[After all, although Altemuller was in the 8th rank, the Sect Master is the closest to reaching the Island Formation realm in Cloud River. Not to mention that the Elders of the Sect are all within the Sea Establishment realm as well. With all the sects cooperating once they find proof, all will be well.]

The stone that had been in Van's heart finally dropped.

_______

The Boulder Sect disciples shrank back in fear.

In front of them, their top outer disciple was beyond furious. His appearance shared about eighty-percent similarity with Rhogar's – it was clear that they were closely related.

"How can you be so totally useless!?" Viggo shouted at his older brother. Rhogar was lying down on the pallet they had carried him in, face red with shame.

"B-brother!" Rhogar protested, he scrambled forward and grabbed his younger brother's robes, "Please, the Cedar Sect has gained a new genius in their outer sect. He was stronger than I expected – I swear!"

Viggo kicked his older brother away, "The Sect Master himself entrusted with this task! You couldn't even get w.a.n.g Hao to show his face! What, exactly, is the point of you?!"

Rhogar whimpered.

Viggo looked out at the large group of shame-faced disciples. None of them could meet his eyes.

BANG!

Viggo slammed his hand against the wall in rage.

"I will go there myself!"

______

[A small room in the Cedar Sect.]

"Before I leave for the Monster Mausoleum, I must ensure that I am fully prepared for the battles ahead. I need to a.s.sess the state of my cultivation and fighting arts and see if any improvements can be made," Van judged.

"I will start with my cultivation."

Van sat down on the floor of his tiny room in the outer sect and closed his eyes. His brows were tranquil and his breathing slow and controlled. He inhaled deeply.

Hu!

As Van exhaled, he focused his mental energy on the spiritual river within his core. Within his centre, the glowing silver river flowed through the landscape, twisting and turning.  

Compared to when he was in the 4th level of Qi Distillation, the river had expanded greatly in size and flowed much more rapidly. Back then it had been more like a small, wandering mountain stream. Now it was a true river that churned over the landscape.

Van felt satisfied by how large it had grown.

[The Sect Master warned that ranking up too quickly can lead to shaky foundations. I will take a closer look to double-check that there is nothing wrong.]

Van drew closer to the spiritual river and inspected it with a critical eye. To his shock, he found numerous murky areas within his spiritual river. In those murky areas, the flow of the river was sluggish and slow.

Worried, Van searched his spiritual river in more detail and realised that although it had become much larger in size, the edges of the river were now blurry and less defined.

[Because I rapidly increased my cultivation from the 4th to the 7th rank, my spiritual river has gained size at the cost of quality and definition. Wherever the spiritual river is murky or blurry, is where the spiritual energy was too hastily absorbed. The murkiness is caused by the spiritual energy resisting being compressed into a liquid and trying to form back into mist state.]

Van shook his head. His brows furrowed ever so slightly.

[If I had not heeded the Sect Master's words, sooner or later the spiritual river may have imploded. The implosion would be powerful enough to cripple my meridians and render me unable to cultivate for the rest of my life…!]

Van's intuition was correct – many cultivators who rose through the ranks quickly and neglected to properly consolidate their foundations, found the flow of their spiritual energy becoming choppy and unstable. If they continued to cultivate without fixing this, they would eventually find themselves crippled.

In the warm afternoon light s.h.i.+ning through his small window, the red-haired youth's breaths gained a steady rhythm once again.

Van's closed-door meditation continued for three more days. When the 4th day broke, Van opened his eyes and stood up.

"Flaming Bull Fists!"

A brilliant red plume of flame ejected from his fist. The room blazed with heat.

Van grinned.

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 [The flow of qi through my meridians is now much smoother and more stable. The difference between now and before is as clear as night and day.]

After two days of consolidation, Van's spiritual river had decreased in size. However, it no longer contained murky areas and flowed strongly. The edges were defined once more, the spiritual energy flowing within had the appearance of a glossy silver liquid.

Van was satisfied.

Next, he turned his attention to his martial techniques.

Van spent the afternoon reading through his Dark Seas Palm and Fists of Devouring Flames manual to see if he could improve the quality of his martial techniques to the next level. While there was still more to be unearthed about his Fists of Devouring Flames which he had received from Jet, Van knew that he was reaching the upper limit of what he could get out of Dark Seas Palms.

"In the end, Dark Seas Palm is only a Middle-Rank skill. Even a cultivator of the 3rd rank can practice it if they have a strong enough affinity for water. I am currently in the expert-level of the Dark Seas Palm technique, once I reach the pinnacle-level, I must either find a higher rank skill or try to transform the technique in some way."

Van's eyes lit upon his Obsidian Battle-axe, which he liked to leave outside of his dimensional ring. He thought that the imposing black axe added a nice atmospheric touch to his otherwise drab and nondescript room in the Outer Sect.

The black axe's sharp and heavy intent was scary enough to deter other outer disciples hang around his doorstep for too long – exactly the effect Van was going for. The number of overly eager fans who had knocked on his door during his seclusion was truly too numerous to count. Van had no doubt that they had all come to satisfy their burning curiosity about him, but he had no desire to waste his time chatting.

"Hm. When I have the chance, I should find a suitable axe skill to train in. So far, I have just been hacking at my enemies with brute force. Although it has worked so far, I'm sure that eventually, this approach will seem laughable to my enemies."

Van picked up his Obsidian Battle-axe and placed it into his spatial ring.

"It seems that I am overdue for a visit to the mercantile district of Dragon City. I still have some things from the Mystery Object Sale and loot from my trip to the Blizzard Plains to sell. Then I will see if I can find suitable skills for my axe and harpoons."

______

The sound of frantic knocking jerked Van out of his contemplation.

Alert, he cautiously opened the door.

The gaggle of disciples in front of him looked relieved when they saw him.

"Van, it's the Boulder Sect. Their top outer disciple has come to take revenge for his younger brother's humiliation!"

Van cracked his neck by tilting his head side to side.  A smile drifted over his lips.

"Bring it on!"

[I can use this opportunity to get used to my skills after the improvement in my cultivation.]

________

The news spread through the sect like lightning and soon an enormous crowd formed at the sect gates to watch the spectacle.

Viggo stood silently in the s.p.a.ce in the middle of the crowd. The Boulder Sect's top outer disciple was taller than his older brother and with a stronger aura. His eyes were closed and the s.p.a.ce between his brow gentle, as if he were in deep meditation.

When he heard slow deliberate footsteps draw close, Viggo knew his opponent had come. His eyes flashed open.

His opponent, this Van, stared back at him calmly with his hands folded in front of him.

Viggo's lips quirked up but his eyes were full of thorns.

"I challenge you, Van of the Cedar Sect. Do you dare accept!?:

Van's expression was completely neutral. This top outer disciple, Viggo, was apparently Rhogar's younger brother and their relations.h.i.+p was close. He was not surprised that Viggo had come, just that he had come so soon.

"What's there to fear?" Van said slowly, raising an eyebrow.

The onlookers felt the deadly chill in the air and started to quiet down. They felt as if they were standing near two fierce beasts fighting in the wild; the atmosphere was tense and predatory.

One was the top outer disciple of the Boulder Sect, a mighty position that indicated he was stronger than hundreds of disciples. The other was a newcomer who was here since he had defeated the other's younger brother. The orange-robed disciples were wary of being overconfident like the last time; the green-robed disciples didn't know what to think at all – they wanted to stay hopeful but Rhogar was not as strong as his brother. And so, the crowd remained quietly watchful, their fists clenched by their sides.

An intimidating qi started to flow out from Viggo. It heightened the b.e.s.t.i.a.l air between the two opponents, causing the audience members' to take a step back.

The Cedar Sect disciples were full of worry and doubt.

"Viggo is challenging Van, not w.a.n.g Hao?"

"It's obvious that he's here to take revenge for his brother and regain the honour of his sect. w.a.n.g Hao is secondary at this point."

"Van is strong and may even have hidden depths…but he's not Viggo's match."