Clash

A boy could be seen outside a bathing room drying himself off. He was making sure to get every nook and or cranny dry which was getting him a lot of weird looks from other people.

"What is he doing?" One of the disciples whispered.

"It's Zhao Bing, I think he lost his mind after his cultivation stagnated." Another disciple whispered.

"Why are we whispering?" Another disciple asked.

"Yeah! He can't beat us up anymore!" The first disciple agreed.

"Hey you, yeah you, we think you're weird!" The second disciple yelled.

'Don't talk about me like that! You uncultured apes might not mind if your butt is wet but civilized people like me do!' Zhao Bing yelled in his head.

But Zhao Bing could only think these thoughts in his head. He wasn't the hotshot he once was. He just had to wait and bide his time. He will be the second black horse of the Fan universe.

[Stop wasting time and cultivate!] The robotic voice commanded.

'Okay, Okay! Just give me a couple more minutes.' Zhao Bing reluctantly said as he put down the towel.

'Damn alien thing always telling me what to do!' Zhao Bing thought as he put on his robes.

'The first thing I'll do when I get strong is make my own custom clothes! I will wear jeans and jackets! None of this robe sh*t!' Zhao Bing complained.

He left the bath and went back to his room. He opened the first page of the martial skill book and began reading.

[Leaf-Piercing Sword] was a skill that was middle rank. The damage was dependant on the thrust component of the movements and the faster the thrust the stronger the damage was. The technique also needed stable hands for the damage output to increase. Meaning balance was also key to everything. A strong body was also required for any martial skill so that was a no brainer.

It also required some Chi.

Chi is the essence of a true Martial Artist. Every technique that was above a core level skill required the usage of chi. The amount and quality varied between skill books.

The downside of this technique was its purpose. It was made to kill. Zhao Bing, without complete mastery over the skill couldn't use it in practice matches. Meaning, he needs to find another core-skill to use for the tournament.

Zhao Bing looked at the movements for a while before closing the book and 'meditating'.

He sat there for a while before the robotic interrupted him.

[You aren't meditating, your just breathing in and out]

Annoyed, Zhao Bing asked the robotic voice, "What else am I supposed to do?"

[Get a Cultivation Manual!]

"Where do I get that? I've already chosen the Leaf-Piercing Sword! I can't go back and get another one!" Zhao Bing said.

[...You are the grandchild of an Elder. Tell him that you are taking Martial Arts seriously.]

'Oh, yeah. With the treatment I get here it's easy to forget that.' Zhao Bing thought in self-defense.

Zhao Bing went outside to his family's estate. The reason he's not living there was because his cultivation stopped increasing. He was once praised as a one-in-a-hundred-years genius by everyone in the clan, now he is despised by them. His family members thought of him as a burden and his grandfather wanted to toughen him up. So they made a plan to send him to live with the outer disciples.

This made the outer disciples who had built up animosity against the inner court think that Zhao Bing's family gave up on him. So they treated him worse than they would treat their own. This happened for so long that it was thought to be a normal thing. The new batch of branch-family kids didn't even know that he was related to the inner court much less him being the grandchild of an elder.

"What business do you have here?" One of the guards asked Zhao Bing.

"I have come to speak with my grandfather!" Zhao Bing declared.

This made the guards' face twitch. Did Zhao Bing not know that his family already gave up on him? Did the outer disciples not beat that arrogance out of him yet?

"Wait here, I'll see if the elder wishes to speak to young master." The guard bowed and left into the estate.

This left Zhao Bing alone with the other guards.

"How humiliating, I can't even get into my own house without another person's permission." Zhao Bing mumbled.

The guards paid no attention to Zhao Bing. They even ignored his presence.

While Zhao Bing was in his thoughts, a group of disciples entered the area. They were yelling and laughing, talking about which female disciple was the prettiest.

"Brother Kan, you should woo Zhao Yufei! No one else deserves her more than you." One of the disciples said.

"Haha!" Brother Kan laughed. "Don't be so ignorant! There is always a bigger fis-"

Brother Kan's abrupt stop confused the other disciples, until they looked in the same direction. It was Zhao Bing, the former hope of the Zhao clan.

"Zhao Bing is that you?" Brother Kan asked.

"Huh, oh - it's you, brother Kan!" Zhao Bing exclaimed.

'I remember this guy. He used to kiss up to me all the time when I was strong. Now he barley even acknowledges me. It's better to treat him nicely until I can do something about it.' Zhao Bing thought.

[Your Just as fake as him]

"What are you doing here?" Zhao Kan asked coldly.

You could tell Zhao Bing's presence in the area upset Zhao Kan. His response only let the other disciples know to treat Zhao Bing worse in the face of Zhao Kan.

"Me? I'm here to talk to our grandfather." Zhao Bing Replied.

"Why would do you want to see him?" Zhao Kan asked.

"That's for me to know and for you not to find out!" Zhao Bing said with a laugh.

"Don't think that you're still the same genius from before! I am at the peak of 2nd rank!" Zhao Kan proudly exclaimed. "While you're still stuck at the beginning of 2nd rank! If you're this cocky, why don't you fight me here and now?" He mocked.

To this Zhao Bing only laughed. This only made Zhao Kan more upset. In a rage, he started to insult Zhao Bing. His little group was also throwing insults into the mix trying to bait Zhao Bing into a match. The guards only showed some interests towards watching the fight and not stopping it.

'It isn't worth aggravating Zhao Kan.' One of the guards thought.

'Zhao Kan has more potential. And it looks like he doesn't want me interfering.' The other guard thought.

They looked at each other and nodded. It wasn't worth the trouble.

Zhao Bing seeing their non-verbal communication knew what they agreed to.

'What are my chances of winning the fight?' Zhao Bing asked in his head.

[Creating and running simulations....11% chance of winning]

'Sh*t.' Zhao Bing cursed.

"I have to speak with grandfather! I can't waste any more energy here!" Zhao Bing explained as he turned away to face the main entrance.

The disciples kept mocking him trying to curry the favor of Zhao Kan.

"Are you too scared?"

"Aren't you supposed to be part of the Zhao Clan?"

"What a disgrace!"

"You hear them? Come and face me you coward!" Zhao Kan yelled.

Seeing no way out, Zhao Bing decided to take the Loss.

'Fine, it's just one beating. How much can it hurt?' Zhao Bing thought.

Before Zhao Bing could accept the match, a guard interrupted him.

"The Elder is willing to speak to you!" The guard said as he led Zhao Bing away from the crowd undeniably saving his life.

"Saved by the guard! Don't let me see your face again or else!" Zhao Kan yelled as he laughed with the crowd.

"Look how scared he was!"

"Don't you remember how cocky he used to be?"

"Don't mind him. Lets just enjoy ourselves." Zhao Kan said as he laughed with the crowd.

The guard only shook his head and sighed. He turned to Zhao Bing and led him to a paved trail.

"Keep your head down low. Your not the same one in a hundred-years genius anymore. You can't afford to be this bold." The Guard lectured.

'Be bold? I just greeted the guy! I can't greet people anymore? What a world this is.' Zhao Bing thought.

"Be more respectful when talking to anyone higher than you. Your grandfather, for example, won't tolerate your childish behavior anymore." The guard continued.

'I'm super respectful! I even greeted that hoe!' Zhao Bing thought.

"And don't speak when you're not spoken too." The guard continued.

Zhao Bing scanned the area. From his memories the way to the main house wasn't this long.

'How long is the way to the room?' Zhao Bing thought.

"Exactly, like you're doing right now! Good Job." The Guard cheered. "It seems like you are taking the lesson by heart. Although your cultivation is the same as a couple years ago, your mind has still progressed."

'I swear we past this rock already! Are we going in circles?' Zhao Bing thought.

[...]

"Don't let my complement get to your head. You still have to be very respectful and not ignorant!"

'Answer me Damn it!'.