Chapter 1 Leaving the family (Part I)
“Hey, isn’t this the fourth brother from the Xue family? So you still haven’t learned the real qi? Ha-ha . . .”
The town of Yuyang had two powerful families, the Xue family and the Nie family. Both clans were skilled in martial arts cultivating the qi.
The leaders of both families were Land Rulers, too. While they didn’t rule the town, Sima Shao, the town chief, never dared to mess with the two families.
The leader of the Xue family, Xue Liang, had four sons. When he got older and became the family leader, Liang didn’t want any more kids. His three older sons were not exceptional but decent.
The oldest son, Long, learned the Qi at the age of twelve. The second oldest son, Hu, achieved it at fourteen, while the third son, Xuebao, learned at ten years old. The elder Xue was hoping his youngest son would be even better, but Yuxiao, about to turn sixteen, still hadn’t figured out the qi.
Liang felt disappointed and focused all of his energies on Xuebao’s training, ignoring his fourth son.
Yuxiao was known as the fourth young master at home, but his cousins called him Number 4. Even his younger cousins like Yufei, who learned the Qi at nine and was only twelve years old now, called him Number 4 to his face, despite Yuxiao’s irritation.
The head of the Nie family, Nie Yishan, had four children, too: two sons and two daughters. The older daughter, Zhangyan, learned the Qi at eight years old, and Xu'er, the younger girl, learned it at six. At sixteen years old, Xu'er became a Land Master, and was sent to the royal academy to be a disciple.
The Nie family’s third child, Feng, learned the Qi at five, was promoted to Land Master at twelve, and at age sixteen, became the only disciple of a Holy Mentor at the royal academy. The fourth Nie child, Hong, got the Qi at nine, and became a Fight Master before his coming-of-age ceremony, although the formal test was to be conducted after the ceremony.
Nie Hong walked with four members of his entourage on the streets of Yuyang. The object of Hong’s ridicule was apparently Xue Yuxiao.
Yuxiao knew if he didn’t get the Qi by sixteen, he would probably never figure it out, and then he’d really just be a waste of space to his family. Lots of people already saw him this way—it was just that no one called him useless to his face yet.
Most of the ordinary families in town wouldn’t insult him directly. They were just regular people who wouldn’t have Qi anyway; only people from the Nie family would embarrass him.
Initially, Yuxiao wanted to attend the coming-of-age ceremony with his father this year, but he was afraid of shaming him. The group Qi exam at the plaza was something both the Xue and the Nie clan went to every year, so Yuxiao knew the route very well. He wanted to leave later to avoid running into his cousins and any of the Nies, but he still couldn’t help seeing Nie Hong and his cohorts.
Nie Hong wanted to leave earlier, but he knew going over with his cousins wouldn’t get him any attention, so he waited to leave until all the elders and the older boys left before he finally headed out with four male cousins. This was how he ran into Xue Yuxiao; his pride and ego wouldn’t let him give up a chance to thoroughly embarrass his rival.
Yuxiao had a honest face, and he was tanned and always wore ordinary clothes. He had shoulder-length black hair. He could not compare to Nie Hong, who wore high-end white clothes, had flirty eyes, a tall nose, and looked like an idol. Yuxiao didn’t say anything as he approached Hong.
“Not only is he useless, he’s got no manners either. Hey, moron number four, let’s walk together,” Hong said, clearly plotting against Yuxiao.
Yuxiao quickened his steps. His eyes were sad. He remained silent and did not look back at Hong.
“Hey, you moron, are you giving me attitude? Get him! How dare he diss me!”
Hong ordered his relatives to attack.
Hong’s entourage was used to acting like bullies. Since they knew hurting the fourth son of the Xue family wouldn’t matter to anyone, they walked up to Yuxiao and started hitting him. Yuxiao simply stayed on the ground and covered his head, not crying in pain nor begging for them to stop.
After seeing no reaction from Yuxiao, the Nie family bullies grew bored and looked to Hong for direction on what to do.
“Are you really a moron? Why aren’t you fighting back?”
Hong cussed and kicked Yuxiao, who was curled up on the ground. Seeing no response, Hong said, “Make a sound.”
Suddenly, a fistful of fire came out of Hong’s hand and flew toward Yuxiao’s butt. The flames licked away the fabric, leaving a handprint of burn mark and the smell of burning flesh.
Chapter 1 Leaving the family (Part I)
“Hey, isn’t this the fourth brother from the Xue family? So you still haven’t learned the real qi? Ha-ha . . .”
The town of Yuyang had two powerful families, the Xue family and the Nie family. Both clans were skilled in martial arts cultivating the qi.
The leaders of both families were Land Rulers, too. While they didn’t rule the town, Sima Shao, the town chief, never dared to mess with the two families.
The leader of the Xue family, Xue Liang, had four sons. When he got older and became the family leader, Liang didn’t want any more kids. His three older sons were not exceptional but decent.
The oldest son, Long, learned the Qi at the age of twelve. The second oldest son, Hu, achieved it at fourteen, while the third son, Xuebao, learned at ten years old. The elder Xue was hoping his youngest son would be even better, but Yuxiao, about to turn sixteen, still hadn’t figured out the qi.
Liang felt disappointed and focused all of his energies on Xuebao’s training, ignoring his fourth son.
Yuxiao was known as the fourth young master at home, but his cousins called him Number 4. Even his younger cousins like Yufei, who learned the Qi at nine and was only twelve years old now, called him Number 4 to his face, despite Yuxiao’s irritation.
The head of the Nie family, Nie Yishan, had four children, too: two sons and two daughters. The older daughter, Zhangyan, learned the Qi at eight years old, and Xu'er, the younger girl, learned it at six. At sixteen years old, Xu'er became a Land Master, and was sent to the royal academy to be a disciple.
The Nie family’s third child, Feng, learned the Qi at five, was promoted to Land Master at twelve, and at age sixteen, became the only disciple of a Holy Mentor at the royal academy. The fourth Nie child, Hong, got the Qi at nine, and became a Fight Master before his coming-of-age ceremony, although the formal test was to be conducted after the ceremony.
Nie Hong walked with four members of his entourage on the streets of Yuyang. The object of Hong’s ridicule was apparently Xue Yuxiao.
Yuxiao knew if he didn’t get the Qi by sixteen, he would probably never figure it out, and then he’d really just be a waste of space to his family. Lots of people already saw him this way—it was just that no one called him useless to his face yet.
Most of the ordinary families in town wouldn’t insult him directly. They were just regular people who wouldn’t have Qi anyway; only people from the Nie family would embarrass him.
Initially, Yuxiao wanted to attend the coming-of-age ceremony with his father this year, but he was afraid of shaming him. The group Qi exam at the plaza was something both the Xue and the Nie clan went to every year, so Yuxiao knew the route very well. He wanted to leave later to avoid running into his cousins and any of the Nies, but he still couldn’t help seeing Nie Hong and his cohorts.
Nie Hong wanted to leave earlier, but he knew going over with his cousins wouldn’t get him any attention, so he waited to leave until all the elders and the older boys left before he finally headed out with four male cousins. This was how he ran into Xue Yuxiao; his pride and ego wouldn’t let him give up a chance to thoroughly embarrass his rival.
Yuxiao had a honest face, and he was tanned and always wore ordinary clothes. He had shoulder-length black hair. He could not compare to Nie Hong, who wore high-end white clothes, had flirty eyes, a tall nose, and looked like an idol. Yuxiao didn’t say anything as he approached Hong.
“Not only is he useless, he’s got no manners either. Hey, moron number four, let’s walk together,” Hong said, clearly plotting against Yuxiao.
Yuxiao quickened his steps. His eyes were sad. He remained silent and did not look back at Hong.
“Hey, you moron, are you giving me attitude? Get him! How dare he diss me!”
Hong ordered his relatives to attack.
Hong’s entourage was used to acting like bullies. Since they knew hurting the fourth son of the Xue family wouldn’t matter to anyone, they walked up to Yuxiao and started hitting him. Yuxiao simply stayed on the ground and covered his head, not crying in pain nor begging for them to stop.
After seeing no reaction from Yuxiao, the Nie family bullies grew bored and looked to Hong for direction on what to do.
“Are you really a moron? Why aren’t you fighting back?”
Hong cussed and kicked Yuxiao, who was curled up on the ground. Seeing no response, Hong said, “Make a sound.”
Suddenly, a fistful of fire came out of Hong’s hand and flew toward Yuxiao’s butt. The flames licked away the fabric, leaving a handprint of burn mark and the smell of burning flesh.
