"What!? How dare that man bully Viel. Dear, come get our shovel. I'll bury him myself!"
Naturally, Xiao Pei recounted the events that happened and told it to the Lings, since he was the only one that was there when the whole situation started.
"But yes. The whole situation started because Viel was looking at the guy funny"
"Why were you staring at him in the first place?"
"Uhm… was I?", Viel tilted his head. He really had no recollection of what had happened at all. The first thing he remembers was suddenly being hit. It didn't really hurt him that much, but the suddenness and the feeling of being hit itself made him feel extremely saddened.
"Yes, you were a little bit creepy. I tried to nudge you but you didn't even move. It was like you were a statue", Xiao Pei nodded a couple of times.
"Tch, little western freak.", Wei Song commented on the side as he chewed on the snack provided by Grandma Ling.
"Excuse me, why are you even here?", Violet scolded as she snatched the snack from Wei Song's hand.
"H-hey! I came here to protect goddess Mei. I knew Viel was living in the outskirts and there are lots of perverts here."
"Hmph, I don't need your protection. And the only pervert I see here is you.", Diao Mei coldly flicked her hair as she looked away from Wei Song's position.
"M-mei.."
"That's enough, children.", Xing Cai reprimanded the rowdy students as they were getting noisy.
"It is alright, Miss Xing Cai. Our house has not been this lively since Viel was still running naked around the house. It's a good change.", Grandma Ling said with a soft voice as she handed even more snacks to the children.
"G-grandma… those are my snacks...", Viel's whispers were ignored by Grandma Ling.
"Anyway, Miss Xing Cai. Who exactly is that man?"
"I think his name was Li Zhao, I heard from the Headmaster that they invited him to oversee a mock battle to test the caliber of this year's elite class... speaking of which-", Elder Xing Cai looks at Viel, "You seem to not be used to taking hits, seeing as how you cried just by being hit once."
"HA! You cry-baby little western frea-", Wei Song could not finish his insult before Violet hit him in the head. Wei Song groaned, a small tear can be seen on his eye.
"Heavens no! We would never hit Viel!", Grandma Ling exclaimed as she shook her head while Grandpa Ling nodded in agreement.
It is true, they never once hit Viel as a punishment, even Grandpa Ling. Instead, they give him snacks if he does something good, but if he does something bad- he won't be allowed to have any snacks for a week.
Viel nodded back and forth towards Grandma Ling and Elder Xing Cai while eating his snack.
"That is a problem, as a cultivator, one must be accustomed to pain. Tell me, boy. Have you ever fought before?"
"Uhhmm… I think so?", Viel recalled what happened before with the thugs in the alley.
"Wait…what!? When was that!?", Grandma Ling was startled.
"Eeh, before the entrance exam? There were pedophiles…."
"WHAT!?", all the female in the room, besides Elder Xing Cai, stood up.
"Yes… but I smacked all of them on the balls. As Grandpa Ling told me that pedophiles should be punished by ball smacking!", Viel raised his fists in victory, his mouth still dirty with scraps of snacks.
Diao Mei and Violet clapped their hands in agreement.
"A-anyway, I want to test your skills in combat without using your… weird skills.", Xing Cai coughed before switching to a more serious tone.
She has always been curious about this boy's weird powers that seemed to be gifted by the Gods themselves. As she and Examiner An Da have discussed before, it is impossible that Viel has this kind of powers without someone backing him up secretly. But if he was really trained, he should be used to getting hit.
"The mock battles should be being held sometime next week. So I want to see how you fight as soon as possible… and since we're all just idling here, now seems to be the best time, is it not?", Elder Xing Cai stood up as she exuded power.
------------------
The group who were just eating snacks inside the house leisurely were now outside… still eating snacks leisurely, except for Elder Xing Cai and Viel.
"T-this… can you people not treat this like a sho- ugh, never mind.", Elder Xing Cai sighed as she saw the group of people waiting for them to spar, like they were going to perform a show in some tavern.
"Viel, what do you think is the most important thing in a fight?", Elder Xing Cai suddenly switched to a more serious tone as she looked at the small boy in front of her.
"Uhhmm..", Viel slowly looked towards the group, as if trying to find someone to give him the answer. However, the only thing he found were expectant eyes. "I…isn't it… to have f-fun?".
The watching group almost fell down on their seats from Viel's answer.
"I… I guess it's to be expected from Viel.", Xiao Pei scratched his chin.
"It must be because he is so powerful that fighting is just the same as playing for him", Diao Mei said in a serious and calm manner.
"N…no, I don't think it's like that.", Violet retorted. Ever since they met Viel, Diao Mei, the so called ice goddess because of her calm and cold demeanor, seemed to be changing and falling deeper and deeper from common sense. But aren't they all?
Hearing Viel's answer, Elder Xing Cai once again sighed. Wondering when this boy will stop being so comical, or maybe perhaps kids should actually be like this, and not like those who are born inside their sects, who only seem to know how to fight and take advantage of other people for their own gain.
"It's knowing when to hit back and having the stamina in order to bide your time, this also works when you need to run away from your opponent", Elder Xing Cai said as she readied a fighting stance, "So there's no shame in running away when you know you can't even hit back. Come, boy. Remember, do not use your weird powers"
Elder Xing Cai finalized her fighting stance as she signaled Viel to start his attack.
"O-okay, here I come, Miss Cai!", Viel loosely imitated Elder Xing Cai's fighting stance, his stance was stiff and he almost lost his balance while just standing up.
"Pft!", Wei Song once again smirked and let out an arrogant sound on the side.
Viel exhaled as he tried to collect himself, he smiled awkwardly to Elder Xing Cai and nodded, saying he was ready.
"Begi-", as soon as Elder Xing Cai declared the start of the battle, a booming noise reverberated in the air. Viel was no longer in his position, the only thing that can be seen was a foot print carved on the ground from where he stood.
Elder Xing Cai's facial expression became serious as she shifted her gaze from left to right. A series of loud noises can be heard coming from different directions. After fixing her gaze in one spot, she stretched her arm sideways and opened her palm to the empty air on her left. As soon as she did so, a cute and meek voice groaned in pain.
Viel's face can be seen being pressed on Elder Xing Cai's palms. The impact caused Viel to spin violently in the air before falling flat to the ground.
"U-ugh…"
"V-viel!", Grandma Ling and Grandpa Ling stood up as soon as they saw Viel in pain, struggling to get up. They were about to rush towards Viel before Elder Xing Cai shook her head and signaled them to stop.
"Stand up, boy. I know that did not damage you too much, if it did, you wouldn't even be trying to stand up. If you are to continue being a cultivator, then rise. Let no one stop you. Not your friends, not your family… and specially-"
"Not your opponent!", as soon as Elder Xing Cai finished her speech, she rushed towards the groveling Viel and released a spinning low kick that caused the dust to scatter in the air.
Viel immediately pushed himself upwards to the air to avoid Elder Xing Cai's incoming attack. However, Elder Xing Cai used the momentum of her kick to rotate her whole body, and as soon as her back was directly in front of the floating Viel, she somersaulted kneed Viel directly on his exposed back.
"Once you have the opportunity to hit back, never stop!", before Viel can even figure out why he was back on the ground again, he felt pain on the left side of his stomach as he flew into the air again.
"M-miss! Isn't this enough!? The boy hasn't even turned 5 yet!", Grandpa Ling once again tried to rush towards Viel, his concern grew even bigger. However, this time, it was not Xing Cai who stopped him, it was Grandma Ling, "D-dear.. why-"
Grandma Ling grabbed Grandpa Ling's arms tightly as she tried to stop her tears. She looked at Grandpa Ling and shook her head, "V-viel… he needs to learn this…we… I will not be able to teach him this".
Grandma Ling's words had double meanings. Grandpa Ling nodded as he understood this. They are not capable of teaching Viel how to fight, how to survive in the cultivation world. And they know it too, soon, Grandma Ling will not be able to teach Viel anything at all once she disappears from this world.
The old couple watched on, their eyes full of resolution as they held each other's hand tightly to stop themselves from interfering. The group of kids that were watching with them also have their eyes wide, afraid to miss anything.
Viel had no chance of fighting back as Elder Xing Cai's onslaught of attacks continued. Viel doesn't even have time to breathe before another punch or kick comes his way.
"Bide your time boy! You clearly have the stamina to hold out!"
[WARNING: Player is receiving damage to minor parts!]
[EVENT: Player's HP has been decreased for the first time!]
'M-mr. Voice…HP!? What is that!?', Viel started to panic. Although he wasn't really feeling that much pain, he was frustrated as he couldn't even move and fight back, it felt like it was not fun at all. And now, hearing from Mr. Voice that he was "losing" something. He started to panic.
[Answering the Player's query. The Player's physical vitality is represented by HP or Health Points. Once the HP of the Player reaches to 0, the Player will lose his life.]
[Player's HP is currently at 99.42%]
'W-what!? N-no! M..mr. Voice, please help!', Viel continued to panic. This was the very first time Mr. Voice talked and told him about this, he had no idea what was happening. All he knows was that he was losing something, and he didn't like it.
[Soul 02: Skin of the 4th Beast]
[Soul 03: Walk of the Lightning God]
Viel's skin started to shine, "STOP!"
As soon as Viel shouted, Elder Xing Cai felt something weird from the boy as she backed away.
'This… it felt like I punched an iron wall..did the boy finally lose his patience and used his weird abilities?', Elder Xing Cai looked at her hand, feeling a slight pain coming from her knuckles. She looked towards the boy, but to her surprise, the boy was no longer there.
Suddenly, her view shifted as she felt herself flew a few meters away. Only when she stopped and felt a pain on her stomach did she hear a booming noise.
'T-this… could the boy be faster than me!? But…', Elder Xing Cai was perplexed at first, but quickly collected herself as she raised her guard up above her head.
"You're still very predictable, boy", Viel suddenly appeared above Elder Xing Cai, ready to stomp her with his small feet. A small crevice exploded on the ground below Elder Xing Cai's feet as she blocked Viel's attack.
Elder Xing Cai was once again surprised at the boy's hidden strength, but quickly calmed herself down again. She grabbed Viel's foot and slammed on the ground, forming another small crater.
"T..this… my.. my plants..", Grandma Ling suddenly shifted her concern towards her plants that she has been growing on their backyard.
"This strength… Viel, who are you?", the children who were watching on the side couldn't help but comment.
"Could… he beat mother when he grows up? No… impossible!", Violet whispered quietly as she bit her fingernails.
Diao Mei's eyes were shining in admiration as her calm demeanor broke. Xiao Pei, however, was eerily quiet as he just watched on.
"Viel, I told you. Do not rely on your strange powe-", before Elder Xing Cai can finish her words, she was interrupted by Viel.
"No!", Viel raised his hand as a black orb with lightning coming out of it appeared above him.
[Soul 02: Orb of Defiance]
"Viel, stop!", Elder Xing Cai quickly summoned a barrier surrounding her and the watching group on this side.
"Noooo!", Viel cried as he released the ball from his hand and towards Elder Xing Cai.
Elder Xing Cai shouted as she inserted more qi to strengthen the barrier shielding the audience.
"VIEEELL!!!"
As the orb hit her barrier, the ground tremored as the ground scattered. The debris flying around everywhere. It was a good thing that Xing Cai also summoned up a barrier over the Lings and the children.
A dust of cloud formed over the Lings house as the tremor subsided.
"I-it's happening again!", Wei Song, who recalled the entrance examination closed his eyes as he kneeled down.
Diao Mei walked in front of the Lings and also summoned a barrier of her own, just incase debris will slip inside.
Soon, the debris stopped flying around and the dust of cloud cleared away.
They saw Elder Xing Cai grabbing both of Viel's hands tightly. Elder Xing Cai's robes were torn off, her flawless skin showing through the cracks of her robes. Her bosom, almost visible.
"Boy, your power. You need to control it.", Elder Xing Cai said with a cold voice, "Look around you. This is your home, you almost destroyed it. That's another lesson, always be aware of your surroundings."
Viel looked around to see their backyard was almost unrecognizable. His face almost could not be painted when he saw his friends and Grandma Ling dirty because of dust that was flying around.
"And the final lesson is… always finish the fight!", Elder Xing Cai shouted as she headbutted Viel. Causing Viel to fall, butt first.
"Phew..", Elder Xing Cai wiped her sweat and fixed her robes as she released a sigh of relief.
"…Lesson, what lesson?", suddenly, Xing Cai felt bloodlust on her neck.
"How about I teach the both of you a lesson if you don't fix my god damn garden!!!", Grandma Ling's shout reverberated throughout the 5 continents.
----------------------
In the top floor of Taizhou Academy, two people can be seen discussing something.
"Headmaster, what do you think of my idea?"
"Hhmm, if you think it would be for the best then go for it, Li Zhao"
The Headmaster and Li Zhao were discussing about the upcoming mock battle of the elite class.
"I am sure, Headmaster. It is no problem to invite some of my juniors from the Azure Fist sect. It seems that the elite class this year is a cut above the rest, both sides would only benefit from this"
"Very well, I leave it up to you.", the Headmaster nodded.
"Thank you, Headmaster!", Li Zhao bowed before exiting the Headmaster's room. Li Zhao did not really bow out of respect to his previous superior, it was just to hide the creepy smile he had underneath.
'Kekeke, just you wait, you western brat! I will make sure to break you into pieces!'