Chapter 5 – Roaming the Streets
In a world absolutely filled with different forms of beauty and expressions, few images capture people's hearts as irresistibly as a cute girl pouting. There was just something magical about it.
Dan distinctly remembered thinking about trying to get Ann to pout before getting Isekai'ed. The fact that she resisted his attempts and that he might not get to see one again for a while, meant that he might have had a lingering craving to see it again.
Which is why the sight before me was a little unbearable…
"Senior Brother…please stop this. I can understand you getting angry, shouting at me, asking for a rematch or any number of things along those lines…but just refusing to talk to me while sulking and p-pouting isn't going to do anything! So please just stop it!" Feelings of disgust and horror that expression invoked were not particularly strong, but that remains to be seen. We can't keep walking like this, people will get the wrong idea!
It had already been a day since Daniel had unlocked his Prana. He didn't really have a chance to play around with it since just using it once left him feeling like he had somehow bruised his entire body despite the soreness being limited to the mystical life energy itself.
The duo were now walking around the city with some pocket money given to us by Uncle Wen and Elder Xing. They had told the two of us to explore while they dealt with some business.
Li Xuanlong hadn't spoken to Dan since his defeat in the spars, where he had somehow miraculously defeated him without ever taking a single true strike despite never winning any of their spars until then. Sure, the strikes that he was forced to block with his arms and legs technically did do a lot of damage to Dan's body because of the disparity of strength, but since he didn't lose my balance, they didn't matter until after the fight when he had to tend to all the bruises.
Well, it wasn't right to say that he hadn't spoken to me at all…
Occasionally Li Xuanlong would forget that he was ignoring Dan, and go back to his easily excitable self, so he didn't mind waiting until he forgot about the matter entirely, since his Senior Brother only seemed embarrassed by the fact that he had been knocked unconscious for a couple hours by his Junior.
Dan and his companion were still mesmerized by the sights of the city, even a full day after arriving there. Of course, despite being a magical city it was still very much a city with all of its problems.
"HEY! Someone catch that thief! Whoever gets my things back to me will be rewarded generously!"
From a distance, the two of them could see a portly man shaking in rage and pointing in another direction. They could not however see the thief the man was speaking of. So fast, I couldn't even catch a glimpse of the thief! Could the criminals be Martial Artists or even Cultivators? This world is indeed scary, thank God we're small fry, no one that powerful will bother us.
"Senior Brother please hold onto the purse tightly. I didn't think there would be thieves acting so boldly in the middle of the city. I'm sure that with your strength no thief will stand a chance of stealing our money!" Hehe, I'll get him to be cautious and add some butter to my words, I'll keep this up until he forgets about his grievances.
"Hmph! You don't have to worry about me Junior Brother. You should take more care of your own body. If someone sees your unique appearance then they might snatch you first." Well, you're not wrong…but do you have to say it like that?!
It had been a while since Dan had possessed his current body. He often forgot that to others he looked like a little boy following his big brother around. By now his hair had completely turned blonde with the small mole completely disappearing. His purple eyes, on the other hand, held a faint glow to them that wasn't noticeable for the most part.
Most of the people here had hair colours that ranged from black and brown. Some had reddish brown hair but for the most part, there were no blonde-headed people there. It meant that people always took a moment to stare at the 10-year-old boy as they were passing by. It was probably only the fact that this world had magical Qi shenanigans that were the reason people here weren't as surprised and interested in his different appearance.
Ugh, why can't you forget that you're angry faster? I need to look for a better distraction. Huh? Isn't that Teacher? Elder Xing was indeed within Dan's line of sight. He seemed to be having the time of his life, shouting out loud while jumping around.
"Senior brother! Look Teacher seems to be doing something interesting. Why don't we go join him?"
"Fine, fine! But don't think I don't know what you're doing! It won't work!" Hah! You already forgot that you weren't supposed to talk to me! It sure as hell is working just like I used to do when Ann was mad at me!
As they approached the front of a large shop where Elder Xing was playing about, the two got a clearer picture of what was going on.
"Ha-ha-ha! It's been too long since we last met. Tell me No-beard, when was the last time I took your money? Ahh~ spending your money always feels great! After this, I'll make sure to buy my disciples everything they need with it!"
Elder Xing was taunting another elderly man with white hair. The difference was that unlike Elder Xing he had no beard and wore much more traditional and old-fashioned clothes. His smooth chin and cheeks actually made it hard to tell if he was actually as old as his hair indicated, however, his clothing somehow made it clear that he was indeed someone from Elder Xing's generation.
The other old man was actually taking Elder Xing's taunts rather well and simply stood there with a pleasant smile on his face while keeping his hands joined within his long sleeves.
"When are you going to stop with your childish taunts? You've been using No-beard long enough that it's become stale. Also, I recall that it was I who won the last time. Xing Chun you should consider changing that rotten personality of yours, at least for the sake of your students."
"Bah! Enough of this Zhu Haowen! Quickly pick your rock and open it! Your voice really never fails to irritate this old man!"
Quietly chuckling Old Zhu went back to calmly looking over several of the rocks that had been arrayed across the floor in front of the shop that Dan and Li Xuanlong could now clearly see was a gambling house that allowed customers to try their luck while picking old stones and hoping to come across treasure in them.
"Old man there you are! I thought you said that you were going to look for information on the test for joining the sect? Also didn't you say you didn't have any money left, how come you started gambling—" That was as far as Li Xuanlong got into his questioning as Elder Xing had already clamped his palm onto his face and gave him a severe look that made him shut up.
"Your Uncle Wen is looking into some other sources. Also how come you doubt this old man so much? Everything I'm doing is for you two! Just wait until I beat this old Zhu and then we'll get all the information we need!"
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"Hmmm. Little Dan, it seems like the heavens are conspiring against this old man once again. Get your Senior brother ready. I will once again go against heaven and defy my fate once more."
Huh? What's that supposed to mean? For the past 10 minutes, Elder Xing had an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face while staring at the myriad of rocks laid out in front of him.
"Teacher, what exactly do you mean? Do you have some secret technique that will let you see the inside of the rocks and win, even though it seems like your friend seems to be getting all the better rocks?"
Dan looked at his teacher who looked back at him as if he was a little slow in the head. "Little Dan…just get Li Xuanlong here he will understand."
After relaying his teacher's words to the other student, Dan walked back to Elder Xing with Li Xuanlong, who already seemed to understand exactly what was happening.
"All right, Little Li you already know what's going on so make sure your junior brother follows our lead when defying fate!" Saying so Elder Xing seemed to take a deep breath while waving his hands at his students.
"Got it, old man! Let's go Junior brother!" Li Xuanlong suddenly grabbed Dan by the shoulder and about turned walking into the crowd and trying to disappear into it. From behind we could see that Elder Xing was making more noise, seemingly attracting attention to himself.
Looking back, Dan could see Elder Xing suddenly pointing in one direction while shouting at the top of his voice in surprise. "Look at that! What is that!"
His acting skills were so amazing that even when he looked in the direction his teacher was pointing. By the time Dan looked back, he realized that Elder Xing had disappeared without paying for anything leaving a raging shop owner and a friend who seemed to know that this was going to happen going by his amused expression.
Naturally, as soon as Dan realized what was happening he increased his pace and even used a little Ki in his movements and disappeared into the crowd with Li Xuanlong.
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Li Xuanlong was acting exceptionally calm for someone who had just run away from the scene of a crime he saw his own teacher committing. It clearly showed that this was not the first time something like this had happened.
Dan, who was now power walking with his comparatively tiny legs clearly understood this by looking at his Senior brother's face. Damn, I have to be careful when walking around with these two, who knows what kind of trouble I'll get into if I'm not careful!
"Senior Brother? Have you and Teacher ever been caught when you do things like this? And if so what do you do then?"
"Hm? We've never been caught before. Well, I've been caught…but the old man always grabs me and runs away before I get beaten u—I mean before I get a chance to beat up whoever caught me. Anyway, let's go get some nice snacks with the money we've got! I remember the old man talking about a nice shop selling some tasty moon cakes over ther—"
Li Xuanlong in his fervour started speeding up and running along the street but didn't pay attention as he bumped into someone. He ended up getting knocked over while the person in question dropped the food they had in their hands onto the floor.
"Oh. Sorry about that! I was a little too excited. Let me hel—"
"Y—You! How dare you! You dropped my food! Pay for it! Pay for it right this instance and get me another one!"
No way! Is it a young master already?! Should I run away and let Senior Brother deal with the problem? As Dan was contemplating running away in his hurry he hadn't even observed who his fellow disciple had walked into. Even his fellow disciple had momentarily panicked when he heard the voice and was already ready to hightail it out of there, after all his junior brother had Prana and could obviously take care of himself!
"Ho! Are you going to continue ignoring this young master? Is there no end to your impudence?! Xuelin! Hand me my weapon so I teach this cretin a lesson!"
What the duo thought was a rich young master turned out to simply be a delusional young man dressed in rags. He was accompanied by a slightly short chubby girl with a face that Dan couldn't decide was simply extremely neutral or expressing boredom to the point that even doing that seemed like too much work to her. Both of them had extremely red hair with green eyes, to the point where they might qualify as anime characters. One thing, however, was certain, they were indeed siblings.
Despite her expression, the chubby girl called Xuelin handed the 'young master' a wooden stick in a manner that once again didn't display what exactly she thought of this situation.
What nobody here knew was that the girl was doing everything she could not to stare at them intently and simply defaulted to letting her brother deal with the new arrivals.
In the end, Dan and Li Xuanlong could only look on with bland expressions on their faces as a 'young master' with his 'great weapon' faced off against them with a serious expression.
"If you're looking for a fight you'll get one! I don't like to beat up beggars in front of their little sisters, so I'll give you a chance to run away now. After that don't blame me for what happens!"
"Now, now senior brother let's not fight like uncivilized people. Why don't the two of you arm wrestle instead? The loser has to buy moon cakes for the winner."
"Ha-Ha well said, junior brother! Go ahead and show him how strong the disciples of Xing Chun are!" Why the hell are you bringing me into your fight?!
Li Xuanlong only gave Dan a look. You're the one who has his Ki unlocked, just beat him up quickly and get us free cake!
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"Before we begin, allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Dan and this here is my Senior Brother Li Xuanlong. We are both disciples of Elder Xing Chun and study to become Martial Artists under him. We've come to Dixia City to join a sect that will accept us and become Cultivators."
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
They arrived at a secluded place with a table from a restaurant that had yet to open. Immediately Dan bulldozed his way into the conversation before the delusional boy they had bumped into could get any momentum into his rantings. His polite behaviour meant that it was hard for the delusional 'young master' to continue acting as he was.
"O—Oh. Um. I mean, I am known as Gao Xiangxi. Also known as Great Red of Fire Owl Mountain! This is my little sister and maid, Gao Xuelin! Now come let's get this over quickly so you can buy me those moon cakes you talked about!"
The girl known as Xuelin simply bowed politely and spoke to Dan. "Please don't mind the way my brother speaks. In truth, he's quite lonely and wants many friends. Please consider becoming his friends since you are all here to become cultivators, he's a very nice person with a good heart."
"Xu-Xuelin! What are you saying?! I don't need friends!" With a red face, Xiangxi whispered harshly to his sister, but she simply smiled calmly, as if tolerating a child who didn't know any better.
"Say Brother Dan, you and Brother Xuanlong don't seem to be related. How did you meet each other?"
"Ah well, we only met recently after I became taken as a disciple for Elder Xing."
"Ho? Is that so? You also seem quite mature. If I may ask where were you bor —"
The more Dan talked with her, the more he realized that she gave a feeling of talking to a mature woman instead of what he clearly saw as a 13 or 14-year-old girl. More importantly, she didn't seem like she was talking to a 10-year-old boy, instead holding a proper conversation with him. However, his own situation as being in a fantasy world meant that he didn't find something like mature children odd, simply taking it as a quirk of this world. On the other hand, his Senior Brother already had his head in the clouds and wasn't listening in to what was happening at all. Even if he was it was debatable whether he would be able to spot something like this.
"Xuelin you can talk with him later! First, let me show my strength and defeat them!"
"Fine, fine! Please treat my brother well, I'll cheer for both of you to do your best."
Sitting on opposite sides of a table, both the opponents grabbed each other's hands.
While Dan did not have a lot of time to experiment with his Prana, he did know how to use it in theory and had indeed used it to amplify a single strike. So, it should not be too hard for him to use it in such a basic manner and defeat a single person in a match of arm wrestling.
Li Xuanlong had the same thoughts, which is why he decided to let him be the one who would face off against this opponent. Say what you will about him, he had learnt early on that judging people by appearances and first impressions was a bad idea after spending so much time with Elder Xing and meeting many of his old acquaintances, which is why he was never needlessly arrogant.
Dan on the other hand was still revelling in his victory against Li Xuanlong and did not think someone like Gao Xiangxi would be too much trouble.
"Let's have a fun match then brother Xiangxi." He smiled at his opponent.
"Hmph! A child like you will be no opponent to this young master. Prepare yourself for your defeat!"
"Say that after you defeat my junior brother. Anyway, start at the count of 3. 1, 2,3~!"
Immediately Dan could feel an immense strength coming from Xiangxi's hand. While the boy himself wore torn clothes and did not seem very strong, it quickly became apparent that some of his arrogance had come from somewhere.
After almost getting defeated in a single surge of strength, Dan focused on using his Prana to augment the strength of his hands and other muscles that supported putting pressure through his hands.
He knew very well how simply exerting extra force through his Prana was done. Of course, while he was not very efficient with it, this basic action was not beyond him. However, the essence of [Liu Shui Bo Shu Art] was in using the opponent's strength and adding it to your own. Dan was already familiar with using bursts of force taken from an opponent's strikes and then using that force with his own attacks, but he had yet to use the Martial Art in something like an Arm-Wrestling match where he had to deal with force that was constantly being emitted by his opponent.
This guy must have a special physique or something! His arms are like noodles with no muscles at all, but his strength is monstrous! Senior Brother might have been able to defeat him in a fight but in a pure contest of strength, Li Xuanlong would definitely lose against this Gao Xiangxi!
Circulating his Prana through his hand in an almost whirlpool-like pattern, Dan slowly started to siphon the force that was constantly being emitted by his opponent. He had to match his opponent's force with the rate of his Prana circulation so that he didn't use more than necessary. This new manner of using the [Liu Shui Bo Shu Art] required him to constantly take his opponent's strength while also using it to boost his own strength at the same time from the same area in his body.
…
[Liu Shui Bo Shu Art] has gained a Level!
[Liu Shui Bo Shu Art] has gained a Level!
[Body Control] has gained a Level!
…
As he took the force from his Gao Xiangxi, it became easier for Dan to hold his opponent in a deadlock, and it showed, since a lot of the strain that had become visible on his face disappeared. The mostly expressionless Gao Xuelin also showed a surprised expression on her face. While to most it might seem that the cause of this was because it looked like Dan was getting stronger as the match went on, she was instead surprised because she didn't believe a child like Dan would last even this long against her silly older brother.
Once Dan was once again in a comfortable position for his arm and had pushed his arm's position back to the middle, he steadily tried to add the force that was being taken from the same place. This was indeed harder than it looked and wasn't something Dan would have the confidence in doing if he wasn't sitting down and had no other distractions.
Gao Xiangxi was now visibly gritting his teeth while trying to use all of his strength to push the brat that had challenged him back down. However, no matter how much he increased his strength he couldn't push the child's hand back down. What is this?! Even if he's training to be a Martial Artist he shouldn't be strong enough to go against my physique! Also don't Martial Artists need to do fancy moves to do anything special?
The truth was that he did not believe that his opponent who looked like a little boy, had any control over his Prana. Also, in the past, he had overwhelmed the strength of a Martial Artist in a scuffle despite them using their Prana against him. Of course, he had no way of knowing someone like him who used his great physical strength had no chance against a practitioner of [Liu Shui Bo Shu Art].
Slowly, Dan started pushing Gao Xiangxi's arm down. He had figured out the pattern in which he could circulate his Prana to both take his opponent's force and then use it against them in the same place. It wasn't something that he thought he would be capable of in an actual fight without wasting a lot of Prana to find the perfect amount to use while also maintaining concentration on other aspects of the fight, however, he found that Arm Wrestling would be a wonderful way to practice such a thing in the future.
Thinking so he decided that he would end the match now that he had found the sweet spot for using his Prana for the match. It helped that his opponent wasn't changing the amount of strength he used and was quite consistent, allowing him to use his Prana efficiently. Slowly he started applying more and more of the stolen force from his opponent to push back until the back of Gao Xiangxi's hand touched onto the table.
…
[Liu Shui Bo Shu Art] has gained a Level!
[Liu Shui Bo Shu Art] has gained a Level!
…
"H-how are you doing this?! This Young master's strength is something no one can compare to! My Heavenly Bull physique cannot be defeated by some random ankle-biter with weird eyes!"
"A-ah! Forgive my brother for his words, our family simply has a bloodline that gives us great physical strength and we don't have anything like those rumoured great cultivation physiques. However, it is indeed true that my brother has inherited our family's blood quite strongly and has much greater physical strength than any mortal, including Martial Artists who can use Ki. How exactly did you defeat him so easily?"
"Ha-ha-ha! Of course, you can see that my junior brother is a great talent! It doesn't matter if your brother is a little strong, Dan can use Prana and knows the greatest Martial Art in the world, his defeat was never something in question!" Whew, thank Great Protector Xi! I'm glad I let Junior Brother go instead of me, this guy is really as strong as a bull, saying that he has a bull's physique isn't wrong! Thankfully I followed the old man's teachings and let someone else test him instead of me!
"Impudence! This great young master will never lose once again! I was simply caught by surprise!"
"Ah! It was a good match! Your strength is indeed something to witness, I was almost defeated by you right at the beginning. Regardless of what we bet since Senior brother dropped the food you were eating we can buy you a moon cake with the pocket money our Teacher gave us…"
While Li Xuanlong continued to taunt their new acquaintance, Dan tried to placate his opponent, they walked together towards the Moon Cake shop all of them anticipating the treats to come even as they bickered amongst themselves. Regardless of their differences, the allure of sugar was enough to set them aside for all of them.
Of course, it was while walking along that the three boys had completely forgotten the exceptionally mature girl who walked silently with them. She started at them with a contemplative expression, while her thoughts were running a mile a minute. Despite the myriad of emotions, she was feeling she kept everything else off her face, only allowing her curiosity to show. After all she knew the kind of threats this world had, it was better to get into a habit of never showing weakness.
"I'm glad that big brother is making friends…BUT WHO THE HELL IS DAN! There was no one like this in the story of Cultivation Immortal Online! I knew my existence would create a butterfly effect, but I didn't think that my knowledge of future events would go to trash before we even got into the damn sect! Curse my misfortune! Fuck!"
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~{Skills}~
[Meditation] {Active} (Lv. 29): The ancient art of meditation, used to cultivate focus, and observe the flow of thoughts and emotions without judgement.
[Memorisation] *{Active} *{Passive} (Lv. 36 -> 37): Ability to store and recall information accurately and efficiently. *(Only information stored {Actively} while using the skill can be recalled {Passively} with it)
[Mathematics] {Passive} (Lv. 8): Analyze and solve problems using logical reasoning and precise calculations. Aids in understanding structures, patterns, and relationships.
[Replay Recall] {Active} (Lv. 7): Recall instances from your life in vivid detail.
[Firearms Mastery] {Passive} (Lv. 34): Skill in wielding firearms ranging from pistols and shotguns to rifles and heavy weaponry.
[Body Control] {Passive} (Lv. 27 -> 28): Ability to master and manipulate physical movements with precision, grace, and finesse. The Skill encompasses physical feats such as agility, balance, and coordination. Apart from performing athletic and acrobatic manoeuvres, social abilities like controlling reactions and body language are also included. The skill also shows proficiency in piloting new bodies or adapting to changes made to existing ones.
[Thought Acceleration] {Active} (Lv. 17 -> 18): Process information, analyze situations, and make decisions at an accelerated rate. Slows down your perception of time.
[Liu Shui Bo Shu Art] {Passive} (Lv. 1 -> 5): The Water Flow Tree Toppling Art is a Martial Art that allows the user to have unnatural control over the body, but more importantly gives control over the Kinetic Forces themselves. Whether it is Redirecting, Amplifying or Dampening, all of them fall under its purview. Like all True Martial Arts, it uses not the Qi of Heaven and Earth but the Ki or Prana of the body.
[Wilderness Survival] {Passive} (Lv. 12): Adapt, Endure and Thrive in natural or remote environments.
[Supernatural Energy Sense] {Active} {Passive} (Lv. 15 -> 18): Sense and become aware of the supernatural or extraordinary energies around you, whether they are magical, psychic, cosmic or other mystical elements, none shall escape your notice. (Sensed Energies: Aether, Mana, Qi, Ki/Prana)
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