Kill The Old Ones!

Chapter 178: Intruder? What Intruder?

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Boom!!!

A loud and sickening crash nearly caused Mikel’s heart to leap out of his chest.

He feared for Ren’s safety, so he charged into the seclusion room. He was alert and ready to punch any intruder to a bloody pulp should he find one trying to mess with his nephew’s breakthrough.

But to his surprise, there was nobody else in there aside from Ren.

Ren, who was standing in the middle of the room, gripping his fist tight with residual chakra glowing in them. In front of him, the other half of the seclusion room practically collapsed.

Crushed debris lay scattered on the floor, as did broken beams, huge chunks of stone and cement, etc. This seclusion room was built to withstand impact, so seeing this, Mikel was even more alert.

"Where’s the intruder?" he asked his nephew, immediately arriving to his side to protect him while cautiously eyeing the room.

Ren blinked, then asked, "What intruder?"

Mikel was caught off guard. He looked at his nephew who looked confused, then at the broken half of the room, and then back to his nephew.

"You did this?" he asked; disbelief was clear in Mikel’s tone.

"Yeah, sorry. Couldn’t help myself. I feel a bit strong after my breakthrough and wanted to test it out a bit. I didn’t control my strength properly."

Mikel was speechless as he returned his gaze to the broken half of the seclusion room.

See, the thing is, this seclusion room was specifically built to withstand explosions of incredible proportions and to contain breakthrough phenomena within.

It’s made of rare and expensive materials and would take months to build. It’s designed to withstand abuse.

It would take an incredible amount of force for somebody to actually put permanent damage to this room. Even more so to reduce it to this state.

Which is why Mikel thought that there must’ve been an intruder who planned on assassinating his nephew.

But it would seem like he had the wrong assumptions. There was no intruder. It was Ren who caused this mess.

"You’re already done with your breakthrough?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Yes," Ren replied affirmatively. "Did I take too long?"

"No...it’s not that, but...you know what? Forget it. I’m going to call somebody to begin repairs. You return to your house and no more destroying things."

"Have it upgraded while you’re at it, Uncle. Put it on my tab. Matter of fact, build two more, just in case. I’ve got plenty of materials and funds. Don’t be shy."

Ren casually replied before walking out of the room.

When he left, Mikel could only place his hands on his hips and laugh incredulously while staring at the massive hole in the ceiling.

Ren’s breakthrough wasn’t slow. Far from it, actually. Typically, some would need days; it could even take weeks before their breakthrough subsides. Ren’s breakthrough only lasted for hours, which was incredibly fast.

It’s because of that that Mikel thought there was an intruder and not Ren failing to control his own strength.

He also inspected Ren’s current state when he said that he was done with his breakthrough. Mikel could see that there seem to be no problems. In fact, Ren’s current state was very good.

Aside from testing his strength and taking it out on this poor room. Ren’s aura and presence were completely restrained and leashed. He’s in control.

That said, Mikel could feel the lingering fluctuations of chakra around, and he could tell that his nephew just practically evolved again after this breakthrough.

It shouldn’t have been possible for Ren to cause this much damage to this seclusion room. He shouldn’t have been strong enough to do this, but he was. And he could tell that Ren hadn’t gone all out just yet.

All of this made Mikel feel helpless and ridiculous. His nephew was such an anomaly that even he did not know how to measure him anymore.

He could only laugh and say:

"Oh, dear sister of mine, just what kind of monster did you and my brother-in-law bring into this world?"

**

Ren felt that he was strong.

Too strong, even. So much so that even he found it ridiculous.

He feels like he could destroy this entire city within minutes. He feels like if he’s not careful enough, he will flatten the whole clan compound in a single misstep.

It didn’t make sense. Ren knew that his stats would always be double, and some, compared to those at the same level as he was. But at his current state, Ren feels like he has more strength than he should have.

He couldn’t understand why, either.

Ren wasn’t blind or clueless. He broke the seclusion room, which was designed to contain breakthrough phenomena and was built to withstand impact, with a single punch.

He did use most of his strength to do so, but that’s crazy because he shouldn’t have been able to do that much damage to it.

In this whole compound, only Mikel could replicate what he did, but that’s to be expected since he’s at the 7th Transformation of the Inhuman Realm.

So why? Why is he so strong all of a sudden? What changed?

’Is it because of my communion with conceptual laws and the heavenly and earthly forces? ’

’If so, then that’s crazy. Surely there’s a catch. I’ll admit that I am broken and overpowered, but even that must have a limit.’

Ren wasn’t just thinking about this to compensate for the gap in his knowledge. He thought about this because that’s how this world works.

Power was never given for free. It comes with strings. The bigger it was, the more strings attached to it.

The stronger and more capable one is, the more the world will expect great things from them. Failure to meet these expectations will lead to serious consequences.

That is the rule of this world. Ren was certain of that.

That is also why he’s sure that there is a catch to this. He can’t be this strong for nothing, or for free. Something must be up.

Ren returned to his home, following Mikel’s orders to not destroy anything anymore. He was being careful when he touched his stuff because he might accidentally break it even though he was in control.

He went to his backyard first. One that had been expanded along with the expansion of the clan’s territory.

Ren sat down and sank his perception within his body to search for the reason why he’s this strong. He was looking for the source of the anomaly, if there’s even one at all.

He has the mystical ability to see the interior of his body now. The so-called ’inner sight.’ It came after his breakthrough, and he just knew how to do it.

Ren used it for introspection, and to his surprise, nothing seems to be amiss.

His chakra network was still working as intended. His chakra reserves and quality increased because of his recent breakthrough. His body was immaculate. Not even a speck of impurity could be seen from within. He’s in perfect health, with no micro-injuries or hidden ones that never healed perfectly. The green lotus core chakra took care of that.

The inheritance mark is still in his consciousness somewhere, still pulsing and infusing his chakra with the freedom attribute.

And most importantly, the curse mark was still with him. The tattoos on his arm were still as dense as ever and, presumably, still prevented him from using any weapons.

Ren couldn’t find any signs within his body that should indicate why he’s suddenly this powerful.

’It might just be a coincidence,’ Ren reasoned out. Maybe it’s a one-time thing. It’ll probably subside once I’m completely acclimated after my breakthrough.’

’If not, then...it might really have something to do with my communion with the conceptual laws and the forces of heaven and earth.’

Ren decided to not think too much about it for now. Whether it’s a one-time thing or if it’s really the case now, Ren was completely fine with it.

Even though power wasn’t free in this world, Ren began his journey fully aware of that. He had been willing to be responsible from the day he seriously started his martial practice, so it wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Ren was just relieved that he came out of that breakthrough safe and sound. Not a lot of people could say the same, that’s for sure.

From here on out, every breakthrough would become even more challenging and life-threatening. Every progress increased the risk on his life, and he had to continue being careful and making sure that his accumulation was enough.

Now that he’s at the 1st Transformation of the Inhuman Realm, though, Ren could climb faster in the dungeons.

He set his new goal. He wanted to reach stage 80, at least, before the City vs. City Tournament begins.

It’s not some outrageous goal; at his current level and strength, this should be possible, even if he’s just going in solo.

Hell, if he could, he wanted to clear all 100 stages before that. But that’s not really possible within that short period of time.

Nevertheless, he’s going to try anyway, and there is a very good reason why.