The whistling wind caressed Rose's face while she was holding tightly onto Thorn's shoulders.

As for Thorn, he was holding Lapi White, the dalmatian dog monster human they had received a request from. They were heading toward White Farm to destroy a plant monster that had been eating the farm crops.

At late afternoon, they finally arrived at their destination.

It was a white four-story building which the White family used as a home. On the sides of the building, there were large D-class zenanium pens, and inside these corrals, there were several domesticated monsters like chicken, pig, cow, and sheep. All these monsters were easy to tame because they could not even reach the Basic Awaken stage. Also, in the distance, there could be seen fields of wheat, pea, rice, and carrot plant monsters. In the same way, they were plant monsters that could not reach the Basic Awaken stage.

As soon as Thorn descended in front of the main gate, Rose got off his back, and Lapi White shouted: "Dad, I've brought the mercenaries!"

But even before his voice could resonate for half a second, the door of the building opened and a middle-aged silver wolf monster human came out. "Hohoho... Welcome son, you've done a great job." Turning his gaze toward Rose and Thorn, he showed a gentle smile: "You must be the mercenaries my son has brought. My name is Lobup White, it's a pleasure to meet you both."

Laughing, Rose nodded: "My name is Rose, and my sister's is Thorn. And the pleasure is ours, Mr. Lobup White."

"Hohoho... What a pleasant surprise! Usually, mercenaries aren't this polite. Hohoho... Please, come in, come in, surely you two must be exhausted by the trip. For today you should rest and early tomorrow we will take care of that plant monster." Lobup White said as he made a hand gesture to show them the entrance to his house.

They entered the building.

Inside, very enthusiastically, Lobup White invited Thorn and Rose to dinner. They nodded to accept the free meal as quick as lighting. At dinner, the White family dropped heavily their jaws, shocked by the way Thorn ate. And at the end of the dinner, Lobup White led Thorn and Rose to the guest room so they could spend the night there.

The guest room was spacious and had a row of five beds.

Once they were left alone, Thorn expressed exhausted: "I don't remember when the last time I have been awake for this long was, with everything that has happened I haven't even had the time to break through..."

With envy written all over her face, she asked: "Can you make a breakthrough right now?"

"Yes, the door is already there, I just have to go through It." he replied.

"Since that's the case, go ahead and make your breakthrough. Don't worry, I'll not let anyone interrupt you while you are at it." Rose assured.

After nodding, Thorn proceeded to sit in the lotus position on one of the beds. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. Then, he put his whole metal body, or in other words: his whole soul, inside his Complex Energy body.

Thorn's mental body appeared in a space of infinite darkness, and in front of him, there was a green door adorned with dark green lines that gave off the feeling of being countless palpitating veins.

Thorn raised a fist and gently knocked on that door.

*Crack* *Crack!* *Crack!!* *Rumble!!*

Instants later, the door shattered into thousands of tiny pieces.

It must be known that in general, to break this door one needed a long period of struggle, but Thorn's current mental body was just too powerful, it made appear the door to enter into the Second Level Intermediate Awaken Challenge like if it were no different from fragile glass.

After smashing down the door, an illuminated passageway came into view, its walls resembling pristine silver marble.

He, without hesitation, walked into that passageway. And soon, he arrived at an immense room, whereupon he found someone with his exact same appearance waiting for him!

Green mist swirling around its body, Thorn's Copy glanced over at Thorn, its eyes exuding unrestrained killing intent.

This being had the same strength and combat capabilities Thorn had when he reached the First Level Intermediate Awaken stage.

Thorn's Copy abruptly used its Wind Element Awakened Skill to ascend 100 m with a single leap, and it then nose-dived toward Thorn, its fist pointed at him.

Thorn's right hand quietly took the shape of a claw. Hatred beyond words asphyxiating him, he looked at his old self and reproached gnashing his teeth: "Because of your weakness, I've lost everything I've ever loved."

He then raised his clawed hand and moved his fingers so fast they left afterimages. Hundreds of wind blades appeared, and in an instant, they sliced his copy's body into tens of thousands of bits, not letting it react at all.

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The blood and flesh of his old self rained down on him as he stood there with a cold, freezing gaze.

To break through into a superior level, the cultivator had to overcome a Breakthrough Challenge. The time limit to overcome the Breakthrough Challenge was half an hour. A cultivator could try a Breakthrough Challenge only once per month as long as said cultivator met the required cultivation base, understanding degree, and mental state. If the cultivator failed, that cultivator would have to wait a year to try again and his soul wouldn't be healed after the challenge was over. First and Second Challenges were non-lethal.

While Thorn was mercilessly killing himself, Rose could not help but stare at him and wonder: (How long will he take to break through…?)

Usually, cultivators took at least 15 minutes to kill a version of themselves when both were at the same level of cultivation. Still, Rose used to need just from one to two minutes to overcome First Challenges. That alone was incredible enough to render everyone in Cloud Cutter Castle speechless.

Suddenly, Rose felt Thorn's Aura in Complex Energy turn into a Second Level Intermediate Awaken Aura.

Rose's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. She opened her mouth wide, and stuttered: "I-It has just been... f-five seconds...!"

Thorn opened his eyes and immediately met Rose's funny expression. At that moment, all traces of coldness disappeared from within his eyes and a slight smile subtly formed on his face. "Don't be so surprised by this, it was to be expected that it wouldn't take me long. After all, I had more than a million years of advantage."

"Oh... it's true... you're right..." Rose slowly nodded.

"By the way, you mentioned that you had difficulties to break through, what exactly is it all about?" He asked after remembering that he still did not know the details regarding the situation of Rose's cultivation.

Turning her head to avert Thorn's gaze, she muttered: "I've been stuck in the First Level Basic Awaken stage for twenty years now... I've tried a lot of methods but I still can't see the door." Rose showed a self-mocking smile and added: "I haven't even been able to figure out what caused this bottleneck..."

Thorn put on a thoughtful expression and could not help but mumble: "So, since you got your Awakened Skill you've been stuck... and even now you don't know why... maybe..." He gave Rose a serious look and then asked: "Are you aware of the fact that your Awakened Skill is an Arrogant Awakened Skill?"

Upon hearing such a question, Rose stared at Thorn as if looking a hopeless fool, and replied: "That can't be possible. Arrogant Awakened Skills are irrationally powerful skills. For example, your Life Restorer which allows you to become almost immortal or Lin the Lonely Adventurer's Rhythm Breaker which allows her to control gravity itself. How could you put my skill and those skills on the same level?"

He laughed and exclaimed: "So that's the problem! Oh, Rose! I can't be wrong, you definitely have an Arrogant Awakened Skill!"

She remained stiff for quite a while before asking: "... Why are you so sure of yourself?"

"Because your skill is incredibly powerful." Thorn answered immediately.

"Eh?! I know that my skill can be useful under certain circumstances, but... incredibly powerful?" Rose's voice was full of skepticism.

He affirmed with a resolute nod: "It is. After all, it is only at its initial stage and yet it already encompasses three aspects of nature which are the sound, the heat, and the smell."

"But, even so, it's weak…" Rose muttered crestfallen.

"I can understand why you aren't convinced by my words. And actually, it's okay if you don't believe me, but at least try to believe in your skill, try to convince your soul that your skill is the best in the world. Do that and find out by yourself whether or not my words are true." Thorn advised as he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.

(Mmm... it's true that my skill is quite complex even though it is only in its initial stage. If it is as he said and my Awakened Skill is arrogant then it would make sense why I'm stuck. Arrogant Awakened Skills have this small flaw: if its user is not convinced that its skill is the best skill in the world, then the user will get stuck in its cultivation... To call them 'arrogant' has always been sorely appropriate...) Rose slowly thought.

After contemplating the matter a bit more carefully, an expression of determination appeared on Rose's face. "You're right, at least I should try and discover the truth for myself!"

After that, she closed her eyes, breathed in deeply, and entered into her Complex Energy body.

Her mental body appeared in a space of infinite darkness, but in contrast with Thorn's space, there was no door here.

She was very familiar with this desolate scene. Ignoring the sense of emptiness that this sight gave to her soul, she began to shout to herself with all her willpower: "My skill is the best skill in the world! My skill is the best skill in the world! My skill is the best skill in the world! ..."

Very early, when the sky was still dark.

Just after waking up, Thorn saw Rose sitting in the lotus position with her eyes closed; there was a very serious expression on her face. He could not help but wonder: (Has she been like this all night? It seems like she has yet to succeed... I guess it's not so easy to convince yourself of something you don't really believe...)

Involuntarily, he ended up staring at her resolved and flawless face for a long moment, dazed by her beauty. But a few seconds later, he abruptly shook his head and screamed in his mind: (Damn! I'm so sick! For heaven's sake, she's a human! A human!)

Later, they were called by Lobup White for breakfast. And after eating, Lobup White took them to one of his farm fields.

When they arrived, they saw a barren parcel.

Lobup White pointed at it and explained: "A week ago, this whole parcel was full of healthy wheat plant monsters, but then, in a single night, it became like this. Since then, similar cases have occurred with our other fields. We tried to catch the culprit, but the most we accomplished was to discover that the culprit is a plant monster with Earth Element Awakened Skill. That plant monster is a very sensitive one. Every time we got slightly closer to it, it'd get back to the underground. Of course, once it hides, we can't do anything to it." Lobup White signaled at Rose and continued: "That's why we need someone with a skill related to stealth."

After listening to Lobup White's speech, Rose and Thorn exchanged glances and found the worry on each other's faces. They realized that although Rose could hide the sound, smell and body heat of both Thorn and herself, the plant monster still would be able to feel Thorn's First Level Intermediate Awaken Aura in Mystical Energy.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Outskirts of Lurep Village.

Dani Zelu stood on an empty hill, his arms folded across his chest.

Suddenly, a red butterfly monster appeared out of thin air. Seeing this beautiful creature, he raised his palm. It then landed on his palm and dropped a small piece of paper on it.

After accomplishing its mission, the red butterfly monster put its wings into motion once again, and a few instants later, it disappeared into thin air.

Dani Zelu unrolled the small piece of paper and read what was written on it: "I have confirmed it, she has no protector. Capture her and bring her to my manor on Nedu Lake."