Bullying

Li Qiming finished his meal, fully satisfied.

He returned to the Martial Records Hall of the martial arts school to collect his robes as the chief elite disciple.

It was only upon collection that he learned that becoming the chief elite disciple entitled him to ten Essence Boosting Pills from the Medicinal Dining Hall every month, free of charge.

Furthermore, after training, martial artists tended to have massive appetites, requiring plenty of meat and fish at every meal.

In terms of diet, this was also a significant monthly expense.

The martial arts school provided the chief elite disciple with a monthly food allowance of fifty taels of silver.

Ordinary disciples, and even senior elite disciples like Qin Yu, did not enjoy such treatment!

I'm afraid there's trouble ahead. With such generous benefits attached to this position, there must be many eyes in the shadows fixed on this single spot for chief disciple...

Li Qiming murmured to himself.

However, given his current strength, he had nothing to fear!

As long as it wasn't someone on the level of that witch, he could go toe-to-toe with anyone within the Organ Refining realm, save for a few heaven-defying prodigies.

Back in his room, Li Qiming took off his grey robe and changed into the ink-black robe belonging to the chief elite disciple.

It was similar in style to the black robes of ordinary elite disciples, but it possessed a more luxurious texture.

The collar and cuffs, in particular, were trimmed with noble gold thread.

The dragon emblem on the chest looked almost ready to leap off the fabric, exuding a sense of might and dominance!

Hmm... I still feel a bit strange.

This black robe was a bit too flashy, and Li Qiming wasn't used to it at first.

But, clothes make the man; wearing such fine attire truly elevated his presence.

He even felt a bit "imposing" himself.

I should head to the Medicinal Dining Hall first to collect my ten Essence Boosting Pills!

This was the first thing on Li Qiming's agenda.

The Essence Boosting Pills had many benefits, each one was worth a fortune, and they were essential for breaking through to the Bone Refining realm!

He was very poor right now.

He couldn't even afford a single cheap pill.

He hadn't noticed it before while he was buried in his training.

Now that he was preparing to break through to the Bone Refining realm, he suddenly felt the embarrassment of having no money in his pockets.

Missing a single pill or a single nutritious meal of meat and fish could delay his entry into the Bone Refining realm by a whole day!

When can I go loot some corpses again to farm some gold...

Li Qiming pondered.

He had to start preparing for his Bone Refining breakthrough!

All kinds of pills and meals were absolutely necessary.

Money was needed everywhere.

To enter Bone Refining, one had to use blood energy to nurture a wisp of Gang Qi.

The stronger the blood energy, the stronger the Gang Qi.

The conversion between the two relied on the essence within the bones; every wisp of essence required a massive amount of time spent circulating blood energy to accumulate...

He had not yet "activated" his essence, which made this a slow, grinding process.

Thinking about it carefully, martial artists with good natural aptitude, like Yang Mang, might have the essence in their bones naturally in an activated state.

They could enter the Bone Refining realm just by training casually.

However, most martial artists were of ordinary aptitude and had to follow the steps one by one.

Someone with natural aptitude like Yang Mang was one in ten thousand.

Li Qiming pushed the door open and stepped out.

He was in a pretty good mood.

After all, he had free Essence Boosting Pills to collect.

It felt a lot like the various benefits and perks of working within the system in his past life.

In this dangerous world of martial arts, having a reliable and powerful organization as his backing was truly a good thing.

He felt quite pleased.

As he passed the Martial Arts Arena, Li Qiming suddenly paused.

A familiar figure was kneeling on the ground, both of his eye sockets bruised a dark purple, and two twigs were shoved up his nose.

This person was none other than Wang Jie.

He was the grandson of Shopkeeper Wang from Laifu Restaurant.

Previously, Shopkeeper Wang had invested in Li Qiming with medicinal pills and provided him with food and drink, and Li Qiming had promised to look after Wang Jie.

He still remembered that on his first day at the martial arts hall, Wang Jie had been waiting for him at the entrance before dawn.

He had guided him, helped him change his household registration, and familiarized him with everything in the vicinity.

Yet at this moment, Wang Jie was sprawled on the ground like a dog, being bullied by others.

Standing before Wang Jie were a dozen or so registered disciples, most of them wearing gray robes, with only the three leaders wearing the black robes of elite disciples.

"Hahaha! Wang Jie, hurry up, imitate the sound of an elephant. If you make me happy, I'll take you along on my next mission!"

The square-faced disciple in the black robe said mockingly.

His name was Wu Tianlong, and his strength had already reached the early stage of Bone Refining.

Furthermore, he was universally acknowledged as the person most likely to become the chief elite disciple.

Although he hadn't officially taken the position yet, all the disciples already tacitly accepted Wu Tianlong as their boss.

The chief elite disciple was naturally the leader of all registered and elite disciples!

"Wang Jie, didn't you hear Brother Long? Hurry up, imitate an elephant!"

"Don't you still lack contribution points for this month? Do you want to be kicked out of the martial arts hall?"

"Wang Jie, don't forget your grandfather. He worked so hard to pull strings and use backdoors to get you into the martial arts hall. Do you want to disappoint that old geezer?"

The lackeys around them jeered one after another.

"Will you... really take me on a mission? Brother Long, I'll do it, I'll make the sound! I'm really afraid of disappointing my grandfather, I don't want to be kicked out of the martial arts hall!"

Wang Jie cried pathetically.

Even though he knew the other party was bullying him, he could only endure it silently, not daring to resist.

"If you keep crying, I won't take you. Hurry up and do it."

Brother Long grinned.

Only by bullying the weak could he maintain his authority as the boss!

"But, I don't know what sound an elephant makes!"

Wang Jie said.

"I don't care, I want to hear it. You can make one up."

"Woof! Woof!"

Slap! Wu Tianlong struck Wang Jie hard across the face.

Wang Jie immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Do you think I'm a f***ing idiot? Don't know that's a dog barking? Try another one!"

Wang Jie was dazed and dizzy from the slap; various animal sounds surfaced in his mind, but he truly didn't know which one to choose.

It seemed that no matter which one he chose, he would end up getting beaten.

"Please, Brother Long, let me go, just take me on a mission, okay?" Wang Jie begged.

"What kind of mission could you possibly do? Huh? You're just trash that only drags people down. A moron like you is a waste of space even in death!"

Wu Tianlong cursed loudly.

He reached out and shook Wang Jie's head: "Why don't you just go die? F*** your mother!"

Wang Jie grabbed Wu Tianlong's leg and pleaded, "Brother Long, have pity on me and take me on a mission! It's very simple for you."

"Just because it's simple, I have to take you? Why don't you go take a piss and look at your own disgusting face!"

Slap!

Wu Tianlong kicked Wang Jie away.

He was about to go up and throw a few more punches, but was blocked by a black-robed figure who had suddenly appeared.

"Hmm? Who dares to block me?"

Although the person was wearing a black robe and was an elite disciple, Wu Tianlong didn't care in the slightest, because he was the boss!

He was the person recognized by all disciples as the strongest under the true disciples!

The person who had suddenly appeared was, naturally, Li Qiming.

"Wang Jie, stand up."

Li Qiming's voice was cold to the extreme.

In a trance, he saw himself as he once was, being bullied by Wang Ba.

Wang Jie looked up, "Brother Qiming, you... don't get involved in my business. You just arrived at the martial arts hall and don't understand; Brother Long is everyone's boss, he is at the Bone Refining realm."

"I said, you can get up now."

Li Qiming took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

"I... I don't dare to get up."

Wang Jie glanced at Wu Tianlong, then lowered his head.

He continued, "Brother Long, don't blame Brother Qiming. I'll imitate an elephant's call; I know how to do it now... Woo! Woo! Woo!"

"Hahaha! That's a good call! That's exactly it!"

Wu Tianlong burst into hearty laughter.

"I didn't expect you to actually know how to call, Wang Jie!"

"Hahaha! You're killing me!"

"This spineless thing actually has a trick up his sleeve!"

The group of lackeys also burst into laughter, mocking him endlessly!