It had taken Wan Ling two days to achieve his breakthrough and finally enter the stage after the body tempering realm, the Qi gathering realm.
Before he was merely stronger than the average human but now he could actively wield Qi and enhance himself in smaller bursts.
That also meant he could now practice the [Fairy Dance Sword techquie] he had comprehend during his visit to Hei Wumei.
So that was what he was doing by heading to the training ground for outer disciples.
That place, honesty wasn’t a place he liked going to given his position in the sect.
You see, Wan Ling was famous but for all the wrong reasons.
Essentially he was a laughing stock for many of the outer disciples because among those of his generation, he was the only one still stuck as an outer disciple.
The remaining had either advanced like Feng Ye to become an inner disciple, had left because they gave up or ended up dead for a variety of reasons.
Essentially he was a senior so bad he was stuck with juniors and in the world of Cultivation there wasn’t anything Cultivators hated than a weakling.
So for him stepping into a place where most of this juniors gathered was akin to suicide.
It was like highschool all over again except here death was very much certain.
So it wasn’t a surprise when he immediately stepped into the training ground and suddenly gained the attention of the majority of the people there.
Their attention was anything but friendly and Wan Ling had to admit he was quite tense but it wasn’t because he was afraid but because he knew trouble was coming his way.
Wan Ling’s predication was rightful to be so because as he stepped forward a group of outer disciples began plotting against him.
There were four individuals.
Zhang Hao, Li Wei, Chen Yu and He Xue.
These four were a cohort of friends whom we weren’t nobles but still born into wealthy homes.
Like Wan Ling they were outer sect disciples but they were fresh blood and have only been in the sect for less than a year.
Even so they were infamous for their horrible personalities.
Zhang Hao, the self proclaimed leader was a handsome youth and the son of a merchant.
He was an arrogant youth with too much money to spend and that he did.
Among the four some might say he was the most mellow.
Then there was Li Wei, he was Zhang Hao’s best friend and a sadistic bastard who liked instigating fights.
He would offend others, force them into a duel and completely strip them of their worth.
Wang Ling has been a victim of his many times and seeing him arrive he couldn’t help but find himself plotting.
"I’m so bored!" He stretched and glanced at Chen Yu and He Xue.
Chen Yu was Li Wei’s girlfriend ; perhaps due to her own inferiority complex she liked seeing others being humiliated and that was why she stuck with Li Wei because he provided her just that.
"Yeah I’m also bored." She said and glanced at the unsuspecting Wan Ling with a grin.
"Why all the sudden boredom?" Zhang Hao practicing a sword technique on a training dummy stopped and glanced at his two friends with a puzzled expression.
"Their favourite punching bag, Wan Ling, is here." He Xue, boredly checking her coloured nails, explained.
"Oh that weakling!" A sneer escaped Zhang Hao lips upon finally noticing Wan Ling walk about.
"I thought he had left the sect." He continued realizing he hadn’t seen him in a while.
"Well wouldn’t it be fun if he finally did?" Li Wei suggested already envisioning that fate for Wan Ling.
"How do you propose we do that?" Chen Yu asked, growing interested.
He Xue shook her head at the cruelty of her friends but she was the worst of them all because she knew what they were about to do was wrong.
She didn’t particularly enjoy it but she didn’t stop them either.
Meanwhile a malicious grin formed on Li Wei’s lips as he watched Wan Ling walk to an empty corner within the training grounds.
"I have an idea!"
The three turned to him, all eager to listen.
" I say we challenge him to a deal."
Chen Yu furrowed," We always do this. Wan Ling might be weak but I’m certain he’s no fool. There’s no way he accepts when he knows clearly he’ll lose."
Li Wei chuckled as if having been anticipating this," Then we’ll just send the weakest of us four and raise the stakes."
Zhang Hao’s eyes narrowed in surprise as he glanced at Chen Yu.
"Isn’t Chen Yu our weakest."
"Yes." Li Wei nodded and wrapped his hands around her neck.
"She is but have you forgotten she’s also our best fighter. She might still be in the body-tempering stage but she absolutely clowns Wan Ling."
" Even so, the gap between them is too great." Zhang Hao remarked.
" Hao is right!" He Xue added.
" Chen Yu is at the peak of her realm. Wan Ling should still be stuck at the second stage. There is no way....."
" Then it will be a contest of martial arts." Chen Yu intervened.
" I don’t need Qi to clown on that weakling." She said with a crude smile.
"So you’re saying you’re fight Wan Ling in martial arts and then what?" Xue asked.
"Now that it looks somewhat fair. We’ll make him wager his membership."
"What about our part?" Zhang Hao inquired.
Li Wei, filled with absolute confidence that his plan will go his way, pointed at all of them and held his grin.
"We’ll do whatever he says."
A/N: If you’re enjoying this story, you can support it with power stones, reviews and adding it to your collection.
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Also thank you for reading.