9 Chapter 8: Martial Arts Manual (2/2)
”It's good that you've considered building up your physical strength and stamina as your first step, to establish a solid foundation,” he told me during my first few days. ”I think I can help with that. Here's a training schedule I've come up with.”
He also did one for Zhu Jiao, and monitored our progress. It was fairly easy for him to do so because we were the only two Experimentalists in his class, and the other students all had their masters to learn from.
After the first three weeks, I was instructed by Teacher Jiao to add pushups and sit-ups to my regime. He also advised me on which training room to book, where I would practice kicks that he demonstrated for me. Right now, my kicks were still pretty weak – judging from the measuring gauge that quantified and measured the power of my kicks. But predictably enough, the values fluctuated wildly, depending on how tired or frustrated I was. Like I said, the person who decided that our whole life or ”talent” could be quantified, measured and coded by a fix number was an idiot.
On the other hand, I could see the benefits of qualifying one's power. I was a little heartened to see the numerical values increase day after day, week after week, month after month. At least psychologically wise, I was encouraged from seeing a steady pace of progress.
By now I was doing a hundred pushups, a hundred sit-ups and sixteen kilometers everyday. Normally, such a punishing training regimen was ill-advised because it put tremendous stress on my joints and would cause my body to break down. Over-exercising was not a good thing and would often cause more damage than enhancement.
But in this timeline, such problems and injuries were mitigated by qi. Qi was an omnipotent natural energy that could do everything, from powering electronic devices to creating spirit pills to healing one's injuries. Some said that if one reached a certain divine level that allowed him to tap and wield the power of heavens, he could even use qi to restore lost limbs. Probably the only thing it can't do was bring back the dead.
”Huff…huff…”
And thus, after the end of three months, I found myself panting upon the completion of my sixteen kilometers. Forcing myself to straighten up, I took a huge swig of water from my bottle and then proceeded toward my dormitory. I had already completed the pushups and sit-ups prior to my run, and now all that remained was some rest. Then I would probably hit the training room in the evening to practice my kicks.
I had barely mapped out the rest of my daily routine for the day when a fist flew toward my head.
”!”
I instinctively ducked under the punch, then brought my arms up in reflex to parry a kick that lifted me off my feet and sent me flying a few meters away.”
”Kuh!”
Stumbling, I landed on my feet and slid about half a meter back, leaving two trails in the broken soil. Lowering my trembling hands, I looked up to glare at my assailants.
”As expected of the disciple of the Absolute One.”
Blinking, I gaped as a trio of heavily muscular guys stepped forward, hunching as they tried to intimidate me. Personally I was more annoyed at the shadows they were casting over me than being terrified of their immense sizes.
They were wearing the same Wu Ling Academy uniform as I was, which meant they were also students of this school. But I hadn't seen them before, at least not in the first year building. That must mean they were seniors.
”What can I do for you, seniors?”
I watched them warily, wondering if they were here to bully me. I had escaped bullying for the last three months, and I had thought my peaceful life would continue like this, but it appeared that the cliché bullying event was inevitable. As with every other bullshit wuxia novels out there, you always had a bunch of characters who decided to peak on people weaker than them for no reason other than because they were bullies who could. Or, if I were to apply real-life logic, because they wanted to assuage their egos and feel powerful by assuring themselves that there existed people weaker than them.
However, their response surprised me.
”Where is the Absolute One?” the first guy, with hair cropped close to his scalp, demanded.
”Absolute One?”
I had never heard of that title before. Not that the trio cared. Their leader, the senior with the crewcut, stepped forward intimidatingly.
”Where is what?” I repeated dumbly, still not comprehending the situation. Baldie reached out to grab me, but I withdrew beyond his reach. There was no way I was going to let the bastard touch me with his filthy hands.
”The techniques!”
”What techniques?”
”Stop pretending! We know you have them! Give them to us, now!”
What the fuck was this moron blabbering about? I had completely no idea what he was shouting about, and I honestly didn't want to waste too much time listening to his indecipherable nonsense. That said, I could sense that he was dangerous.
Even as their mountainous figures blocked out the sun, I could see the swirls of energy flowing around them. These guys were similar to me, packing dense amounts of natural energy in their bodies. Yet the differences between us were as vast as the gap between heaven and earth. It wasn't merely a matter of them having more energy than me.
Rather, it was the quality of their qi. While mine was crude, raw and infantile, these guys' qi were hard, solid and unyielding. Their qi matched their brutish and large physical appearances. It was almost as if I was looking at human-shaped rocks.
This can't be good…
I took another step back, trying to put as much distance between myself and these guys. Even if they were somehow superior in terms of brute strength, it didn't necessarily mean they were clumsier and slower. I didn't possess the same amount or quality of qi/energy (I was beginning to warm up to the idea of calling this energy qi) as them. In terms of cultivation, I was a complete amateur. I wasn't delusional enough to think I could outfight or outrun my present opponents.
Even so, there was no way I was going to stand around and let them push me around.
”I'm not pretending,” I growled in a low voice. ”I really have no idea what the fuck you are talking about.”
”Quit your acting!”
The first guy threw his fist, but I ducked it. Nonetheless, I could literally feel a sonic boom bursting past my face. While I spun away, I watched in horror as the guy punched the wall behind me and shattered the concrete.
”Holy…!”
I retreated a few steps, my eyes still fixated on the destruction. Flickering my gaze to my assailant in anxiety, I gulped.
”How the hell did you do that?”
”Hey, Tie Shan…maybe he really has no idea what you're talking about.”
One of the other seniors – a guy with messy hair – spoke up. Tie Shan merely glared at him.
”Don't be gullible! You know as well as I do that the Absolute One met and talked to this punk!”
That did it. I couldn't help but snap, a vein throbbing in my temple as I fought to control my temper. I didn't care if they were my seniors. They had no right to expect respect and deference from me after all the bullshit they were pulling.
”Fucking idiot. You show up suddenly, ambush me and try to punch me while shouting all sorts of incomprehensible questions, and get angry when people don't understand you? I can't read your fucking mind. Not that you have a mind for me to read in the first place.”
”What did you say?!” Tie Shan roared. I sighed and shook my head.
”Why should I answer your question when you won't answer mine? In the first place, who the hell is this Absolute One?”
”Stop pretending!” Tie Shan bellowed as he punched at me again, forcing me to duck. Another pillar was reduced to rubble as his fist smashed into it, and I staggered back as pieces of concrete and dust billowed into me.
”Dude, I'm not pretending. Get it in your thick skull already!”
”Why should we believe you?!”
”If you can't even believe the truth I'm telling you right now, why even bother asking me stupid questions about some technique or whatever in the first place?”
”Tie Shan! Calm down!”
The senior with messy hair and the third guy quickly seized Tie Shan and stopped him from assaulting me further. He thrashed about wildly in their grip, but the combined strength of his two juniors finally managed to arrest his struggle and he stopped.
”Now, can someone please explain to me what in the nine hells are you guys talking about? Who is this Absolute One?”
”Liar! You met and talked to him! How can you not know…?”
”Tie Shan.” The senior with the crewcut shut up when the senior with messy hair spoke up. The latter then turned to me. ”Do you really not know?”
”I talk to a lot of people, and even if I somehow did run into him and spoke to him, he's not going to introduce himself as the Absolute One, is he? Unless he's suffering from middle school syndrome. But I haven't met any such people lately.”
The senior with messy hair guy sighed. ”The old man who visited you in the hospital…”
I stared at him. ”Which old man? My uncle? I'm pretty sure he doesn't call himself the Absolute One…”
”Not that one,” the third senior interrupted. This time, he sported a Mohawk, so I decided to call him that. ”The old man you saved from the truck. He gave you his techniques as a reward for saving his life, didn't he?”
”Oh, that old man.” I finally understood which old man they were referring to. But that last part made no sense whatsoever. ”Uh, no? He didn't?”
”Liar!” Tie Shan tried to lunge at me, only for his two buddies to hold him back. ”Stop lying! I know you received his techniques!”
”I did not.” this guy was getting annoying. I really had to resist the urge to kick him in the face. ”All he did was thank me for saving his life. Then he left. That's all.”
”Liar!” Tie Shan howled. ”He definitely gave you his techniques! There's no way he didn't teach you! No way that he wouldn't leave a successor!”
”Successor?”
”To the Heaven and Earth Sect,” Mohawk supplied helpfully. ”The Heaven and Earth techniques.”
”Sorry. Doesn't ring a bell.” I stared at them dumbly. ”What, you think I'm the protagonist of some shitty martial arts story? That I'll automatically be entitled to learn martial arts upon meeting some old man? And why the heck would that old man just teach some kid he randomly encountered in the street? Even if he wanted to reward me, he couldn't have taught me anything. I spent a couple of the months in the hospital with three out of my four limbs broken. You think I can learn martial arts in that sort of condition?”
”…he's got a point,” the senior with messy hair conceded. ”Besides, if he's really the successor of the Heaven and Earth Sect, then why is he in Wu Ling Academy? From the other intelligence I've collected, he has spent the last months doing basic physical training. It seems like he's an Experimentalist who's learning the Shadow Steps for now.”
”Whoa! How do you know that?!” I demanded, my jaw dropping. ”Are you guys stalking me or something?”
”Oh…well…information is pretty easy to obtain as long as yyou have the credits and right contacts.” The senior with messy hair smiled and offered me his hand. ”Sorry for causing you trouble, Junior Fei.”
I bowed respectfully. At least this senior was the only guy who treated me decently and had the decency to listen to my side of the story.
”Are you really going to believe him, Luan Fa?!” Tie Shan demanded. ”It's obviously that he's lying!”
I couldn't help but sigh, irritated. ”The old man only visited me once, only to leave after a few minutes. Do you think that's enough time to teach me anything?”
Mohawk scratched the bald part of his head. ”We certainly haven't seen the Absolute One contact or talk to him other than that one meeting…”
”You fools!” Tie Shan hollered. ”He's lying! Don't fall for it! This is the Absolute One we're talking about here! He has ways of transferring his skills!”
”Like what?” I asked, annoyed.
”By transmitting all of his techniques to your mind directly!”
”And did you actually see him do that?”
”…”
Tie Shan said nothing, but his silence conveyed everything.
Slumping onto the ground, dejected, Tie Shan punched the ground in frustration. His two buddies released him and stood off to the side uncertainly.
”Well, of course it wouldn't be so easy to get the Heaven and Earth techniques…”
”Yeah. Why would he teach it to some random kid?”
”Looks like this guy is some uninvolved outsider…”
”The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. This kid only has a One Star Constitution. The Absolute One would pick much better and more appropriate candidates for his successors.”
Oi, I can hear you guys, you know?
”Then who would he choose?!” Tie Shan thundered. The other two seniors were unable to answer.
Well, I didn't want to get wrapped up in this farce any longer, so I turned away. The sun was still up and it was still relatively early, but that didn't mean I wanted to stick around any longer than was necessary. I wanted a shower to cool off, and I still had kicking practice in the evening, in addition to homework for theoretical lessons. I had no time to waste.
”Wait!”
Tie Shan sounded so desperate that I actually felt sorry for him. Shaking my head, I turned back to glance at him. He looked so pitiful, kneeling on the ground. He glared at me, his fists clenched and his teeth gritted.
”The Absolute One must have given you something!” he insisted stubbornly. Guy just didn't know when to give up. ”What was it?!”
”Well…” I slipped my hand into my pocket and produced the golden dragon medallion that the old man gave me. ”This is the only thing he gave me. I swear. Nothing else.”
The three seniors froze when they saw the golden dragon medallion glinting in my hand, the yellow rays of the sun reflecting off its shiny surface.
”What? What's this thing?” I asked when I saw their unusual reactions.
For a second, they didn't respond. The next thing I knew, the three of them were back up on their feet and launching themselves at me, emitting guttural shrieks of bloodlust and violence.