Chapter 24: Awakening (part 1)

"Eh?" I stumbled on my feet, unable to speak a single cohesive word.

'What is he trying to achieve? Get me out of the sect for attacking an elder?' I thought, trying my absolute best to figure out what the fuck was going on.

"You are seriously worrying too much about everything," the elder said, likely to understand the reasons behind my massive confusion. "I hope you don't think you are powerful enough to actually hurt me!"

Well, he had a point. Given how this world looked like the simplest copy of all the cultivation, young masters, and jade beauties novels I read in my early days, there was likely not even a remote chance for my attack to actually connect.

And heck, even if it did, how could that man be an elder if I a mere disciple like me could actually hurt him?!

I threw a quick glance at Mia. Even with all those thoughts, I couldn't help myself. After all, she was actually a local to this world and someone who spent an entire semester in the sect before I even joined.

Even as a slave, she had to pick up something that could be of help to me now!

'I give up,' I thought, feeling how all the strength left my body with a long sigh that I let out.

"This disciple will follow Elder's orders!" I ended up saying, approaching the man only to stop at the optimal distance away.

I knew no battle techniques. Even though this man himself claimed that my combo was similar to one, I wasn't anywhere confident enough in being able to execute it to dare to do it now.

All I could push myself for was a single punch. And since the elder himself asked for it, there was no reason for me to hold back, right?

I took the position. Standing steadily on my legs with the center of my mass slightly lowered, I took a deep breath. By letting the air out, I forcibly calmed my soul down.

'Just think of him as a pillar,' I thought, even closing my eyes for a moment to help this imagination replace the real sight.

And then I felt it. It was as if the entire universe aligned in a perfect way, just for me to execute a single strike.

I let the reins of my body off, allowing the force of habit to take over.

My right first struck forward. It was a perfect attack if I were to say so. Not a single doubt, not a single bit of hesitation spoiled the gentle arc that my arm pained in the air.

I opened my eyes, only to see the smiling face of an elder. He didn't look weak or scared at all... But the prospect of attacking someone who did me no wrong...

At the very last moment, I hesitated.

Just a tiny little bit, but my attack lost its tranquility, its perfection.

My fist struck... But not the elder's body. For a moment, I could see it repulsed by some kind of invisible barrier, just an inch away from the man's robes.

But then, the barrier shattered, allowing my first to go right through it!

'What?' I thought, noticing the look of shock on the elder's face right as my fist buried itself deep in his innards!

"What?!" Mia shouted in surprise behind my back.

"Huh?" The elder ahead took a few steps back, killing the momentum of my strike.

Tic.

Wait, what?

I dared not to open the system window with the elder right in front of me... But since I botched the attack and all my stats other than core purification were maxed... How could a single stat of mine raise?

Or maybe I was wrong about the mechanism behind it this whole time?

"You managed to break through the barrier with your physical strength alone?!" the elder uttered with a weak voice, proof that my attack actually squeezed some air from his lungs.

But there was no wrath in the man's voice. Looking up, I couldn't see a single hint of anger or fury on his face. Just the boundless surprise and confusion in the eyes that he raised towards my face.

"That can only mean one thing," he said, wiping confusion and shock from his face. He then took a step forward. Then another. And then he simply walked the rest of the distance that separated us.

"What?!" I uttered, instinctively backing down.

The clash right now proved that if this man were to get serious, I wouldn't stand any chance against him. Even though it was something I assumed from the very beginning, now I had a concrete proof of that.

If my almost perfect attack could only shatter a lousy barrier he made without any preparation, then even if I didn't slip, I was still far too weak to match his strength!

'Not to speak about this magic-like power to create a barrier in the first place!' I thought, standing on my guard.

"Calm down," the elder said, suddenly appearing right beside me. He reached out with his hands and placed them on my head.

Yet, despite my moment of panic, I still couldn't feel even a single hint of hostility from this man. "Just relax and let me do my job," the man added, closing his eyes.

'Fuck it.' Not sure what was happening, I decided to just go with the flow. Since I had no way of defending myself from whatever this man was doing, I could as well just hope that he wasn't trying to hurt me.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing just as ordered.

For a moment, nothing happened. We just stood in place, calming down from the previous clash.

"There it is," the elder muttered.

And then my vision exploded in white light.