Midnight Training

Li Chen couldn't believe what he was facing. How was he supposed to defeat his pride?!

Li Chen couldn't believe it but just staring at that string unearthed whatever lurked within the depths of his heart.

Unknowingly, he had nurtured his pride to cover his insecurities, such as his average height, which could be unappealing to some women.

Li Chen always had the dream of being the perfect man; he didn't want to let his career as an author hold him back.

He wasn't going to end up being called an introvert and looking weak like most of them.

Yet, he eventually did.

During his class meet-up, he had to showcase his wealth since most guys were much better-looking.

Especially the dubbed handsome guys who took the ladies attention.

Subduing some of them with his money was satisfying and his ego grew but as he stopped interacting with people, he forgot about it.

The room got darker and darker until he vanished.

Opening his eyes, Li Chen blinked once. His gaze remained unfazed. As much as there were several excuses subconsciously forming in his heart, his will to clear the sword heart stood firm.

To divert his attention, he grabbed his sword, left the confines of his abode and trained. Each swing of his sword flowed with memories of the past.

SWISH—!

SWISH—!

Dim sword radiances were continuously launched off his sword. Assuming a stance that gave him a solid balance, he kept swinging his sword forward, backwards, and at any angle deemed possible.

At the same time, his glass-like skin shone resplendently for he also channeled energy into its circulation.

Time passed and Li Chen stopped using star energy yet continued his training. This was an effort to keep his mind aware of the memories activated by the sword heart.

PISH—!

Piercing his sword into the ground, he fell on his knees, staring at his trembling arms. Sighing, he dragged his feet back into the abode and fell on the bed. 

****

"Li Chen!" 

"Li Chen, come out!" 

"Are you sure he's in there?" A short outer disciple asked the tall man beside him. 

Both of them had been shouting Li Chen's name for a while now but had received no response.

It was already noon so they expected everyone to be awake.

"Let's break his door. There's no way he'll ignore us then!" The tall man bellowed, taking large strides into Li Chen's courtyard.

"Hey, look around." The short man tried to yell but made sure it was a whisper.

Heeding to the short man's words, the tall man looked down and saw footprints along with sword marks everywhere.

The footprints were 2 inches deep!

"He isn't the number one newbie for nothing. I would advise we go tell Lu Buping first."

The tall man nodded, and when they retreated to the exit of the courtyard, the door opened, and Li Chen walked out.

[Why were you yelling my name?] Though his voice was calm, his irritation lurked beneath.

"Brother Li, Lu Buping invites you for a drink."

[Are you mocking me?]

"W…what?" The short man stuttered, scratching the back of his sweaty neck. After his breakthrough, Li Chen's aura possessed a piercing aura that disturbed those around him if subtly released.

His presence was akin to a peerless sword so sharp that, though sheathed, its sharpness could still be felt.

"His mask," the tall man whispered to the short man, whose eyes trembled when he realized his mistake.

"Senior brother Li, I'm deeply sorry but..." 

[Do you know of anyone called Pig Yun? He's fat, refers to himself as the great one and wields an axe artifact.]

Li Chen interrupted, seeing both men wearing dark green with brown Hanfu belts, which only meant they were below the outer disciples.

Some outer disciples also worked as servants until they reached a certain level but at that stage, they were no different from servants so they lived amongst them.

Unlike these two, Pig Yun was a high-star immortal human cultivator so he would be an outer disciple but have to work as a servant.

Li Chen's hawkish eyes caught the glint that flashed through his eyes when he described Pig Yun.

[Take me to him and I'll follow you to meet whoever sent you.]

"Whoever? Talking about The Elegant Gentleman that way could get you into trouble, senior Li," the short man cupped his fists.

[Lead the way.] Li Chen said that and followed the duo.

They glanced sideways at Li Chen's sword, inwardly noting its worth. As they descended the mountain, Li Chen noticed that almost everyone stared at him.

'What is going on?' he thought. 

When he arrived at the bottom of the mountain, he found a vast space with countless wooden buildings connected.

Several servants and outer disciples roamed about, their auras poor and unstable. 

As both men led him to Pig Yun's house, Li Chen heard laughter and suddenly paused. Also approaching from the entrance were a group of five. 

Their auras were dense, stable, and powerful enough for him to consider them an average force when combined.

Among them was a man holding a familiar axe. Li Chen tilted his head.

'Wasn't that the axe I gave Brother Yun?'

Swallowing his questions, he left for Pig Yun's house.

Both men led him to a small building in the midst of sparse trees and he saw a fat man snoring on a bench.

A broom lay beside him and his robes were dusty.

BOOM—!

The impact of the bottom of Li Chen's sword hitting the ground sent an energy blast that launched Pig Yun and his bench into the air.

Li Chen soared, grabbed the bench, and sat on it while Pig Yun fell to the ground.

"Who dared sneak attack this great one?" Pig Yun roared, only to shut his mouth when he saw Li Chen staring at him.

[Where's the axe I gave you?]

"What?"

[I gave you an immortal-grade artifact. Where is it?]