New Chambers in the Soul Palace

Xu Kai exhaled, turned, and walked away without a word. His expression remained blank and a bit stiff.

"Xu Kai!" He heard a yell, turned back, and saw the women running toward him. "Take this. Although the Dragon-Scaled Whisker fish's meat might be bad, the scales are still useful."

She gave him a pouch and ruffled his hair with a gentle smile. Lowering his eyes to the gleaming silver coins, he lifted his head to gaze at the woman returning to her shop.

A little smile graced his lips. "Thank you," he whispered.

Though Cheng Yi and his goons spouted all they could to make him furious and downcast, it all went down the drain since he was actually an eighteen-year-old youth inside a fourteen-year old body.

Even though he was willing to acknowledge his flawed mindset, he would not succumb to the temptation of losing his jade tag. He had a loftier objective in mind.

To leave this island.

Only a fool would compromise that.

After figuring out how many days four silver coins would last him, he sat in Fatty Tian's shop and continued to eat bowl after bowl of noodles.

"Fatty, another bowl!"

The faces of everyone in the shop changed. What kind of monstrous devourer was this scrawny boy?

****

On the streets, he felt a stir within him. He was consuming the food at a rapid pace! This was his technique in action. Since, like most men, Xu Kai chose to follow the path of legendary cultivators who had physiques so powerful that a single strike of their weapon could split the emerald island, his digestive system was bound to keep growing.

Eating was one of the major channels for gaining energy as a knight. Because their powerful bodies required a lot of energy, they had to eat to supplement cultivation.

After the Early Realms, practitioners must choose between two Advanced Realm paths. Firstly, practitioners can choose the path of a knight, a formidable path where they train their bodies and master their elements to enhance their powers to greater heights.

The other path, known as the mage path, focused more on the spiritual aspect than the physique. However, despite their weak bodies, mages were equally formidable, with their dreadful spells and ability to use their elements to cause disasters!

The tale of a famous mage who once divided a sea with a single tap of his staff had entered Xu Kai's ears several times, but he still had doubts.

In the end, becoming a mage was much harder because they had to check the individual's spiritual connection to the elements.

Rushing to the shores, he began to practice the "Raging Tide Technique" earnestly. His muscles trembled as a cool sensation coursed through them, invigorating his blood cells.

The waves hit him, nearly forcing him to the ground, but his toes dug into the sand, and he threw punches into the waves, his fists bursting through the water.

Xu Kai lost himself in the sensation of the rough, wet sand beneath his feet, the waves crashing against his body, and the aftertaste of salt lingering on his lips—an illusion caused by his nose.

Memories of how he trained by the seaside for years flooded his mind. Slowly, he became more fluid, and his punches carried so much impact that the wind they moved with could frighten those facing his fists.

The stirring in his stomach spread to the rest of his body. Instantly, it transformed into an ice cold sensation. The cold caused his lips to turn white.

It was Qi!

This time, his talent and the jade mushroom enabled him to attack the wall that prevented him from progressing to the intermediate stage.

With each punch, it felt like his body temperature dropped a couple degrees in the negatives.

Drawing his fist back, he tightened his muscles, his shoulder aching softly. As his strength flowed into his arm, his abdomen also became taut.

Shoo~

Ka Ka Ka

His tendons made loud sounds as his fist blew the air and the wave apart! Seeing the water spread into two and droplets sprinkling on his face, a smile crawled up his lips.

He had achieved mastery of the "Raging Tide Technique First Form: Raging Thunderous Fists!"

Some time later, Xu Kai sat cross-legged, absorbing Spirit Qi, which cleared the filth in his body. His body expelled black, thick substances, albeit in smaller quantities.

His skin underneath the black, disgusting substances became rosy, his flesh more elastic, tougher, and yet softer.

His handsomeness slowly came out of its shell.

As he got to his feet, his joints popped. Xu Kai looked at himself. In just a week and three days, he had transformed from a scrawny brat with a flat chest to a fit youth who had an average height.

He was leaving the domain of skinny people for slim men. His below-average height, however, made him look more fit.

'I'm looking more and more like my eighteen year-old self. All that remains is the excruciating pain that I'll have to go through to break into the end stage.'

Xu Kai shuddered as he cleaned himself. Many failed to breakthrough into the Marrow Cleansing Realm's end stage because of the pain.

The practitioner had to experience the pain of Spirit Qi cleansing their marrows and not faint! Xu Kai knew he was only a thread away from fainting in his past life. Had he not persevered for a little longer, he would have failed.

Walking out of the water, he sat on the boulder and appeared in the Soul Sanctum. He saw the information about the young Skylark changing from 10-foot long to 12-foot long. The size increase also came with a strength boost!

Nodding, he walked toward the wings to check if they were open. Shockingly, the fog blocking the left wing retreated, revealing two massive doors.

The plaque above the doors bore their names.