Chapter 4: Bandits
Opening his eyes, the first thing Zhou Fan saw was a fist sized imprint in the tree. Astonished, he pinched himself to see if he was dreaming.
"Oww!"
After making sure he wasn't dreaming, Zhou Fan examined his fist. It was neither bleeding nor in pain. In an attempt to make sure that the fist imprint was really his, he curled his hand into a fist and put it on the imprint. It was! After making sure he wasn't crazy, Zhou Fan didn't know what to think.
He had never heard of anyone hitting a tree so hard that their fist was imprinted into it, much less without any injury to the hand.
At this moment, Zhou Fan realized that this was no dream. By absorbing the Qi particles, he was truly becoming greater. Even after merely 8 days, he was already beyond any human. Perhaps even an ox's strength couldn't compare to his.
Zhou Fan decided that from now on he will focus his entire life to absorbing these particles. He will become even stronger and rule over the entire world. Then, Zhou Fan's mind came back to reason. Even if he could become that strong, it would take a long long time. Also, who knows if there is a limit to the particles.
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On his way home, he stopped by the bakery to grab 4 loaves of bread, enough to last him 8 days.
Entering his house, Zhou Fan immediately sat down. Crossing his legs and clasping his hands, Zhou Fan entered a calm state much faster than before. Looking into the infinite darkness of his mind he found a pleasant surprise. Instead of a single particle, there were 2. It took a mere 30 seconds to absorb both of them.
This time besides a slightly warm sensation, he felt nothing. After 5 hours, Zhou Fan heard a familiar crack. Then, within his mind, he saw 20 particles at the same time. Absorbing them all in a quick 10 minutes, he opened his eyes to find the black gook covering his body. Running to the lake in a quick 2 minutes 30 seconds, he jumped in and cleaned himself before once again sleeping on the river bank.
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Zhou Fan repeated the process of gathering Qi particles, hearing a crack, running to the river, and sleeping on the riverbank for 7 days. Over the day's, Zhou Fan decided on a name for absorbing Qi particles. He declared it 'Cultivation'. On the 8th day, Zhou Fan woke up like normal and ate a slice of bread.
All of a sudden, a foot broke through his door! Startled, Zhou Fan jumped backwards.
" Who made this trashy door", the unknown assailant said.
"Who cares, open up the door already."
"Yes sir!" Said multiple voices at the same time.
Calming down, Zhou Fan watched as the unknown assailants broke through the door and looked at him from the outside.
"Hey, someone actually lives in this pig sty" one of men's voices said.
"Get to the village square boy", the largest of the 4 men said.
"Don't try to run, the entire village is surrounded."
Still shocked, Zhou Fan complied to the mans orders. It took less than a minute to get to the town square from his house. Entering the plaza, Zhou Fan noticed more than 20 armed men on horses. Some carried bows and spears, but most carried a sword. In the middle, the only man wearing armor was barking orders to the villagers. It seemed like Zhou Fan was the last one to arrive.
"Let's make this easy", the man barked. "Men on the left, women on the right, children in the middle."
Complying, all the villagers got into the order the man told them. All except Zhou Fan, of course.
"Boy, stand in the middle NOW!
Looking at the men surrounding him, Zhou Fan felt no fear. He had been cultivating everyday for the past week. Every day, he would punch the same tree he punched a week ago. Just yesterday, he buried his entire arm into the tree from a single punch. If his arm was a little bit longer, Zhou Fan would have pierced through the entire tree.
He had experienced 9 audible cracks since the day he had touched the lightning tree. Not only had his strength and intelligence soared through the roof, he was also exceptionally more handsome. If he wasn't 10 years old, he could surely charm any women.
"Or what?" Zhou Fan taunted at them.
"Good, I was hoping somebody would resist today."
Jumping from his horse, the man who appeared to be the leader strode towards Zhou Fan, sword in hand. Reaching him in a few seconds, he instantly sliced down upon him. From his form, you could tell this wasn't his first time. He had surely committed murder many times.
Slightly moving to the left, Zhou Fan easily dodged the man's casual attack.
"Weak." Zhou Fan mumbled.
Before the man could react, Zhou Fans fist had already arrived in front of his chest. Colliding with Zhou Fans fist, the man was instantly thrown back 10 feet. When he landed on the ground, he had already breathed his last.
Shocked the surrounding bandits took a step back. Staring at their leaders mangled chest, they all had cold sweat pouring down their face. Even his leather armor was pierced.
"W-w-w-w-what the he**!"
You could see the fear in not only their eyes, but the villagers eyes. Nobody could remain calm in the face of a mangled corpse. Not even Zhou Fan. This was the first time Zhou Fan had ever killed someone. Based upon his strength, he had assumed the man would die, but upon looking at his bloody corpse, even Zhou Fans' strengthened mind was shaking. Many of the less experienced villagers even threw up.
Slowly backing up, the bandits fear was plastered on their faces. even though they had committed many massacres, the shock from seeing a single punch from a mere boy instantly decimate a grown man wearing armor was too much for them.
"R-r-r-run!!"
When someone had finally recovered enough to say that, a trigger in all of the bandits minds were set off.
Fleeing as fast as their legs could take them, they ran away at an astonishing speed. They even left behind their horses and their chiefs corpse.
Chapter 5: A New Realm
Staring at the fleeing bandits, Zhou Fan was dumbfounded. Thinking about it, he realized that such a reaction was very reasonable. After all, who in the world wouldn't flee after seeing such a sight.
Turning around Zhou Fan noticed the terrified looks on the villagers faces.
Within Tonton village, there were 50 residents. Each one's family having lived here for generations. Everyone in the village knew everyone and there was nearly no serious conflict.
However, none of their previous friendliness could be seen on their terrified faces.
Since it didn't seem like they would break out of their stupor anytime soon, Zhou Fan started walking back to his house. Feeling the stare's on his back, he had a feeling he would be treated differently starting today.
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The next morning, Zhou Fan opened his door to find a pile of weapons and a horse in front of his house. These were naturally the weapons that the bandits had left behind while fleeing. The horse also appeared to be the chiefs horse.
Looking past the piles of weapons, he noticed a few villagers. Clearly surprised to see him, they hastily got on their knees and banged their heads against the ground, not daring to look him in his eyes.
"We greet the lord", the frontmost villager said.
Recognizing him as the village chief, Zhou Fan frowned. He didn't like the sight of the people who had helped him so much kneeling.
"You can stand, there is no need to kneel before me."
"We d-don't dare!"
It seemed that yesterday's performance had struck fear into their hearts. Knowing that they wouldn't comply, Zhou Fan simply walked past them, heading to John's bakery. Only after he was out of sight, did the villagers stand up, cold sweat pouring down their face.
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Knocking on the door, Zhou Fan saw John jump back in fright after seeing him.
"H-h-here sir", John said while trembling.
"I have already prepared your greatnesses meal. Your greatness doesn't need to pay."
Zhou Fan once again frowned. He hated the way the villagers started talking to him. However, knowing that they wouldn't treat him like they used to, Zhou Fan simply grabbed the bread and left. Making his way back home, he saw that the villagers had already left his yard. Walking past the pile of weapons and the horse, Zhou Fan entered his house and sat on the bed. Deciding to put today's events at the back of his mind, Zhou Fan crossed his legs, clasped his hands, and started to cultivate.
After 10 straight hours, Zhou Fan finally heard the familiar breaking sound. Like usual, multiple Qi particles flooded his vision at the same time. To Zhou Fan's surprise however, he couldn't make them budge an inch. Staring at them, he counted exactly 100 Qi particles.
All of a sudden, Zhou Fan saw the Qi particles spinning around each other! Once they had formed a sphere, they once again started spinning. Elongating, the Qi particles slowly turned into an ethereal thread! The thread was completely gray like the Qi particles.
Looking at the thread, Zhou Fan felt it was appropriate to simply call it 'Qi'. Flowing into his body, the Qi thread gave Zhou Fan a completely different feeling compared to Qi particles. A feeling like a cool breeze in a summer day was felt all over Zhou Fans body.
Instinctually raising his hand, Zhou Fan let out a force from his palm. The force blew into the front door and put a hole into it. Astonished, Zhou Fan didn't put his hand down for a long time. A sense of power and superiority washed over his mind. With this new breakthrough, he felt the power of both his body and mind had consolidated. It was as if his mind and body had created a foundation within his body.
Jumping down from his bed, Zhou Fan fell through the floor! His weight had increased 10 fold. Unlike the 100 pounds he used to weigh, his body now weighed about 1000! Even then, his body shape hadn't changed at all!
Looking down, he noticed his entire body was once again covered by the black gook. Deciding to once again give a name, He called it 'impurities' because it was clearly, 'impure'. These impurities were the most disgusting so far. Shivering like a dog in the rain, Zhou Fan suddenly felt a force shoot throughout his body. Exploding from his skin, the force exploded both his clothes, and his impurities outwards. Looking at the filthy impurities covering his house, Zhou fan had the urge to throw up.
Running outside his house, Zhou Fan was surprised to notice the stares of the villagers. They seemed to have gathered outside his house to offer their items to him. Noticing auntie Sung, he strode towards her and grabbed the clothes she had clearly brought as an offering. Quickly putting them on, Zhou Fan loudly cleared his throat.
"UHUM"
"Please stop staring at me."
Recovering from their shock, many of the villagers faces were red from holding in their laughs. Quickly, someone couldn't hold it in anymore. Old Man Yang laughed loud enough to deafen anyone within a 100 foot radius.
As if the flood gates had been opened, everyone else started thunderously laughing. With a face red from shame, Zhou Fan ran away to the river. Astonishingly, he shot off at a pace fast enough to reach the river in 30 seconds.
Abruptly, the laughs stopped. Many of the villagers jaws had dropped.
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At the river, Zhou Fan finally had time to think about his breakthrough. Sitting down, he noticed that he could feel an energy in the air. Reaching out his hand, he felt the energy coiling around it. Slamming his hand on the ground, the earth exploded, and a hole a foot deep appeared. Now covered in dirt, Zhou Fan decided to clean himself off in the river.
10. That is how many times he had heard a breaking sound while cultivating.
After cleaning himself off in the river, Zhou Fan sat down and started to cultivate. Now, his vision was filled to the brim with threads of energy. Unlike before, he would no longer be limited by the amount of Qi available, but the amount he could absorb. Looking back, he felt that what he was previously doing was merely an introduction into cultivation.
3,236. That was how many stars Zhou Fan counted before heading to sleep.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
121 Power
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