Chapter 7: What it means to be domineering
Reborn as a God and a Devil King
"Y-young master... p-please calm down, we were just..."
[Soul 03: Walk of the Lightning God Activated]
Before the group leader could finish his sentence, he heard an ominous, crushing sound as he felt his entire future crumble before him, or more specifically, below his waist.
His face turned blue as he spat out an unpleasant amount of saliva. The pain slowly but surely reached his entire body.
It happened in a split second, the child that was supposed to be his milk cow suddenly disappeared from his sight, and once again a great explosion was heard as he felt a numbing pain in his groin.
The boy was now standing with his arms in an upright position, pointed across his balls.
The pain finally registered in the skinny boy's mind when he let out not a scream, but a squeal. His scream was accompanied by another series of explosions, as his remaining group of members suffered the same fate.
It all happened so fast, the boy disappeared from place to place as the ground below him shattered.
Perhaps the fat member who was now planted on the wall was actually the luckiest of them all. ... or perhaps not, as a final explosion resounded in the dark alley, followed once again by the sound of a dying cat.
The group was no longer a bunch of hard-headed and vile criminals, but a gathering of hapless eunuchs.
For men who have only known how to oppress and bully the weakest people, isn't this a fate worse than death?
Or so thought the skinny man as he slowly lost consciousness from the pain.
"Hooray! The pedophiles have been driven from the world," Zane, who had just started a massacre of manhood, retrieved his examination pass and struck a strange victory pose.
[Alma 03's nose is bleeding from the player's cuteness].
"What the hell is going on here?" suddenly a city guard entered the dark alley.
The guard was on a break near the area, he was supposed to be returning to his shift before he heard a series of thunderclaps coming from an alley. He ran quickly through the area only to find a group of men scattered randomly in strange poses. Some of them were foaming at the mouth.
T ... this, what is this!" then he noticed a very small child standing confidently with his left hand pointed above.
The small child then looked up at him. The guard was startled at first because of the boy's black eyes, not to add the child's light skin and bright silver hair.
They paused and looked at each other uneasily for some time, until the little boy whispered something.
"...I wasn't here, woooosh," as he slowly, bit by bit, disappeared into the darkness.
"...."
"What in the ancestral mama was that!!!? Was it a ghost!?", the middle-aged guard could not believe what had just happened.
A group of footsteps could be heard approaching his position.
"Guard Leader Bai! We heard explosives in this area. Did you happen to notice anything, sir," one of the men greeted him.
"Yes...," the Guard Leader replied weakly as he slowly pointed towards the dark alley.
"S-sir?", the guard turned his head, "W ... what happened here!!!?"
"It was ... it was an evil spirit."
Yes, Chief Guard Bai was convinced that the little child was some kind of ghostly entity. But there was something he couldn't put together, the little child looked somewhat familiar to him.
-------------------
A long line of children of all ages was forming a line inside a spacious courtyard.
This courtyard is one of the training grounds for the students of the Taizhou Academy. Currently, it is also the place that the academy is using to hold its entrance exams.
Infrastructure of the long line of children, a silver-haired boy stood out as he gazed happily at the other children behind him. He also stood out as he was the smallest child in the group.
Although Zane encountered an unfortunate delay because of some... pedophiles, he was still the first to arrive at the entrance exam. This was because he left his home as early as possible, as he could not contain his excitement.
"Hello, my name is Zane! What's yours?", Zane excitedly asked the girl behind him.
"....Diao Mei," the girl calmly answered his question before looking in the other direction.
Diao Mei was very pretty, even though she was still very young, about 9 or 10 years old, she exuded a graceful aura.
"Hehehe, nice to meet you, Diao Mei. Are you planning to go to the academy? Oh, sure, that's why you're here. Do you want to play after your exams? Ooooh, I hope I pass. Are you confident about passing? I'm a little nervous, it's the first time I've ever been the offender of many people,
Zane continued to bombard the girl with endless questions. But the girl, as if she heard nothing, continued to look in the other direction, completely ignoring Zane.
"Lady Mei, is this western runt bothering you?!". Suddenly, a tall, muscular boy confronted Zane. This boy was originally in the middle of the line, but decided to intervene when he saw a Westerner talking to his "goddess".
"Oh, hello, my name is Zane! Nice to meet you!". Zane didn't mind the boy's arrogant tone. He reached out to shake hands with the newly arrived party. But the boy just held out his hand.
"Tch, were you a boy? You Westerners all look alike," the tall boy sneered in disgust.
"Anyway, don't you dare talk to Lady Mei again!", the tall boy looked at Diao Mei for approval. But Diao Mei didn't even give him a glance.
"See! Lady Mei can't stand even her sight! You must go to the end of the line, you silver-haired mongrel," the boy continued bickering and insulting Zane.
"Back to the line? But why?" suddenly the tall boy felt a shiver run down his spine as he saw the little westerner looking at him. He couldn't help but flinch as he thought he was going to be sucked in by the westerner's black pupils.
"What do you mean why?! I told you, Lady Mei is upset to see you standing in front of her," although the tall boy was a little nervous at the sudden pressure, he couldn't back down as he was afraid of looking like a sissy in front of his goddess.
"O-oh ... R-really?! I'll go to the end of the line then. Miss Diao Mei, sorry for disturbing you." Just like that, the sudden pressure on the tall boy disappeared.
Zane bowed to Diao Mei and the tall boy, before innocently going to the end of the line. Everyone watching the scene was disappointed, they thought they were going to see a fight. They sneered at Zane, looking at him as if he were a pathetic weakling walking away from a fight.
"What, he really went? Ha ... Haha! That's right! Get to the end of the line! Your weak little ass belongs there, you filthy Westerner," the tall boy wiped his sweat before insulting Zane again.
Diao Mei, who had kept quiet from the beginning, opened her mouth. "Brother Wei Song, that was unnecessary," Diao Mei spoke to the tall boy before looking at Zane, who was currently making his way to the end of the line.
"Hehe, you didn't have to thank me, Lady Mei. I just did what I thought was right, that Westerner was tainting everyone's mood. People like him don't deserve to be in the academy," Wei Song was very proud of what he did, even stating that he did it for everyone.
He tried to talk to Diao Mei for a while and stick to his good graces, but decided to go back to the middle of the line, as Diao Mei was clearly not in the mood to talk.
Everyone here knows who Diao Mei was, after all, the Diao family was a prestigious name. They had always produced the best cultivators and were one of the leading families that defended their country when the Evil Monarch's minions invaded their land.
Zane, who was now at the bottom of the line, was completely oblivious to the fact that the other children were gossiping about him, secretly mocking him for being weak.
Suddenly, the boy in front of him held out his hand.
"Hey, don't worry about it. Wei Song has always been like that, being a leech on his family is all he's good at, after all."
"Wei Song?"
"Yes, the big mutt who was talking to you earlier. My name is Xiao Pei, what's yours?"
The boy who held out his hand didn't really have any special features, except that he has a long scar on the left part of his face, going from his eyebrow to the bottom of his chin.
Hearing this, Zane was surprised at first before he shook Xiao Pei's hand enthusiastically.
"Woah, finally. Someone normal, hello. My name is Zane." Viel still vigorously shook Xiao Pei's hand while adorning a wide smile. Finally meeting his first friend.
"Eeh?! You're a boy?!". Xiao Pei revealed a disappointed expression. He could not believe that the beautiful child standing before him was a boy. Although he had seen the scene before, he couldn't quite hear what they were talking about.
"I suppose it doesn't matter. Man, that Wei Song ... always so domineering. I can't wait to put his stupid song in its place. Hehe, too bad, huh? Earlier, you were at the front of the line and now you're here with me, the latecomer."
Xiao Pei said as he shrugged his shoulders, regretting the fact that he was late. Well, the important thing was that he was no longer the one at the end of the line.
"Eeh, I really don't mind being on my back. After all, my Grandma Ling said that I...," but before Zane could finish what he was about to say, he looked toward the direction of the examination platform adjacent to their line.
"Silence! The exam is about to begin!". Suddenly, a loud voice could be heard as an old man suddenly appeared at the top of the examination platform.
"You are gathered here today not to fight among yourselves, but to take your first step as a cultivator! Most of you will probably not even pass your first entrance exam, so there is no point in making friends. I am a Da, I will be your examiner today."
A Da raised his hand as a huge slab of stone appeared beside him.
"This is a Western Strength Revealing Stone, as its name suggests, if you strike this stone it will display the corresponding strength you put into it." As the old man said, he tapped the stone lightly and a number suddenly appeared on his violation.
'600'
Seeing this, all the children were startled and revealed faces of shock.
"W-wah! 600! As expected from a teacher at the academy," all the children shared the same exact thought, except Zane, who wore a confused face.
"That's right. The first test is a test of your physical strength. Even though most cultivators don't rely solely on their physical strength, it is still the most fundamental aspect of a cultivator! If you can't even pass this simple test, then you have no right to enter this academy! To pass this test, your strength must at least be above 30!". As An Da said, he pointed at Diao Mei, who was currently the one leading the long line of children. "You will start first!".
Diao Mei hurriedly walked to the stage.
"Diao Mei greet teacher An Da!". Diao Mei politely greeted An Da as she stood in front of him. An Da just smiled and waved before telling Diao Mei to proceed to the test.
Diao Mei stood in front of the huge stone slab. She shifted into a fighting stance and prepared to attack. She remained like that for a while before unleashing a quick punch with all her strength.
'66'
Diao Mei looked at her score before revealing a happy smile, after a few seconds, she returned to her usual calm expression. The other students revealed an expression of shock, for children her age, a physical strength of 66 could be considered very high.
"Very good! As expected from General Diao's daughter," he nodded and smiled at Diao Mei.
"Next!"
After Diao Mei, all the other students who passed earned only a normal grade of around 40. Most of the students already failed, with scores below 30.
This pace continued until it was Wei Song's turn.
*Pang*
'53'
Seeing his score, Wei Song quickly revealed an arrogant smile as he looked at the other students before him and scored below him. He also looked in the direction of Zane and Xiao Pei and sneered at him.
"Good, very good." Examiner An Da was very pleased to see another good offspring coming to the academy.
Meanwhile, after Wei Song, there was another examinee who had a grade above 50, it was a girl with long black hair with some silver streaks in her bangs.
Finally, it was Xiao Pei's turn.
'58'
All the students were in shock to see another examiner with a grade above 50, and it was even higher than Wei Song. Seeing this, Wei Song gritted his teeth and looked at the boy on the stage. Xiao Pei returned Wei Song's glare with his own, revealing a mocking smile, as if to say that he had won.
A father was delighted to see 4 talented students enrolling in his academy this year, but his expression immediately turned into a frown when he saw a little boy with shining silver hair walking on stage.
It was finally Zane's turn.
"Tch tch. Those who are late will always be last in life. If you keep this attitude, you will achieve nothing in life." A Da lectured the boy in front of him.
Hearing this, the other students couldn't help but laugh and sneer at Zane, especially Wei Song, who was currently wearing a twisted smile.
"Haha! That's right! Westerners like you should go back down the line to your country, you filthy scum!", Wei Song couldn't help but shout, drawing attention and laughter from the other children.
"That's enough! The academy doesn't discriminate against race! Little boy, you can start!". An Da scolded Wei Song before urging Zane to start immediately .
"I thank Grandpa An Da! ... But I don't mind being last," Zane politely replied to An Da.
An Da revealed a strange expression as the boy in front of him called him grandfather. Although he was growing in his years, he was still quite young for a cultivator and considered himself still of marriageable age at 120 years old.
"What do you mean you don't mind being last, little boy?" A Da couldn't help but ask, not failing to emphasize the word "small".
Zane stood in front of the huge stone slab and slowly extended his hand.
"Because Grandma Ling taught me...". Zane smiled as he waved his finger.
Suddenly, a loud noise could be heard as everyone stood in their place and stopped talking to each other. Some children even forgot how to breathe.
Wei Song, who was dissing and badmouthing Zane to the other children, began to turn red with embarrassment.
Xiao Pei revealed a sweat before finally hissing in admiration.
Diao Mei, who had been quiet during the entire test, had her mouth open in shock. She couldn't believe what she was seeing at this moment.
'69'
"...be kind and make room for people weaker than me."