He entered the meeting room for what could be the last time. His cultivation session had borne fruit. He improved Prismatic Barrier and had a general idea of how to push it forward. Even with that though he wouldn't be able to do it in the short run. It would require several days if he avoided fighting and who knew how long if he relied on the skill more. With the way his combat style had changed he leaned toward the latter. He was fast but he was safer if he stayed in his defenses and launched attacks like a turret. Of course, his recent battles showed that wouldn't always be the case. There would be—he was pulled out of his thoughts as the dwarves appeared.

  "Greetings Fledglings!" Thrawn's voice bellowed as he surveyed the gathered group. "Today is the last time we will be together. You have learned almost all that we have to teach you. That being said almost all things is not all things. You have received opportunities and resources many in the multiverse would've killed for. I hope most of you understand that by now. From this point on you will need to move forward with your own two feet. As a baby planet you all are aware of the dangers you face but allow me to let you know about the fortunes. The Network has flooded your altered planet with both spiritual energy and Dao. " He paused to let the words hang before he continued. "This has and will lead to the birth of rare natural treasures. Treasures that will give you all a chance to take the next step in your cultivation. Treasures that have either gone extinct or are incredibly difficult to find."

  Maximilian nodded along as he continued his explanation. In truth the news was interesting but not overly so. A new gold rush would start once they got back. Only this time they were competing for something far more valuable than gold. They could gain time. Not to mention they could gain unheard of amounts of money. There was also the chance of some miracle treasure. One that made you stronger or did something insane. There were no guard rails as far as he could tell. The Network hadn't allowed anyone to hurt anyone during the tutorial as far as he could tell. That wouldn't be the case anymore. After that Thrawn went over a few more things that could be best described as miscellaneous. He explained that we would have access to teleportation areas.

  They would be a part of the Network Centers and that once we activated them, we should get some sort of assistant. Thrawn didn't go into too many details, so it was a bit irritating. At least it confirmed they wouldn't have to run around or rely on cars to travel. He was pretty sure he was at least two or three times as fast most cars at this point. The one interesting thing they explained was how we would get sent back. It turned out they were going to be sent back at random. The Network would send us to coordinates on the new planet but there was no way to know where you would end up. When someone pointed out that not everywhere would be safe. He shrugged which only added to Maximilian's unease. It would be unfortunate to get through the tutorial only to get dropped into a volcano. Of course, he didn't think that would happen or rather he thought the luck attribute would play a role. Either that or the Network would make sure the people it cared for weren't sent into no win situations.

  Either way there was nothing they could do about it. The Network would do whatever it wanted and they would have to deal with it. When Thrawn finished the Dwarves wished everyone good luck and then disappeared. He waited around for a few moments to make sure there wasn't anything else he needed to know. Once he confirmed the meeting was over, he made his way back to his apartment. He entered his cultivation chamber, pulled out the pill bottle and broke the seal. His mind blanked as the strongest medicinal smell bellowed out of the bottle. A ravenous hunger formed in the center of his stomach. It was so strong that he had to physically resist the urge to toss the pill into his mouth. He tipped the pill out into the palm of his hand. The pill was a gossamer white and blue that was both ethereal and potent. It was spherical and was about as big as a marble. He couldn't decide if the pill was fragile or if it was stronger than his body. It felt both like he was holding a star filled with energy and ball of cotton candy. The medicinal smell was almost twice as strong now that it wasn't trapped in the bottle. He rolled the pill between his fingers for a moment before he placed it into his mouth and swallowed. As soon as the pill entered his throat an arctic cold passed through him. It was as if he had swallowed a blizzard.

  The pill passed through his body and settled in his stomach where the bone-chilling cold intensified. He gritted his teeth and circulated the Nine Lightning Canon. His breaths passed through his lungs like glass as he fought to keep himself calm. Within seconds it was as if his energy had turned into slush as it spread out from his dantian and through his channels. The chill didn't stop at his energy. It passed into his blood, bones and skin until it felt like he was dying. Anxiety and fear surged as he began to panic. Had he done something wrong? Was he supposed to wait until he was at a higher level? His erratic thoughts began to slow until it felt like everything was being frozen. His body ached and crackled as a thin layer of frost coated the outside of his body. His focus was pulled inside and what he saw made him relax. The energy wasn't freezing his body. Instead, it had frozen debris in his spiritual energy. He passed his gaze over every part of his body and saw the same thing happening in bone marrow and blood. Just as he was getting used to the cold his body went through another change.

  Agony shot through him as the cold transformed into heat. He screamed and focused solely on his cultivation technique. Spiritual energy was pulled in as his body underwent a metamorphosis. The sound of his dantian cracking under the strain replaced everything else. The pill had dissolved which had to mean the processes was ending. In the next moment his Dantian crumbled completely. The walls were replaced with something harder than steel. Maximilian's world stopped as he processed the new change. He only had a moment before the second round of changes began. The never-ending cold was replaced with a starvation. It was as if his body had turned into a bottomless ravine. He lost control over his cultivation technique. As the most spiritual energy he had ever experienced flooded his body.

  Just as he the process began to end something changed. The pill's energy resonated with something deep inside him. Like ripples across an impossibly deep pond. The feeling was faint at first but increased until it became impossible to notice. A palpable sense of expectation formed in his chest as he pulled in more energy. Just as he began to worry the pill wouldn't be strong enough to finish his body tensed. Every muscle drew as tight as steel cables right before something popped. He gasped like a fish on dry land as all the air was forced out of his lungs. When he had caught his breath the cold had begun to fade. Despite that he didn't move. His body was still in rapidly absorbing energy though he wasn't getting any closer to the next level. It was like his body needed the energy to function. He ignored the small thread of worry that threatened to ruin his mental state. He would deal with whatever came next when he needed to. He wasn't sure how long he sat there before he opened his eyes.

  Small frost crystals cracked and fell away from his face as he did. Once again he circulated his spiritual energy though this time it was to clean his body. He couldn't feel the cold, not really but that didn't stop the bits of ice. When he was dried he took a moment to review the changes. His body felt different for lack of a better word. There was nothing on his screen that gave him any answers so he decided not to worry to much. The reward was there to make him better so there was no need to look a gift horse in the mouth. He had no idea how much time he had but he decided to keep the good times rolling. He closed his eyes and started up his cultivation technique. Only to find his cultivation speed had increased, it was hard to say for sure but it was around twice as fast. It seemed like the pill had further improved his cultivation speed. Which was more welcome. He was pulled out of his mediation sometime later by the voice of the Network.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  Congratulations on Completing The Tutorial Trial. Final Grade is being calculated.

  Grade Earned: A: Final Tutorial Ranking: 1st

  The Genesis Protocol has concluded. Initiating return to Planet Earth.

  Even after reading twice he wasn't sure what he saw was real. He was first? He knew that he had to be in the top ten percent at least but a part of him has assumed someone else would be just as impressive. His new status did put things into perspective. If he assumed that being first wasn't based on some arbitrary rules. That it was based on his combat strength than he should be safe. At least for now. He was pulled from his thoughts as he was engulfed by a familiar white light. Now that the process had begun, he couldn't help but feel a weird sense of melancholy. He wouldn't say that he would miss the place, but it had become home. At least for a time. He had evolved, grown in more ways that he thought possible and now he would leave. Now he would go back, and this place would either stop existing or replace him. It reminded him of graduating college. Only this was much more dangerous. The teleportation felt different, or rather it felt like the one when he was first brought here. It was much longer. He tried to interact with it. Either the Network was that much stronger than him or he needed to know more about that kind of Dao first. He wasn't sure if he could learn how to teleport like that or if it was a Network exclusive thing. Either way it was something to worry about later.

  Part of him wanted to try his own Dao but decided against it. Sci-fi movies had done more than enough to warn him about messing with teleportation. The last thing he needed was to get stuck somewhere. When the white light disappeared, he had to squint and raise a hand to block the harsh sunlight. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust but when they did, he was at a loss for words. He had thought he was ready for whatever the Network would throw at them, but he was wrong. Very wrong. He had been sent to a primordial forest. It was like someone had taken the rain forest and transformed it. The trees were as tall as buildings with canopies that made him feel like he was lost. Further the sounds made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He withdrew his aura further inside himself, afraid that someone or rather something was watching him.

  "Creepy." He scanned the tree line for several more minutes before he decided that it was a trick of his imagination. He waited for a few minutes in hope that someone else would appear. When none did after almost twenty minutes. He began to plan his next move. He was no experts on forests, but this place seemed like it wasn't on Earth before. The spiritual energy was much stronger. Though it was different from his cultivation chamber. It had a flavor to it. One that he figured was "Nature" or "Forest" assuming that there were daos for that. He had to assume that the beasts here could kill him. Even with his modifications. Which meant his biggest threat would be the poisonous and toxic things. He assumed any beast that could kill him would announce their presence. He imagined a giant tiger or something so that wasn't the problem. He wasn't sure which direction would lead him out of the forest nor did he know what out of the forest would mean. For all he knew the forest was the size of a continent. After a few more minutes he gave up and decided to start move forward. The lack of information irritated him but there was little he could do now.

  When something final decided to attack him, he was almost thankful. Static Bolt caught the man-sized serpent as it leaped out of the grass to his right. The skill paralyzed the snake which kept it locked down long enough for him to unleash a blast of Dao. It wasn't until the creature was dead that he made a new discovery. The amount of energy was wrong. It was less than half what he should've gotten. Even if he assumed the creature was level 1 or 2. The same thing was true for the number of credits he received. Which hurt his dreams of killing a few monsters and becoming even wealthier. "Well, I guess they weren't lying." He grumbled as he collected the snake's body. If he was lucky, he would find someone that could turn it into boots or something. "I suppose the credit thing isn't too bad. If everyone could be incredibly wealthy than no one would be. Multiversal inflation had to be a monster.

  He killed another five snakes by the time he decided to change it up. All were constrictors which made him more confident that his idea wouldn't get him killed. He scanned the tree line for branches until he found a set of five that could work as a staircase. Before he could convince himself not to do it he leaped into the air. As soon as he landed on the first branch, he dug his nails into the trunk of the tree. He gave the branch a moment to settle before he took a deep breath. "Alright, you got this." He repeated the process four more times until he was on the tallest of the trees. When he reasonably sure it wouldn't fall, he looked around and what he saw took his breath away. It would be more accurate to call the forest a green sea. A sea that went on as far as the eye could see. Despite its majesty it wasn't the centerpiece of this new world. That would be the massive mountain. It looked like the finger of a god reaching up from the Earth and toward the Heavens. He wasn't sure how big the mountains of Earth were never having seen them. but he would place this one at three to five times their size.

  He did a quick and dirty calculation to figure it would take him the better part of a week to get there. He should be able to cut that time in half if he sprinted the whole way but that seemed stupid. Not only would he announce himself to everything in the forest, but he would have a harder time noticing them. He glanced at the trees in front of him and a stupid but intriguing idea came to him. He couldn't determine if it would be faster than if he walked but it would be more interesting. He also could avoid the monsters. Not counting anything that lived in the canopy of course. He went back and forth on his options for a few more minutes before he shrugged. He could survive a fall from here. He hoped. He leaped from the tree with enough force to shatter its branches. The first jump caused him to slam into a trunk almost fifty feet away. The impact shattered most of the branches but he made it. A smile threatened the edge of his lips as he reduced the amount of spiritual energy. It felt like he was little red riding hood. The first jump was too much, the second was too little and nearly caused him to miss the branch. The third jump was just right. He landed at the base of the branch with just enough force. Once he had the hang of the force he adjust the jump. He still caused far too much noise for it to be a viable movement method. If he could master, it than he should be able to travel unnoticed.

  He doubted anyone outside the tutorial would try something like this. Even fewer would survive the attempt. He couldn't be sure, but the energy and attributes needed should need someone to be level 4 or 5. That didn't count the monster attacks or the fear of falling he had to be at least one hundred feet up. This would be an interesting few day.