Chapter 2: Blood Orchid

"Feng Qin! There you are!" A cheerful and youthful voice was heard.

Feng Qin turned his head to the side to find his best friend, Meng Liu, running up to him with a huge smile plastered on his face that made the former daze for a moment.

Meng Liu was at the same age as himself and studied at the same academy as him, though they were in different classes, but that didn't ruin the friendship the two had.

He was a bit shorter than Feng Qin, with shoulder long black hair and bright purple eyes that seemed to shine like an amethyst at the sight of his friend. He wore a skin tight, long-sleeved black shirt with grey trousers and a pair of bamboo slippers. But what was most noticeable about him was his feminine-like look; with porcelain like skin, crystal pink lips and thin long eyebrows.

He was the kingdom's number one pretty boy and had the envy and affection of many young boys and girls, that even includes teens.

"Meng Liu, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the fields helping out your dad?" Feng Qin asked after sat upright and shared a fist bump with his best friend.

Meng Liu's shoulders dropped and he let out a sigh, "I was but after my old man spotted Ms. Luo he decided to stop tending to the fields for the day and proceeded to throw me out of the house."

His lips curled and he turned to the side, crossing his arms, muttering, "Stupid old man and his womanizing nature."

Feng Qin sighed and shook his head in pity for his best friend's womanizing dad.

Meng Liu's mother had died after contracting a disease that spread across the kingdom a few years ago. Although his dad had mourn and yearn for her during for a couple of years but at some point, he started to go around chasing any skirt that wasn't tied to a ring.

Meng Liu eyes went towards the tree that Feng Qin was punching vigorously earlier then to the latter's fists. The injured boy noticed his best friend's look and stared back at him with a straight face.

"...Would you believe me that a giant hog did this?"

"Idiot."

Meng Liu let out a sigh and from the side of his left hip had a small leather sack, he pulled out a white gauze and a bottle filled with the liquid essence of a ten year old Blood Orchid.

A Blood Orchid wasn't a common spirit plant but it wasn't rare enough that you couldn't encounter them once in a hundred years, they could be planted and cultivated by even normal humans. But the expenses to cultivate them is astronomical that only nobles and very wealthy merchants could afford cultivating them.

A bottle of ten year old Blood Orchid's liquid essence costs about fifty gold coins, a hundred year old costs ten thousand, and a thousand year old costs up to a million!

For families like Feng Qin and Meng Liu, which let them earn only around 50-100 gold coins a year, 50 gold coins is a pretty big deal for the boys.

Though expensive, the effect the Blood Orchid gives is astounding. The red liquid in the bottle of Meng Liu had a small healing effect that can accelerate a person's regeneration, though it couldn't regrow limbs, but healing Feng Qin's wounded knuckles was simple enough that it'll heal within a few minutes.

"Here." Meng Liu lightly threw the items towards Feng Qin, which he caught with both hands, and then coolly lay his back against the punching tree.

"Thanks...Though I still stand that you shouldn't waste your academy stipend on me." As Feng Qin said that, he poured some of the Blood Orchid's liquid essence on his knuckles. The red liquid washed over his knuckles, the blood on his hands mixing with it, and slowly the red liquid started dripping down onto the ground.

As a few minutes passed the red liquid, even Feng Qin's blood, washed down from his hands and what was left was his slightly sticky hands with some scratches, scars and splits. He then proceeded to use the red liquid on his legs and then used the gauze to cover his hands.

Meng Liu shook his head, "We're friends Qin, and I know you'd do the same if our roles were reversed."

Feng Qin went quite and scratched the back of his head with a silly smile.

It was true. One of Feng Qin's motto in life was that if someone treated him with kindness then he'll repay back that kindness tenfold, but those that treated him with injustice, that uses him, hunt him down and hurt the ones he loves...

He'll repay that injustice a thousand times over.

In this world, where the strong survives and eats the weak, children were forced to mature early if they wanted to survive. Of course, that only applies to some children, like ten out of ten thousand.

And Feng Qin came to know a bit of that unwritten law of the world a couple years back.

When Feng Qin was a four year old and was playing around at the front of their store, just playing with some wooden toys, some older kids started messing around with him when they became interested in his toys.

So of course, as a kid, he tried calling out for his parents but they couldn't hear him as they were busy managing the restaurant. He couldn't even try running towards them as the older kids cornered him from all directions and forcibly dragged him deep into an alley between his family's restaurant and another's, so the people in streets wouldn't be able to help him.

At first the older kids were just throwing verbal insults, calling him stupid, ugly, adopted, etc. until it slowly escalated by pushing him around to the point he crashed into the ground with his nose broken and bloodied.

That was when Feng Qin understood, that he had to fight back. If no one was able to help him in situations like this, then he had to take matters with his own hands if he wanted to live on as a man. Even if the fight wasn't in his favor, even still, he'd go black and blue with broken bones if it meant he could at least break their family jewels to prevent them from spreading their seeds!

As he was about to fight them back in a last ditch effort, he went slacked jaw at what he saw next.

Meng Liu, who looked cuter back then and wore only a white tank top and baggy black shorts with wooden sandals, came down from the heavens, with the sun shining brightly behind him, and his right leg stretched out for a kick towards the face of the leader of the kids...which he was back-handed for it a moment later.

One thing lead to another, and the older kids was soon taken back and reprimanded by their parents and apologized to both Feng Qin and Meng Liu and their parents. The two began talking to each other and started hanging out, that was how their friendship started.

"Seriously, you have to take care of yourself better. Although I understand why you're working hard but that doesn't mean you have to train so recklessly. You continue doing this, sooner or later you'll accumulate so much hidden injuries and impurities to the point even a thousand year old Blood Orchid or even a single bite out of the mythical Brilliant Golden Apple wouldn't save you." Meng Liu shook his head and shot Feng Qin a hard look, clear concern in his eyes.

"I know, I know..." Feng Qin let out a sigh, shaking his head, and didn't deny the concern of Meng Liu because he was right.

His method of training was good in the short run, but if he continues this process and accidentally caused further damage to his body than he estimated, then it would endanger him in his path of cultivation one day and it may eventually kill him.

Meng Liu grumbled, "You're still a kid Qin, we're kids! Take a step back for a moment once a while, although cultivating is best when you're young but what's the use of it all when all you're doing is leading yourself to destruction. Isn't your dream is as high as the heavens?"

Feng Qin shook his head, "Liu, what do you think is a genius?"

Meng Liu tilted his head to the side, confused at the sudden question, but still answered, "A genius is someone born with unparalleled talent and a powerful spirit."

"Yes and no." Feng Qin shook his head.

"Huh?" Meng Liu blinked his eyes.

"You're right that a genius needs heaven defying talent and a powerful spirit, but they also need a powerful body, will and determination, experience, comprehension, and lastly, luck."

"I could understand most of them, but luck?"

"Luck is important. How could just mere pure talent and a great spirit help someone reach the top of the world? With luck, even a genius spirit emperor at the age of thirty could just suddenly reach Titled Douluo in a single night because of a lucky encounter or something. Or even a normal human could suddenly become a Spirit Sage with a similar reason."

"I see..." Meng Liu turned silent, mulling over what Feng Qin had said. "Like always, you sound so smart Qin! Even the teachers at our academy hadn't taught us that. We're the same age but somehow you're the smarter one between us... Though I'm the more attractive one."

Feng Qin rolled his eyes but he also wondered why he was smarter than his peers. No, that was wrong. It wasn't that he was smarter intellectually, but he just thought about some stuff more thoroughly.

Unknowingly, the orange oval gem in the center of his chest slightly glowed once more.