"Xiao Huo! Again!"
My Fire Fox leaped into the air, avoiding an azure arrow before launching a barrage of fireballs at me. Raising my sword, I cut through several of the fireballs. Watery qi flowed around me, leaving a trail of clear, almost crystalline currents in the wake of my blade. Steam enveloped the courtyard as water-based qi extinguished fire, dousing the heated projectiles in moisture.
Even so, the volume of fireballs was such that I couldn't cut all of them down. Stray fireballs swerved away, out of the reach of my sword, and then readjusted their trajectories to home in on me once again. There were far too many of them for me to counter with my swordsmanship.
"Not bad, Xiao Huo! Your control over fire has improved tremendously!"
Despite the threat, I smiled. Without turning around to confront the fireballs hurtling toward me from behind, I shot them down with a stream of azure arrows.
Xiao Huo grumbled under her breath as she landed gracefully a few meters away, her tail upraised and generating another fireball. However, she maintained it as defense rather than launching it at me. She was eying my sword cautiously, but I could feel her stretching her senses out to detect the flow of my qi.
She was worried that I might conjure another volley of arrows out of thin air. which I was perfectly capable of, to be honest.
"Don't worry…we'll stop for today."
Lowering my sword, I dismissed Xiao Huo and returned to the house. As I stepped through the door, I took one last glance at the night sky outside and exhaled wearily. It had been three weeks since my encounter with Shao Ye, so about a month after my injury that was caused by the Lava Drake. Time really flew by before I realized it. Now I had just barely broken to Yellow Rank. However, I was still nowhere near where I was before my cultivation was crippled.
Even within the five ranks, not all cultivators of the same rank were equal. In the first place, the ranks were pretty arbitrary and not exactly an accurate way of gauging one's strength. It relied more on the cultivator reaching a set parameters and having a specific amount of qi. It didn't take into account individual skills, intelligence, tactics and other factors.
Complicating things further, within the same rank, there was a loose division. Right now, I would probably be counted as "Beginner" Yellow Rank. The four stages within each rank would be Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Peak.
Very cultivation like, right? Cliché too. Not that I was going to complain because it made things easier to understand, even if reality didn't always conform to such rigid categories.
"The tournament will be in two months' time, huh?" I rubbed the bridge of my nose. Truthfully, I was making good progress with my training, but I doubted I would be able to make it back to Advanced Yellow Rank by the tournament. It made sense. It took me several years to attain such a level, and I wasn't going to instantly get it back within three months.
Not unless the system gave me a cheat or something. Which it didn't. Besides showing up with the notification about the automated summoning when Shao Ye launched a sneak attack on me three weeks ago, the system had never appeared again.
I wonder why…I guess this particular system was very hands-off with its user. Did it expect me to be independent or something?
Well, I already knew that if I wanted to become stronger, I couldn't afford to rely on anyone except myself. I had to work hard. But as one of the existences beyond the fourth wall pointed out, what was the point of having a system in the first place if it wasn't going to do anything?
To be fair, it did provide me with rewards for completing one quest, as well as defense in the form of an automated summoning, so I didn't have to worry about being ambushed. So it wasn't as if the system was completely useless. That said, I hoped that it would at least issue me another quest or something. I could use some "rewards." It didn't have to be that silly lucky draw or lottery thing that most other fictional systems issued – I wasn't that entitled. But if I had a system, obviously I hoped it would do more than what it was doing right now.
"Jun Wen, are you done with your training?"
Mom sat up from the couch when I walked into the hallway. Dad, for some reason, was doing pushups in the living room, in front of the television as he watched some xianxia show. One of those live action ones. Me, I preferred 2D animation. I didn't like the weird computer 3D animations that were so popular these days. If you asked me, traditionally styled 2D cel animation like The King's Avatar, The Outcast and Spirit Fox Matchmaker were where it was at. Oh, and A Will Eternal too. And Dragon Raja. Tencents Penguin Pictures were putting out a lot of awesome 2D animation these days and I wish they would stick to that.
But I digress.
"Yeah, it was a good workout."
"Excellent." Dad beamed before jumping to his feet and rolling his shoulders. "Got to keep fit! In case those spirit beasts or demonic monsters show up to attack our city again."
"It'll still take me a while to get back to where I was originally," I admitted. Dad snorted and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry about it. Rushing your training will only backfire. Take your time to get back up to speed. You just recovered your cultivation after suffering a fatal injury, so obviously it'll take you a long time to return to your peak. No matter what you do, we're always behind you."
"Thanks."
"Speaking of support, I don't think I'll be able to help much this week." Mom sighed and glanced at her smartphone. "Seems like there's trouble in the offshore laboratory. I'll have to personally go down there and fix the issues. I hope an intern didn't accidentally wreck a generator or something. Losing the life support system in the middle of the ocean would be catastrophic."
"They sent an SOS?" Dad asked. Mom shook her head.
"No, they were complaining about malfunctions in the main lab. But that's not possible. We just bought a new batch of equipment the other day." She grimaced. "It's where the main object of our research is stored. I swear, if an intern damages such a priceless artifact…"
"These things happen," dad said soothingly. "I wouldn't worry, though. If it's that serious, they would have immediately sent you over aboard a helicopter already."
"I guess you're right. Whatever the case, it's useless to worry about it now." Mom sighed. "I guess I'll deal with it when the time comes."
"They probably need mom's help to study the artifact," Jun Hai said. He was pretty much in his room, only ducking his head out when he heard something interesting. "You're the lead researcher, after all. Without you, they're probably running around in panic without any sense of direction."
Mom chuckled. "You might be right."
Even as the mood lifted, I couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding over mom's return to the offshore lab. I didn't know what artifact her team was working on at the moment, but the sea was filled with all sorts of dangers in the form of gigantic aquatic spirit beasts and the like.
I could only pray that she returned home safely.
A few days passed after that and I returned to my usual school routine. After class, I was about to go home when I ran into Li Wang.
"Oh, hey! Li Wang!"
"Ah, Song Jun Wen! It's been a while!" Li Wang smiled, his handsome features as dazzling as ever. Girls from our school swooned as they stared at his well-built physique and admired his stylish blond hair, but he paid no attention to them. That was probably because he already had a girl he was in love with. Taking a swig from his bottle, probably to quench his thirst after training, he approached me. I smiled and waved.
"Yeah. How have you been?"
"Fine, how about you? You recovered your cultivation, didn't you? How far back are you along your training? Are you back to Yellow Rank yet? Not bad, I didn't think you'll be this fast. You've exceeded all imagination."
"Beginner Yellow Rank only, yeah, but not Advanced Yellow Rank yet. Unfortunately, it seems like it's going to take some time before I get there." I sighed.
"Dude, I didn't expect you to get to Beginner Yellow Rank after only one month! One month!" Li Wang threw his hands up. "You're doing really well!"
"Yeah, but make sure you don't tell anybody."
Li Wang laughed and smacked a fist into his chest. "Right, you can trust me. I want to see everyone's reactions at the tournament in two months. This will be a good show."
"Thanks. Make sure you bring popcorn."
"Popcorn?" Li Wang snorted. "We're in Hua Xia. Here, we don't munch on popcorn. We eat melon seeds instead."
…right. Cultural differences. Same meme.
"Well, enough about me. How are you doing?" I repeated my question, and when Li Wang didn't reply and instead chose to drink from his water bottle, I delved into the specifics. "How's your relationship with Long Fan Xue progressing? Have you confessed to her yet?"
Li Wang spat his drink out. Fortunately, I was able to dive out of the way in time, and his spit struck the floor instead. Wiping his mouth, he glared at me.
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"Aren't you pursuing Long Fan Xue? I don't think you've shown any interest in the other girls."
"Shut up! Stop talking about that!" Li Wang waved his hands in panic, looking around if afraid that someone was eavesdropping on us. He grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me away, lowering his voice to a whisper. "You got it all wrong! I have no romantic interest in Long Fan Xue at all! It's true that I find her super attractive. She's the number one beauty in our school, after all. But that's it! I already have a fiancée!"
"HUH?!"
That was news to me. I had never heard that Li Wang possessed a fiancée before. He nodded frantically.
"So please don't spread such rumors! If my fiancée hears, I'll be in trouble!"
"Um, who…is your fiancée? Is she someone from our school?"
I couldn't help but be curious. I wondered if I had seen her before. Could she be among our classmates? A girl I had seen around somewhere, but hadn't taken notice? What kind of girl was our school's most popular guy's type?
"She's not. Her name is Audrey Ang, and she's actually the daughter of one of my father's friends. A business partner, to be more precise. Her family runs an overseas business, but they've just recently come back. we met and hit off, and one thing led to another…then we agreed to be engaged. With our fathers' approval."
Li Wang was blushing furiously. Wow, he must really like her.
"I even have a photo of her!" Now he was just showing off. Taking out his smartphone, he showed me a photo of a beautiful girl with long, silky blond hair that was tied with an exquisite ribbon, and dressed in an expensive, frilly white dress. She looked like one of those high-class ladies with a western styled upbringing.
"She looks lovely. Congratulations."
"Yeah, I know, right? Personally, I think she's more beautiful than Long Fan Xue."
That was actually very debatable, but I understood why. To a guy, his girl would be the most beautiful in his eyes, regardless of everyone else's opinions. It just spoke volumes of what a sweet guy Li Wang was. I was glad to have him as a friend.
"Anyway, it's nearly impossible to pursue Long Fan Xue," Li Wang said with a shrug. "She's the number one student in our Divine Path Academy. I don't just mean number one beauty, she's the strongest cultivator as well. Other than the teacher, I don't think there's anyone in our school who can defeat her."
Basically, she was a Mary Sue. The standard strong, talented, beautiful ice queen whose heart will melt only for the protagonist. Too bad neither Li Wang nor I was a protagonist in some fictional web novel. Reality sucks sometimes. I sighed and was about to agree, but my response was cut off by my anime song ringtone.
"What? What happened?" Snatching out my smartphone and swiping the screen irritably, I scanned the text message and froze.
"Song Jun Wen? What's the matter?" Li Wang must have seen my expression, for he turned concerned. I glanced at him briefly, trying to force the words out of my mouth.
"Something happened at my mom's offshore lab." Turning around, I began hurrying toward the gate. "Sorry, but I have to go right now."