A Year of Bitter Cultivation
“Xing Jue..” whispers Old Zhang. His face is now excited, watching the youth slowly enters the room. He knows exactly how strong Xing Jue is, an Advanced Rank Martial Artist. It may not mean anything in the Clan, but here in this small town it is among the highest rank. Since Xing Jue is here, Old Zhang thinks that today’s matter can be solved easily.
“Damn it. Was it you who attacked me?” asks the young lord to Xing Jue.
“Old Zhang, are you all right?” Completely ignoring the question, Xing Jue asks to Old Zhang. He goes straight to the old man’s side, his face full of concern.
“He he, good thing you come up, otherwise I would have…” replies Old Zhang. He lets out a grateful smile, clearly happy that the youth cares about him. A moment later, Xing Jue fixes his stare at the young lord.
“Damn you! I’m talking to you!” shouts the young lord. Although his hand is seriously injured, he still can’t believe that this unknown young boy has managed to deliver such attack to him.
“You shut up!” Xing Jue suddenly shouts back. A pair of eyes full of killing intent is staring directly to the young lord.
“Er.. You.. You.. What do you want to do?” whimpers the young lord. Like a burst bubble, he loses his wit instantly. The young lord has abused his influence in this small town for many years. He has met many so-called Martial Arts experts, but no one has a murderous look like this boy in front of him.
“Eh..?” murmurs arise among the tavern people. All the waiters are amazed at how unexpectedly the young lord changes his attitude. The young girl behind Old Zhang is looking at Xing Jue with admiration.
“Lick the wine on the ground,” Xing Jue says coldly.
“What? You..”
Upon hearing Xing Jue’s words, the young lord’s face turns into the eggplant color. Telling him to lick cleanly the wine on the ground? He thinks to himself. If this matter spreads out, how will he keep his face up in this town? Isn’t it the same as a death wish already?
“Whoosh!”
Even before the young lord is done thinking, Xing Jue already jumps right in front of him. The moment the young lord realizes Xing Jue’s presence, he feels a heavy fist pounding on his left cheek.
“Ough!”
The young lord spits blood from his mouth. He loses three of his front teeth.
“You..! I’ll kill you!”roars the young lord. He quickly tries to get back up on his feet, desperately wants to see Xing Jue dead.
“Puff!”
But at the moment he stands up, Xing Jue gives him another blow. The young lord looks just like a lose arrow flying unaimed. His body moves uncontrollably hitting the tavern’s table and chair along the way. In the end he hits the wall and slowly drops off to the floor. With a thump he lies motionless on the ground, fainted.
“Wow..” murmurs arise again among the waiters. They wonder how Xing Jue could finish the young lord in only two moves. They almost forget that the young lord is in fact an Intermediate Rank Martial Artist because he couldn’t do anything against Xing Jue. What kind of strength does this boy have? Could it be that he is the legendary “Martial Master”?
With the young lord unconscious, Xing Jue murderous aura is now aimed toward the two robust men.
“Young Master! We are wrong, we are wrong!” plead the two men immediately. They fall to their knees and continuously lower their heads, hoping to be spared.
“Get lost!” commands Xing Jue fiercely. He feels disgusted by these kind of people who tried to harm Old Zhang.
The two robust men hastily get up, wanting to run as far away as they can from the tavern.
“Wait, carry that trash with you,” Xing Jue suddenly says with a cold voice.
“Yes, Sir, of course, Sir,” reply the men with furious nodding and trembling. They are so afraid they break out in a cold sweat. Worrying that Xing Jue may change his mind, they quickly lift the young lord and leave the tavern.
Now the tavern has awkward silence. The tavern people have developed fear of this strange youth.
“Hey, Old Zhang, it’s time to eat. I’m starving,” says Xing Jue with a smile to Old Zhang. The crowd was looking at him silently for quite some time. His sudden smile breaks the awkwardness and the people fear him no more. It seems like the angry youth before was an entirely different person.
“Ha Ha, all right, serve the food,” Old Zhang replies, also with a smile. So the people enjoy a good meal that night. While eating, Old Zhang introduces Xing Jue to everyone. When they hear that he comes from Xing Clan and was once the highlight of the Clan, not only that shy girl named Little Hong, all waiters look at Xing Jue with adoration now.
“Old Zhang, I want to practice quietly in the mountain for a while,” says Xing Jue after he finishes his dinner. He’s struggling with a piece of meat between the gap of his teeth.
“Practice?” asks Old Zhang, surprised. Xing Jue is already an Advanced Rank Martial Artist, there is no use to practice because he cannot improve further, unless.. Xing Jue has Qi Sea? Old Zhang quickly dismisses his own train of thought. If Xing Jue had Qi Sea, he wouldn’t end up here.
“That’s right, practice,” replies Xing Jue, trying to convince his old caretaker.
“Well, from now on I will block the mountain side. Nobody will disturb you. Go practice well,” says Old Zhang finally. He sees a different Xing Jue now who is cheerful, not the lazy, hopeless one before. No matter what happened, as long as he can help, Old Zhang will help this Xing Jue.
“Hehe,” Xing Jue puts a triangle transparent card with a unique talisman seal into Old Zhang’s hand. “This is Communication Talisman. If anyone dares to cause you trouble again, you can contact me using it. I will descend the mountain to help as soon as possible. ”
“Alright,” Old Zhang replies happily.
Xing Jue treks back to mountain right afterward. It is now already late night, but Xing Jue doesn’t have any intention to rest yet. He takes out the martial skill book “Biting Wind Palm” then starts to practice following each step in the book. His goal is clear now. He must reach Advanced Rank Martial Master in one year. Then he will leave this place and go for adventure.
It is not an easy goal to reach, so he must use every chance he has. He wants to not only be strong. Being strong will earn him respect and enable him to protect those important to him, but he wants to go further. He wants to be the strongest in the whole continent. Although at this moment, being the strongest is still a vague concept in his head.
After all, this continent has countless strong people. What Xing Jue can do now is just to bitterly cultivate over and over. Only after painful process then one will reap the rewards. This is what Xing Jue believes. For the past 15 years he has been taught this way, and he still thinks the same now.
This is why, when the world falls asleep, a 15 year-old youth trains hard under a sky full of stars.
Soon, one whole year will pass.
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