Four Months

'It will take another day for me to completely recover!' Daniel just got out of bed after a full night's rest. But he still felt some weakness in his arms and legs.

Because it is summer the morning mist got cleared early. The bright light that is seeping through the windows is focused on Daniels's face.

Daniel who is trying to get out of the bed is a little irritated by the light beams falling on his eyes.

Daniel raised his hand to stop the sunlight from falling on his face.

"Why is the light so bright!? Did sun get closer or something!?" Daniel felt this morning is a lot brighter than normal days.

It took him a few moments to adjust to the brightness in the room.

Observing every corner of the room Daniel felt a little enlightened, "No there is no problem with the sun! It's actually my eyes that have changed! This must be because of the breakthrough!"

The colors of the objects in the room have started appearing a lot brighter and more vivid than yesterday for Daniel at this time.

The usual dark corners of the room are also clearly visible now.

'It is not just my eyesight that has improved!' Daniel found improvements in other senses.

At this time Daniel can listen to the sound of falling leaves in the back yard which is impossible previously.

'All my five senses have improved a little after breakthrough. Although the improvement is small, considering that it happened in just one just, it could be considered a big leap forward.' Daniel is suddenly feeling a little unfamiliar with the present world. And is taking his time to adjust to the changes.

Entering Refining Real basically means loosening the shackles of human beings and entering a path of evolution.

Daniel acknowledges the fact that his body is undergoing some fundamental changes and it will take some time for the process to complete.

'If the beginning of Refining Real brings about so much weakness then what about higher real breakthrough?! How much time would I have to play 'sitting duck' during that ascension?' Daniel felt it is unrealistic for anyone to break through without serious security measures.

Daniel can imagine higher realm people going into hiding for every single breakthrough.

'From my calculations, the improvement in the body will continue for about ten days. It's better to minimize the contact with unfamiliar people during this time and avoid any senior detecting any signs' Daniel thinks is not a good idea to invite the interest of strong people unnecessarily.

'Although defending from juniors is easy after two days, I cannot cultivate or practice martial arts for the next ten days.' Daniel is unwilling to take any unnecessary risks at this time. And he is not a guy who rushes on important things.

But Daniel felt ten days of the cooling period is too much for refining Realm, 'Sigh! Two days for weakness and Ten days for stabilizing the realm. A total of twelve days of leisure for me.'

Daniel did expect realm ascension will take some time and it will not be like leveling up in video games. But he is still feeling a little uncomfortable with two-day-long weakness.

'I have no problem in spending time in stabilizing my realm but I must find other ways to decrease the weakness period' Daniel is planning to mitigate the time of exhaustion from two days to a few hours in the future.

Finishing his plans, Daniel got up from the bed to bathe and freshen up himself.

After a clean bath, Daniel started eating the remaining Jerky and dried food he brought from the market to fill his stomach.

A full stomach brought some redness to the pale white face of Daniel.

'Now that I have completed my meat stock, should I ask others for more?' Daniel squashed this idea the next second, 'No! That will definitely raise some questions. It's better to buy some from outside than asking them.'

On this rare leisure day, Daniel strolled around the backyard and spent most of his time listening to the blowing hot winds.

For dinner, Daniel visited the Rose Garden for a nutritious meal and returned without giving a word to others.

The next day the overall situation got improved considerably.

"Good! Now at least I have enough strength to strike back." Feeling the strength in his punch Daniel nodded his head.

'Although it would take two more days to completely recover my previous strength. It would not be a problem to meet Bell and others from tomorrow. But it is best not to meet unfamiliar people for the next ten days.' Daniel decided on this after looking at his image in the mirror.

In the bronze mirror, the healthy sheen on the face is telling him that there is no need for further isolation from everyone.

As hours passed Daniel felt the second leisure day very boring, so he took a seat and started thinking of his future plans.

'Since I cannot cultivate until the realm is stabilized. It's the best time to inquire about 'Martial Mantra' to learn some fighting techniques.' Daniel knows although he cultivated the Refining Realm, it will be of no use fighting people of the same realm.

If two people of the same realm were to fight, then the person with the best fighting techniques and most number of fighting techniques will win for sure.

So the next step is to find some suitable 'Martial Mantra' and start practicing them to perfection.

'Also finding some sources of income.' Touching the nearly deflated pouch Daniel put on an awkward smile.

Daniel spent the entire evening thinking about the cultivation and ways of making money.

The next morning Bell and Lloyd came to visit Daniel after the two-day gap.

Lloyd looked a Daniel with a doubt, "Daniel! What happened to you! Why do I feel something changed about you?"

Bell also found some physical changes after close observation, "Yes! Daniel! Are you sick! You look a little pale."

Hearing their questions Daniel simply shook his head "I was busy the last two days reading books at the library and I couldn't get enough sleep. I will recover in a few days so don't worry about it."

Bell and Lloyd urged Daniel to take good care of his health.

Nodding to all their advice Daniel changed the topic, "Did anything big happen while I was busy studying?"

Bell and Lloyd looked at each other after hearing the question.

"Say it! I can handle any news." Daniel pushed them after seeing some hesitancy in their eyes.

With a sign, Lloyd opened his mouth, "Well! You remember Luther right?"

'How can I forget my first enemy!?' thinking this in his heart Daniel nodded his head, "Yes! What happened? Did he die?"

"HA! HA! HA! Not funny Daniel! I heard that he reached 'Early Refining Realm' last week and threw a party to celebrate his success." Lloyd is obviously a little worried about Luther finding them to settle accounts.

Although Bell and Lloyd are worried about Luther, Daniel has something else in his mind.

'So he broke through in three months after joining the sect, while it took me nearly three and half months! He must have gotten help from his family at an early stage otherwise it is impractical to be so fast.' Daniel could guess what actually happened to Luther.

But Daniel is not discouraged about it in the least. Because he has a gold finger which will double his cultivation speed and more importantly it will help him lay a perfect foundation.

Daniels's advantage on others will rise exponentially as his cultivation realm rises so there is no need to worry about their beginning rush.

"Ok! Leave him aside! Any other important thing happened?" Daniel pushed for other news.

"No! Nothing more!" Both shook their head after thinking for a few moments.

"Let's visit the Dining hall before talking about other unimportant things." Daniel pushed for breakfast while the other two agreed to his plan.

'I must find other ways to get more monster meat or my progress will stagnate.' While on the way Daniel is thinking of ways to procure more nutritious food.

...

A week has passed since Daniel's breakthrough to Refining Realm. And Four months have passed since Daniel joined the sect.

By the start of the fourth month, many things Daniel envisioned really happened.

Some juniors somehow found the correct way of breaking through to the refining realm and the value for monster meat started rising slowly in the market.

Although there is no fire here, one could smell the smoke in the outer sect.

The tension in the atmosphere is rising and everyone could feel it. Even though many don't know what's going on, they felt a sense of urgency for some reason.

They are also some cases of theft reported in the last week.

People started looking at strangers on the streets with suspicion and doubt nowadays.

Except for close friends and group members, people are unwilling to share their thoughts with others.

And those who knew about the issue are keeping the secret themselves while hunting for resources quietly.

On this inconspicuous day, while Johnny and the others are having a meeting at his home, a person came running towards the group.

The person went straight for Johnny and said something in his ear.

Johnny's calm face turned ugly by the time message is delivered.

"Are you sure?" Johnny asked for confirmation with an ugly face and a hint of anger in his voice.

The person nodded heavily, "Yes! I have seen it with my own eyes. There is no doubt about it."

"Dammit! Jimmy, go call Daniel immediately. We cannot be passive on this matter." After venting his anger on the table Johnny ordered Jimmy to bring Daniel ASAP.

'Must deal with him properly this time.' After Jimmy left to find Daniel, Johnny lost in his thoughts while looking at the sky.