Bullying

Li Qiming ate his fill.

Then he returned to the Martial Hall's Martial Records Hall and collected the robes for a Chief Elite Disciple.

It was only when he collected them that he learned that, as a Chief Elite Disciple, he could claim ten Essence Boosting Pills for free from the Medicinal Dining Hall each month.

Moreover, after taking up martial arts, warriors became ravenous. Every meal called for meat and fish.

Food was no small monthly expense, either.

The Martial Hall also gave its Chief Elite Disciple a monthly allowance of fifty taels of silver for meals.

Ordinary disciples—and even veteran Elite Disciples like Qin Yu—didn't enjoy treatment like this!

This could be trouble. With such generous benefits attached to the position, there must be plenty of eyes secretly fixed on this one and only Chief Elite Disciple slot...

Li Qiming murmured.

But with his strength now, he had nothing to fear!

Unless he ran into someone on the Demoness's level, he could hold his own against anyone below Organ Refining, save for a handful of heaven-defying prodigies.

Back in his room, Li Qiming took off his gray robe and changed into the black robes of a Chief Elite Disciple.

They looked much like the black robes worn by ordinary Elite Disciples, but the fabric had a more luxurious feel.

The collar and cuffs, especially, were edged with elegant gold thread.

The dragon emblem on the chest seemed almost ready to leap out, all power and majesty!

"Mm... Something about this feels strange."

The black robe was a little flashy, and Li Qiming wasn't used to it at first.

But people were dressed by their clothes, and horses by their saddles. A fine outfit really did lift his bearing.

He even felt a little "imposing."

"First, I'll go to the Medicinal Dining Hall and collect my ten Essence Boosting Pills!"

That was Li Qiming's top priority.

Essence Boosting Pills had all sorts of benefits, each one was worth a fortune, and they could even help him break through to Bone Refining!

He was broke right now.

He couldn't even afford the cheapest pill.

He hadn't noticed while he'd been burying himself in training.

But now that he was preparing to break through to Bone Refining, he could feel the pinch of having no money in his pocket.

One fewer pill, one fewer meal of meat and fish to nourish him—it could cost him a whole day on the way to Bone Refining!

"When am I going to loot another corpse and strike gold..."

Li Qiming mused.

He had to start preparing for his Bone Refining breakthrough!

He couldn't skimp on pills or meals!

Everything cost money.

To reach Bone Refining, he would have to use Blood Qi to nourish a thread of Gang Qi.

The stronger his Blood Qi, the stronger his Gang Qi.

The transformation depended on the essence between his bones. Each trace of essence took a great deal of time to build up by channeling Blood Qi...

He hadn't "activated" his essence yet, which made the process even more painstaking.

Thinking about it carefully, warriors with good Root Bone, like Yang Mang, might have had the essence within their bones activated from birth.

They could reach Bone Refining with barely any effort.

But most warriors had ordinary aptitude and had to make progress step by step.

Root Bone like Yang Mang's was one in ten thousand.

Li Qiming pushed open the door and went out.

His mood was pretty good.

After all, he was getting free Essence Boosting Pills.

It reminded him of all the benefits and perks he'd enjoyed in the system back in his previous life.

In this world of martial arts, full of danger on all sides, having a powerful, reliable force to back him was a real blessing.

He was in high spirits.

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

A familiar figure was kneeling on the ground. Both eyes had been beaten black and purple, and two twigs had been stuck up his nostrils.

It was Wang Jie.

The little grandson of Shopkeeper Wang from Laifu Restaurant.

Shopkeeper Wang had invested in Li Qiming by giving him pills and treating him to good food. Li Qiming had promised to look after Wang Jie in return.

He still remembered how, on his first day at the Martial Hall, Wang Jie had waited for him at the gate before dawn.

Wang Jie had shown him around, helped him change his registration, and introduced him to everything nearby.

But now, Wang Jie was sprawled on the ground like a dog, being bullied.

A dozen Registered Disciples stood in front of Wang Jie. Most wore gray robes, but the three at the front wore the black robes of Elite Disciples.

"Hahaha! Wang Jie, come on, imitate an elephant's cry. If you make me happy, I'll take you along on my next mission!"

The square-faced disciple in the black robe said with a sneer.

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

He was also widely considered the most likely candidate to become the Chief Elite Disciple.

He hadn't officially taken the position yet, but all the disciples already treated Wu Tianlong as their leader.

The Chief Elite Disciple was, naturally, the leader of all the Registered Disciples and Elite Disciples!

"Wang Jie, didn't you hear Brother Long? Come on, make an elephant sound!"

"Weren't you short on contribution points this month? Do you want to get kicked out of the Martial Hall?"

"Wang Jie, don't forget your grandpa. He worked his tail off, pulling strings and using back doors to get you into the Martial Hall. Do you want to disappoint that old geezer?"

The underlings around them all joined in, egging him on.

"Is that true... Will you take me on a mission, Brother Long? I'll do it, I'll make the sound! I'm really afraid of disappointing Grandpa. I don't want to be kicked out of the Martial Hall!"

Wang Jie cried pathetically.

Even though he knew they were bullying him, he could only endure it in silence, too scared to fight back.

"If you cry again, I won't take you. Hurry up and do it."

Brother Long grinned.

Picking on the weak was how he kept his authority as the boss!

"But I don't know what an elephant sounds like!" Wang Jie said.

"I don't care. I want to hear it. Make one up."

"Woof, woof!"

Smack! Wu Tianlong slapped Wang Jie hard across the face.

Wang Jie immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Do you take me for an idiot? You think I can't tell that's a dog barking? Try another one!"

Wang Jie's head spun from the slap. All sorts of animal sounds flashed through his mind, but he truly didn't know which one to pick.

It seemed like no matter which one he chose, he'd get beaten.

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

"What mission could you possibly do? Huh? You're nothing but dead weight, a useless piece of trash. The ground would be wasted on you even if you died!"

Wu Tianlong cursed him out.

He grabbed Wang Jie by the head and shook him. "Why don't you just die? Fuck your mother!"

Wang Jie grabbed Wu Tianlong's leg and pleaded, "Brother Long, please take pity on me and take me on a mission! It'd be so easy for you."

"Just because it's easy, I have to take you? Go piss on the ground and take a look at your disgusting self!"

Smack!

Wu Tianlong kicked Wang Jie away.

He was about to go over and land a couple more punches when a black-robed figure suddenly appeared in his way.

"Hm? Who the hell dares to block me?"

Though the newcomer wore a black robe and was an Elite Disciple, Wu Tianlong didn't care. He was the boss!

The undisputed number one among all disciples below the True Inheritor!

The person who had suddenly appeared was, of course, Li Qiming.

"Wang Jie, stand up."

Li Qiming's voice was cold as ice.

For a moment, he saw himself as he'd been back when Wang Ba bullied him.

Wang Jie looked up. "Brother Qiming, you... Don't get involved. You just got here, so you don't know. Brother Long is everyone's boss. He's at Bone Refining."

"I said, you can get up now."

Li Qiming took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

"I... I don't dare."

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

He continued, "Brother Long, don't blame Brother Qiming. I'll make the elephant sound. I know what it is now... Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!"

"Hahaha! That's a good one! Just like that!"

Wu Tianlong burst into hearty laughter.

"I didn't know you could make that sound, Wang Jie!"

"Hahaha! I'm dying!"

"This good-for-nothing's got a trick or two after all!"

The underlings all burst out laughing too, jeering at him!