After the incident Zhang Wuji became a bit more serious about cultivation. Most of his free time he spent on the training grounds either training solo or with targets. Occasionally he would spar with fourth level outer disciples Lin Yingjie introduced. All of them had joined after he had and were younger than him. Except the embarrassment he felt in the beginning there were no other problems. His skill in Eagle claw art grew with each day. He still daydreamed every now and then but his stubborn thoughts of revenge kept him from indulging too much. Although the black clothed man was just an illusion constructed by the formation he still held a grudge against him and swore to beat the crap out of him. Now that he had ample practice and experienced the whole thing once, he was confident that he wouldn't be as miserable as before where he was too overwhelmed by his fear of death after getting injured and forgot that it was only an illusion.
In the following days he had tried out the will power and comprehension tests. Comprehension test at the time of selection was divided into two parts, written and sword rampart. Zhang Wuji tested the sword rampart. It was a broken piece of a wall with a crack on it which according to sect higher ups was a sword streak. It did look too neat to be made by other reasons he could think of.
The previous sect leader had found this on one of his journeys and determined that this sword streak held a high level martial art in it. Depending on one's comprehension a part of the art or a watered down version of it can be gleaned off it. The higher ups tried everything but weren't able to get the complete art. So they left it here to see if someone could get anything out of it. Even if what they understood was something very low level they were taken in as first class disciples. Nobody could understand anything though. Only foundation building realm cultivators and above had understood anything from it. There was once an inner disciple that understood a very high level move. He was taken in as the personal disciple of the previous sect master and is the senior brother disciple of the current sect master. He is said to have left the sect to find a way to enter nascent soul realm and is yet to return.
'Lin Yingjie really has a story corresponding to everything and everyone in the sect.'
'I got nothing from the rampart. Atleast the will power test was not too depressing.' He crossed the passing mark with thirty six steps climbed.
Today he was going to challenge the Battle Tower again after a whole week's wait. He even trained on Sunday for this. This time he came alone. Remembering the shame he had to endure every time he lost to a junior he clenched his fists and entered the tower.
This time he wasn't distracted by the dazzling weapons and chose fists in the weapons selection. Familiar arena, familiar blue sky and familiar black clothed man. Zhang Wuji took the initiative again and clawed at the man. He felt like a tiger delivering the deciding blow and his face flushed.
He immediately shook his head mentally and controlled his thoughts.
The man dodged back and sprung forward with an uppercut. This time Zhang Wuji did not foolishly let the previous attack's momentum carry him and stepped to the right and grabbed at his neck with his left claw and plunged him to the ground.
The man pulled his body down by hooking with his right leg and freed himself and proceeded to deliver a kick to his abdomen.
Zhang Wuji rolled back away from the kick standing up in the process. He tackled the man to the ground as he was pulling his leg back. He got on top of him and brutally clawed at his neck trying to rip out his throat. The man was still disoriented from the tackle and couldn't defend right away and got his throat ripped off.
Zhang Wuji got blood all over his face and his face paled. He got off his opponent's body and retched. It smelled like blood. Tasted like blood. He was nauseated. 'They didn't have to make it this realistic right. Dayum I'm a savage' he smiled foolishly to himself after remembering it was just an illusion.
'Alright. Now what' he was back to the white space and was given options to either continue or try again later.
He came with full knowledge this time. The first floor opponent had a cultivation similar to the challenger and the level kept increasing with the floor with fourth floor opponent at three levels above the challenger. All opponents only have mastery level in their martial arts. Therefore it is easy to beat the first floor as long as one reached mastery in their martial art as the opponents are only rigid illusions. Even those with initiation in their martial arts can beat them with some effort. The fifth floor is different. If someone passes the fourth floor then a deacon with grand completion in their martial arts controls the black clothed man with cultivation of three levels, that is one whole stage, above the challenger to fight. The difficulty is increased exponentially.
As long as you win, you can challenge the next floor whenever you want without the one week gap as long as a room is available.
'Although it was an easy win the next floor isn't something I can beat. But I'd like to give it a try. It doesn't matter if I am barred for a week. It's not like I can make some drastic improvements in the next few days.'
Zhang Wuji chose to continue. He maintained his previous choices. A red light flashed and a black clothed man appeared. This time he was more careful and waited for the man to make the first move. The opponent was stronger than him so he couldn't exchange blows. He will have to dodge and counter to win this. He could unleash a barrage of blows and not give the man time to breathe but Eagle Claw art was about counters and strong blows not combo attacks and raining punches.
The man started with a few testing blows. Zhang Wuji dodged all of them. These blows did not have a large portion of the man's strength and couldn't be leveraged against him. They were quick controlled strikes and countering them is very difficult so he kept dodging and waited for an opportune moment.
It never came. For whatever reason despite having an upper hand the man never went for the finishing blow and kept playing with him, draining his stamina and finishing him off.
'Fuck! This is cheating. A human would've long gone impatient and would've become more aggressive. This level of patience is only possible in an illusion created man. And why the hell is an illusion using tactics? Or was I just unlucky? Next time I'll take the initiative.' Zhang Wuji grumbled and got out the tower.
Still he killed his target and was happy. He went to the Duck Lake to meet Lin Yingjie. Not to brag about his exploits. It was just the first floor. Although it does require celebration but not to the extent that he had to walk kilometres to tell his gang. He had to borrow the pots from him. Usually he borrowed them in the morning after Lin Yingjie is done with his cultivation but today he got caught up in last minute preparations for the tower which included deciding the pose he would make when he clears the whole tower.
After walking for a while he reached the Duck Lake. It had no ducks. There were cranes and other birds but no ducks. 'Lin Yingjie might know the story behind the name.'
The lake was almost a perfect circle with various structures build along its banks. A few metres left to the centre of the lake was a huge pavillion. The only way to reach it was by boat. Ofcourse qi condensation realm cultivators could walk on water but this lake was mainly used by the outer sect disciples.
Lin Yingjie and others were fishing on one side. It was rowdy. Not like what one would imagine fishing to be like. They frequently caught fishes which led to increased rowdiness. They released the caught fish after giving them some treat. Maybe the reason why the fish got caught despite all the ruckus. Zhang Wuji thought they were intelligent fishes, fit to be in a cultivation world.
He went over and greeted them. "Brother Zhang how was the tower." Pan Mu was the first to ask.
"If he still couldn't clear the first floor he should just quit cultivation. The proper question would be whether he could beat the second floor." Zhang Wuji was now used to Wan Lin's bluntness and didnt mind him. "The second floor opponent drained my stamina and killed me. It sucked. I'm planning to take the initiative next week."
"No need for that. The illusions tactics are randomly chosen when there is no action from the challenger to react to. You were just unlucky. Next time there is a high chance that a tactic that suits your Eagle Claw art would be chosen." Lin Yingjie said without taking his eyes off his fishing rod.
"How can you say that?"
"A long fight is energy consuming. Usually such tactics have a very low chance of happening. You were just unlucky that it countered your art perfectly."
"These things consume energy?"
"Obviously. How foolish does one have to be to think they run magically?" Wan Lin ridiculed with his ever serious face.
Zhang Wuji ignored him and asked "Why would the sect provide it for free then?"
"Nothing in the sect is for free. They take fees from us or work us to the bone. Only the first class disciples get stuff for free. I once made an enquiry in an indirect way and realised their fees is paid by us second and third class disciples. The same trend is continued even in the inner sect. Only the currency is different." Lin Yingjie scoffed.
"Wouldn't that lead to dissatisfaction in the disciples?"
"So what? Now that you know about it, are you gonna do something to change it and go against core formation realm cultivators in the sect? Or are you gonna leave? Do you think you could get the pills and all the training grounds outside the sect?"
Zhang Wuji had nothing more to say. He couldn't help but feel frustrated. He was fine with them making profit from his fees but he couldn't swallow the fact that the same fee is used to nurture first class disciples.
"Brother Zhang you never came fishing before. So what did you come here for? Did you need something." Pan Mu didn't like the mood of the discussion and asked changing the topic.
"Yeah. Brother Lin I'm here to borrow the pots."
"No need. We went and bought them for you on Sunday. They're in my room. You could collect them later."
"Alright." Zhang Wuji sat down and played with them for a while. By the time he got back to his room it was already dark.
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
Sunday. White Serenity City.
Zhang Wuji and the rest had decided to celebrate his victory in the Battle Tower in the city. Zhang Wuji and Pan Mu roamed around the streets waiting for the sun to set when Lin Yingjie and Wan Lin would join them at the Myriad Fragrance Pavilion which they had decided as the venue for the celebration. Lin Yingjie had something keeping him busy and Wan Lin, as the only third class disciple among them, had work to do. He worked at one of the herb gardens.
They ate street food, played and eventually got bored with the same scenery and were about to go to the gladiator arena when they saw a crowd infront of a small restaurant and went over to satisfy their curiosity.
As they got closer, they saw a young man wearing outer disciple green robes beating up a little boy about seven or eight years old. From his shouts and abuses, they got a rough idea of what happened. Turns out the kid had accidentally spilled some water on the disciple and he was enraged. There was also something about him having an appointment to meet a lady friend.
Zhang Wuji felt sorry for the boy and wanted to intervene but then thought that he wouldn't dare kill or seriously injure in the city so there was no need to unnecessarily make enemies. As for his heart that was unhappy with his decision, he would just give the boy some money or something to soothe it.
And if the disciple dared to kill, that would mean his background was impressive. So it was better to not interfere. He looked at Pan Mu's angry face and thought 'Not good'.
"Brother Pan let's leave. We wouldn't get the best seats of we are late." He hastily said and tried to hold his arm to pull him away from the scene. But it was too late.
"Oi get the fuck out of here. How could you beat a kid so heartlessly" Pan Mu raced ahead and slammed the disciple away. He held the kid and applied some medicinal paste on him.
"Mind your own fucking business." The disciple was pissed and was clearly going to attack.
"If you don't disappear from my sight instantly, I'll report you to the Punishment Hall." Pan Mu said sternly while taking out a token without even lifting his head.
It clearly had an effect as the disciple turned pale and left.
Zhang Wuji looked at the token. It was a black token with the word punishment written on it. He recognised the token. It was carried by qi condensation realm members of the sect working in the Punishment Hall.
"Brother Pan that was awesome. Where'd you get the token from?" He walked towards Pan Mu.
Pan Mu turned his face towards him and looked at him for a moment. Zhang Wuji all of a sudden started to feel really uncomfortable.
"My cousin works in the Punishment Hall" He said blandly. This made Zhang Wuji all fidgety. 'What the fuck is your problem. You had a fucking token. Anyone can be cool and do whatever they want with a token. And what if he had a red punishment token or maybe the sect master's token. You would've licked his feet then and there.'
They were no longer in the mood to sightsee and went to a teahouse nearby. The entered a private room and waited for their tea. In a while a lady came in readied the tea and left.
"What you did back there was risky. You could've gotten us into unnecessary trouble." Zhang Wuji couldn't take it anymore and said.
Pan Mu ignored him and poured himself a cup. This infuriated him. "This behaviour will get you killed. This is a fucking cruel world where brothers kill each other, friends betray and even parents can't be trusted." He raised his voice, almost shouting.
Pan Mu still didn't care and continued to drink his tea. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PRETENDING TO BE DUMB FOR?!" He lost it and screamed slamming the table.
"Why are you shouting?" Panu finally said something.
"WHY?! WHY?! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN WHY. OFCOURSE I'M SHOUTING." Zhangu slammed again this time cracking the table and spilling the tea.
"I can see that. I'm asking why" He asked again calmly as if they were having a normal discussion.
Zhang Wuji finally lost it completely and pounced on him "MOTHERFUCKER!!!!"
In his rage he executed Eagle Claw art at his strongest. Pan Mu dodged easily and grabbed the back of his neck slamming him into the ground face first. He then put his weight on him, twisted his right arm while pressing his face into the ground and said slowly "If you don't have guts to act on what you believe, you should just give up cultivation." He got up and left leaving Zhang Wuji on the floor.
Zhang Wuji stayed there. Angry and disgusted. He did not want to get up. He did not want to go out. He did not want to show his face to anyone. He curled up into a ball and closed his eyes wishing all of this to go away.
After a while he got up. He didn't want to be seen like this. He tidied his clothes, wiped his face and walked out the room. The lady was waiting outside. He gave her the damage costs and paid the bill. He was no longer in a celebratory mood and decided to go back to the sect. He walked with his head down and exited the city.
"Brother Zhang."
When he was halfway to the sect he heard someone call him and looked up. He saw Pan Mu standing in front of him with his head bowed and hands to his sides.
"I apologise for what I said earlier. I got angry at the disciple and unreasonably took it on you. You were right. The scene could've played either way and we could've been pulled into a bad situation. I'm sorry." He sounded sincere shocking Zhang Wuji.
"No, no brother Pan. You were right. Although caution is good, if I'm afraid to take even a single step forward I might as well give up cultivation. You were absolutely right to say that. Also I'm sorry for yelling at you." Zhang Wuji bowed.
"Forget about it. Come, let's go back to the city. We're here to celebrate let's not spoil things." He put his hand over Zhang Wuji's shoulder and pulled him to the city. Zhang Wuji helplessly followed. He felt as if a weight had been lifted off his heart after apologising and was now a bit hungry. Going back to the city was not a bad idea.
....
They were now standing in front of a lavishly decorated building. On top of the open doors at the entrance was a board with Myriad Fragrance Pavilion written on it. The sides of the door were decorated with big lanterns. Faint music could be heard coming from inside.
"Brother Pan this is magnificent."
"Well ofcourse. This is the most popular place for entertainment in the whole city. I'm surprised you've never been here before. Let's enter. You're gonna love this. I guarantee."
Pan Mu pulled him by his hand and entered. They informed the lady at the entrance to direct the other two to their room when they came.
The insides of the whole building and the private rooms were similarly lavishly decorated. They entered their room and ordered some appetizers and waited for their friends while chatting.
Not long after Lin Yingjie and Wan Lin joined them. "Alright let's get this party started."
Four girls wearing revealing clothes showing their enticing figures walked in. Zhang Wuji's mind went blank. He was totally not expecting this. He panicked. This was his first time in such a scenario. He never went to a brothel. And were they going to go at it in a group? He imagined the scene and his face contorted. 'Yuck! No way I'm gonna do it in a group.'
"Brother Zhang what's wrong?" Lin Yingjie caught the change in his face instantly.
"No, nothing." 'What am I thinking. This must be like one of those bars in anime where girls accompany them in drinking. What was it called..? Whatever. I'm just overthinking.'
The girls were beautiful, the food was good. He might as well just go with the flow.
The girls sat beside each of them and poured them some wine. They talked, laughed, groped and were having fun.
"Big brother Zhang you haven't touched your wine. Do you not enjoy my company." the girl beside him, Xie Xuanxuan made a sad face with teary eyes and said with a voice that made him wanna attack her then and there.
He controlled himself with great difficulty "I don't drink wine."
"Really? You are not just saying to get rid of me are you." she made a pitiful face and added a strange tone to her voice that made one's heart race.
"Xuanxuan, brother Zhang really doesn't drink. When he was younger, he used to get sick frequently. Once when he was so sick that he was dying, a monk came and saved his life. His mother then made him swear that he would never drink and pray everyday so as to repay the monk." Lin Yingjie came to the rescue.
"A man who stands on his word. How romantic." His arm was covered by two soft mounds and he could feel her hot breath in his ears.
'What word! If I were to say something I shouldn't when intoxicated, I would be experimented on or something. Woman you are killing me.!'
At this time Lin Yingjie got up with the girl beside him and went towards the door. "Remind me when it is time to leave" he said and walked out.
"What does he mean?" he whispered to Pan Mi who was sitting beside me.
"Right it's your first time here. There are separate private rooms that offer full service. I am engaged and Wan Lin doesn't like to spend money on things that do not help him in cultivation and wouldn't take it if you were to give him."
Zhang Wuji froze for a moment before coming back to senses. 'Hehe how dare you provoke me with your body. Now see how I'm gonna ravage you' he thought and smailed evilly. He forgot about every misgiving he previously had about being new to this and got up.
He was just going to take her to a room when a thought struck him 'Wait. What of I get STDs. Is there such a thing in cultivation world? Are there condoms and stuff? Maybe I should ask someone. I obviously can't ask the girl. Wan Lin doesn't look experienced in this stuff. I could ask Pan Mu. No the girls might hear. That would be embarrassing. I could call him aside and then ask. It would be awkward but better awkward than STD.'
He was about to call out to Pan Mu when another thought struck 'I believe AIDS appeared in the 1900s. But a virus couldn't have just come out of nowhere. Maybe some experiment, maybe transmitted from some animal, maybe someone are something they shouldn't have or maybe it was always there but no one noticed. So even if he says there's no such thing as STDs it could just mean they don't know it yet. It may not effect a cultivator but body refinement realm is not exactly a cultivator. And if humans, beasts can cultivate why not viruses and bacteria. No. I shouldn't take unnecessary risks. I'll go to the library tomorrow and thoroughly research on the subject. Maybe when I take up alchemy I can ask my master or something.'
He took his decision and was about to sit down when his eyes noticed something. His blood rushed and he felt his senses blurring 'Fuck this I can't stay here.'
"Brother Pan, brother Wan I just remembered something and need to urgently go to the sect. I'll make up for it later. I need to go bye." He didn't even give them the chance to speak and left by himself. He did some much needed exercise to release his pent up frustration and hit the hay.
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
Comentário de parágrafo
O comentário de parágrafo agora está disponível na Web! Passe o mouse sobre qualquer parágrafo e clique no ícone para adicionar seu comentário.
Além disso, você sempre pode desativá-lo/ativá-lo em Configurações.
Entendi