Edward walked ahead and stood exactly at the center of the room. From there, he looked around.

"It's not that there is nothing here, it's just that we have not found it yet.", Edward said.

"Have you found anything?", Robert asked as he came forward.

The others also walked ahead and looked at Edward.

"I think I have.", Edward said as he kicked the ground below his feet.

As he kicked, the ground shattered, and ande from below the ground, a giant snake jumped out. It was 10 feet long and 4 feet wide. It had shiny, silver scales.

Hiss! Hiss!

It looked at Edward and hissed.

Edward looked back at the Snake. From its aura, it was clearly a Peak Grade 4 beast, Not much weaker than Daniel or in terms of strength. It was equal to cultivators at the peak of the Qi Accumulation Realm.

Jonny Fatso and Little Teddy both backed out in fear. Even taking a single hit from this beast would prove fatal to them. Robert and Daniel pointed their swords towards the snake, preparing for any surprise attacks.

The snake ignored them and charged at Edward, who was the nearest, trying to bite him. Edward jumped backward and pulled out his axes. He combined both of his axes into the 'Z' shaped weapon and slashed the snake's neck.

Shiing!

A sound of metal clashing with metal was heard. It seemed that the snake's scales were metal-like and very hard.

"Thought so. It is not easy to hurt a Peak Grade 4 beast with a Grade 3 weapon. I guess my axes are almost useless to me at my current level. I need to get a new weapon when I get the chance.", Edward thought.

The snake hissed again as it whipped his tail on Edward. Edward spun his weapon and hit its tail again.

Bam!

Its tail was sent bounced back while Edward was sent flying by the impact of the clash. Edward was about to crash on a wall when he suddenly balanced himself and stopped himself from crashing. He held himself steady by hitting the ground with his weapon and holding onto it.

He finally stood straight again as he checked his weapon. The blades were twisted and cracked, the handles were broken. His combined weapon was now separated and the axes were now useless.

"What? How come Edward didn't get an upperhand against the snake? He should be many many times stronger than the snake!", Daniel shouted in shock.

Jonny fatso and Little Teddy also looked at each other's face in shock. They have seen Edward take out their principal, a cultivator at the Second Level of the Energy Foundation Realm with ease. Even the principal should be able to take care of this snake without any effort, let alone someone like Edward.

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"What's going on?", they both asked Robert as they looked at him. Robert, on the other hand, was standing there calmly, without any worries.

"Don't worry. He's just testing his physical strength. Look carefully, he hasn't used a bit of Qi till now.

"Testing his physical strength?", Daniel asked in shock.

"This snake has a very tough physique. He is trying to measure his own physical strength against that.", Robert explained.

"But why so sudden?", Daniel asked as he looked back at the snake.

"It is most likely he is at the peak of his current level and planning to break through.", Robert guessed.

It was just as Robert guessed. As Edward walked towards the snake, he suddenly released all his Qi at once. An intense amount of Qi drowned the whole area.

Edward's Qi kept increasing and increasing, until it suddenly became heavier and denser.

"I was in the middle of evolving my formless Qi when this snake appeared. So, I decided to not use my Qi until it finished evolving. Now it has grown further, as I have finally broken through to the Eighth Level of Energy Foundation Realm.", Edward said at that moment.

Sensing Edward's imense Qi, the snake suddenly changed its target and charged towards the others. It was probably thinking about snatching another prey instead the escape underground.

But before it could grab any of the others, an axe made of Formless Qi came flying and severed its head.

Just before its head was severed, a flame was shot out of its mouth. But as its head was severed, the flame died down before it could spread.

"Hmm. Not bad. A firbreathing snake.", Edward said as he collected the Monster Core from within the snake. He checked it out, then threw it toward Daniel.

"Take it. This is the core of a fire element beast, it will increase your cultivation as well as help you master the fire element. Judging by the amount of energy inside it, You can most likely break through to the Energy Foundation Realm."

"What?", Daniel screamed in shock as he caught the snake's core.

After cheking it and feeling the energy inside, he looked at Edward in gratitude.

"Many thanks, Edward.", Daniel cried.

"Don't mention it. You are our teammate after all. Besides, I need you to grow stronger."

"Why?", Daniel asked.

"I will be taking you with me and Robert to the Overlord's Domain when we go there.", Edward said as he smirked.

"What? Really?", Daniel asked in surprise. "But why? Why me?", he was confused.

"It's because you have the qualities. Not only that, you also deserve to be in the true world of martial arts.", Edward said.

Daniel looked at Edward's eyes, and he could really feel that Edward believed that.

"Why do you think so? I'm not very brave, nor am I exceptionally strong. I just worked hard like crazy, and it somehow worked, that's all.", Daniel said as he tried to understand Edward's thoughts.

"For you, that is enough. Everyone has their own speciality, and you ahve your own too. I see something inside you that you yourself can not see yet.", Edward answered.

"You hear that Robert? That's what Edward said. And Now that I have the core Edward gave me, I can break through to the Energy Foundation realm. I'm gonna surpass you!", Daniel said as he gave Robert a smug look.

"Not so fast. I have fully comprehended the Metal Essence and gained mastery over the Metal Element. I can break through to the Energy Foundation Realm any time I wish. Now that you are gonna take your time to break through, I guess I'll take mine as well.

"Damn you! Well, we'll see who breaks through first!", Daniel said in anger.

"That's enough. Don't waste time. Focus on your break through. I am gonna check the hole from which the snake came out. I think I saw an underground passage or something. i'm gonna check. You guys cultivate here till the and break through.", Edward said as he walked away.

"Okay.", both Daniel and Robert replied at the same time.

"We will cultivate as well. We will not fall behind.", at that moment, Jonny fatso and Little Teddy spoke.

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"Huh. Not bad for a team I guess. I believe we are among the top in terms of strength in this tournament. All of them have potential. I wonder if I should take Old Fatty and Little Teddy with me too when I finally go to the overlord's domain. Nope, I should see more of them. Let's see how well they can do in this tournamnet first.", Edward murmured as he walked away.