Stroke of luck: Caleb Li Rapid Breakthrough.

Caleb Li held his breath, his gaze fixed on the massive tree right in front of him.

With the poisonous web right behind him, he jumped, took two steps on the tree back, and performed an acrobatic flip.

While he was turning mid-air, he saw the poisonous web whistle past him and hit the tree.

Bang!

He landed on the ground at the same time the poisonous web hit the massive tree.

Instantly, the massive tree withered, and all its leaves fell off.

Sucking in a cold breath, he shivered and turned to look at the massive spider in the distance, and their eyes met.

The Poisoncloud Spider let out a loud shriek and dashed toward him. Its long, sharp eight legs moved at incredible speed, carrying its massive body.

"Fuck!" He exclaimed and dashed deep into the forest.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw the Poisoncloud Spider had long ignored the other beast and focused on him.

The sound of trees shattered into pieces echoed right behind him, and his heart pounded heavily against his chest.

He pushed himself to the limit, but the Poisoncloud Spider was rapidly closing on him.

When the distance between them was less than ten meters, it released three rapid poison bullets.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

"Shit!"

He gnashed his teeth and made a rapid, sharp turn to his left. Immediately, he made that turn.

Three massive trees withered in his previous direction.

Realizing its target had escaped once again, the Poisoncloud Spider let out another furious scream and increased its speed.

It was hell-bent on capturing this puny human, not because it dared to look at it straight in the eyes, but because three of the fruits were with him.

Meanwhile, Caleb Li's mind was racing. He knew it was only a matter of time before the Poisoncloud Spider caught up to him.

How could he, a mere Rank-5 Mortal warrior, outrun a Rank-2 beast?

If not for his movement in the Small Success stage, he would have long been caught up by the spider.

Suddenly, his eyes brightened up when he thought of his movement skills.

[Ding!]

[Do you wish to use 60 days of your lifespan to comprehend the Common-Grade Shadow Steps?]

'Yes.' He responded without thinking twice.

[60 days have been deducted from your lifespan.]

[Lifespans: 170 days Remaining]

Instantly, a stream of knowledge flushed into his mind. For a second, his mind blanked out, and he stumbled but managed to regain his footing when he recovered from the blankness.

As he pushed his body to the limit, the knowledge about the Shadow Steps began to slowly merge with his body and mind.

His footwork began to change slowly.

Previously, he thought he had pushed his body to the limit but realized it from his perspective.

The spiritual energy in his body went through different meridians, straight to the sole of his foot.

His breathing changed, and his body became lighter.

"This is the feeling," he muttered with a deep grin on his face.

Whoosh!

The Poisoncloud Spider had almost caught up to its prey. Suddenly, everything changed.

Caleb Li's speed increased by a large margin, whistling through the dense foliage like a bullet.

In a couple of seconds, he disappeared from the view of the Poisoncloud Spider.

Hmm!

The Poisoncloud Spider halted its track, and its deep blue and black eyes rolled in its sockets filled with shock.

Still, it only paused for a couple of seconds before its stunned expression turned to fury.

A guttural shriek escaped from its mouth, and it went berserk, destroying everything in its path.

Meanwhile, Caleb Li was in the distance, panting vehemently.

His face was covered in sweat, but the deep grin plastered on his mouth showed how delighted he was.

He could hear the Poisoncloud spider rampage in the distance, but he wasn't worried about it.

"Where am I?" He creased his brow and looked at the massive tall trees in the surrounding.

It was then he realized he had gone deeper into the forest than he planned. Moreover, he didn't even know the way back.

But that didn't bother him for long before he threw it to the back of his mind.

His top priority now was to kill the Poisoncloud spider.

Before that, another thing popped up in his mind.

"What is this purple fruit?" he thought out loud.

He only risked his life based on instinct for these purple fruits, and also because they resonated with spiritual energy.

He took one of the purple fruits out of his pocket and looked at it curiously.

"Should I eat it or not?" He muttered and contemplated for a second before delusively taking a small bite from the purple fruit.

The moment the purple fruit entered his mouth, it dissolved, and sweetness filled his mouth.

Hmm!

He moaned in ecstasy, closing his eyes slightly, enjoying the sweetness of the fruitiness.

Quickly, he devoured the fruits in quick succession.

Just as he was enjoying the fruits, his cultivation technique: Nine Star Astral Breathing began to run throughout his body.

The purple fruits were not only sweet but contained a large amount of pure spiritual energy.

Pop!

In a couple of seconds, his cultivation broke through to the Rank-6 Mortal Warrior.

However, that was not the end. His cultivation was still increasing at a rapid speed.

Before he could realize what was happening, he heard another pop in his head.

Rank-7 Mortal Warrior!

He had another breakthrough, and his eyes widened in shock.

"W-What the…."

Even though he was shocked, his mind was racing in excitement. He couldn't believe what was happening.

Without thinking twice, he took another purple fruit from his pocket and ate it.

His cultivation, which was already slowing down, picked up pace once again.

Pop!

Rank-8 Mortal Warrior.

He waited a couple of minutes whether his cultivation would have another breakthrough, but he was disappointed.

But he didn't let that bother him as he took out the last purple fruit and ate it.

Pop!

Finally, his cultivation broke through to Rank-9 Mortal Warrior, the last stage of the Mortal Realm.

Reeling in shock and excitement, he heard the system notification in his head.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, your lifespan has increased.]

[Lifespan: 170 days (+ 5 years.)]

His jaw dropped to the ground as he stared at the notification, but that was not the end.

[Congratulations. Your Spiritual Root has increased.]

[New Spiritual Root: High Grade-9 Five Elemental Spirit Root.]