was very profound. He felt as though he had only mastered a very small part of it. It was deep and contained many mysteries which clearly showed how advanced the creator of the book was.

He exited his mind world, rose up from the lotus position and walked out of the room.

*three days later*

Philip walked through the entrance towards the wilderness. He talked to his class teacher and she told him that he needed external stimulus, namely life and death situation for his star energy to make a qualitative leap and enter late second rank.

After he walked through the gate, he darted like an arrow towards the forest.

The ancient forest which blotted out the landscape was as quiet as it always had been.

Everything was safely stored within his mind world.

As he advanced to middle rank two before the battle with jake he got a new feature of his mind world. He discovered it when he was at home, he could, with a flick of a finger, store thing in his mind world as well as taking them out from within.

It could also further enhance his battle ability when he’d use potions and elixirs or beast beads in the future. After all, potions could heal injuries and elixirs or beads beads could

refill his star energy for further use.

As he strolled through the the forest at a slow pace, he discovered his first beastly opponent since joining the academy, a fiery bull.

A fiery bull ranked among the highest within the category of rank two. it had great defensive ability and could even breathe fire from its mouth. It’s not every day one sees a bull breathing fire.

The fiery bull often went solo and its fur was quite valuable for blacksmiths since they could produce cultivation armors from it.

Maybe i should get myself a cultivation armor from it I’ll see if i can find a blacksmith when i get back from the academy. Well of course, only if I can beat this bull that is.

He chuckled lightly before charging towards the bull.

The bull saw him and immediately engaged in breathe of fire.

*Swoosh*

Philip was vigorous as a monkey and evaded it by a hair's width. Except for some parts his new clothes becoming ash, he was alright.

*ta* *ta* *ta*

His fists became a storm, leaving afterimages in the air as he appeared in front of the bull.

The bull groaned in pain before Philip used his technique’s signature move, meteor fist, to smash a hole in its head, instantly killing it.

His eyes twinkled with delight as he dug out the bead within the beast's head muttering, “Hoo, it seems like I highly underestimated myself”