"Whoa!"

I jumped away desperately, just barely able to dodge the freight train of massive, mountainous guys charging at me.

Tie Shan's iron fist slammed into the ground where I stood, carving a crater into the concrete. I stumbled back, pelted by the debris, and had to duck under a hook from Luan Fa, which ripped a huge chunk from the wall of a nearby building. I shifted my trajectory and jumped back, along the wall, narrowly evading Mohawk's kick that reduced a good part of the structure into rubble. Once again, I found myself under assault from the debris.

"Kuh!"

Spinning around, I dodged under Tie Shan's iron fist again, but the sheer blast from the qi coating his hand knocked me over.

"!"

I rolled away before Mohawk could finish me off with a stomp that smashed a crater into the solid concrete. Jumping to my feet, I staggered back just beyond the reach of Luan Fa, whose fist pulverized the wall that was unfortunate enough to be beside me when I stood up.

"Holy f..!"

I threw myself backward to avoid getting obliterated by Tie Shan's attack, as well as trying to stay out of the reach of Luan Fa and Mohawk.

"Those skills..what are you, the Iron Fist Sect or something?"

Tie Shan's eyes narrowed.

"Still trying to pretend that you don't know anything, I see!"

"..give it a rest already.."

I couldn't help but sigh as I avoided yet another deadly blow from Mohawk's kick, then jumped away before Luan Fa crushed the ground where I was standing on with his qi-enveloped fists. Debris pelted me as I reeled back from the shockwaves.

"We're from the Iron Mountain Sect," Luan Fa explained helpfully. "Our techniques are focused on hardening our bodies into steel, which grants us a ton of offensive and defensive power as well as envelop our bodies in armored qi. Immovable as the mountains, unyielding as the landscape. We have a great affinity with metal qi of the five elements."

"Oh, that's amazing.."

"Why the hell are you explaining everything to him?!" Tie Shan yelled at Luan Fa, who had the decency to look chagrined.

"Well..he asked."

I really like this guy. He really was a model senior..if only he wasn't attacking me.

"He's acting! Trying to distract you from the battle! Don't fall for it!" Tie Shan bellowed. I sighed yet again. This guy was really getting on my nerves.

"No, I'm not. I really don't know anything about the Heaven and Earth techniques."

"You're lying! Then why would you have that medallion?"

Mohawk hollered as he swung his foot at me. I sidestepped the kick, glad that I managed to escape having my skull caved in.

"I already told you! The old man gave me that as a reward for saving his life!"

"Liar! Why would he give you that if you're not the successor?"

"Kuh!"

Cursing, I ducked under another swing from Tie Shan. The sonic boom from his vicious punch blasted me off my feet and knocked me flat onto my back. Mohawk tried to capitalize on the moment by stomping on me with those deadly feet of his, but I managed to roll away. Even then, the impact generated from the collision between his foot and the ground lifted me up bodily and sent me hurtling across the school compound.

"Ugh!"

I crashed heavily onto the ground, but tried to mitigate the impact by rolling to my feet. Swaying unsteadily, I looked up just in time to see the three seniors charge at me.

"Bloody hell.."

Wiping the blood from my mouth, I slowly rose to my feet to glare at the trio of seniors. While they advanced, I held up both hands in surrender.

"Before you kill me for some stupid reason, can you at least tell me what this medallion is?"

"Do you really not know?" Luan Fa scowled.

"Stop pretending!" Tie Shan bellowed. "That medallion is evidence that you are the successor to the Heaven and Earth Sect! That's no use hiding the fact that you've inherited the Heaven and Earth techniques!"

Say what?

If I was getting this right, this medallion was proof that the bearer was the leader of the Heaven and Earth Sect, or at the very least the successor to the Heaven and Earth techniques. Then why the heck did the old man give something as valuable as this to a complete stranger like me? He didn't even tell me what this thing was, or tell me a single thing!

Gratitude?! Fuck, this was downright irresponsibility!

"Look, if you want this medallion, I'll give it to you. You guys can be the leaders of the Heaven and Earth Sect or whatever. I'm not interested."

I held out the medallion. Whatever this stupid thing was, it wasn't worth giving up my life just to hang onto it. I didn't even have any emotional attachment to it.

The trio stared at me as if I had just said something incredibly stupid. Which, to be fair, was probably what happened.

"Idiot!" Tie Shan roared as he threw his iron fist at me. "The medallion's worthless without the Heaven and Earth techniques!"

I considered telling him that they weren't going to get those out of me if they killed me, but by then it was clear that they were way past listening to reason or the truth. I also realized the futility of telling them the truth – I did not possess the Heaven and Earth techniques. In fact, this was the first time I had ever heard of such a thing.

"What exactly are these Heaven and Earth techniques?" I demanded. "Some kind of ultimate martial art?"

"Sort of."

Luan Fa replied as he struck at me with his qi-immersed fists, forcing me to duck. The shockwaves buffeted me, knocking me off my feet and causing me to sprawl on the ground. I rolled away before Mohawk could smash my head into the dirt.

Did they want the techniques or not? Idiots..

"The Heaven and Earth Formula is the most powerful martial arts in the world," Luan Fa continued to explain while throwing punches. The seniors might undoubtedly be more powerful, but they were slow. Thankfully, I had built up my fitness and stamina with all that running, so I was fast enough to evade the main bulk of their attacks. For now, anyway. "It's supposed to grant the cultivator near infinite qi and allow him to eventually become one with the heavens. It's an important step into gaining immortality and becoming invincible."

That sounded really dubious, like some sort of myth or legend passed down along generations. But they clearly believed that it existed, which made me question more about the old man. Was he an immortal? And if he was supposedly invincible because of this technique, why hadn't I seen him ever since? Why did it seem like he was running and hiding instead of crushing all of his foes head-on? The old man didn't give off the feeling that he was an immortal.

"..and you think I have learned these techniques?"

"The fact that you possess the medallion is proof that you inherited the Heaven and Earth Formula."

"Well, then take the damned medallion and look for the techniques inside it!" I threw the medallion at Luan Fa, who was the only senior reasonable enough to at least talk to me. He punched it away by reflex and sent it flying back to me.

Thanks to my training over the last three months where I practiced kicks against an automaton inside one of the training rooms that I booked every night, I caught the damned thing by reflex. Annoyed, I glared at Luan Fa.

"Do you want it or not!?"

"Are you stupid?" Tie Shan snarled. "Do you take us for fools? Hiding a martial arts manual inside a small medallion? Who would believe that?"

"Ugh.." I sighed, frustrated. "I already told you, the only thing the old man gave me was this medallion. He mentioned absolutely nothing about martial art techniques, and he certainly didn't teach me any ultimate move!"

"Do you honestly expect us to believe that?" Mohawk scoffed as he chopped toward me with his axe, forcing me to duck or lose my head. "That the Absolute One would appoint you his successor and the new leader of the Heaven and Earth Sect, entrust you with the proof of your appointment, but not pass down his techniques and ultimate weapon to the one he chose as his heir before he died?"

"Wait..are you telling me that old man died?"

A chill ran down my back.

"The Martial Arts Alliance killed him," Luan Fa explained simply before he threw a hook that blew the wall behind me into bits. Damn, I had to get away from the building or he would demolish academy property. "After committing so many atrocities and massacring so many sects, the various orthodox sects banded together and united to kill him. They finally succeeded after much sacrifice and bloodshed. But there was no sign that he left any successor or will behind when they defeated him."

"That sucks." I shrugged before dodging another fatal blow that took out a huge chunk of the wall behind me. "So why are you assuming that I am the successor when it's quite obvious he didn't leave any behind?"

To be honest, I felt uncomfortable and stunned by the revelation, but I refused to show it. Even though I didn't know the old man very well, he was someone who I had met and conversed with. It was just so difficult to believe that he was gone like that, killed by the very same Martial Arts Alliance whose Wu Ling Academy I was enrolled in.

Damn, and the last time I talked to him, he seemed fine and healthy. Could he really be dead? Did they really kill him?

Furthermore, it was also difficult to believe that a seemingly kindly and gentle old man like him was such an atrocious villain. He was so helpless that I had to save him from a bloody truck. How could someone like him be immortal and invincible? Not only that, he actually visited someone who saved his life, going to the hospital to personally thank me and even gave me his medallion as a token of his gratitude and appreciation. How could someone like that be a murderous villain who did not hesitate in committing atrocities and massacring countless people?

It made no sense.

But..

"Sounds like you're being chased by a bunch of killers."

"Oh, you have no idea how right you are."

Those lines returned to the surface of my memory and I frowned. The old man admitted that he was being chased by people trying to kill him. If he was referring to the martial arts alliance, then technically everything made sense. Even so, I was still unable to wrap my head around the fact that he was supposed to be a homicidal villain.

"You were the only person he was in contact with before his death..the only one he actually talked to without killing."

"So..because he talked to me to express his gratitude for saving his life, you somehow believe that he managed to transfer his techniques to me in those brief seconds and those few words?" I asked, flabbergasted. "Don't you think that's too much of a stretch?"

"It is," Luan Fa admitted. "But you're the only lead we have. And our master has ordered us to retrieve the information and Heaven and Earth techniques by whatever means necessary."

"Your master did?" my frown deepened. "Wait a minute, that can't be right. Aren't you disallowed from learning techniques from other sects? That's supposed to be a taboo!"

"It only applies if the sect still exists, or refuses to give permission." Luan Fa shrugged nonchalantly. "The Heaven and Earth Sect is destroyed..or is presumed to have been destroyed, so it's fair game. We'll be 'restoring' the Heaven and Earth Formula."

"Especially if we eliminate you after seizing the techniques from you!" Mohawk laughed cruelly. "Then the Heaven and Earth Sect will truly be destroyed!"

I ignored him even as I evaded another kick from the bastard, and instead focused my attention on Luan Fa.

"When did the old man die? When was he killed?"

"About two months ago," Luan Fa supplied helpfully. "I don't know the details, but I do know that every master from every orthodox sect under the Martial Arts Alliance gathered to finish off the Absolute One and his followers. There was a massive war about six months ago, where the Heaven and Earth Sect was utterly annihilated, and the Absolute One, despite slaying so many masters and veterans of the Martial Arts Alliance, was severely injured and forced to flee. He was in hiding for almost half a year before we located him again. The leaders of the Martial Arts Alliance gathered what survivors they could and launch an attack on him before he could escape."

"There was a huge war half a year ago?"

It might have been my confused memory, which was trying to reconcile two different timelines together, but somehow I didn't remember hearing about that.

"Yeah." Luan Fa nodded. "That's why all the Martial Academies are so eager in recruiting new disciples. They're trying to replenish and rebuild their sects, most of which were utterly devastated after the war."

Ah, so that was why I wasn't expelled even after being identified and singled out as a One Star Constitution practitioner. I was also thinking about how ridiculous it was for the different sects to choose so many different disciples from the four hundred students in our batch, even though they already had so many disciples among the seniors and possibly from the other academies. Turned out it was out of necessity. After being severely reduced to the brink of annihilation by the war against the Heaven and Earth Sect, they were forced to recruit vast numbers of new disciples to restore their sects. As Luan Fa explained, I vaguely recalled reading about that war in the news, but in a different, distant timeline that seemed detached from my original one.

"Why the hell are you explaining it to him, Luan Fa?!" Tie Shan shouted furiously. "Just kill him already!"

"If you kill me, then how am I supposed to tell you about the Heaven and Earth techniques, assuming I do really have them?"

I couldn't believe that I had to point out the obvious, but here I was having to explain to my enemies how to rob from me. Albeit they were trying to rob me of something that I did not have, but there was no point telling them that.

They would never believe me. It was clear they only wanted to hear whatever they wanted to hear.

"Ho? So you're finally willing to give the Heaven and Earth techniques to us?"

Tie Shan smirked triumphantly. I buried my face in my palm. Did he not have ears? Or was his mind so warped that it automatically distorted anything I said into something that he only wanted to hear?

There was only one word to describe such characters. Delusional.

"I already told you, that old man never taught me any martial art techniques. Just this damned medallion. And if you want it, you can have it."

Mohawk responded by scything his leg downward, forcing me to jump back. The blast from his kick sent me tumbling backward.

"You can drop your act now. It's getting really tiring."

Yeah. I was getting sick and tired of these seniors. If words didn't get through, then I had no choice.

To be honest, I was still mired in disbelief. I couldn't believe that I was being assaulted by a trio of seniors from my own school trying to kill me. Normally you would expect the seniors to mentor you, not try and kill you. And it wasn't because I was being arrogant or "didn't know my place" or because they wanted to bully me. They wanted to seize something from me that I did not have. The Heaven and Earth techniques. And they were determined to kill me before or after they succeeded. I could sense their killing intent as well. They were keenly honed and tempered.

By the way, Luan Fa's killing intent was the weakest. Given that his attacks were somewhat lackluster compared to the other two seniors, I doubted he really intended to kill me. That said, he was still doing his best to incapacitate me, so I couldn't let my guard down. But he probably had the sense to realize that dead men did not impart martial arts techniques.

"Even if you really don't possess the Heaven and Earth techniques, it's undeniable that you are the new leader of the Heaven and Earth Sect. that means you the enemy of the Martial Arts Alliance."

Luan Fa was a lot less deluded and more open to considering the possibility that I was telling the truth. Not that it was doing me much good.

"And furthermore, even if you really don't know anything about Heaven and Earth Formula, we still have no choice but to eliminate you. We cannot allow anyone to know about our master's orders. We have to eliminate all eyewitnesses, to ensure that the academy does not find out about our attack. Otherwise our sect will be in trouble."

The fuck?! You were the ones jumping in and attacking me over some mistaken assumption, and I had to die for your stupid mistakes? What sort of logic was that?

That did it. I jumped as far back as possible, allowing Tie Shan's strike to carry me across several dozen meters. Curling my body into a ball, I landed on the ground, rolled and then jumped back to my feet. Straightening myself, I pushed my glasses up my nose.

"Well, while I really don't have the Heaven and Earth techniques or whatever you guys are talking about, but I'm still a student of Wu Ling Academy."

While the trio lunged at me, crossing the relatively vast distance between us, I raised both my hands up and adopted a defensive stance.

"Hah! So you've finally decided to stand and fight instead of running around like a coward!" Tie Shan scoffed as he closed in, swinging his huge fists. To his utter shock, I simply parried his massive fist with my arm. Taking care not to absorb the full power behind his blow, I altered the trajectory of his fist by using my arm to knock the inside of his forearm to the side and causing the punch to breeze past my face. The shockwave stull buffeted me, causing my head to snap to the side, but aside from a wince I ignored the pain. Cursing, I stepped in and rammed my elbow into his gut.

Despite my best efforts, my opponent wasn't doubling over in pain from the blow. Well, obviously. I wasn't as strong as my seniors, who had several more years of experience, cultivation and training than I did.

"Hah!" Tie Shan snorted before he recovered and threw another punch again, forcing me to parry his fist and deflect it to the side. The force of his blow lifted me off my feet and sent me flying a few meters, but I managed to elegantly land on my feet.

"Not strong enough, huh.."

I pushed my glasses up my nose as I stared at the trio. Tie Shan's gut felt like a brick wall. Slamming my elbow into the densely packed muscles almost hurt me more than it hurt him. Furthermore, he didn't look as if he was affected at all.

"It's useless."

It was Luan Fa. He warily maintained his distance, eying my hands. He probably was trying to figure out how I knocked Tie Shan's punches aside despite being physically weaker and smaller. To be honest, that was pure luck. I didn't know how I did it either.

"What?"

"You don't seem to be emanating much qi..I would say you're only at the first level of the Qi Gathering Stage at most."

"..Qi what stage?" I repeated, bewildered, only to parry another strike from Tie Shan. The wall behind me was obliterated as an azure blast was let loose from his fist, but thankfully it didn't hit me directly. While shrugging him off, I spun around and intercepted a vicious swing from Mohawk's kick. Mohawk was utterly shocked that my leg didn't break at all, but I didn't care. I merely twisted my foot around and surprised him with a kick to his chin, causing him to topple over. Behind, the entire earth next to me blew up as the force from Mohawk's foot split it apart.

That was close. If I hadn't blocked his kick..

Nonetheless, I was impressed that I managed to counter a kicking senior with my own kick. Great job, me! It looked like all that training in the past three months were starting to pay off!

"We're in the third level of the Qi Essence Stage. There is a whole different of stages between us, and furthermore, there are three of us. I would advise you to give up."

"Look, I have totally no idea what the fuck you've been blabbering about since earlier," I snapped as I blocked Luan Fa's punch with my arm, then sidestepped to counterattack. To his credit, he blocked my strike. To either side of us, shockwaves rampaged throughout the ground, splitting earth and throwing up clods of grass.

"For cultivators, there are several stages. The higher your stage, the more powerful you are. The differences are absolute."

"I still have no idea what you're talking about." Ducking under his punch, I swung my branch, forcing him to retreat. I wanted to pursue, but I was forced to turn around to parry Tie Shan's punch. After defending that attack, I spun around and deflected Mohawk's kick. Again, a qi blast traveled past me and tore chunks out of the ground.

Was it just me, but was I actually fighting on par with three seniors at the same time?!

"For martial artists, we all begin with the Qi Gathering Stage. Above that is the Qi Essence Stage. Then the Flowing Qi Stage, followed by the Qi Fusion Stage. After that is the Pure Spirit Stage, and finally the ultimate, pinnacle stage of all cultivators – the Nascent Soul Stage."

"..from earlier, I have no idea what these stages are. Are you trying to stage something?"

"Shut up! Stop pretending! If you really are a martial artist, then you're complete trash!" Tie Shan shouted. Everyone ignored him. Luan Fa continued to explain.

"The stages are indicative of the amount of qi you possess, and the level of techniques you have mastered. A Qi Gathering Stage practitioner trying to fight a Nascent Soul Stage practitioner would be like an ant fighting a dragon. His amount of qi would be a single drop of water as compared to the ocean of qi that the Nascent Soul Stage practitioner possesses."

".."

I didn't know whether to call bullshit or not, but whatever.

"Each Stage has nine levels. The ninth and top level is usually a bottleneck, the most difficult period of time to breakthrough to the next stage. But of course, even among practitioners of the same stage, the one with a higher level – and thus more qi – will have an advantage over his opponent with a lower level."

"So sort of like gaming, then," I mused.

"So you understand?" Tie Shan snarled as he punched at me. Azure blasts of qi rippled dangerously across his arms. "A Qi Gathering Stage trash like you will never be able to match up against Qi Essence Stage practitioners like us! Just give up and hand over the Heaven and Earth techniques!"

"Ah..I see. I do understand."

I dove to the side, instinctively understanding that I wouldn't be able to block his attack this time. Tie Shan's fist smashed a huge hole in the wall behind me, revealing the chemistry laboratory where my alchemy lessons were held.

"..your whatever Stages are absolutely meaningless to me."

"Big talk coming from a weakling!"

So he knew I was weak. Then why the hell was Tie Shan so bent on believing that I inherited the Heaven and Earth techniques? Surely if I had inherited those Heaven and Earth techniques, I wouldn't be weak, right?

No, he was probably believing whatever he wanted, and not caring about logic or consistency.

"Guh!"

Rolling on the ground, I found my back pressed against the wall. Tie Shan slashed at me, and I waited until the last moment before I jumped to the side. Baldie's fist smashed into the wall, obliterating the concrete.

Now!

Seizing the chance, I hooked my foot around Tie Shan's and tripped him over. It helped that his momentum from his punch was carrying him forward. With a bellow, Tie Shan disappeared underneath the falling rubble.

"H..how is this possible?!" Mohawk demanded as he fell back, gaping at the horrific sight. "The amount of qi this kid is emanating..it can't be higher than a Qi Gathering Stage practitioner! This is impossible!"

"I told you," I repeated as I strolled forward casually, the building still collapsing behind me. "All these Stages are meaningless to me."

Wailing, Mohawk lunged at me, swinging his leg upward to kick me in the head. Seeing openings all over the place, I stepped to the side and tripped him. It was almost too easy. Mohawk stumbled right into the still crumbling building and vanished under the falling rubble.

Huffing, I straightened up and turned away from the devastating sight.

"!"

I suddenly spun to the side, neatly evading the lethal fists of Luan Fa. He tumbled past me, but was able to block my counterattack. Not bad.

Having understood that I presented a very real threat, Luan Fa wasn't holding back now. He was doing his best to attack, plunging his foot down firmly on the ground and twisting around to launch another attack. I whirled away from his right fist, then ducked under his left.

"Thanks for all the explanations earlier. You really taught me a lot about the sects and other things, and thank you for telling me about the old man's death."

"You..are you really not the Absolute One's successor?"

"Nope," I affirmed. I doubted there was any point to telling him that I was from an alternate timeline. "I'm just an ignorant junior who's still in his first year at Wu Ling Academy. Which is why I don't know about all these weird stages and whatever. And I honestly doubt they mean anything to me. Nonetheless, it was useful to know about them, which is why I'm grateful to you."

".."

I jumped into the remains of the building, staying out of reach of both of his fists, then danced away to stay out of range of a barrage that he threw at me in silent anger.

"But I really am telling the truth," I assured him. "I know nothing about Heaven and Earth techniques or the Heaven and Earth Sect. I have no idea why the old man gave me the medallion, and I plan to find out. After I take care of you guys."

"!"

Luan Fa felt a chill and he threw a punch desperately at me. This time, I had led him to the portion of the building that was still standing. The remains of a laboratory stood, with scattered desks buried under debris or knocked to their sides. At the back of my mind, I knew Teacher Lian Jin Shu would be furious when he saw the ruined state of his beloved alchemy lab. I could see broken gas pipes leading to what used to be Bunsen burners. Chairs were overturned or smashed into oblivion, and the lab was in ruins.

I hoped they didn't make me pay for the damages. Nah, I would convince the teachers to charge the destructive trio instead. But I had to survive first. While my eyes flickered around the ruined lab, a plan formed in my mind.

Luan Fa smashed a few bricks off the wall behind me when I found myself cornered. I flinched as the shower of broken concrete pelted me, but maintained my composure.

"Since you were so kind to explain everything to me, I will let you off with nothing more than a little singe."

Luan Fa narrowed his eyes as he charged forward, rearing his right arm back to deliver a devastating hook.

"Underestimating me, aren't you?"

I said nothing and let his attack come. Ducking under his punch, I threw myself to the ground. The senior's fist slammed into another wall and reduced it to debris.

At that moment, the remaining part of the ceiling gave way and crashed down on Luan Fa before he could react, burying him under concrete and dust.

"Phew.."

Scrambling to the front of the devastated lab, I found the teacher's desk. As I suspected, there were still equipment and other stuff I could use.

"You bastard!"

While I was rummaging through the contents of the teacher's desk, a voice bellowed from behind. Glancing back, I saw a familiar silhouette burst out from under the debris.

Tie Shan still hadn't given up. He was screaming as he charged at me, his right fist cocked back for a punch. I stared at him and shook my head. The poor guy still hadn't learned his lesson.

"I won't forgive you!"

It wasn't just Tie Shan. Mohawk had emerged from the rubble too. Further back, Luan Fa was quick to recover, clawing his way free of the pile of concrete. All three of them were converging on me.

I smiled as they ventured toward me, stepping to the center of the destroyed chemistry lab. While they did so, I jumped back and struck a match.

"What are you doing?" Tie Shan growled when he caught sight of the matchstick in my hand. I grinned and shrugged.

"Well, you know..lighting things up."

I tossed the matchstick at them. It never reached them, of course, but it didn't have to. The moment the flame came into contact with the leaking methane gas that was spilling from the broken pipes, the entire space that used to be the chemistry laboratory exploded.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

All three mountainous seniors screamed as a colossal conflagration consumed them, the massive flames sweeping across and engulfing the remains of the chemistry laboratory. I retreated as quickly as I could, but even as -->>

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