Chapter 2 Breakthrough

Bang!

A loud bang was heard just as the woodshed's door was smashed into smithereens.

The two men exchanged somewhat worried glances, both probably thinking the same thing: who could possibly be at the door? As they approached the door, or at least what was left of it anyway, they were met by Darren's face. The looks of worry on the two men's face were instantaneously changed to looks of complete and utter surprise.

"It's you!" Ted exclaimed.

"Impossible! How are you still alive?"

Darren glowered at them, seething with fury, chest heaving with anger. Belle was the only family he had left in the world. He would have done anything for her. He would have even sacrificed his life for her safety. "You bastards will regret what you've done to my little sister!" he bellowed.

The two men were without a doubt astounded by what they saw. Darren was alive. He looked exhausted and weary, but undeniably alive.

"Darren?" came a soft cry from the corner. Belle was initially frozen on the spot, her brain not processing what she was seeing. It took her a few seconds to realize that what she was seeing were actual facts and that her brother really was alive. Overcome by the intense happiness, she ran towards Darren and leapt up in his arms.

"You're alive. You're alive. You're alive." Almost a whisper, she kept repeating the words, afraid that if she didn't, it would suddenly not become true. "Thank God." "It's alright now, little sister. Don't cry," he reassured her. "I'm here, I'm alright."

Darren then turned to look at the two men who dared hurt his sister. "I'm going to give you two choices. End your life now or I will help you end it," he casually proposed all the two while looking daggers at them.

Jim guffawed at Darren's bold statement. "Ha! That's so hilarious! You're still alive, so what? The chief is dead. There's no one else in the Chu Clan who would protect you!" he stated as a matter-of-factly. "Ted, seize this loser. Let's show him the ways we could enjoy his beloved little sister. Ha-ha!"

Jim didn't care at all whether Darren was alive or not. He knew that the boy was only at the first stage of the Primary Realm. And although he and Ted were also still at the first stage of the Primary Realm, with both of them working together, they had the advantage. Killing Darren would be a piece of cake.

"You're so screwed!" Darren roared. His heart thumped, the anger continuing to build up inside him.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Darren leaped into the air and in just a matter of a split second, he was hovering beside Jim.

Bang! Darren drew out his hand into a hard fist.

The next second, Jim's head was exploding. Then a ball of yellow light was sucked into Darren's head.

Ted, with a devilish smile still plastered on his face, was seemingly frozen and at a loss for words - too shocked to process what just happened.

After a few moments, his body finally reacted and his jaw dropped.

"Y-you! You broke through the first stage! You've reached the second stage of the Primary Realm! How is that even possible?" he exclaimed disbelievingly.

'How could it even be possible that a loser of the Ordinary Degree made a breakthrough and had now reached the second stage of the Primary Realm?' Ted kept racking his brain for all the possible reasons, but he kept on failing to come up with something. He clearly remembered that Darren was only at the first stage of the Primary Realm before his death.

"Mr. Darren! I'm so sorry! Please, please forgive me!" Ted pleaded. "It's-it's Mr. Evan's order! I have no choice but follow his order!" Seeing the gap between two different stages in the cultivation base that he and Darren were in intimidated him to the core. He didn't want to end up like Jim. After all, he wasn't dumb. 'It's better to be safe than sorry, ' he thought.

"It's Evan's order?" Darren asked the pleading man. "Did he also give you the order to molest my sister?" he added, the anger inside him building up more and more.

This left Ted speechless, sweat trickling down his forehead.

"Well, it's...I-" Ted was still trying to come up with an excuse, but without a warning...

Bang!

A fist killed him before he spoke out his next word.

Darren would never let assholes like them go off so easily. He could not even imagine what would have happened to his little sister if he actually did pass away.

Darren turned back and looked at his sister. "Belle, are you all right?" he asked, a mix of worry and relief painted his face. In return, he was greeted by a dumbfounded look on Belle's face. It wasn't every day that the girl witnesses bloody scenes, after all.

Belle realized how terrifying her brother could be. It was terrifying watching someone killing people, let alone watching her own brother doing the killing. "I-I'm y-yeah! I'm all right!" she finally said. "Anyway, the most important thing is that you are still miraculously alive! And you've become so powerful!" She hopped over to Darren and hugged him. "I'm so happy for you!" she added.

Belle understood how difficult it must have been for Darren, a cultivator of the Ordinary Degree, to make a breakthrough in cultivation base.

The cultivation base was made up of the Primary Realm, the Spirit Realm, the Mysterious Realm and the Wonder Realm. People of every realm were ranked from the first stage through the ninth stage. The more talented a cultivator was, the more quickly he or she broke through the stage. Of course, the breakthrough in cultivation base also required a cultivator's effort and resourcefulness no matter how naturally talented he or she was.

According to the legend, what came next to the Wonder Realm were the Grand Realm and the Holy Realm. But the cultivators with such a premium cultivation base were almost like legendary beings, a myth. Only a few people had had the chance to meet one of them.

Although Darren was not a naturally talented cultivator, he was more diligent than anyone. He had always tried hard and given his all.

Darren's martial arts talent was the topmost level of the Ordinary Degree. After he killed the dogs and adopted their talent, he reached level one of the Yellow Degree.

The recent upgrade in his martial art skills was most probably brought about by his higher talent. That was why he could make a breakthrough in cultivation base so suddenly.

Darren sensed that his talent for martial arts had a great improvement after he adopted the two men's talents. He guessed that he had reached level two of the Yellow Degree. He was delighted about this, but he decided not to tell his little sister about this recent upgrade.

The Chu Clan was the supreme clan in Valmar, and there were lots of talented cultivators among the clan. Four of Gavin's seven sons were level six of the Yellow Degree, and all the four had joined famous sects in order to further their cultivation base. And Nicholas Chu, who was hailed as the super genius of the Chu Clan, was level seven of the Yellow Degree. Each of them was absolutely far beyond Darren's cultivation base.

"Evan is in level three of the Yellow Degree. Years of cultivation has got him into the fourth stage of the Primary Realm. Plus, besides Evan, there are other cultivators who are probably level six or seven of the Yellow Degree in the Chu Clan. Their cultivation base is far beyond mine. I have to work harder to be able to defeat them."

"Darren, what are you whispering to yourself?" Belle asked. Tears started to swell into Belle's eyes. Seeing her brother muttering to himself made her feel worried that the injuries he acquired was affecting him in some way.

"No - it's nothing! Belle, you go on and head home. I need to stop by the Elders Cabinet first."

"Darren, that place is not our home anymore," Belle said, the tears from her eyes threatening to fall all at once. Fear crept inside her. Just the mere mention of going home frightened her. "Darren, let's leave this place. We could run away to some unknown village for safety. I don't want to come back!" Belle exclaimed. "Or did you forget that our siblings want to kill you and expel me from the Chu Clan?"

"No! Listen to me, Belle. Evan is a cruel man! He would never leave us alone no matter where we fled to. But I have a plan. Just trust me, Belle! I will survive and I will protect you." Through clenched fists, Darren silently swore that he would never forgive them. He would definitely make them regret what they had done to him and his sister for all those years.

There were two reasons why Darren wanted to stay in the Chu Clan. Firstly, he was now qualified for the guaranteed protection of the Elders Cabinet since he was now level two of the Yellow Degree. With that, Evan would at least stop explicitly lashing out against him and Belle.

The second reason was the more important one. Darren was hoping to grasp the rare opportunity of being a disciple at the Ilmen Sect. The Ilmen Sect was the top sect, surpassing all the other sects of Doriath. They recruited new disciples every ten years and as long as he became one of the disciples, he would gain a powerful support. With that support, he would be able to take revenge.

But the test was not an easy one to pass. It was almost impossible, even. Only a super genius would be able to pass it. Even Nicholas Chu's plans to join the sect had faint results, and he was considered the number one genius of the Chu Clan, not to mention he was level seven of the Yellow Degree.

If Nicholas didn't have any luck in joining the sect, what more for Darren who was only level two of the Yellow Degree? There were only two months left for Darren to prepare for the test, and the pressure was starting to dawn on him.

"Talent! I have to upgrade my talent as soon as possible. The higher, the better!" he blurted out.