The sun started to kiss the horizon, adding a warm tint to Klown City. The vendors on the street began packing up as the nightlife of the city came alive. Lights upon lights covered the city in brilliance.
A beggar sat beside a restaurant, his body barely visible. Unless people glanced in his direction, no one would notice him. Even if they did, only those with brain damage or an ego superiority complex would try to mess with him.
Apollo raised his hands above his forehead and started cultivating his Simple Breathing Technique. But before that, he activated the item he had just bought from the store.
"Wish Me Luck has been activated!
The heavens will bless the host while the hell will pull the curses away from you. The host's luck will increase, but the percentage is random.
Luck Increase Percentage: 5%
Time duration: 1 hour."
"Only five percent? How stingy," Apollo muttered bitterly. He shook his head and focused on his cultivation. But unbeknownst to him, this five percent was nothing to laugh at.
...
Two women came out of Filly Restaurant, laughing merrily. They were dressed rather casually, not too expensive and not too cheap either.
"Hahaha, you should have seen that guy's face,"
"I wish I could. He is probably mourning that he lost someone like you,"
"I know, right,"
They both laughed as one of the restaurant's workers stood by the side, seemingly waiting for something.
"Oh right, your tip," One of the women noticed the man in the white polo. She reached into her handbag and took out five bronze coins. When she was about to hand them over, the door suddenly burst open as two drunk men stumbled out of the restaurant.
This startled the two women, and the lady with the coins threw them into the air out of surprise. Strangely, when the bronze coins fell, they rolled to the side of the restaurant like soldiers in line.
But this phenomenon went unnoticed as the ladies started a fight with the drunk men.
"You fools! How dare you startle us!"
"Hm? Hiccup! Sorry… we're… Hiccup! Taken! Ugly b*tches!"
"You! Argh! F*ck you!"
"Hey! Hiccup! Don't bite me!"
...
Eh? It's only been a few minutes, and I already have five Alm points? Apollo thought while deep in his own world. There was only him and the qi that he was absorbing.
Every time these cute and tiny particles entered his body, Apollo couldn't help but smile from the sensation of getting stronger. Although the progress was 'not fast,' he was still satisfied.
This is good; my investment came back fast. Apollo's thoughts about the item Wish Me Luck had changed. He anticipated that he would receive more Alm points if this continued.
But this was only wishful thinking.
A few minutes later, he suddenly felt uneasy. This feeling started subtly but turned stronger in the next second.
"Here you are. I've been looking for you!" A voice woke Apollo from his cultivation, and what he saw made him realize what was going to happen next.
"The *diot who doesn't know the word public?" Apollo muttered while looking up at the arrogant face of Bernie.
"Kid, you're really p*ssing me off!" Bernie's forehead started throbbing with anger.
"I can p*ss you off for real!" Apollo stood up and clutched his pants.
"Haha! I dare you!" Bernie laughed in annoyance. There's no way he will really...
Suddenly, the sound of water splashing echoed.
Bernie could feel the lower part of his pants and his shoes getting wet.
He looked down and saw a stream of yellow liquid. Then the stench assaulted his nose.
"Sigh… I've been holding it back since I drank that fountain," Apollo sighed in relief while pulling his pants up.
Bernie started shaking, his face turning as red as a tomato and veins bulging on his forehead. The only thing missing was smoke coming out of his ears.
"What's wrong?" Apollo tilted his head, feigning ignorance though deep inside, he was laughing.
"I'm going to k*ll you," Bernie growled.
Without waiting for a response, Bernie forcefully grabbed Apollo by the collar.
"Hey! Where are you taking me?!" Apollo protested, but he didn't resist and just let himself be dragged by the thin man.
"Of course, to the place where you're going to die! But I'm a fair young man; I will let you fight me!" Bernie said, his eyes red with fury and killing intent emanating from him.
"Okay," Apollo replied lightly. This is good, he thought, looking at Bernie's hand on his collar.
This guy doesn't seem to be that strong. Is this part of my luck? I really wanted to test my strength on someone, and this guy came along, Apollo smiled.
Bernie sprinted towards an alley. He wanted to do this secretly, but even if people found out, he believed they wouldn't make a big deal out of it. He was doing them a favor by getting rid of a beggar.
They traveled for a while until they reached the training ground. It was already night, and no cultivators were training at this hour.
Bernie jumped and landed in the arena. On the way, he threw the beggar onto the stage, and Apollo rolled on the ground a couple of times before he stopped.
"F*ck, that stinks!" Bernie shouted in frustration, looking at his soaked pants and shoes with disgust.
"You know what's the stinkiest?" Apollo said, standing up.
"Shut up!" Bernie glared.
"It's your breath! Hahaha!" Apollo laughed aloud.
"I said SHUT UP!" Bernie shouted, striking forward.
Apollo's smile stiffened as he felt his skin tingling. This was the feeling he had honed from the numerous assassination attempts in his previous life.
As the richest and most talented man on Earth, many had wanted to kill him. This had made him develop a certain skill to sense impending threats.
Without wasting more time, Apollo jumped to the side.
The air where he had been standing moments ago suddenly exploded, sending winds in every direction.
"Oh? I didn't know you could dodge that," Bernie smirked. He had just learned this battle technique from the academy. If he had really wanted to kill this beggar, he would have done it in the alley, but just like Apollo, he had other purposes in mind.
"That's dangerous…" Apollo muttered, his eyes widened from the scene.