The next day, Travis woke up. He didn’t know when he had passed out, but he felt refreshed. 

A bell rang. It was deafening, and caused Travis’ ears to ring. Travis looked up. He remembered that the bell ringing signified the sect’s monthly pill allocation. 

The sect gave out two pills a month for outer sect disciples - these were Qi Condensation Pills. Qi Condensation Pills helped with cultivation, and made cultivation quicker, so the disciples were understandably excited. 

Travis wasn’t planning on going, and was instead smoking in his room. He had noticed that ever since he had started smoking, he hadn’t gotten the intense hunger that Wang Tao had been crippled by his whole life. 

“What was the reason he was always so hungry? Is it just a normal thing in this world? No, that can’t be it, he was always sneaking around.” 

Wang Tao was also frail, which was weird considering the amount of food he ate. His physique was extremely puzzling. Travis scratched his head. 

“It’s probably not worth thinking about. The weed seems to keep the hunger away.” 

A knock at the door disrupted his thoughts. He opened the door, and saw a boy of about thirteen standing there. He had a slender stature, but had chubby cheeks - a contradiction in many ways. It was Li Dong, Wang Tao’s only friend in the sect. Wang Tao and Li Dong were the same age, and were both bullied by the other disciples in the outer sect. This bond of hardship was strong, and Li Dong was often a partner to the late night food heists Wang Tao had been killed over. 

“Wang Tao, where have you been this past week? Didn’t we have plans to steal a cow from the kitchens this week?” Li Dong had a high pitch as he whined. 

“I was… busy.” Travis replied, trying way too hard to make it seem like he was Wang Tao. 

“Forget it… anyway, it’s time to get pills! We have to go there quickly or Chen Jiao’s gang will rob us of everything! Come on!” Li Dong grabbed Travis and they sped towards the Outer Pill Pavilion Valley. The valley was in the middle of the outer sect, and was where the concentration of heaven-earth energy was highest. Pill making needed a vast amount of energy. 

When they got there, there were throngs of disciples outside the pavilion.  A drone of excited chattering filled the pavilion - the disciples loved pill allocation. Everyone had smiles on their faces, and a feverish glint in their eyes. 

The pavilion had made them wait as long as possible before a riot would break out, before a splendidly robed elder walked up to the stage situated at the foot of the pavilion. A look of pride on his face, he sauntered to the podium. He cleared his throat, and the explosiveness shut the mouths of every disciple. Their eyes glittered with reverence and anticipation. 

“Today, the sect gives out pills. Be glad, for this is a blessing for you! The sect cares for you little cultivators, and we hope that you will become mighty dragons and tigers in the future. Without further ado, let them fly!” 

The elder left with a swing of his sleeve.

Immediately, strobes of light flew out of the pill pavilion, making their ways into the hands of every disciple. The excited chattering reached a whole new level as the disciples began racing towards their rooms, eager to quickly absorb their new pills. 

It was at this moment that a few disciples with wicked glints in their eyes pounced. They blocked off certain people from leaving, swaggering towards them with evil in their minds. They took their pills, and sauntered off. 

“Come on, Wang Tao, we need to leave. Now.” Li Dong whispered to Travis. 

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The two turned around to quickly leave amidst the chaos. But before they could leave, a burly fifteen year old stopped them in their tracks. 

“Li Dong, Wang Tao, who said you could leave?”  He crossed his arms, sneering. “Don’t think you can leave this valley before paying your dues.” 

“Zhao Yu, can you please let us pass? Lei Wei has already taken pills from us for the past year. Please give us amnesty.” Li Dong looked at Zhao Yu with helplessness in his eyes as he pleaded. 

Zhao Yu scoffed. “You pathetic sack of shit.” He rubbed his chin. “Hmm… okay, I can spare you.” 

“R-really?” Li Dong held his breath. 

“Of course! I’m very magnanimous. All you and your friend need to do is kowtow to me.” Zhao Yu leered at Li Dong, in anticipation of the look on his face. 

Li Dong grimaced. Emotions coursed through him, including shame and anger. 

‘Only I know how close I am to the fourth level. After I break through, I can reclaim my pride. Face is temporary. Strength is most important!’ 

Li Dong looked at Wang Tao and nodded. Clenching his fists so hard the skin ruptured, he slowly bent his head. 

‘Wait, is he really going to bow down to this guy? Isn’t this bullying? Why doesn’t the sect care about all of these disciples getting robbed?’ Travis scrunched his nose. 

Travis heard a voice in his head. - Wang bro, I know you hate kowtowing, but as soon as I reach the fourth level, we will be able to reclaim our face. - Li Dong had sent him a voice transfer. 

Travis looked at Li Dong kowtowing. He remembered the memories Wang Tao and Li Dong had shared. He remembered his own friends, and the memories they had shared. Friendship was important to Travis. Looking at Zhao Yu, he was sent over the edge. The complacent, arrogant smile on his face pissed him off. 

‘I came to a new world, with new beliefs and new standards… but I just wouldn’t be me if I gave in without a fight.’  Travis smiled, and cracked his knuckles. 

Looking at Wang Tao, Li Dong felt a sense of trepidation. He knew that look on his face. He knew what Wang Tao was about to do. - Bro, don’t do it! Zhao Yu belongs to the Silver Wolf Gang, and Lei Wei isn’t someone we can provoke right now! - Li Dong sent multitudes of voice transfers but they fell on deaf ears. 

Travis walked up to Zhao Yu.

“What do you think you’re doing kid? Just kowtow like a good little boy.” Zhao Yu sneered. 

A vein pulsed in Travis’ head. “Call me boy one more time and I swear I’ll punch you in the face.” Travis had stood up to a lot of people who were stronger than him before, and had been shot at multiple times. Zhao Yu did not scare him. 

Li Dong groaned. “Zhao Yu, don’t mind Wang Tao, he’s just-“ 

“He’s just dead is what he is. I was being awfully kind to you two pieces of trash, but now I can see that insects cannot appreciate the heavens!” Zhao Yu’s lips twisted into a snarl as he punched towards Travis. 

The fist was heavy, and carried a presence with it that only could be described as crushing. Zhao Yu was at the same realm as Li Dong and Wang Tao, but was privy to better cultivation materials and more food, so had better techniques and purity of qi than the two. 

Li Dong paled. “Crushing the Waves Threefold Fist! It’s a cut above anything we have practiced! Wang Tao, forget about fighting!” Li Dong pleaded with Travis to stand down before he would get injured. 

Travis was shocked at the immensity of a martial technique and was scared down to the bone. 

But what he always did when he felt afraid was lash out. By reflex, Travis ran towards Zhao Yu’s fist. 

“What… what are you doing? You’ll die!” Zhao Yu panicked. He hadn’t been cultivating the fist for long, so he wasn’t that proficient with it. Seeing Wang Tao running towards his fist like a suicidal maniac, without even protecting his body with a defensive layer of energy, he knew that Wang Tao, with his frail body, would undoubtedly die. 

He didn’t much care about Wang Tao’s death, but he was wary of the sect punishment. If Wang Tao died, Zhao Yu would be crippled. 

“Fuck, fuck… you madman!” Zhao Yu screamed as he tried evading Wang Tao. 

Travis screamed as he realised what he was doing. “What the hell am I doing? I’m gonna die!” 

Travis had no choice but to put out his fist and punch towards Zhao Yu’s fist. 

Li Dong gasped. “Your… your fist is going to be torn apart!” 

Travis had no choice in the matter, so preferred not to watch his fist being blown into oblivion.

‘Goodbye, sweet hand of mine…’ Travis closed his eyes. His arm’s life flashed before his eyes. It was as if a montage of their time together played through his head. 

 Their fists collided, and Travis felt a boneshaking pain in his arm. He waited a long while, and opened his eyes slowly, expecting to see a mangled mess of a hand. 

But it was still there! Travis roared with joy and lifted his arm in the air. 

“I’m still intact!” 

He counted each and every finger with glee, and ran his other hand all over his hand, wanting to feel every single nook and cranny so he could commit it to memory. He was never going to take his limbs for granted again. 

Then he realised something. 

‘If my hand is alright, then what happened to the other guy?’ 

He looked up, and froze. He saw Zhao Yu rolling back and forth, screaming while clutching his arm. Zhao Yu passed out from the pain.

Li Dong had gotten up at that point, and his mouth was open so wide you could shove a fist in with no resistance. 

‘Damn, I didn’t know Wang Tao was so powerful. Why didn’t he fight back before, when we were being bullied all the time?’ 

Travis looked at the scene, and couldn’t figure out why Wang Tao hadn’t shown his power before. Zhao Yu was a part of the Silver Wolf Gang, the most powerful faction in the sect at the Qi Condensation stage. He used a lot more cultivation resources than Wang Tao, even disregarding the ones he stole. 

Yet, Travis had beaten him, and it was just off of the strength of his physical body. What’s more, he was completely unhurt.

Li Dong wiped his mouth. He smiled and started laughing. He dashed to Zhao Yu’s miserable side. 

“You bastard, I loathe bullies like you so much. Die.” He proceeded to stomp repeatedly on Zhao Yu, covering his robes with mud and scuffs. Li Dong had never had a bigger smile on his face.