Chapter 3 Who's The Weak One?

A bucket slipped from Little Wu's grasp breaking off the floor. Water splashed over her boots but she did not even blink. Her mouth fell open in horror. She stood frozen near the entrance of the Spirit Beast Stables and stared at the path outside.

A bloody figure was dragging itself through the mud. It took her several seconds to recognize the twisted face and the gray robes.

It was Li Hu.

The untouchable tyrant of the outer sect was whimpering like a beaten dog while leaving a thick trail of blood behind him. The shock hit her that she stood completely paralyzed.

Little Wu finally found her voice. The disbelief clawed its way out of her throat.

"Heavens above!" Little Wu screamed. Her voice cracked with panic and echoed loudly into the cavernous stable. "Everyone come here! Come look at Li Hu!"

Footsteps thundered from the back stalls. Old Ma limped out first with a pitchfork raised for a fight. Several other servants rushed out close behind him with brooms and shovels clutched tightly in their hands. They stopped dead in their tracks at the doorway. Their weapons lowered slowly as they registered the pathetic sight. Their mouths hung open in the exact same stunned silence that had gripped Little Wu.

Ye Chen stepped out of the shadows of the stable. He wiped a streak of dirt from his jaw and looked down at the retreating figure. The servants were terrified because they still saw Li Hu as their oppressor.

Seeing their reaction, Ye Chen needed to break that illusion permanently.

"Look closely at your grand master," Ye Chen called out. His voice carried a biting edge of sarcasm. “He acts like a king when he has the backing of the inner sect. But men like Li Hu only know how to bare their fangs at sheep. Break their legs and they cannot even manage a proper bark."

Li Hu paused his crawling. He twisted his neck to glare back at them. His face was a mask of agony and humiliation.

Ye Chen met his gaze with cold indifference. "Keep crawling. The dirt suits you."

Old Ma leaned on his broom. A spark of defiance finally broke through his decades of subjugation. He remembered the brutal kicking Li Hu had given him last winter over a single spilled bowl of rice. That beating had left Old Ma with a permanent limp.

"You look like a crushed toad!" Old Ma shouted. His raspy voice echoed across the stable yard.

The dam broke. Ye Chen had shown them the monster could bleed. The other servants realized Li Hu was truly broken and powerless. They surged forward to the edge of the path. Years of pent up frustration and silent suffering poured out of them in a torrent of verbal abuse.

"Where is your arrogance now?" Little Wu yelled. She picked up a clump of wet mud and threw it hard against Li Hu's back.

"Are you going to dock our rations from the dirt?" another servant taunted. "Crawl faster! The outer sect elders might want to use you as a floor rag!"

Li Hu trembled with rage and fear. He opened his mouth to issue a threat but his eyes darted to Ye Chen standing calmly in the doorway. The cold promise of death in Ye Chen's posture made Li Hu swallow his words. He turned his head away and continued his pathetic scramble toward the upper pavilion.

The servants erupted into cheers. They clapped each other on the back and embraced. A few of them even danced a brief jig in the wet dirt. For the first time in years the weight of their servitude felt just a little bit lighter.

Ye Chen raised a hand to quiet them. The laughter died down instantly. They looked at Ye Chen with a new sense of reverence. He was no longer the broken cripple they had pitied and protected for three years. He stood tall with a jade-like luster to his skin and a terrifying calm in his eyes.

"We are done working for today," Ye Chen said. "Leave the rest of the stalls. Everyone go back to your quarters and rest."

Little Wu hesitated and looked back at the unfinished work. "But the overseer will punish us if the evening chores are skipped. They might withhold our meals for the week."

"I will handle the overseer," Ye Chen replied. "No one works another minute today. Go back to Copper Row."

A collective sigh of relief washed over the group. The evening chores were always the most grueling tasks of the day. Old Ma stepped forward and grabbed Ye Chen by the arm with surprising strength.

"You heard him!" Old Ma shouted to the younger boys. "Grab him! He gave us a free night and he crushed our biggest headache!"

Before Ye Chen could protest or step back the servants rushed forward. Little Wu and three other sturdy youths hoisted Ye Chen onto their shoulders. Ye Chen grabbed Little Wu's shoulder to steady himself. He tried to demand they put him down but their joyful shouting drowned out his voice.

They carried him down the winding dirt path. The procession moved away from the Spirit Beast Stables and headed toward the lower servant district known as Copper Row. The servants chanted Ye Chen's name loudly. They mocked Li Hu with every step they took and laughed at the blood trail fading into the mud.

The walk took them past several other working groups near the sect storage buildings. Other slaves stopped hauling wood and water to stare at the commotion. Little Wu gladly shouted the news to anyone who would listen. She told them the tyrant Li Hu had been crippled. She told them Ye Chen was back and stronger than ever.

They reached the perimeter of Copper Row. The dilapidated wooden shacks stood crammed together in the fading daylight. The smell of cheap cooking oil and unwashed bodies hung heavy in the air. This place was a dumping ground for the sect where the useless were sent to rot. Yet tonight, the atmosphere was pierced by genuine celebration.

The servants finally lowered Ye Chen to the ground near the center well. They thanked him again and bowed slightly. Old Ma patted Ye Chen on the shoulder before limping away to his own shack. The crowd dispersed slowly as they were all eager to enjoy their rare evening of freedom.

Ye Chen watched them go. His smile faded as the reality of his situation set in. Beating Li Hu was satisfying but it was a minor victory against an ant. He turned and walked to his own assigned room at the far end of the row.

He pushed the creaking wooden door open. The room was barely large enough to hold a wooden cot and a small rickety table. Dust coated every surface. The roof had a visible hole in the corner where the rain always leaked through and rotted the floorboards.

He closed the door and slid the latch into place. He sat down on the edge of the stiff cot and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. He could feel the spiritual energy in the air entering his lungs and flowing naturally into his repaired meridians. The void in his center was gone. The Chaos Body Tempering Art pulsed warmly beneath his skin.

He opened his eyes and looked at the dull iron ring on his finger. His parents had left him this single artifact. He owed them his life and his rebirth.

"System," Ye Chen said aloud.

A blue translucent screen materialized in the air in front of him. The soft light illuminated the dusty corners of his small room. Ye Chen studied the interface carefully. He needed to understand his new foundation before Su Rou or the Inner Sect elders came looking for him tomorrow.

He commanded the system to show his current status.

[Name: Ye Chen]

[Stage: Body Tempering Stage 3]

[Skills: None]

[Equipment: None]

Ye Chen frowned at the floating text. His rapid advancement to the third stage of Body Tempering had felt incredible during the fight. But looking at the cold data presented a clear and dangerous problem. He had power but no techniques to channel it.

He tapped the line indicating his cultivation stage. A small prompt expanded on the screen with a sharp chime.

[Notice: Host progression is locked to skill mastery. The Chaos Body Tempering Art requires combat application to refine the physical vessel. Your cultivation stage will automatically increase as your equipped skills level up.]

"I cannot just sit and meditate to break through," Ye Chen muttered. He rubbed his chin in thought.

This was a radical departure from traditional cultivation methods. Other disciples spent years sitting in quiet caves absorbing spiritual energy from the air to slowly widen their meridians. The system demanded violent action. He needed martial skills. He needed to fight, practice, and level those skills up to force his body to evolve. It was a path of constant slaughter and progression.

He looked at the empty skill slot on the screen. He remembered the martial arts he used to know before his dantian was shattered by Su Rou. They were high level Azure Cloud Sect techniques focusing on wind and water elements. But his body felt foreign to those old pathways now. The Chaos energy had rebuilt him differently.

He needed something new. He needed something lethal that matched his new foundation.

Ye Chen navigated the interface using his thoughts. He found the tab labeled 'Market' at the top of the screen and selected it. The screen shifted instantly. A loading icon spun for a brief second before exploding into a massive catalog.

The visual display fractured into dozens of organized columns. Ye Chen stood up from the cot. He took a step closer to the floating blue screen and his breath caught in his throat.

Rows upon rows of skill books populated the screen. They were categorized by weapon type, element, and rarity. Some icons glowed with a faint bronze light. Others pulsed with deep silver or vibrant gold colors that hurt his eyes to look at directly.

He saw a bronze skill book titled 'Shattering Palm'. The description stated it could pulverize solid rock with a single strike. He saw a silver book titled Hazel Step'. The text claimed the user could move faster than a shadow and leave afterimages behind.

He scrolled down further into the higher tiers. The titles became increasingly terrifying and grand. 'Blood Boiling Art'. Heaven Piercing Sword'. 'Soul Devouring Mantra'. He saw a skill that claimed it could split a mountain in half and another that promised the ability to walk on air.

Every single skill book had a point value attached to it underneath the title in glowing red numbers. The Heaven Piercing Sword cost ten million points. Ye Chen quickly glanced at the top right corner of his screen. His current balance sat at exactly fifty System Points from his victory over Li Hu.

He looked back at the vast catalog of power displayed before him. He realized fifty points might not buy the ability to split the heavens but it could certainly buy enough power to survive tomorrow. He filtered the market to only show items he could afford. The golden and silver books vanished. Only a handful of dull bronze books remained on the screen.

He leaned in close and reached his hand toward a specific skill book that radiated a faint menacing aura.