"That's right" responded Barden.
"Miko managed to place third in the tournament, only losing to Jason in the semi-finals."
"What? Miko is a Qi Condensation cultivator now? He's only eleven" blurted out John. While he was incredibly shocked, he was also incredibly happy. He considered Miko to be one of his best friends, and was happy for any good news regarding him.
"Mhm, he managed to break through to early Qi Condensation a day before the tournament. The fact that he placed that high despite only breaking through the previous day shows just how much of a monster he is. He might have won the tournament if it wasn't for Jason. That variant soul of his is completely terrifying. He's going to be an absolute monster once he grows up."
Barden thought back to Miko's fights and shook his head. "If only he was a Fenix Clan member, wouldn't that be great? But it seems like John is going to be just as monstrous, so its not all that bad" thought Barden.
John sat there stunned and could hardly believe his ears.
'It seems like Miko hasn't been slacking off either. In fact, he's leaving me in his dust.'
Hearing that both Parker and Miko had already reached Qi condensation, and had placed extremely well in the tournament lit a fire under John. His motivation to cultivate and get more powerful had already been extremely high, but this news once more inspired him to try even harder to get stronger.
John and Barden spent the next hour chatting and catching up about any other events that had occurred during the last half year.
"The Crimson Valley Sect seems to be making some moves in the shadows. It seems like they're planning to do something big" said Barden with a serious look on his face.
"The Crimson Valley Sect? What could they be planning?" asked John curiously.
"We're not completely sure yet, but they're definitely up to something. It matters not though, our clan is even stronger than the Crimson Valley Sect, and we have the Varis Clan as close allies. Whatever the Crimson Valley Sect tries, we'll stop it with pure might."
John thought about his run in with the Crimson Valley Sect boys earlier, and decided to tell his father about it. He even told him about tying them all the trees naked.
Barden couldn't contain his laughter as he heard John tell his story.
"Hahaha, that was you? I had heard of some rumors yesterday about that, but I never expected it to be you. Good, good. You should be fearless and never lower your head to anyone, especially those from the Crimson Valley Sect. You did a good job."
John laughed along with his father as he told the story. They continued to chat for several hours before Barden finally stood up and stretched his legs under the setting sunlight.
"It's getting late, let's head in for now. Tomorrow, I'll set out and try to obtain you a body battle art"
"Thanks dad."
John stood up and followed his father into the mansion. After chatting with both his father and mother for hours, John went to bed and fell onto his bed.
'There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed.'
John fell asleep deeply as soon as his head hit his pillow.
The next morning, John followed his normal routine and washed himself before putting on a fresh robe from his wardrobe. He walked downstairs to have breakfast with his family, but was surprised to find out that his father had already left the clan in search of a powerful body battle art.
John finished his breakfast with his mother before walking out the front door.
'What should I do today? It's been a long time since I've been in the clan.'
John decided to take it easy for the morning and just walk around the clan grounds. He first visited the Beast Trade Hall and traded in the corpses of all the beasts he had slain, and obtained quite a bit of gold by doing so. Afterwards, John decided to just walk around with no particular mission in mind.
Several hours later…
"John!"
John heard his name called out and quickly turned around. A smile broke out on his face as he saw who was approaching.
"Ryan! Long time no see!"
"Long time no see my ass. I heard you returned yesterday but you still haven't come to see me. I guess you don't even consider me a friend." Ryan pouted as he looked towards John with a playfully sad look on his face.
"Alright, no need to act like this. I was busy yesterday, but you know I consider you as one of my best friends so stop pouting. How have you been?" John rolled his eyes at Ryan's antics.
"I've been good. I've advanced to the late Mist Creation Realm recently. What realm at you at?" asked Ryan with a curious expression. He could use his divine sense to scan John and see his cultivation level, but it was normally considered rude to scan others without asking. Only family and enemies would do so without hesitation.
John thought about it for a moment.
'What should I say? I guess I have to say middle Mist Creation, as no one can see my body dantian.'
"I'm at the middle Mist Creation Realm" responded John with a smile on his face.
"So fast?" Ryan was flabbergasted by John's cultivation speed. It took Ryan two years to go from starting cultivation to middle Mist Creation, but John had done it in six months.
"I guess you're a cultivation freak. It seems like we have two geniuses in our clan now. Hopefully you'll knock Parker off his pedestal soon" laughed Ryan.
"Haha, it's still going to be quite some time before I can think of catching up to Parker" responded John with a confident grin.
"Are you going to participate in the pocket realm tournament? I heard from my father that its going to be quite tough to enter this time around due to the limited amount of entries." Ryan was quite depressed at hearing that only the top thirty children would advance. He was confident to make the original top one hundred to quality, but top thirty was going to be a hard task to achieve.
"Yep, not only that, but I plan on winning it" John confidently answered Ryan.
"Haha, as if. You might be a genius, but you're only at the middle Mist Creation Realm. It's unfortunate that the realm is opening so quickly. If it waited another half year, I'm sure you would be powerful enough to do so given your cultivation speed."
"Don't believe me huh? How about we go to the training arena so I can show you just how I'm going to win" responded John with a confident grin.
Ryan looked at John as if he was crazy but agreed nonetheless.
"Haha, alright, I accept. Show me just how you're going to win the tournament." Ryan laughed at John's confidence and accepted right away. He was curious as to why John was so confident in himself. Having known John his entire life, he knew that John wasn't someone who spoke empty words.