Claude finally reached the outer edges of the Gryfino Forest and rushed back towards Dawsbury City.

He returned home, took a bath and changed his clothes. After devouring an energy replenishment pill that he had bought, Claude then sorted through his thoughts, summarizing his gains and losses during the training at Gryfino forest.

He had defeated the beasts, but he realised that although his combat experience was great, his familiarity with using cultivation techniques weren't sufficient enough. He still needed more time to get used to the cultivation techniques. As he was previously living in a world where cultivation didn't exist, his reflexes and first instincts naturally didn't involve them. Although he had relied on his tyrannical sword skills and combat experience from his previous life, this wouldn't be enough against a true cultivation master, where cultivation techniques make a huge difference.

He couldn't underestimate the cultivation masters of this world. He might have his previous life experiences to beat these kids, but it isn't going to be enough when you're up against a cultivation master, someone who he'll have to face eventually. As all these thoughts flashed through Claude's mind, he took a deep breath, went outside and carefully began cultivating. He needed to not only cultivate faster, but learn to familiarise the cultivation techniques as well.

Thanks to the training in Gryfino forest, he had really improved a lot, and he had to put what he had learned into good use. As he cultivated, energy travelled throughout his body and stimulated every single one of his cells, and his entire body felt really nice.

Claude wanted to channel this vital energy into his body and replenish his strength.

****************************

May Clifford was trembling in anger. She couldn't believe that Claude Rayforth could return alive. But he did. With her senior brothers' strength, how could they possibly fail?

"Not only did he not die, he became even stronger… " May Stafford's face was green. From what she heard, Claude had brought back several beast skins to sell, most of which were high grade ones in the sixth rank.

She had sent her senior brothers to assassinate Claude, but not only did they fail, they allowed his strength to increase even more. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Accidents and even deaths were not uncommon in the Gryfino forest, which was why she had sent her senior brothers to take care of Claude. But Claude returned, unharmed from the looks of it, while her senior brothers didn't.

She was completely helpless now that even her senior brothers were beaten by Claude. And worse, they might even be killed by him. And it wasn't like she could do anything about it. Even if she had the influence to force the elders to launch an investigation to search all of Gryfino forest in an effort to frame Claude for their deaths, it would still be a fruitless effort. The Gryfino forest is a dense and dangerous jungle filled with wild beasts in every corner. It would be a miracle if a dead body lasted that long without being devoured by any of them.

"Damn you Claude Rayforth…." May Stafford's eyes glimmered with hatred and impotent fury. However, she didn't dare try to mess with Claude when he was staying in the academy, and could only gulp down her resentment.

************************************

Closing his eyes, Claude began to try and gain insight from his experiences.

For him to imprint cultivation techniques into his mind as a form of reflex, he needed to be extremely careful and not rush, so the improvement speed would be slow, while giving more importance to mental energy, reaction speed and analysis.

He continued training for seven days, but the effect was very obvious. He had completely reconstructed his innate reflexes and reactions and had successfully imprinted cultivation techniques into his mind.

Claude found that when he used Invisible Sword Technique with Floating Footsteps, it was even faster. By using seven days, Claude had improved his speed to the high level.

This meant that Claude's offense was even faster than before, and had the potential to dominate most, if not all of the outer section disciples in the Inner Disciple Exams.

Claude's lips curled into a smile, "I am getting pumped up for this contest!"

Those that could rank in the top ten were selected by the Academy to join the Inner Section. At least five hundred of the outer disciples entered the competition in the hopes of becoming an inner disciple. If the Claude of the past was still the same as before, he would not even have the right to participate.

"There are still a few days left until the competition. I need to use my time wisely..." Soon, Claude's concentration returned to his cultivation, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had passed. The time for the inner disciple contest became closer and closer.

Since he had already restructured his reflexes to include cultivation, Claude put even more energy into cultivating. His key focus was the Invisible Sword Technique and his footwork. In just a matter of days, his cultivation had increased at an insane speed and easily broke through to the peak of the sixth rank, only half a step away from entering the seventh rank.

"The inner disciple contest will start tomorrow.." Claude took a deep breath and began concentrating.

Swoosh!

Using his Invisible Sword Technique, a sword was drawn in mid air, vibrating with loud hums as beams of sword light flashed past. The sword intent in the air now was beyond terrifying, as the stream of resplendent light whistled through the air.

Claude stood in the middle with a calm composure, exuding an extraordinary aura. A cold light flickered within his eyes.

He was ready to win!