"...and that's why, you must respect the Dao, and the Path of Flow," a bald old man, with a long white beard, announced proudly, stroking his beard with a wide smile finding its way up his face, making his eyes turn into crescent slits.
Though his eyes looked closed, it wasn't actually the case, resulting in him easily noticing the yawn of a child not too far from him.
His eye twitched, and he accidentally pulled on a strand of his white beard, causing himself a sharp pain.
'Is my lesson boring or what?!' the old man thought, the pain from pulling at his beard only making him angrier and frustrated.
'Why can't he just be like the other children, and enjoy the teaching?!'
The old man had barely had this thought when the child in question, threw him a bored gaze, and asked:
"Is that all for today's lesson, Master Liu Shen?"
Master Liu Shen—an elder in the Verdant Ripple Clan—frowned. This was the same question the child asked every single day. It wasn't the question that was bothering, but the intent behind it.
This same child had been stuck at the Body Tempering Realm for a while, and was unable to progress from that Realm into the next.
The day he was born, he had triggered a Heavenly Tribulation, which killed his mother and crippled his father.
This was never heard of before in the history of the Verdant Ripple Clan, and it was seen as a sign of someone great being born.
And then the confusion began there.
The child was believed to be the 'Chosen One', who would take the glory and nobility of the Flow Path to the top. However, he had hit a bottleneck—much earlier than any cultivator of his generation.
This was not only disheartening, but it drew ridicule to himself and his family.
'...he caused his own mother's death and crippled his father, yet…'
That was a summary of all what people said.
This, though, didn't seem to bother the child. In fact, he seemed amused by it.
With his mischievous and devious eyes glowing like molten gold, a long, flowing red hair ending with dark red tips—resembling old wine—and a skin that seemed too pale to be human, Kai Zhen was not one who was moved, or danced to the tune of his Clan. He chose to be who he wanted to be, and he was going to make it known…
starting with the children of his generation in his clan—unfortunately for them.
The corners of Kai's lips curled into a devilish grin. Liu Shen shivered lightly when the twinkle of Kai's crimson eyes reached him, and he couldn't help but feel pity for the other children.
Sure, Kai had hit a bottleneck, but they were all still Body Tempering Realm cultivators like him. His cultivation speed was just insanely fast at the start, but had slowed down considerably all of a sudden.
If they wanted to escape this fiend's torture, then they would have to up their game and fight better, or instead, reach the next Realm of cultivation.
"Yes… Kai, that's all for toda-"
"Then let's head over to the Trial Grounds!" Kai cut Master Liu Shen off, smiling wildly and shooting up from his seat abruptly.
The gaze in his eyes was akin to two precious rubies reflecting a bright light.
The reflected light, though, was like the reflection of a grim reaper's scythe to the other children as they paled, shrinking back in their seats and wishing to be as far away as possible from the Red Demon Incarnate—as they called him.
Kai was brimming with energy. He had eaten well today, and the energy was going to be transferred to whoever was unfortunate to be his opponent.
***
A few minutes later, the children—numbering twenty-two—arrived at a clearing, with a wooden platform situated at its center.
The clearing was at the heart of the Verdant Ripple Clan's base. Houses stood around; far enough to not get disturbed by the fighters, but still close enough for the residents to see what was going on clearly.
Most people in the Verdant Ripple Clan were cultivators, with only a few being mundane humans with no talent for cultivation; they served as servants—mostly. And though this wasn't the case for other lesser clans, they still weren't powerful enough to topple the Verdant Ripple Clan.
Other lesser clans had a lesser number of cultivators, but stronger ones. This was because they possessed and harnessed Qi that packed more power, unlike the Verdant Ripple Clan's Flow Qi, known for its gentleness and easiness to be cultivated.
The leader and elders of the Clan previously believed Kai to be a prodigious talent, who would make Flow Qi known far and wide, but with each passing day that he didn't breakthrough, their hopes were dying.
"The pairing will be the same as last time, with only two differences," Master Liu Shen spoke softly, his gaze settling in Kai.
"Nie Li, Lu Piao… you won't be battling yourselves today."
A murmur spread through the gathering of children. They exchanged glances, asking themselves what this meant. Were Nie Li and Lu Piao in trouble? Or was it something else?
However, Master Liu Shen wasn't done. He silenced the students with a raise of his hand, before continuing.
"And the second difference in today's practice… will be Kai facing Ma Sunwol alongside Nie Li and Lu Piao."
This reveal sent another wave of murmurs rippling through them. What kind of set up was this?
Even if Kai was stronger than them all, that was individually. If he were to take on more than one person, it would be a problem, but three?
Kai upon hearing this only widened his smile, his eyes never leaving Master Liu Shen's.
"That's not a problem," Kai finally said after a while, a deadly glint in his eyes. Then, he shifted his gaze to his three opponents, saying:
"As long as they survive."
This statement immediately made the three scrunch their noses and scoff in derision. Kai was getting ahead of himself. He might have faced every single one of them before and lost only a few times, they were still certain to defeat him if they worked together.
The trio exchanged glances, nodding their heads. They couldn't let their past experiences with Kai in the Trial Grounds stifle them. They were definitely going to pay back all the beating they had received from him!