Spirit's Ascension-Chapter 66—New Developments

Cole stared straight at Bryan like he was staring at a persistent stalker, but he couldn’t do anything to shake him off.

Bryan looked completely determined to hear the response.

Cole knew that, and that was the exact reason he had already thought of what to say.

"I can do all this due to something I inherited," Cole responded.

"Do you think I am dumb or something? Techniques are rooted in your Innate spirit; you can’t just randomly use any technique," Bryan retorted.

Cole was a little caught off guard, but with his experience from dealing with people in the slum, he quickly regained his composure.

"It’s a really special technique; my dad used to tell me he got it from someone that stays far, far away," Cole said.

Bryan looked at him skeptically while also having his own thoughts.

"Somewhere far away. Could it be the middle ring or even the upper ring?" He thought as his eyes widened in awe.

"That seems possible; there really are crazy techniques out there," Bryan finally accepted.

Despite accepting Cole Cole superfic, still had some reservations about him.

There was no blaming him, though. Cole refused to tell him what his Innate spirit was despite him also doing the same; he felt he had a justifiable reason.

"They must never know we still exist," Bryan thought.

Cole wiped the sweat off his forehead as he felt the interrogative air slowly flow away.

He hadn’t even had the time to relax since he had entered; he was forcefully dragged into an uncomfortable conversation.

Proceeding, Cole headed to his bed and plopped right on it.

"I missed you so much," he said while ruffling the sheets to his satisfaction.

"Those nurses would have never let me do this," Cole thought while a shiver ran down his spine.

During the past few days, he had gotten much closer to the younger nurses. They weren’t as afraid of him as they previously were.

Instead, they grew slightly overbearing, like the head nurse.

During that moment of peace, Cole just lay on his bed while thinking back to the beginning of it all.

He thought back to how much he struggled as an orphan child in the slums, how he fell for Doctor Thomas’s trap, how he magically got an invitation, and now how he was ranked fifth among Freshmen.

He felt quite amazed by how much he had actually grown in the span of a few weeks, but he felt even more confused by some things.

"I know I didn’t accidentally escape the lab, who helped me?"

"And who gave me the invitation?"

Cole had previously thought the person would eventually reveal themselves and tell him what they wanted, but he hadn’t seen anyone show up.

That and Bryan’s new observation now made Cole keep his guard up even more.

He knew that nothing came for free in Life.

"I just hope they don’t have nefarious intentions," he thought.

He continued his thoughts in bed for quite a while, even almost using up the whole day.

He didn’t mind, though; it was intentional, he had always been up and about, doing something or being dragged into something.

He wanted a little more peace.

When it was finally evening, Cole decided he already had enough rest.

Just laying there felt extremely weird to him. It made him feel useless; even while he was injured, he was still doing a lot.

But the decision to do something didn’t make a task magically appear. There was actually nothing for him to do.

He thought of going to the library, but he decided against it. It was too late.

After a bit of tossing and turning, he finally decided to cultivate.

He remembered he hadn’t cultivated ever since he had advanced, but that was mainly because he advanced just yesterday.

Cole sat up in a lotus position while he settled his heart. Bryan had left the room a while ago to go get lunch, so he was alone.

Cole wasted no time and began chanting the World Absorbing Mantra, using a normal pace to test the waters.

But the moment he began, a gust of wind immediately picked up as Life energy rolled up in a ball above him.

It surged extremely actively, ready to be absorbed.

Cole was instantly alarmed; chanting the World Absorbing Mantra used to be okay since he had gotten to the academy, but now it seems like a dangerous ordeal.

He was sure that short moment had probably caused a ruckus with others cultivating around him.

"Did the mantra get more powerful when I advanced?" Cole questioned.

"But I haven’t even used the full potential when it wasn’t upgraded; will this keep happening?"

Cole felt both happy and sad at the same time, happy that he got something so powerful but also sad that he couldn’t fully use it anytime.

The upgrade to his Soul Mantra further boosted Cole’s self-esteem while also making him want to protect his secret more.

"Slowly,under your noses, I will surpass you all and shatter the stupid system you have created."

His past few wins hadn’t made Cole forget how he was treated and how he is still being treated; instead, they further strengthened it.

With newfound confidence, Cole resumed his cultivation, but this time while chanting slowly.

The effect was almost equal to how Cole felt when he chanted it normally previously.

He could feel the life energy flow into his body and cause real change, like he was actually cultivating it.

Before he advanced and was supposedly stuck at the Peak-stage Dormant level, he couldn’t feel this.

"Growth," he murmured.

Cole continued his cultivation peacefully and quietly, shutting out any external disturbances. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

But it turned out he didn’t actually completely shut them out, as he was quickly interrupted by Bryan’s return.

Cole opened his eyes to look at the bald-headed Bryan move through the room.

He thought for a while before concluding his asking, as he felt Bryan was much more knowledgeable than he was.

"Bryan, do Soul Mantras advance with the user?" he asked with an inquisitive gaze.

Bryan, on the other hand, turned to look at him like he was staring at a God or something.

"Don’t tell me you have a soul mantra," Bryan hurriedly said after a while.