4- Once a Punching Bag
Bai Chi understood one thing that had remained a constant in the world of cultivation.
The Strong devoured the Weak.
No matter the era.
No matter the time or the advancement of technology. Even the political reforms.
Power was always in the hands of the strong.
Bai Chi, first year in Shuangying College.
Cultivation Realm: First stage of Qi Refining.
This was the information pasted on his online profile from his Wrist Phone. He flipped through some random personal data about his date of birth and his home town.
Just as he was reading, the school bell rang, calling for the start of classes.
Bai Chi made his way into his class, when a large hand stopped him from going in.
It was Kang Jiufei. The giant of a man gave a wry smile, waving gently as he gestured for Bai Chi to follow him.
Oh, so he chose to die quickly? Bai Chi thought to himself.
Usually, class was mandatory, but one could skip class in order to perform cultivation duties or train one's body.
Not all students were seen to be strong in theoretical knowledge, and as such, spent most of their time in the training grounds and fighting arenas the college had to offer.
Bai Chi made a scrounging face and sighed, keeping his calm as he followed Kang Jiufei to one of these gyms.
After his advancement to the first Layer of the Earthly Vessel Technique, he needed to roughly check how strong he had become now.
"The Earthly Vessel technique was a lost art I inadvertently created from the Heavenly Body Divine Sutra when I was still starting up cultivation. It allowed me to bridge the gap due to my deficiencies in cultivation" Bai Chi thought to himself as he reminisced on a life far gone.
Thousands of years ago he had been transmigrated through mysterious means to this wonderful world of cultivation.
Then, the world was still in the dark ages of its development, Cultivation a mystical thing that only high level aristocrats and the lucky poor gained access to.
I was amongst the lucky poor.
I gained a special Divine manual, as is the main character cheatsheet in every new world.
But something was wrong with this manual, or more in fact…
Me…
I was an orphan youth trying his best to survive in a world that was unfair to the weak. A world where cultivators and humans were as different as the heavens and the earth.
Not like now where every one seemed equal under the law.
And as an orphan, I had no access to heaven and earth materials or special cultivation conditions.
So when I tried to cultivate this sutra, without expert assistance or knowledge…
I shattered my Spirit Root and destroyed my meridians.
I became worse off than I was.
A waste…
Trash…
I wept in pain and wallowed in sorrow for a long while.
But then, I didn't let it get to me.
No, I knew I could go beyond my own predicament.
I began to study with different alchemists and scribes.
I visited and learned from some martial practitioners about the structure of the human body, the meridians and the Spirit Roots.
I worked hard enough and made enough money.
I slowly learnt of every way possible to restore my body and Root.
I used both Orthodox means, and even delved into the unorthodox.
Until I found a way.
A way that no one ever saw or imagined.
A was able to realign my meridians and reignite my spirit root.
But when I did this, I noticed something even more miraculous.
I could cultivate the Heavenly Body Divine Sutra, but in reverse.
Yes…
I could do it in reverse…
And its benefits….
"Brother Chi, we're here" a voice woke Bai Chi from his thoughts
They had entered what seemed to be a large auditorium with a grand stone tiled arena at the centre.
Around this arena were younger generation cultivators who sat or stood, watching two other cultivators duke it out.
The auditorium was lively, as both cultivators fought with reckless abandon.
One of them was a young man about 17 years old, short hair and lean.
He wore his jacket without the sleeves and held a wooden sword with rune markings on them.
His opponent was a dark skinned girl with pure white hair. Her uniform jacket was unbuttoned, dressed in a black singlet that didn't hide her excellent figure.
But even under that lean body was mostly muscle.
She fought with her bare fists, defending against the young man's sword strikes.
The collision of their attacks sent loud bangs across the room, inspiring their viewers who watched in awe.
Soon, the young man jumped out of the arena and bowed.
"Senior sister is mighty, i admit my defeat"
The girl grinned in reply, her pride evident in her face.
The crowd cheered, causing Bai Chi to give more attention to the young lady.
She was about 5"9 with a face that always seemed to be smirking.
Ren Yulie, Fist Year of Shuangying.
Cultivation: Peak Realm of Foundation Building.
Her features matched a profile of one of the ace students in the College.
The crazy part of it all, she was just 17 this year.
A heaven blessed prodigy.
The Heavens will never be fair. It's either you're touched by it, or you seize it by force Bai Chi thought to himself, his eyes leaving Yulie's figure.
Soon, he was standing next to Kang Jiufei, looking at the arena as more and more students went up and fought.
"You see those guys up there, they're nothing to joke about. You need more training in order to reach their level junior brother" Kang Jiufei spoke with a condescending tone, as if giving advice to a newbie.
Bai Chi scoffed. This attitude of his was quite funny to him.
The Earthly Vessel technique was very powerful, but the cost of cultivation was very high.
One had to take a tremendous amount of damage and trauma to the body.
The Earthly Vessel was the antithesis of the Heavenly Divine Body.
The Heavenly body absorbed all things and made it its own, making one able to learn and master any and techniques under heaven and earth.
The Earthly Vessel went against the laws of heaven, absorbing heavenly law, adapting to it, before discarding it.
The more damage the Earthly Vessel took, the stronger it got.
So strong, it could overturn the heavens themselves.
And all this time he had been in college, his body had taken beating after beating, being despised as the lowest ranking student.
But now, his body has entered the first stage of the Earthly Vessel:
The Body over Mind stage.
The very first stage of this technique.
Soon, it was his turn to fight against Jiufei.
And would this cynical guy be in for a shock.
When Bai Chi got on stage, the whole hallway began to jeer and boo.
Bai Chi was known as the Class Punching Bag; being so weak that even the weakest person in the college would still defeat him.
"Who let the punching bag upstage… get him off"
"Seriously? Hey Xiao Chi… I sell some good painkillers"
"Courting Death!!!"
Bai Chi ignored the banter and jeers, his heart and mind calm.
His body slowly began to rev, causing a small amount of Heaven Qi to flow into his skin.
His inner body churned…
His dead meridians, like dry river channels, began to come alive.
Heavenly Qi began to flow through the dead channels, revitalizing his body.
His cultivation slowly began to rise, his Spirit Root that was shattered began to mend itself, reforging and reforming.
The shape of his Spirit Root was like a dead plant, withered with age.
But the instant the flow of Qi touched his dead Spirit Root, it shuddered to life, giving it a lush and tender green colouration that slowly began to change to a reddish colour.
All these happened as he walked to the arena, without the knowledge of anyone, even his opponent.
Soon, he was face to face with Kang Jiufei, who took off his shirt, revealing his sturdy and stout body.
He made a horse stance, spreading his Qi around his body to harden it.
He had just started manifesting his qi, meaning he had crossed the threshold of Qi refining and stepped into the Foundation Stage.
"After you senior brother" he said in a slight mocking tone.
Jiufei took a deep breath, and then broke into a run.
In three seconds, he was before Bai Chi, throwing his fist into a straight jab.
On a normal day, Bai Chi would raise his fists and block, taking the hit.
But now, he wanted to see how fast he could move in reaction to his opponent.
He tilted his body and barely dodged the attack, a smile on his lips.
Kang Jiufei was taken aback by this.
He brought his left palm from below his waist and made a strike diagonally.
But Bai Chi seemed to be one step ahead of him, dodging the attack by lifting his head away from the strike's trajectory.
With this strike, his body was wide open, and Bai Chi capitalized on it.
He brought his knee to Jiufei's sternum, knocking the wind out of him.
Then in the same motion with the same leg, he stretched his leg upwards and brought it down for an axe kick, sprawling the fat giant onto the floor.
With a bang, Kang Jiufei was sprawled on the floor, unconscious.
And the whole arena was stunned silent.