Rain didn't fall in the outer sect courtyard. It hammered. A thousand tiny drummers pounding the packed earth into a slick, brown soup that clung to everything.
And in the middle of it all,Lu Chen.
Five outer sect disciples circled him.Their sneers were gone, replaced by gaping horror. The energy coming off the guy they'd just been kicking around was weak, sure—to a real cultivator. But to them? It felt like a volcano had decided to erupt right there in their puddle.
"H-his cultivation…It's back?!"
"He'sglowing! What demonic art is this?!"
A weasel-faced guy beside him snorted,wiping mud from his cheek. Trying to look tough. "Look at him. He can barely stand. Still trash."
The ringleader—face still stuck on shock—forced it into a sneer."Doesn't matter what god you prayed to today. We're gonna mop the ground with your face."
A small crowd had gathered.Their expressions ran the gamut: boredom, curiosity, pity, a little bloodlust.
"You think he'll actually fight this time?"a junior whispered, leaning so far forward he almost slipped.
A senior nearby didn't even glance over."Fight? Look at his stance. I've seen nervous goats with more martial intent. This is a beating. Just watch."
DING.
[Insult Points +7]
The system's voice,lazy and smug, curled through his mind.
Then the ringleader lunged.A boot, fast and mean, aimed straight for Lu Chen's ribs.
Lu Chen didn't think.His body—this new, buzzing, Body Tempering Stage 6 body—moved. He twisted. The kick whistled past. Mud fanned out like a cheap special effect.
[Dodge Reflex EXP +1]
A fist followed,aimed at his jaw. Lu Chen ducked. The motion was smoother than anything he'd ever managed in his last life, even dodging his manager's pointless meetings.
[Dodge Reflex EXP +1]
His hand shot to his side.With a thought, the Basic Spirit Sword materialized in his grip with a soft, shimmering shing that felt way cooler than it probably sounded.
He didn't slash.He shoved. The flat of the blade smacked the ringleader's shoulder, pushing him back a step.
[Basic Sword Technique EXP +1]
A collective gasp cut through the rain.
"Did he just…?"
"He parried?Had to be an accident!"
"Since when does trash have reflexes?!"
The ringleader stared at his own shoulder,then at Lu Chen. His face shifted from cruelty to confused rage. "You… you dare?!"
The other four,sensing their leader's shame, charged as one. Insults flew, meant to bruise more than fists.
"Know your place,gutter-scum!"
"Just lie down!You're ruining the mud!"
Lu Chen didn't retreat.He set his feet. His mind raced faster than the rain.
A punch landed on his shoulder.THUD. Pain bloomed, hot and sharp.
[Rock Body EXP +5]
Another blow caught his side.CRUNCH.
[Rock Body EXP +4]
Instead of weakening,a weird warmth spread from the impact. His muscles… adapted.
Wait. Getting hit… makes me stronger?
A wild,reckless grin tugged at Lu Chen's lips. Alright then.
He stopped trying to avoid every hit.He turned, taking a glancing blow across the back, rolling with it.
[Rock Body EXP +4]
[Rock Body: Level 1 → Level 2!]
[Rock Body: Level 2 → Level 3!]
He let a kick shove him sideways,skidding through the muck.
[Rock Body EXP +4]
[Rock Body: Level 3 → Level 4!]
The bullies went harder,fists and feet becoming a blur. Lu Chen weaved, blocked, absorbed. His body was a symphony of painful thwacks, every one a chime of progress.
[Rock Body: Level 4 → Level 5!]
[Rock Body: Level 5 → Level 6!]
[Dodge Reflex EXP +1]
[Basic Sword EXP +2]
He wasn't just being beaten anymore.He was farming.
The crowd's murmurs shifted.Uncertainty thickened the air, heavier than the rain.
"Why…why is he smiling?"
"He's taking those hits on purpose!Is he insane?!"
"Something's…not right."
[Rock Body EXP +0]
[Rock Body EXP +0]
Huh. Diminishing returns.Lu Chen's smile faded. The free EXP buffet was closing. Time for the main course.
He straightened,shaking mud from his hair. The frantic, defensive energy around him settled into something calm. Cold. He looked at the five panting, mud-spattered disciples. Their confidence was cracked.
"You call me trash,"Lu Chen said, his voice cutting through the rain. Clear. Calm. "But you can't even give me a decent scratch." He tilted his head, eyes glinting. "If I'm trash… what does that make you?"
Silence.For one heartbeat.
Then their faces turned the color of cooked beets.The insult didn't just land—it detonated.
"COURTING DEATH!"one screamed—the classic battle cry of the profoundly offended.
All five charged.Not with strategy. With pure, unfiltered rage. This wasn't bullying anymore. This was about erasing an insult.
Lu Chen didn't just move.
He flowed.
His feet,planted in the mud, became roots. His body turned with a willow-branch grace he didn't know he had. The first henchman lunged; Lu Chen slapped the fist aside with his sword's flat, using the guy's own momentum to send him crashing into the second.
They went down in a tangle of limbs and mud.
The third,short and furious, got a sharp tap on the wrist. He yelped, weapon flying. The fourth, trying to capitalize, met the sole of Lu Chen's boot in his stomach. The air left him in a mighty OOF as he folded.
The ringleader came last—a final,desperate tackle. Lu Chen sidestepped. Stuck out his foot.
The bully flew face-first into a waiting puddle with a sound that was half splash,half profound humiliation.
Silence.
The rain poured.Five bullies lay in the mud, groaning. A masterpiece of defeat.
The crowd was frozen.Jaws collectively unhinged.
"Did…he just… solo five people?"
"Someone pinch me.I'm having a righteous, karmic dream."
SLAP.
"OW!Why would you actually pinch me?!"
"How is this possible?!His dantian was soup yesterday!"
"If he's trash…what does that make us? Recycled compost?"
DING! DING! DING!
[Cultivation EXP +2] x5
[Basic Sword EXP +2] x5
[Achievement Unlocked: 'Unexpected Underdog'! Bonus: Face-Slapping Points +10!]
Lu Chen stood in the wreckage,chest heaving. Exhausted. Aching. Covered in filth.
And he feltalive. Vibrantly, terrifyingly alive for the first time in two lifetimes.
"Brother Lu!"
The voice was pure panic.Li Yun pushed through the stunned crowd, robes soaked, her pretty face tight with worry. She took in the scene—the groaning bullies, the standing victor—and her eyes went wide as saucers.
"You're hurt!You're bleeding!" She was at his side in an instant, small hands fluttering. She pulled out a clean cloth and a simple healing pill. "Stop arguing! You're a mess!"
"I'm really fi—"
"You'renot!" she insisted, her tone leaving no room for debate. She pressed the pill into his hand and started dabbing at a cut on his brow. Her touch was gentle. Firm.
A warmth,different from the EXP buzz, spread through his chest.
"Could you not comment right now?" Lu Chen muttered.
The crowd's shock was curdling into something uglier.Whispers, sharp with jealousy, cut through the rain.
"Who does he think he is?"
"Since when does Junior Sister Li care about him?"
"You didn't know?Even after he lost his cultivation, she was still helping him."
"This victory's gone to his head.It's embarrassing."
Li Yun ignored them all."You can't keep doing this," she whispered, brow furrowed. "Next time, they might not stop with fists."
Before Lu Chen could reply,the very air in the courtyard grew heavy.
The rain seemed to part.
A figure emerged from the sheeting downpour.Tall. Broad-shouldered. Eyes like chips of flint. An aura of pressure rolled off him, pushing nearby disciples back a step. His gaze swept over his defeated lackeys in the mud, then locked onto Lu Chen.
Zhang Feng.Outer Sect enforcer. The ringleader's older brother.
The atmosphere plunged from tense to glacial.
Li Yun paled.Instinctively, she took a half-step in front of Lu Chen.
Zhang Feng's voice was a low rumble,like distant thunder. "You… did this to my little brother?"
He didn't wait for an answer.He took one step forward. Then another. His boots made deep, final sounds in the mud. The playful bullying was over. This was predatory.
"You humiliate my blood,"Zhang Feng said, cracking his neck. "A few lucky tricks don't make you a cultivator. I'm going to break what that beast left intact."
Lu Chen's heart hammered against his ribs.Not just with fear. With a thrilling, terrifying anticipation. This was different. This was real danger.
The system purred in his mind,a sound of pure, electric glee.
Lu Chen met Zhang Feng's killer's gaze.He slowly lifted his sword, pointing the mud-streaked tip not at the enforcer, but at the groaning ringleader in the puddle.
He gave Zhang Feng a small,weary, utterly disrespectful smile.
"Stop barking,"Lu Chen said, wiping mud from his face. His voice carried across the silent courtyard. "Your pea-sized brain should've taught your brother to pick on someone his own size."
Total, and breathless silence.
Then Zhang Feng's aura ERUPTED, pushing the rain away in a visible wave.
[TO BE CONTINUED…]