34. Problem
Since Noah found a way inside the cultivation world, he completely disregarded any other type of knowledge, not that he had time to study anyway with his rigid schedule.
He only had a basic understanding of the political power system of this country and the environment near his family's mansion.
The subdivision of power was similar to the feudal system from his previous world: small-size noble families would pay taxes to the medium-size ones to keep their territory, like this till the large-size noble families that answered only to the Royal family.
Any large-size noble family would be in control of a city, like the Shosti family with Mossgrove city, and would run it according to the orders of the Royal dynasty.
Yet, Noah's mind was mostly oblivious to any names concerning these topics. He focused so much on cultivation that he only barely remembered that this nation was called Utra.
'So there is an alternative! I would have known more if the cultivation topic wasn't so hidden to the public. I need to have one or two backup plans for when I leave the family.'
If there were one thing Noah was sure of, it would have been his departure from the Balvan family in the future.
He knew that his possibilities were limited in that environment due to his status as a bastard, so he had no plan to stay.
He would rather be a fugitive like Orson than spend his whole life serving nobles, hoping one day to be rewarded.
'Unfortunately, I'm still weak. I should wait for my dantian to form and for my aptitude to be determined before thinking of running away. I would also need a general plan on how to become stronger without the nobles' support. There is the situation about my mother too...'
There were no immediate solutions to his problems, so he just chose that he would think about them when he had a clearer understanding of things.
.
.
.
Life kept going as usual in the outer circle.
Except for the ceremony for Susan's funeral, Noah did nothing but training and clearing magical beasts' packs.
It was a few days after he became twelve that a significant event happened: his acupoints had completely stopped absorbing "Breath", his third cycle was completed!
In the next cycle, he will obtain a rank 2 body!
Right now, Noah was in the torture room below the guards building, he was screaming in pain tied to a metal table.
Willam was next to him, yelling the number of the acupoints he was going to destroy.
"All of the seven acupoints are destroyed, the whirl is forming, focus!"
Noah was, by then, used to the treatment or at least to its procedure.
The pain he would feel from having his acupoints broken was still as terrible as the other times.
No matter how much he increased his mental energy, he had to put all his concentration on managing to stay conscious.
The usual feeling of death approached Noah's mind, but that could not make him flicker, he was wholly focused on the "Breath" accumulating over his back.
After reaching a decent amount of density, he manipulated the "Breath" to enter and fill the space where his acupoints previously were.
Yet, at that point, something unexpected happened: the "Breath" was absorbed by his body instead of accumulating in the empty places.
The most worrying thing was that Noah didn't feel any increase of strength, the "Breath" had disappeared entirely inside his body while the feeling of death was still getting closer at high speed.
He tried again to flow "Breath" in the acupoints' previous spots, but the same thing happened.
He was at a loss of what he had to do!
His body would absorb any strand of "Breath" he tried to accumulate, and he didn't even know why!
At that point, a drop of a familiar black liquid got expelled by his right arm. Seeing it, Noah finally understood: he was going through the advancement of rank of his body!
'Is the "Breath" being absorbed pushing my body over the rank? Does this mean that I can't form acupoints until my body advances?'
He could not think of any different explanations, and he had no time to ask William because of the darkness getting closer in his mind, so he just went all out with the absorption process.
He continuously absorbed "Breath" without even stopping to check if his acupoints were forming.
The black liquid began to be ejected from his body at high speed.
William was holding him down, watching this process with worry.
He understood that his disciple encountered some kind of problem, but there was nothing that he could do to help.
So, he just let his hands be stained by the black substance while keeping him still on the table.
Meanwhile, Noah was entirely covered by the liquid as he hurried in the absorption process to avoid being engulfed by the darkness.
Then, finally, "Breath" began to accumulate, forming his acupoints.
He hastily isolated the newly formed acupoints waiting for them to solidify and link themselves to his body.
He completely disregarded the pain caused by the connection process and focused only on the barriers incubating the mixture of "Breath" and shards of bone.
The mixture, in the end, became stable, and he felt an immense wave of strength running through him.
Like the previous times, he waited some more time before releasing the barriers around the newly formed acupoints to be entirely sure that the treatment went well.
His body felt strong.
His mind was tired, and his mental energy was almost wholly expended, but there was no pain coming from his back.
He gave a mighty pull with his arms and the metal chains tying his hands broke.
Then he did the same with his legs and the chains holding them shattered.
He stood on the metal table, trying to sense his body, but his mind was too tired from the pain he had endured to size his new strength precisely.
William, in the meantime, was smiling warmly as he looked at him.
He was proud of this disciple continuously surpassing any difficulty with determination and bravery.
Noah jumped down from the table and bowed to his Master.
It was the first time he could do that right after finishing the treatment.
"Thanks a lot, Master. Oh right, it seems that since my body broke through I won't need to be bedridden this time so we can spar tomorrow. I'm eager to feel the strength of my new body!"
The smile on William's face disappeared, replaced by an irritated expression.
"You damned workaholic, tomorrow you will clean this room to get rid of the filth that your body expelled! And you will do extra missions to repay my handcuffs!"