Hey guys~!~ As most of you have noticed I don't usually post much on this story. Chapters are short yes, however for some reason I find it easier to dish them out this way. So really I think its a fair trade right?

Anyways this note isn't actually about me. It's about a friend I have on the NUF. Without this person I woulnd't even be writing this wonderful story. So I just wanted to take this moment to thank that person. His/her support for this story was what allowed it come to life. Most readers don't realize the effect they can have on their authors, and I'm not here to say what you should do. I'm only here to thank that person and I hope that all of my fans as well give a small thanks to that person.

Thanks for reading, and I always hope to meet your expectations.

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Owen swam with all his heart out. Although he didn’t need to channel Essence, this ice pillar was similar to the Essence crystal he got from the cougar he killed. However the difference was this was a natural Essence deposit. It meant that it was extremely pure. Kovinth had told that Owen was to absorb Sky Essence crystals from now on, but he made it specifically clear that was only for crystals. Owen’s master mentioned to him if there was ever a chance to absorb a natural Essence reservoir he was to take it as long as he wasn’t preparing to break through into the Topaz or Ruby stage. So for Owen to find use and natural Essence source like this was definitely a blessing for him.

All the other Pathwalkers at this moment noticed that Owen hadn’t cared about being first and was already passing onto the 40 meter mark preparing for the next 20 ripples to stack onto one another. They all knew he wasn’t stupid so if he was rushing to the center it was because he knew he wouldn’t get hurt.

“Damnit! Let’s go!

“Hurry!”

Everyone screamed as they continued to swim, but it was too late. Owen was had already passed the 40 meter mark and bombarded by the ripples. They barely even slowed him a bit, as for the others he momentarily stunned a few of them while more died and sunk to the bottom of the lake. Eventually becoming one with the ice pillar that would collect the Essence within the bodies of the Pathwalkers.

Even though people were screaming behind Owen and Rauf, they both continued to swim. The ripples were becoming stronger and the waves were higher. But this still didn’t hinder them in the least. They knew that it was no longer an issue any more. They had the confidence to deal with the ice cold essence no matter how many more times it bombarded into them. After all the risk was worth it. It didn’t take a genius to tell that by killing Devourers you would get stronger. However this meant directly risking your life to do so. Wasn’t this ice pillar just a easier way? Why shouldn’t they take full advantage of this situation to grab a huge amount of Essence.

Even more so for Rauf, because he had already broke through to the Intermediate stage and had condensed more of his Path blocks, if he was able to reach the Jade stages soon after entering the Boundary he would be practically invincible.

Balan from afar spoke softly to the two people who entered the this small world.

“It’s done, your little friend is going to arrive first with Lord Rebirth Snake’s disciple.”

He gave a large smile as if he had already anticipated such a result.

Alesia and Iohanne covered their mouths as they spoke.

“Oh my, I seem to remember that someone thought it was just luck at first!”

“Hahah! That’s because you cheeky girls didn’t tell me that that boy was Lord Sun Dragon’s disciple. I know you did it on purpose too, don’t think you won one over me because of that. Had I known that I would rather die that choose someone else.”

The two sisters laughed a little from this. It was after all true, there weren’t many people who didn’t know of the Sun Dragon. Iohanne then regained herself and spoke with her sweet beautiful voice that with sing within one’s ear.

“Well, let’s prepare to congratulate the passing Pathwalkers.”

She flicked her wrist and the few Keepers who were behind her immediately run back towards to the main hall to prepare.

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“Aren’t you glad your disciple came in first.”

Osena spoke softly with a tinge of excitement in her voice. She was clearly happy for Owen as well. After all if she managed to bring Owen on her side she would definitely be able to convince Owen to speak a few good words for her. If Owen spoke even his master who she hadn’t been able to move, would agree to marrying her. At least this was what she had hoped. But it wasn’t too far off from seeing how Kovinth grinned ear to ear as he laughed happily.

The White Tiger didn’t even care and more and was trying to set up preparations for the next group of Pathwalkers. He had to make sure there were no monsters in this batch otherwise he would start to rip off his chest hair! And he loved his chest hair! That was how diligent he was checking so he could prevent such an outcome.

The old Rebirth Snake opened one as she was curled up and smirked on one side of her mouth. She was happy to see her disciple break through, and she was also happy to see him gain second place. Well it was basically first along with Owen, but if she said that then Kovinth would definitely protest and there would be a huge argument back and forth. But to begin with she was too lazy for that. Unlike Kovinth who was lazy, he was extremely protective and diligent when it came to his disciple.

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Owen and Rauf at this moment were sitting on the edge of the ice pillar. There was a portion just enough for them to sit just underneath the water so they could sit and freely channel the Essence. They didn’t even hesitate for a second,as they sat down and put their palms against the ice absorbing as fast as they could.

“This sure is cold.”

Rauf blurted out. Owen nodded, but didn’t answer as he soon started to concentrate diving deep within his subconsciousness. He arrived to his Path, high in the sky above and just above an endless blanket of clouds. There ontop of one of the clouds Owen could see a red, transparent, elastic block. This was his first Path block, it was something he was extremely proud in, but even if he was he knew that time was incredibly important. He led the flow of Essence from his palms as it ran through his arteries and veins all their way to his brain. The coldness turned his skin blue, but he didn’t mind that. It wasn’t to the point of injuring him it was just cold. How could he be bothered by such a thing.

Then as the ice Essence arrived, Owen started to break it apart removing the ice particles from the Essence. Although he could use the ice itself, he wanted his Path to be as pure as possible. He wished to follow his Master’s teachings as much as possible. Although it wouldn’t have the Sky Essence within it, he could still condense the block into a red colour. This alone would help in the future.

Maybe because he had already experienced the first block, but the moment he closed his eyes and pictured the scent of the lilies tickling his nostrils, and the soft feeling of the petals, a red translucent block immediately appeared. Like before Owen didn’t actually use an image and only pictured the smell of the flowers and the touch of it. He didn’t know why this was amazing but his teacher told him to repeat what he did for every single block he made for his Path.

The best part was that he still hadn’t used all of the Essence up, and after condensing more, he continued to create more blocks for his Path. Now his Path was no longer that single block but there was instead a few dozen with at least 5 blocks wide and 10 blocks long it could now be called a true Path. And at this moment Owen felt a surge of power flow through his veins. His muscles tightened, his bones became heavier, and blood purer and finally the purity of his Essence increased. He could only say a few words, but they were definitely filled with excitement.

“The Intermediate Opal stage!”