Anthony stood before Huo Fu in the clearing which had since turned to their unofficial battle arena. Anthony had spent the entire morning building a dam to stop the water from the man-made waterfall created by him from flooding the entire place. By the time he finished, it was already afternoon. And then came the arduous task of fetching firewood, fetching water, feeding the animals and cooking.

Finally it was evening, when he always fought against Huo Fu. Or as Huo Fu called it, when he goes to receive his daily dose of beating. He would continue fighting Huo Fu everyday till the day he wins. Otherwise, he would be stuck with him forever. But the old man seemed quite relaxed and assured that he would never be able to defeat him, pissing Anthony off.

"Are you ready for today's beating? Eh, little boy. You should give up already, you will never be able to defeat me, especially with the spirit scattering powder in your body."

Anthony smirked at the man's mocking words. As long as the spirit scattering powder was in his body, eh? Hahaha. Anyway, Anthony had no plans of telling him that in five more days he would be totally rid of the spirit scattering powder. Nor will he ever tell him that the spirit scattering powder was currently less than sixty percent in his bloodstream.

"Don't you get tired of getting beaten? Just remain here and be an obedient slave, accompany this old man. Is that so hard to do? I don't even mistreat you. Forget it, you don't know how to appreciate good will. Since you insist on getting beaten, who am I to say no? As long as you do all your chores during the day, I will keep doing the honors of giving you a purple face. You have all night to lick your wounds. Just don't let it affect your work tomorrow." The old man said, chuckling and stroking his jaws.

"Cut the crap and bring it on." Anthony growled and rushed to the man using his movement technique. His move was swift and unpredictable like the assassin's blade, coming with the force of a tornado as he whooshed around like a phantom. Once he was within fighting range, he unleashed his physique's might and paired it with his hell breaker fist.

Huo Fu frowned. Why did it seem that handling this little waste was getting more difficult by the day?

"Zeal without knowledge is a waste. Let me show you how it's done." Huo Fu said with a huge smirk and drew an arc with his left foot, while simultaneously stomping hard on the ground with his right foot. The shock waves from his foot immediately gave off a three layered attack, bouncing off Anthony's fist.

"Take this too." Huo Fu said with an evil chuckle and slapped the thin air, making Anthony who had just regained his footing to spin like a top.

"Sometimes, your intelligence amazes me. When I poisoned you with the spirit scattering powder, you had the good sense to quickly seal your cultivation and meridians to prevent your soul power from dissipating, pending when you will find a nonexistent solution. Most youths won't be able to react that fast, but you're like an old fox, thinking fast to get yourself out of hot soup in no time at all. That's commendable. You have the mental fortitude of a veteran who has gone through the vicissitudes of time, and won't be shaken by anything. When you realized that your soul power was gone, you quickly switched to physique cultivation instead of giving up. It's truly amazing. I guess that makes you special and sets you apart from other lads. But you have to admit that you're too weak. You're a waste who will never amount to anything. The earlier you accept your fate, the better for you."

"Tell that to the earthworms. You are the waste, old fatso. I, Anthony Meyer, never break or bend. Admitting defeat is not in my bloodline." Anthony roared, rushing at him again.

This time he managed to land a blow before the man knocked him back.

"You cultivate a physique art, but do not realize the way to bring out its full potential just like the amateur you are. You're a waste, truly useless. Such amazing bloodline and physique is truly wasted on you. Tsk tsk tsk."

Anthony gasped and wheezed. He slowly looked up at the man. His face was filled with cuts and bruises, with blood seeping out from the corner of his lips. But his eyes were burning brightly.

Yes, his eyes were filled with a stubborn fire that refused to be quenched, the kind that would keep fighting no matter what life throws at him. He had the eyes of a deranged warrior, determined not to go down without a fight. The eyes of a beast about to let loose.

The corner of his lips curled up in a smirk, and he used the new variation of his ghost step technique which he just created by merging space laws to it, and appeared behind Huo Fu. Without warning, he unleashed a flurry of attacks on him. And the amazing part was that eighty-five percent of the attacks landed right on their targets.

Huo Fu roared in anger, his voice sending out shock waves which attacked Anthony's mind. Anthony spat out blood and flew high up in the air, before landing back on his two feet. Even then, he staggered back a few feet before he regained his footing, barely managing to stand on shaky legs. Despite being in a bad shape, the fire in his eyes refused to dim as he glared at Huo Fu. If anything it burned brighter.

Huo Fu suddenly punched out towards him in a lazy posture, despite being some distance away. Anthony's eyes widened in shock as he felt the kind of power the old man's casual attack carried. Although it was still far away, he could feel the might from the punch, making him distressed. He immediately tried to block it, crossing his hands before his chest. The attack hit him and sent him hurtling through the air like a projectile.

The next time he hit the ground was in the sheep pen a distance away. The old man appeared beside him and scoffed.

"In the face of absolute power, all skills are useless. Remember that." Huo Fu said and turned to leave.

"Absolute power…" Anthony echoed, dissecting the lesson in his mind. That's right! No matter the level and number of techniques or skills you might have, once you meet an insanely powerful opponent, with an insurmountable gap between the both of you, losing becomes certain. Absolute power, a state unshakeable by anything, a level where you can crush everything at will, where your might is the law. Absolute power, absolute sovereignty, a level where all others will have no other option but to submit to you. A level where you're not just the king but the god emperor whom everyone must worship. At that moment, it felt as if a new door was opened unto Anthony, and he found a new target in life—absolute sovereignty, challenged by no one.

"Meanwhile, don't forget to repair the pen you just damaged." Huo Fu added, still cackling like an evil witch as he walked away.

Huo Fu will never admit this in a million years, but Anthony's unexpected attacks which hit him like a tornado left serious injuries on him. He could only laugh and endure it, while using his body's natural healing abilities to save face.

"Stinky bastard." He muttered under his breath once he was sure that Anthony was too far away to hear.

******

Anthony sat on a boulder beside his dam, and squeezed out more juice from the sacred lotus-lily. He poured the juice in a calabash, drank it down, and sat cross legged, taking deep breaths while the juice did its work. This was the third time of the cleansing process, and if everything goes well, it will be the last.

After an hour, Anthony opened his mouth and a mouthful of colored poisoned breath was released into the atmosphere and eventually absorbed by the lotus-lilies floating in the narrow pond. He checked his body and at once, a bright smile spread on his face. The restriction was gone. He drank another mouthful and waited, but there was no more poison to be expelled. He spat out a mouthful of tainted saliva and jumped into the pond. With uncharacteristic happiness, he ran to the waterfall, letting the warm water fall on him. Soon, he was done bathing and sighed in relief.

"I should not hasten to unlock my cultivation now. Let's wait for a few more days, but in the meantime, let's absorb energy from the surroundings, circulate it and use it to access the storage ring." Naturally, Anthony had his reason for not rushing to unlock his cultivation and defeat Huo Fu. The beating was actually a blessing in disguise.

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