Waking up, Shu Himo felt that last night’s sleep was the best he had in months. He lightly rubbed his eyes as he stood up. “Status!”
§-----------------------------------------------§
[Shu Himo, 10 Years old]
[Hp: 100%] [Mp: 233]
§-------§
[Strength: 15.1][Endurance: 9.2]
[Agility: 19.4] [Dexterity: 20.2]
[Intelligence: 23.3] [Perception: 26]
[Realm: Body Strengthening] [Stage: Blood Strengthening][Foundation%: 100%]
[The maximum stats points at this realm is 55]
[The average cultivator’s stats points(In the area close to the User) at this realm is 6.5]
§-------§
[Khenqi Quality: Low][Khenqi Amount: 0.023]
[???: Chaos][??? Grade: Locked]
[???: None]
[Skills: [Intimidation lv_1], [Hopper lv_1].]
[State: Still way too weak!]
§-----------------------------------------------§
Shu Himo’s eyes lit up. “My stats went up a lot! Was it due to the trip back home or to cultivating those two phases?” He muttered to himself as he walked out of his room. He went in the bathroom to prepare himself and then walked to the dining room. It was breakfast time.
He found his family waiting there for him and greeted them. Aria greeted him back first, followed by the other three.
Once Shu Himo sat on his chair, Shu Mo turned to him. “Did you rest well? I heard from Hains that you’ve killed those three kidnappers and…” Just as he was about to continue, his eyes widened in shock. “Wait… you—”
“You reached Blood Strengthening phase?!” Ashey interjected.
“—Weren’t you at the Muscles Strengthening phase just yesterday?”
Both Aria and Eitha also turned to look at him, disbelief written on their faces.
Shu Himo scratched his cheek with a finger and smiled awkwardly. “I guess that it became easier after I restarted my cultivation due to my past achievements?”
[That was the worst excuse the system has ever heard.]
What else was I supposed to say?
Hearing his words, the two frowned slightly. What Shu Himo said was close to impossible. They realized that their child was hiding something from them and nodded at each other, but didn’t ask further questions.
They all then ate breakfast—an omelet each—and walked toward the back courtyard, where Shu Himo would spar against his father.
During the trip, Ashey and Shu Mo discussed on Shu Himo's fast progress.
“Do you think he found something that made him stronger?”
“You mean cultivation techniques?”
“Yes, either that or some special treasure.”
“But wasn’t he kidnapped? When did he find time to find such things?”
“I don’t know, but that something happened is certain. What you want to do about it?”
“Nothing. He’s my son, what’s wrong with him hiding a secret or two?”
“Haha, you’re as doting as ever toward him. But it’s fine, I also don’t plan on doing anything.”
“Thank you, Ashey.”
“What are you thanking me for? He finally grew up from his previous state, and it’s our job as parents to support him!”
A few minutes later, the view of the courtyard came to their eyes, revealing a green plain with nothing but open space for hundreds of meters. If it wasn’t for the mansions seen in the distance, it would seem to be in a prairie instead of a kingdom’s capital.
Taking out two wooden swords from a storage ring, Shu Mo stopped walking. “I suppressed my cultivation to Acupoint Opening phase, are you ready?” He gave one of the two swords to Shu Himo and continued, “If you want to give up say so at any moment.”
Shu Mo was at the 7th string of the Dantian Core Formation realm. Even if he suppressed his cultivation level to a lower realm, it would be vastly different from fighting a normal Acupoint Opening phase cultivator. It would be as if he were the strongest at that realm—if it were shown in the status screen, every stat would be maxed out up to the limits of that phase.
Seeing the worry hidden within his father’s eyes, Shu Himo smiled. “Sure, but don’t hold back.”
His reaction surprised the others, for they thought he would be pressured by the difference in realms.
After a moment of hesitation, Shu Mo nodded. Gripping on the sword’s handle, he dashed toward Shu Himo—and slashed toward his neck. All it took was an instant. He was certain of his victory, so he was about to stop his swing. But at that moment, he widened his eyes. Shu Himo was not in front of him anymore.
He had underestimated his son too much, and that created a hole on his perception.
A shiver went down his spine, and he swung the sword backward. His sword hit the opposing blade with full force. But instead of meeting the force he had expected, Shu Mo found that his son’s blade had no force behind it at all. Shu Himo’s sword was sent flying, stabbing the ground at a few meters of distance and getting stuck.
He realized quickly that it was a trap.
Shu Mo was soon met with an intimidating cold gaze and a punch approaching his stomach. A smile formed on his face. He felt to have understood what his son’s true strength was. It wasn’t physical strength, it wasn’t a magical art, and it wasn’t a technique.
It was his unpredictability. His unreadable behavior would render useless any sort of plan, forcing any opponent to adapt to his style.
However...
It wasn’t polished yet enough.
Shu Mo didn’t feel anything from Shu Himo’s [Intimidation] skill, and he parried easily the punch with a hand.
Finding his attacks blocked, Shu Himo frowned. He tried to jump backward, but his father chased after him, trying to grab his wrist to then slash with the sword.
Knowing that he couldn’t evade such attack with his current speed, Shu Himo resolved himself to use [Hopper] ‘reversedly’. An invisible platform formed beneath his foot and launched him backward. He was always reluctant on using it this way, as unlike when he simply dashed forward, he couldn’t see where he was going. It always gave him a thrill he couldn’t get used to.
He grabbed the sword from the ground and dashed forward once again using [Hopper]. Just as Shu Mo positioned himself to guard his attack, Shu Himo used two consecutive [Hopper] to flank around him.
Taken aback by his son’s quick maneuvers, Shu Mo turned backward, only to find that Shu Himo had vanished once again. This time, however, the child reappeared from the sky.
After using yet another [Hopper] to jump slightly over Shu Mo, Shu Himo had used its thrust to wheel mid-air and build up centrifugal force to send a kick toward him.
Blocking his son’s kick with an arm, a word appeared in Shu Mo’s mind. Heavy! Surprised by its strength, he was forced to take a step backward. However, it wasn’t the end.
Using his father’s arm as support, Shu Himo slashed with the wooden sword toward him. A smile grew on his face, he knew that he had won. But at that moment, few words reached his ears.
“Not bad, as expected of my son.”
Before he could react, he lost his foothold and saw his father ‘vanish’ from his view as a feeling of impending doom sprouted from his heart. His sight was soon occupied by a massive mountain falling from the sky toward him.
Just as it was about to crush him, the mountain stopped. It was only then that Shu Himo noticed that it was the same wooden sword his father used all the time.
Cold sweat covered Shu Himo’s back, but on his face was an excited smile.
Seeing his reaction Shu Mo also smiled. “Good job, you’ve managed to reach the requirement to win.”
“Requirement? Ah…” Shu Himo had forgotten about it.
“Yes. Based on our fight, you should be able to destroy most Acupoint Opening phase cultivators… but well, still pay attention when you go outside.”
Shu Himo nodded. “Well then, now I’ll go out!”
Shu Mo raised his eyebrow. “Where?”
“The slums!”
Shu Mo and Ashey were speechless. Going to that area was all but ‘paying attention’.
From the side, Aria ran up to Shu Himo. “I will also come!”
And so, Shu Himo and Aria began their trip to the slums—stalked by their parents, who couldn’t leave them alone in such a place.
Meanwhile, Eitha had a strange light in his eyes as he stared at the place Shu Himo had just fought.
-----
An hour later, Shu Himo and Aria were walking in the slums.
Ramshackle houses with occasionally huge gambling buildings filled the streets. Shady vendors were in the shadowy alleys, and dead, looted bodies weren’t a rare sight. The roads were all but clean, the stench in the air even worse than that of a dead rat.
Why would Shu Himo want to explore such place? The answer was easy. It was to make money—and what best place to make money there could be than a lawless area?
However, the further he walked in, the fewer people were walking on the street. This made Shu Himo frown. He felt observed.
Suddenly, a figure appeared behind Aria. He held a dagger in hand, aiming to sever her neck.
Shu Himo turned immediately toward the assailant, attacking him with his sword. He narrowed his eyes as killing intent overflowed from his body—he would not let anyone touch his sister. He quickly enclosed onto him, but before his sword could reach him…
...The assailant found an oncoming foot right in front of his face. He couldn’t even react before the kick crushed his face and flattened his body to the wall of a building.
“How dare you attack my brother!” Aria bellowed furiously.
Shu Himo was speechless. Thank you, my sister, but he was aiming at you…
He was originally on the fence about bringing her to the slums, but it was apparent that he had worried over nothing.
However, a frown soon covered his face.
He turned to look around and spotted over thirty figures walking on the roofs. “It seems that this isn’t merely an attempted robbery.” Such sight sent a shiver down his spine. Every single one of those figures was at the Dantian Core Formation realm.
And as expected, a *Ding* soon resounded in his head.
[Abrupt Quest: Annihilate those who dares to challenge you!]
[A random group has appeared to kill you two, how could you let them run unscathed? Show them true fear and annihilate all of them by yourselves!]
[Quest Difficulty: SS-]
[Quest Reward: 45 BS points]
[Quest Failure Penitence: -5 BS points]
Ah! It’s you who called them, right?!
[The system doesn’t know what the User is talking about.]
