After chatting with Jiang Nian for a while, Zhang Junbao received his certification as an advanced dojo student from him. The three of them then left the dojo and went their separate ways home.
Luo Feng still had to go tutor someone, while Zhang Junbao wanted to see his home in this world.
Although he had been revered as a martial arts grandmaster in his previous life, disputes over certain ideals in his youth had left him with precious little family life to enjoy.
The conditions for cultivation in this era were far better than they had been back then. If Zhang Junbao had enjoyed such conditions from the beginning, his achievements would certainly have surpassed what he had accomplished before coming to this world. But demonic beasts ran rampant here, constantly bringing calamity upon humanity. They truly were hateful.
If he could cultivate to the very peak, he hoped he could restore the world to its former state.
Lost in thought, Zhang Junbao arrived home without even realizing it.
It was a well-furnished residential complex with some greenery around it. In a place where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, being able to afford a home here was already quite an achievement. It was a little better than Luo Feng's home.
Of course, compared with the wealthy people who lived in villa districts, his family could not even be considered comfortably well-off.
"I'm home!" The words seemed to cross space and time, and as Zhang Junbao called them out, he felt a sense of happiness well up in his heart, one he had not felt in many years.
"Brother, you're back! Dad seems really angry, so you'd better be careful!" A mischievous girl with a ponytail opened the door, revealing a pair of large, bright black eyes, and spoke to him cautiously.
This was his younger sister, Zhang Lin. She had just entered her first year of high school and attended the same school as Zhang Junbao. News of his fight with a teacher had already spread throughout the school today, so Zhang Lin naturally knew about it too.
Zhang Lin secretly admired him. Her own brother had actually beaten up a teacher and another advanced student. In the eyes of first-year rookies like her, that record made him a truly formidable expert!
"You little brat, so you finally decided to come home! Get over here, now!" A stern voice rang out from the living room, carrying unquestionable authority.
Zhang Lin stuck out her tongue and gave Zhang Junbao a look that told him he was on his own.
"Dad! Mom!" As Zhang Junbao called out to them, he felt his eyes grow damp, even after living two lives. How many years had it been since he had said those words?
What surprised Zhang Junbao most was that his parents here looked so much like the parents in his memories, as if they were the same people. Having lived two lives, he found the images of his parents unexpectedly overlapping, leaving him with no sense of unfamiliarity.
"Go on, tell me what happened. The school even called us!"
"It's nothing. A teacher and a classmate deliberately picked a fight and wanted to drag Luo Feng down with me and get us both expelled. I can handle it!" Zhang Junbao calmed himself and answered coolly. His parents knew Luo Feng; the two were classmates and good friends, and occasionally visited each other's homes.
"Handle it? You beat someone into the hospital, and you hit a teacher too. How are you going to handle it?" Zhang Junbao's father, Zhang Anzhong, asked, suppressing his anger.
He ran a small transport company of his own and was doing reasonably well in this era, at least a little better than Luo Feng's family.
But Zhang Anzhong had already asked around. Zhang Haobai, whom Zhang Junbao had beaten, had an uncle who was a fighter, and his father was a well-known wealthy man. Dealing with their family would be easy for them.
"Didn't the boy say they were the ones deliberately looking for trouble? Don't be angry with him." Although his mother, Yang Fei, did not know exactly what had happened, she knew her son well. He was certainly not the sort to cause trouble for no reason.
Zhang Anzhong's expression softened a little, but his face was still full of worry as he said, "That classmate he beat up has an uncle who's a fighter. I believe the other side was trying to stir up trouble too, but couldn't you have held back, you little brat?
"You've never been this impulsive before!
"Even if we're in the right, I'm afraid they'll resort to dirty tricks behind the scenes. I'm often out and about, and I've dealt with some wealthy businessmen. None of them are simple.
"Our positions aren't equal. Do you think they'll reason with us? They could just find a few thugs to make trouble, and that alone would be enough to make us suffer.
"Even if the police came, they wouldn't be able to get to the bottom of something like that!"
Zhang Anzhong voiced his concerns, but by this point his tone held more regret than reproach.
Yang Fei was taken aback. She had not thought they might use such methods, and asked anxiously, "Then what should we do?"
"Ah, all I can do now is take this brat to their home and apologize. I'm his father, after all. Even if someone has to lose face, let an old man like me be the one to lose it.
"Junbao, take this as a lesson. Don't be so impulsive when you do things in the future.
"You little brat, you actually managed to beat an advanced student without saying a word about it. That's my son, all right. But circumstances are stronger than people. When it's time to bow your head, you still have to bow it. Understand?"
Zhang Anzhong was trying to teach him a lesson. His son had beaten an advanced student, so his strength had to be at the advanced student level. The thought made Zhang Anzhong happier than words could express. But with Zhang Haobai's uncle around, dealing with Zhang Junbao would still be easy.
Zhang Anzhong felt that his son had a boundless future, but he was not a fighter yet. Lying low and developing his strength was the right course for now.
"Dad, I understand, but forget about the apology. He's just a petty man. He isn't worthy of an apology from me. As for how this gets handled, you'll know tomorrow. Trust me and leave it to me! I'm going back to my room."
With that, Zhang Junbao offered no further explanation and went straight to his room. His family was a little better off than Luo Feng's, at least enough for him to have his own room instead of sharing one with his sister.
"Oh, that child!" Yang Fei cried.
"Forget it, let him handle it. Our son seems very confident this time. He's grown up, and it's time we let him try making his own decisions. As for the rest, even if they are rich, I refuse to believe there's no law left in this world!"
Zhang Anzhong was a little surprised by his son's decisiveness. Sure enough, strength was what gave people confidence in this world. His son had stood firm, so he, as his father, could not undermine his own child.
Back in his room, Zhang Junbao sat cross-legged on his bed and carefully sorted through his memories. The sudden appearance of his parents had indeed stirred him, but after calming down, he gave serious thought to how to resolve the matter.
An apology was out of the question. He would never apologize to that despicable little man Zhang Haobai in this lifetime.
The only way was to attain a status far above the other side's. In this world, one ultimately had to rely on fighters. As long as he became a fighter as soon as possible, none of these problems would be problems anymore.
An advanced student looking to make trouble for a fighter? He would have to be tired of living. Although fighters in this world had to risk their lives, they were also granted more privileges. After all, ordinary humans could live in safety in the Base Cities because these fighters risked their lives battling demonic beasts.
Without dwelling on it further, Zhang Junbao began practicing his internal cultivation. Since legends about him existed in this world too, his original Inner Force cultivation should still be effective.
His cultivation technique was called the "Tai Chi Primordial Chaos Art." He had created it when he was over a hundred years old, combining more than a hundred martial arts techniques. It regarded the human body as an independent universe: chaos gave birth to Taiji, Taiji gave birth to the two forces, the two forces gave birth to the four manifestations, the four manifestations gave birth to the Bagua, and the Bagua gave rise to all things.
All its moves arose from nothing and evolved without end, unconstrained by any particular set of forms. Tai Chi Chuan was a set of martial arts moves he had derived from this art, suited to putting it to use.
Unfortunately, only some of the Tai Chi Chuan moves had survived in modern society, and they had been altered beyond recognition. The Tai Chi Primordial Chaos Art, which lay at its core, had been lost altogether.
What Zhang Junbao needed to do now was use the Tai Chi Primordial Chaos Art to realign his body's meridians, bones, and muscles. In this era, most people had much better physical constitutions than before the Grand Nirvana, and many chose to train through sheer brute force.
Although this had some effect, it also caused many hidden injuries to accumulate. It was only because people in this era had strong constitutions that they had not already crippled themselves through training.
Once he had realigned his body, he believed his physical condition would soon reach the standard required of a fighter.