Fang Hao was attempting to increase the power of the Primal Thunder Reinforcement spell while maintaining the subdued lightning flashes / electric buzz for about a week or so, but he was failing to do so. He was cooped up in the yard for almost a year now on the verbal orders of the Great Elder Shi, which he possibly couldn't oppose. That combined with his first real bottleneck was making him genuinely frustrated.

'What is with this stupid shit. I am out of spirit wine to drink and relax. I can't go out and kill some murdering little bitches for xp and loot, or even give a good honest beating in the arena to relieve stress. At least he could have left me a whore or two to vent myself while caged here. How much longer is “a short while later” in perspective of the Great Elder, eh? That old fogey probably forget about me.'

'On top of that I spent three whole months grinding the stupid reinforcement spell with my shitty innovation and I still didn't progress to Master Proficiency. Do I have to spend skill points to upgrade it? Not to mention that I have just enough nourishment pills to last me another six months or so. After that I will have to deal with the joy of experiencing constant hunger.' Fang Hao ranted internally as he began pacing around in the yard in an agitated manner.

Fang Hao then activated Primal Thunder Reinforcement with a thought at half the maximum power, restraining the flashes/buzzes as he ran around the football field sized courtyard. As he felt his agitation increase, he felt the power of thunder and lightning stir within him. He wanted to fly around everywhere and shout at the top of his lungs “Fuck you, you old fart Shi. And fuck your sister too, you pervy pedo.” But he wasn't retarded enough to actually act on that impulse.

So all he could do was cage the building frustration and agitation. The lightning flashes and electric buzz were attempting to break free of his restrain, but Fang Hao unknowingly directed his frustration and agitation towards the building thunder energy in his body. He managed to restrain the lightning energies, but only for a while. The emotions he used to suppress the lightning energy in his body was further causing it go rampant. Soon he could barely control the lightning rampaging inside his body.

He dashed towards the nearest tree, which was a dozen meters (40 feet), in the blink of an eye and punched it with full force. This action of punching acted like an outlet, causing the raging lightning within his body to travel along his arm and through his hand. When his punch landed on the tree, which was almost as thick as he was tall and several meter tall, couldn't resist the impact of his punch and a portion of the trunk of the tree was instantaneously smashed into irregularly sized shrapnel.

As soon as his punch landed, the caged raging lighting and thunder within his body was released in a violet cone from his fist. The huge cone of lightning flashed and buzzed only for a moment before dissipating. When the cone of lightning disappeared, everything which was in its path was incinerated into ash. A large portion of the trunk had turned into fined powder and simply disappeared. Behind the tree, an increasingly wider and deeper trench was visible on the ground, coated with fine ash. Fortunately, a portion of the trunk connecting the top and bottom of the tree was undamaged and supported it, preventing the tree from toppling.

The trench extended up to several dozens of feet (18m) from Fang Hao and was around a dozen feet wide (4m) and six feet deep (2m) at the far end. The lightning cone might have been instantaneous, but had significantly reshaped the nearby landscape with its devastating power. While Fang Hao was momentarily stupefied at the unintentional instantaneous landscaping, the Qi within his dantian was surging with momentum.

The usually calm Qi lake was seething with pressure as the single cylindrical violet crystal pillar with crisscrossed blood-red veins was pulsing like a beating heart as it rotated rapidly. The seething Qi lake released large amounts of Qi vapor which formed storm clouds above the Qi lake. The storm clouds rained violet thunderbolts on the Qi lake, which caused the Qi to crystallize. This process repeated until the crystallized Qi formed a second violet crystal pillar near the preexisting pillar.

The second crystal pillar lacked the blood-red capillary like lattice present in the first pillar. Fang Hao had broken into the 2nd layer of Foundation Establishment! All Fang Hao felt was a large rapid surge in his Qi as his spiritual sense detected the rapid increase in the boundaries of his Qi lake and a second cylindrical violet crystal pillar rising from his Qi Lake within his dantian. He was at a loss for a moment as to why he suddenly broke through to the second layer of Foundation Establishment, when he wasn't even attempting to do so. Puzzled, he called his Status Screen to investigate.

STATUS SCREEN Name: Fang Hao Race: Human Gender: Male Age: 25 years Titles: Lord Lard Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 606 Realm: Foundation Establishment Level: 2 (1) Current Experience: 639670 (529432) Level Up at Experience: 767186 Active Effects: Stats Physique: 37.3 Finesse: 32.5 Spirit: 37.5 Qi 101.2/110.4 Traits Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk's Prospective Disciple ?? 1st Seal - Primordial Marrow 2nd Seal – Behemoth's Hide Manuals and Scriptures Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (2 seals, 1 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (5th Layer) Primal Vajra Aura Scripture (*) (1st Layer) Spells and Techniques Primal Thunder Reinforcement (Master) Fire Serpent (Perfection) Wind Blade (Perfection) Elementary Qi Barrier (Perfection) Frost Chains (Perfection) Aura Fist (Perfection) Phantom Aura Steps (Perfection) Concealing Mist (Perfection) Minor Illusion (Perfection) Telekinetic Hand (Perfection) Call Clouds (Perfection) Static Web (Perfection) Acid Splash (Perfection) Lion's Roar (Perfection) Floating Leaves Step (Perfection) Aura Blast (Perfection) Thunder Sparrow (Perfection) Blood Thorn Whip (Perfection) Aura Sacrifice (Perfection) Directed Discharge (*) (Basic)

'So I finally managed to upgrade Primal Thunder Infusion to master Proficiency; and as an added bonus I learned a new self-made spell “Directed Discharge”. Looks like the combined xp earned from both these skills was just enough to push me to the 2nd layer of Foundation Establishment. Around 20k xp and 30 skill points for attempting to vent my frustrations, not bad. The Directed Discharge spell should be the AoE Lightning Cone that I released with my punch. It sure looks powerful, but needs quite a bit of time to set up.' Thought Fang Hao as he analyzed the changes in his status screen.

'So much for staying low key and not attempting to evolve spells. A level up in Foundation Establishment realm before a year could complete. Not to mention that I wrecked shit up in this yard. I should prepare a believable excuse for this mess. Directed Discharge, heh. Nice innuendo there.' smirked Fang Hao mentally, as he popped another nourishment pill.