-Blanc Clan Compound, Lloyd's Residence-

Lloyd was happily sleeping when he heard some knocking on his door.

"Young master, your breakfast is ready," Trisha said from behind the door.

"Okay, I'm coming!" Lloyd responded.

Lloyd got up from the bed, does some quick exercise, went out of the room, then proceeded to the dining area.

"Thank you for the meal, Trisha! It was delicious!" Lloyd said.

After eating his breakfast, Lloyd directly went to his courtyard. He placed a mat on the open space and sat cross-legged. Lloyd calmed his mind while closing his eyes.

"Focus...Inner peace..." Lloyd whispered.

Then suddenly, he opened his eyes and shouted, "White Dragon's Eye Technique, Activate!"

"Wow! So colorful!" Lloyd was amazed by what he was seeing.

The world suddenly became different and has become so much more colorful. "What are these dancing colors? Hmm? Are these the auras which the instructions on the technique talked about? Wow!" Lloyd said while being amazed by his newfound ability.

Based on the instructions on Lloyd's mind, by activating his eye technique, he'll be able to see the various auras which all living things emit.

Lloyd looked around his vicinity and said, "Wow, I can see the auras of insects and birds. I should try this on a human to see how this would work."

Lloyd got up and walked outside his residence while his eye technique was activated. He looked around and saw two of his fellow clan members walking away from him. He slightly squinted his eyes and focused his gaze on those two people.

"What the- ...," Lloyd whispered. The person on the left side emits a fire-like aura while the other one emits a blue aura. So they're fire and water user respectively. Amazing! Does this mean that I'll be able to know ahead of time what my opponent's types of attacks are before they execute their techniques? Isn't this too incredible?" Lloyd said while grinning from ear to ear.

"Young master!"

"Huh? What?" Lloyd was startled by the sound. He looked at his left side and saw Trisha looking back at him.

Lloyd unconsciously activated his eye technique on Trisha, 'Huh? There are words on top of her head. Hmm...What the- First Level of Mana Gathering Realm!? Does this mean that besides letting me know other's element types, this also lets me know their current level of cultivation? Amazing!' Lloyd thought.

Lloyd have the poker face the whole time so Trisha doesn't know what he was thinking. "What's the matter, Trisha? How long have you been standing there?" Lloyd asked.

"Not that long, Young master. I was just concerned because I saw you absent-mindedly staring in front while grinning. Are you okay, Young Master?" Trisha concernedly asked.

Lloyd was touched by Trisha's concern. "I'm fine, Trisha. Thank you for the concern," Lloyd said.

Trisha sweetly smiled in return. Then, Trisha looked like he suddenly remembered something but decided not to tell Lloyd about it.

"I'll head inside for the time-being. I'll be in closed-door training for three days. Please bring me food once in a while and after three days, remind me. We'll continue our walk which was postponed yesterday." Lloyd said to Trisha.

"Yes, Young Master. Please do not push yourself too hard," Trisha said while slightly bowing.

Trisha followed Lloyd with her concerned gaze  until she couldn't see him anymore.

Lloyd headed inside his room, sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes. He activated his body constitution and started cultivating. He absorbed the surrounding mana around him for awhile. The process of absorbing mana takes too long because a cultivator has to first filter out the impurities mixed within the mana before absorbing it into the dantian. After around five minutes, he grabbed a pouch on his left side then opened it. Inside, a small black stone which emanates a blue aura can be found.  The blue aura can be seen by a naked eye even without using a special eye technique, this stone is called a Mana Stone. Lloyd picked it up and clenched it inside his palm. Mana stones are rocks which absorbed vast amounts of mana underneath the earth for a long period of time. It can aid a cultivator in hastening the mana absorption process. Not long after, the mana stone in Lloyd's hand crumbled into tiny pieces.

"Mana stones are really handy. It not only makes cultivating faster but it is also pure mana unlike the mana in my surroundings which are too impure. Too bad that I only have an inferior-grade mana stone," Lloyd disappointingly said. Mana stones also differ from one another. The amount of mana, the speed of absorption and the suitability for the realm of cultivation are the criterias in determining its grade. The Inferior-grade mana stones on Lloyd's hand are only used by cultivators in the starting realm. Before, Lloyd's body wouldn't be able to handle a higher grade mana stone because it contains a vast amount of mana. However, since having the pendant of samsara, Lloyd's talent was raised to its maximum potential, enabling him to absorb a higher grade of Mana stone.

"Oh well, thanks to the mana stone, I'm now at the bottleneck which acts as the barrier between my current level and the next level. Just a little more and I'll break past my level and achieve a breakthrough!" Lloyd excitingly said. The Mana Gathering Realm is the starting point of cultivation where a cultivator must store huge amounts of mana in their dantian until it's full. The amount of mana in their dantian determines their level. There are three levels in the Mana Gathering Realm, with the first level as the starting point and the third level as the highest point. The third level of Mana Gathering Realm is where the amount of mana in the cultivators' dantian was at its fullest. Which means that it was the highest level for the first realm of cultivation.

After three days...

Trisha was pacing back and forth outside Lloyd's room. She was deliberating whether to knock into Lloyd's room or not.

"Should I knock on young master's  door or not? But young master said to notify him if it's already three days. Okay, I'll go." Trisha said. She was about to knock on the door when she heard a shout coming from inside the room.

"Oh yeah! Success! Hahaha!"

"Young Master! Are you okay!?" Trisha worriedly said after barging inside the room.

"Trisha! Haha. I'm okay. Super okay even. Hahaha!" Lloyd said while laughing. He got up and suddenly hugged Trisha.

"Ah!" Trisha let out a squeal.

Lloyd realized what he did so he let go of Trisha and said apologetically, "Oh, I'm very sorry Trisha. I didn't mean to hug you. I'm just overjoyed right now."

"I-it is ok, young master." Trisha responded.

"Actually, I broke through! Haha! I'm now at the third level of Mana gathering realm!" Lloyd excitedly told Trisha.

"What!? Congratulations, Young Master! I am so happy for you!" Trisha happily responded.

"Hahaha. Thank you, Trisha. However, please keep it between us for now. I trust you but other people are a different story. I have so many enemies inside the clan and this is another weapon to counter them," Lloyd said.

"I understand, young master. I'll definitely keep this a secret." Trisha seriously said.

"Haha, thank you, Trisha. Let's go out and visit Francis, It's already been three days," Lloyd said.

When they were about to leave the residence, someone came to visit.

"Bro!"

Lloyd heard it and said, "Speaking of the devil, he actually came to visit us first. Come, let's meet him at the entrance."

When they're at the entrance, Lloyd activated his eye technique to look at Francis' current level of cultivation.

'Earth Element? Second level of Mana Gathering Realm? That is not too bad but also not too good considering that he is the next clan head of their family' Lloyd mused.

Meanwhile, Francois approached them. "Bro! Good Morning!" Francis greeted.

"Good Morning too, Francis," Lloyd greeted back.

"How come you're only at the second level of Mana Gathering realm when you're the same age as me and have a decent talent? Are you neglecting your cultivation?" Lloyd asked.

Francis was shocked so he asked Lloyd, "Bro, how did you know my current level of cultivation?"

"Just a guess, just try to cultivate more often, okay? Wealth is not enough to protect not just yourself but also your loved ones, strength is still the best protection," Lloyd said.

"I understand, bro. Thank you. By the way, how's your preparation?" Francis asked Lloyd.

"Huh? Preparation?" Lloyd asked.

When Trisha heard that, she tried to warn Francis by doing face expressions. Francis, as oblivious as he is, ignored Trisha and answered Lloyd's question.

"Yes, preparations. For the upcoming tournament?" Francis said.

"Huh? What tournament?" Lloyd asked.

Francis said, "I thought Trisha over there already told you? She haven't yet?" He nodded toward Trisha's direction.

Lloyd looked at Trisha whose eyes were avoiding Lloyd's piercing glare.

"What tournament is Francis talking about, Trisha?" Lloyd asked.

"Young master, please forgive me!" Trisha immediately said. She quickly bowed and apologized to Lloyd.

"Do you know something?" Lloyd further asked with knit eyebrows.

"Young master! I deeply apologize! I ultimately decided not to inform you about it because I thought that something bad might happen if you participate," Trisha said while still deeply bowing.

"I understand, Trisha. You're just doing it for my sake. Please raise your head." Lloyd said while helping Trisha in raising her head.

"But rest assured. The Lloyd of the past is no more. I am now born anew. I promise myself that from now on, I will not back down on any kind of battle," Lloyd said while staring at Trisha, "So please tell me about that tournament you two are talking about."

And so, Trisha told Lloyd about the tournament.

It turned out that it was a tournament organized by the clan's higher ups for the younger generation members of the clan to measure their current strengths. Clan members below 13 years-old of age were welcome to participate. 13 years-old above were not allowed to participate. The tournament was scheduled three months from now.

After knowing about the tournament, Lloyd began to feel skeptical, "Younger generations, but only 13-years old and below are allowed to participate?" he asked.

'Maybe they specially made that rule so that I would be able to participate?' Lloyd analyzed.

”Indeed, that’s kind of suspicious,” Francis added.

“Speaking of suspicious, how did you know of our clan’s tournament?” Lloyd asked Francis.

“Because they made it public, of course,” Francis said.

“Ah…Okay,” Lloyd said.

Lloyd turned to Francis and Trisha, “Then, I’ll need to get ready for the tournament. Francis, Trisha, I am sorry but we have to postpone our sight-seeing for the second time. I will definitely make it up to you two,” Lloyd said.

"It is fine, bro. No matter what happens in the tournament, as long as you did your best, that is all that matters," Francis said.

"Exactly, young master. We are always here to support you," Trisha added. 

Lloyd was touched by their kind words. "Thank you, Francis and Trisha."

"I'll now focus on training for the upcoming tournament. I will see you two from time to time, okay? Take care of yourselves," Lloyd said.

Lloyd was about to leave when Trisha remembered something. 

"Young master!" Trisha shouted.

"Huh? What is it Trisha? Is something wrong?" Lloyd looked back and asked Trisha.

"Young master, I heard that the second young master made a breakthrough into the First level of Mana Creating Realm," Trisha said. The Mana Creating Realm is the next realm of cultivation next to Mana Gathering Realm.

"Oh, I see. Thank you for the information, Trisha. I'll head inside of my room for now. Take care guys!" Lloyd bid farewell to the two.

'First level? With my current capabilities, as long as I cultivate diligently, I will catch up to that younger brother of mine in no time,' Lloyd thought.