"That bastard is trying to kill us!" Dhruva shouted, unsheathing his sword.

Payal and Ashish also rose to their feet, taking their weapons out.

However, before they all could take their fighting stance, I pulled out Shinku no Sabi from my waist and rushed towards the incoming group.

"What the hell is he thinking, rushing at them with that scrappy sword!" Ashish muttered, bolting towards me.

When I reached closer to the horde, I clutched the hilt with both hands and swung the sword in a horizontal motion, slicing dozens of goblins in an instant.

"Yin energy +60"

Ding…

"Blood Tempering is activated.

Shinku no Sabi is absorbing the blood of the target…"

Thanks to the daily challenges from the past month, my stats had insanely increased. I didn't even feel any resistance from my sword when I slashed the goblins.

Everyone, including Ashish, stayed frozen in their places upon seeing my movements. Their eyes were ready to pop out of their sockets, and their jaws had almost fallen to the ground.

"Everyone, follow me!" I ordered, pulling them out of their daze.

One after another, smoothly chopped bodies of goblins fell, each monster dying by a single cut to their vital points.

For the whole way, neither the instructors nor the students uttered a single word and just silently followed me from behind, as they were too mesmerised by the graceful moves of my sword technique.

"Let's rest for a bit before moving forward," I said, stabbing the katana into the ground after clearing the horde.

The group silently nodded and sat around me, thinking that I must really be tired after that energised performance.

Well, they couldn't be more wrong about it. The reality was that I had just received a very exciting message.

"Maximum limit to absorb Yin energy reached.

Yin energy: 5000/5000"

I sat on the ground in lotus position, opened a small inventory hole inside my blazer, and absorbed the yang energy from the Soul Stone.

Ding…

"You have absorbed enough Yin-Yang energy for a breakthrough."

"Beginning the breakthrough to the next realm…"

The Soulforce inside my body began surging up. My body glowed with simultaneous bright white and dark black energy.

I entered my Sea of Consciousness, where I found the sea level of the Yin-Yang sea increasing tremendously.

After a moment, the waves of the sea turned into a tsunami, and with a violent splash, struck the walls of a rocky mountain.

A few cracks appeared on the mountain, and large debris of rock fell into the sea from the impact. At the same time, I felt my Soulforce slightly increasing within my body.

In quick succession, numerous waves of humongous tsunamis followed, slamming into the mountain, each strike breaking it further.

Once the mountain was completely submerged in the Yin-Yang water, the sea expanded outward.

I felt a sudden boost in my Soulforce. My body also felt lighter than before.

The further expansion of the Sea of Soulforce was once again halted by another rocky mountain, this one appearing even more mighty than the previous one.

Once the sea calmed down, I opened my eyes, returning to reality.

Ding…

"Congratulations! The Host has successfully broken through! The Host's realm has increased.

Late-stage Spirit Adept Realm → Early-stage Spirit Warrior Realm

All stats +20

All Attribute-based skills increased by one level"

"The maximum capacity of Yin-Yang energy has increased!

Yin energy: 5000/10050

Yang energy: 5000/10500"

"M-Mr. Raj, did you just ascend in the realm?" Payal asked, her voice laced with utter shock.

Not just her, the whole group was staring at me as if they were looking at a monster. Hell! They didn't even give this kind of reaction when they saw thousands of goblins gazing at us with creepy smiles.

"Nah! I was just meditating," I said, rising to my feet.

Even though I had just ascended, I was still absorbing the yang energy from the Soul Stone, so I wouldn't face any problem with the maximum limit when I faced the goblins further ahead.

"I assume everyone has had enough rest," I said, pulling the katana blade out of the ground, which had become somewhat decent after drinking the blood of so many goblins.

As I was about to move forward, Dhruva stood ahead of me, blocking my path, and demanded, "Why didn't you help us when we were risking our lives fighting at the front?"

"I didn't want to unnecessarily step in, as I hoped that you would be strong enough to kill these mere goblins. Sigh… However, you proved me utterly wrong—not just with your overconfidence, but also by making others take the fall for your mistake," I replied, shoving my shoulder against his as I moved past him.

From that point, it barely took us less than ten minutes to reach the starting point, with me paving the way by cutting down the goblins in a deadly dance of steel.

The whole path behind me had become impassable due to the sheer number of corpses and the overpowering odor of green blood and flesh.

"Yin energy +900"

"We have finally reached the entrance!" Shreya exclaimed as the portal became visible to us.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Raj!" the group of girls said, surrounding me.

"I-I thought it was the last day for us."

"Me as well. I had already written my will."

Payal and Ashish also stepped forward, showing their appreciation.

"Mr. Raj, can you tell us what your actual rank really is?" Ashish asked, curious.

"I have no idea, Instructor Ashish," I said nonchalantly. "The last time my rank was evaluated, the computer screen showed E-Rank."

"Haha! You must have a reason for hiding your rank," he chuckled, not believing my words at all. "If you want, we can keep the truth about your real rank a secret."

"Well, I neither have a reason to hide my powers nor the will to flaunt them to everyone, so I don't care either way."

While I was surrounded by the instructors and the girls, Dhruva's group stayed at the back. The poor man must be too embarrassed to talk to me.

There was one more person who stayed silent. It was the young man in the hoodie. For the whole journey, this young man, who barely seemed sixteen, had maintained a consistently plain expression on his face, as if he wasn't bothered by anything that was happening in this strange portal.

Well, since his silence wasn't affecting me directly or indirectly, I decided to shrug my shoulders before moving towards the portal.

There was definitely something wrong with this place, but that didn't mean I was giving up on exploring this dungeon.

From the moment I offered to help, I had already made my decision that once everyone was out of the portal, I would make a fake scream as if something pushed me inside and teleport to a faraway part of the tunnel using Void Step, since the entire area was filled with yin energy.

Yeah, I knew this was a childish plan; however, it was also the most effective one in this situation.

"You may thank me after we leave here," I said, guiding them towards the exit.

"Instructor Ashish, you should leave first since you are injured," I said as we reached closer to the gate.

He nodded, and just as he touched the portal, sudden black sparks of energy emitted from it.

Within seconds, the portal slowly vanished with a violent burst of energy.

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