what is an ego?
is it pride?
maybe a deep belief in one’s self?
either way, Ma Qing lost such a thing before it even grew into this life.
born of a low tier slum family, he already was living much worse off than in his previous life, this led him to understand life will be difficult, and his own life had little value.
but after 8 years, watching his parents die.
he came to learn it was the exact opposite.
his own life dictated the lives of his 2 younger siblings.
that meant he couldn’t take risks unless it guaranteed a great outcome.
with that, he had to think of himself as a street rat that could die off at any moment, without being worth a damn.
but in this moment.
something ignited.
something that only existed in his last life.
a sense of belief.
a sense of ego.
CLANG!!
a devastating wave of pressure, much stronger than the ones before it rippled violently throughout the stadium!
anyone participating can fully tell the Ma Qing had proved himself to a great extent, yet he was pushing for more!
at the 4th minute though, rather than perfectly copying the man in front of him, he started changing.
minute foot work changes, slightly changing his grip, more or less Qi blood running through his veins.
this went on for until the 6th minute, until a smaller, more recognisable change occurred…
Ma Qing…
was actually getting better?!
what Ma Qing was doing, was not correcting himself, rather, doing everything different slightly.
changing ever so much, and transforming the Earth Shattering Saber into something that felt comfortable in his own hands.
that wouldn’t have been possible unless he gained himself an ego.
now, they were ramping up even harder, as the senior himself felt the pressure, the pressure ‘to not lose against an unpolished junior!’ each swing carried even more ferocious force, a force of a Bear!
with that, an enormous weight was pressing against Ma Qing’s Saber!
‘I will not yield!’ his bones were strained immensely, but then his Qi Blood roared to life!
Qi Blood, depending on the Pile Skill, gives whatever martial arts you use more unique from anyone else using the same one.
if it was 2 seniors instead of Ma Qing and a Senior, and they used the same martial art, depending on what Pile Skill they use, the Martial art would weaken or strengthen greatly, or minutely.
but Ma Qing, created the Chimera Blood Nourishing.
a Pile Skill that grafted all components pf 6 other Pile Skills.
making Chimera have all properties that was grafted onto it, and then amplified by all the different types of the same property.
he was able to match the output!
KABBOOOOM a more violent eruption of power spread throughout the arena!
‘how is this possible!’ no Junior, who just entered Blood Nourishing Minor Achievement, should ever be capable of being this powerful!
the Senior was flung far back, almost falling out of the arena!
but with tremendous effort he stayed in only to spot Ma Qing, already swinging!
the Senior hastily put his sword up again, but compared to the extremely controlled output and time Ma Qing already put in, the force crumbled faster than a sand castle in water.
he was thrown out of the ring.
every senior watching knew something was up.
‘how in the world would someone, practice the copper blood Nourishing skill, ever battle up to this extent?’ opportunities arrive everywhere, old monsters leaving out treasures, techniques, etc are everywhere, but how in the world did something as a Blood Nourishing Level Pile Skill, be this ferocious, even at Minor Achievement?
the older ones walked out, heading to report it to the manager of this agency as well as the Shen Family themselves.
Lin Changsheng was baffled!
how in the world could he have lost?!
‘to a Junior only a month in!!’ rage a malice filled his heart, but he held back.
after all, he still had a great reputation, and is wildly known as a hero of the Agency.
“congratulations?” the Clerk came out and spoke, still surprised by the abilities of the junior.
“you are officially a Rank 1 member, able to do out of city deliveries and inner city Deliveries.” she started explaining how both of them would work.
there are 3 main Ranks, in the agency.
the first is a minor worker for the agency, and the requirement is Minor Achievement in Blood Nourishing.
this allows you to accept lower tier jobs for going to and from cities.
the base salary being double what he’s currently getting!
but for doing inner city deliveries, you are required Minor Achievement in a light body technique.
these missions require fast pace movement, as time being on time is seen as very necessary, if not, earlier.
this more than triples his current salary, making him get 25 taels of silver a month!
the 2nd rank, allows you to take more high stakes missions, treating you as a second in command in major missions, and true leaders in lesser ones.
you’ll also be treated as a young representative of the Agency when outside.
the bare minimum for the 2nd rank is the peak of Blood Nourishing though, which buy his calculations, depending on how big the gap between great success to peak would be, would take a year.
and he can’t even dream of 3rd rank, or any rank above that!
with that being said, he got a badge, hanging on his waist, he gets double the money, basically guaranteeing meat in every meal with his family and sworn sister.
‘things are going too good…’ he felt something tingling at the back of his neck.