Cultivation

"Remember be respectful." The Guard preached before opening the door.

Inside the room was almost the entirety of Zhao Bing's family. His grandfather was there. His uncles and aunts were there. Even the in-laws were there.

"What does he want?" One of the uncles whispered.

"Isn't he already useless?" An aunt asked.

The others started whispering and gossiping until Zhao Bing's grandfather raised his hand. The universal sign to say, pardon my french but, SHUT THE F*CK UP.

This caused the people to be quiet.

"Well, what do you want?" The elder asked coldy. His attitude towards Zhao Bing reflected everyone's inside the room. They didn't respect him one bit and they didn't try to hide it.

"I want a cultivation manuel and a sword!" Zhao Bing declared to his grandfather.

This caught everyone besides the grandfather by surprise. Was the reason his cultivation didn't progress because he forgot how to cultivate? That was impossible! No accidents happened to him before.

While they were in their thoughts, Zhao Bing's grandfather laughed out loud. 'It seems like my plan worked in the end.'

"So you're finally taking cultivation seriously? What made you change your mind?" He asked curiously. The change in Zhao Bing was something he wanted for a long time. Zhao Bing had a lot of potential when he was young. Always willing to learn, sadly his cultivation stagnated and he became discouraged. Now that he was actively trying to learn and work on the problem, it was just a matter of time before he caught up to Zhao Linlong, the number one genius of the Zhao Sect.

"A boy in the training field taught me how to fix my problems. All I need is to get stronger!" Zhao Bing replied excitedly.

"Is this problem something we can solve?" The grandfather asked a bit disappointed.

The change in the grandfather's personality shocked everyone. Wasn't he the one who exiled him to the outer court? Why was he so friendly and kind?

'This is bad. I can't let Zhao Bing be the favorite again! The resources for Zhao Gan will be cut in half!' Zhao Gan's father thought.

"No, this is something I have to do myself." Zhao Bing said.

There was a mini-stare off happening inside the room between Zhao Bing and his grandfather.

"Good, a man has to solve his own problems. The years in the outer court haven't been kind to you. Hahaha!" His grandfather proudly exclaimed. This change in his attitude was even more apparent to everyone.

Desperate, Zhao Gan's father came up with a claim.

"Father, he hasn't progressed in a while, wouldn't it be better to put our resources to a stable source instead? Like my son Zhao Gan? He is fifth place in the outer rankings! We should cultivate his talent because it's been more consistent than Zhao Bing's!" Zhao Gan's father reasoned.

What he said wasn't unreasonable. Why take a big business risk when there is already a good stable source of income?

The other family members thought his reasoning and evidence was clear and reasonable.

"Yeah, it seems more reasonable!"

"Fifth place in the outer court is really impressive."

"Zhao Bing hasn't progressed in a whole year!"

"His talent has run out."

To this the grandfather only stayed silent. The other family members thought that he was considering but immediately he turned to the person next to him.

"Zhao Kilin, deliver the Air Crossing Breathing Technique and the Snow Glider to Zhao Bing's courthouse!"

"But father -" Zhao Gan's father wanted to continue but he was interrupted by the grandfather.

"Be Quiet! I have made my decision! Zhao Bing, don't make me regret this." He said as he faced Zhao Bing. "Make your parents proud."

Zhao Bing bowed down. "Thank you great elder."

Without looking at anyone else he left his family's estate.

.....

Zhao Bing was at his home, chilling on his bed before he was interrupted by the robotic voice.

[Stop wasting your time]

This didn't sit well with Zhao Bing. He was trying to have a nice relaxing evening before he had to get serious about cultivation.

"I don't even have the manual or the sword! Let me rest while I can!" He whined.

[Don't waste your time! Practice the movements of Leaf Piercing Sword. Or at least comprehend the moves. At this point you're never going to get inspiration]

"Fine!" Zhao Bing sighed as he turned the pages of the book.

Sadly, Zhao Bing wasn't like Zhao Feng. Due to the school system he prioritized immediate gratification over delayed gratification. If he wasn't awarded constantly, he would lose his drive to complete it. This, as you can guess, isn't the proper mindset for cultivation.

[This isn't working! What is one thing that you would like in this world from your other world?]

"I don't know, maybe music." Zhao Bing half-heartedly answered.

[If you reach the peak of fourth rank by the time the contest starts and master Leaf Piercing Sword to perfection, I will give you a MP3 player option]

This caught Zhao Bing's attention. He would not only get inspiration but also music by getting stronger. This was a deal and a half.

"Really?" He asked the robotic voice.

[Yes]

'Time to start!' Zhao Bing thought.

Zhao Bing meditated on the contents of the [Leaf Piercing Sword] for the rest of the day. The highest point he could reach by meditating on it is low rank. He couldn't go any further because he has yet to try it.

When he reached the low rank of [Leaf Piercing Sword] he was about to go to fluid motions. But before he could take the book out of the inventory, there was a knock on the door.

*Bang*

Expecting the manual and sword, he opened the door.

"Here." The delivery man said.

He gave Zhao Bing a beautifully crafted box and a book in perfect condition.

Zhao Bing, without saying thank you closed the door and rushed to his bed to start cultivating.

Outside Zhao Kilin sighed. "Youths, so impatient."

.....

_Two Days later_

Zhao Bing was in a meditating stance and a thin layer of ice covered his body. His exhales had tiny crystals in them.

Suddenly he opened his eyes and the ice on his body shattered to pieces. He exhaled and a black fog came out.

"Eww! Is that what I think it is?" Zhao Bing exclaimed as he plugged his nose.

[Yes, they are the impurities of your body.]

"How? Zhao Feng didn't have that happen until later!" Zhao Bing exclaimed.

[It is because your bloodline. The ancient race of the Ice-Deep clan had a deep connection with ice. A bit like the Mystic Scaled Ice Race. The can call on it without fail. They instinctively used ice to perfect and train their bodies to an unimaginable point. Basically, Your cultivation and mind energy soar faster than normal because of your bloodline.]

"Really? What else can the bloodline do?" Zhao Bing asked.

[As I said before, you have an innate relationship with ice and because of that the moment you reach peak-third rank of the martial path, you can immediately go to fourth-rank. Your body has already formed chi in the form of ice energy! That isn't the end of it. The higher your cultivation is, the more calm and collected you are. It is really one of the best bloodlines for the martial path. It might even cure your laziness problem]

Zhao Bing, who was supposed to be listening to the speech, already clocked out after the robotic voice said peak third rank. It took him a two days to reach third rank so peak shouldn't be that hard. Meaning, he can chill out and write stories.

[Are you listening? I said that you need to consolidate your foundation! The idiot who used the body before you has rushed his cultivation so you need to spend a couple days making it stronger. Cultivating is like building a building, it will break if the foundations aren't strong enough.]

"But Zhao Feng should have the archery showdown today! I want to see it."

[Too bad! If you start the firming of the foundation quickly maybe you can see him in the forest facing off against the Green Headed Tiger King!]

'D*mn alien!'