Awakening the Divine Spark-Chapter 118: Free sparring partner.

Xie Wuking didn’t expect he’ll have to actually teach the newcomer a lesson, but he wasn’t against it.

Turns out there were multiple arenas in the district belonging to the Hall of Ascension, but they all were next to the training grounds. There were tens of youths currently doing physical exercises, but nothing noteworthy that could catch Lee’s attention.

The few spars in arenas was a different matter, though. It would be one thing if people were beating each other up with fists, but here they used swords, daggers and spears. There was even a large fellow who carried a club, somewhat resembling the way Thorax fought. The moment Lee arrived, the guy broke his opponent’s leg, earning loud cheers from the audience.

"I’ll go register the fight!" One of Xie Wuking’s followers said, intending to run away, but Lee stopped him.

"No, wait!" He said.

"Changed your mind?" Xie Wuking grinned.

"No." Lee said, "If we do this, then we do it properly. Yesterday you wanted to sign an agreement, so we’ll make one for our fight as well."

"You want to place a bet? You arrived only yesterday! You don’t have any contribution points!" Xie Wuking said.

"True. But you insulted me, so I don’t intend to let you off so easily." Lee said, and the expressions of the bullies turned weird, "I plan to challenge you for three months straight, every evening at the same time. But for you to not chicken out I want to have it in writing!"

"His joking right?" One of the smaller guys asked.

But Xie Wuking didn’t find it funny. He hissed, "Wanna die?" fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

"That’s mean. We won’t be having duels to death." Lee said, "Well go at each other like real man, with fists!"

"Fine! Then I’ll beat you up for as long as you stand, you dumb country bumpkin! Someone has to teach you how to respect others around here!" Xie Wuking said, and walked over to a middle aged man, whose expression turned weird the moment Xie Wuking explain Lee’s challenge.

Lee also walked over. The man measured him with eyes, and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, senior brother!" Lee cupped his hands and slightly bowed. He earlier saw few people do that and took it as a proper show of respect.

"That’s not senior brother, idiot! That’s Junior Elder Yuan Xianwei!" Xie Wuking said, not knowing whether to laugh or be angry.

"What’s the difference?" Lee asked, and everyone who overheard their conversation gawked at him in disbelief.

"You can’t be serious?" Junior Elder Yuan Xianwei asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"I’m sorry, Junior Elder!" Lee honestly said, "I’ve only arrived yesterday, and don’t know all the rules."

Yuan Xianwai sighed and shook his head. Then said with a sad smile, "So you’re from that bunch ... good luck. But if you want my advice, the first rule is to not pick fights you can’t win."

"Thank you, Junior Elder!" Lee smiled back. The guy was actually not half bad. Unfortunately he had to upset him a bit to make his plan work. He said, "But Xie Wuking is all bark, no bite. He probably was beaten up by his younger sister when he was little, so now tries to pick on newcomers."

If the present people thought there was something wrong with Lee’s brain, now they realized he was straight up stupid. Everyone knew there was no going back after this, and fortunately with the junior elder present Xie Wuking had to hold back, and couldn’t attack Lee right away, otherwise Lee might’ve actually died.

Few moments later they had signed a plaque where both sides promised to exchange pointers every evening for the next three months. Since Lee was as poor as it gets, there were no stakes involved.

Obviously Lee had no clue what was written on the plaque, but he had no other way than to trust the junior elder.

Lee’s idea was simple. During the upcoming months he would’ve been left alone as long as the evening matches continued. Xie Wuking couldn’t bully him out of his new home, but if there were other bullies in the outer sect, for them it would also be awkward to come and throw their weight around.

A good bonus was that he could have physical exercise and practice combat as well. He hadn’t had the chances to properly fight and to get a guaranteed sparring partner for three months seemed like a good idea.

There was one problem, though. The moment the two stood in the small arena and the junior elder announced the start of the match, Lee only noticed Xie Wuking’s cruel grin, and was already lying unconscious on the ground.

Not only the spectators couldn’t believe their eyes, even Xie Wuking checked his own fist in disbelief. The guy was talking big a moment ago, but couldn’t take a hit.

And Xie Wuking didn’t even try! It was a casual jab to test his opponent, but somehow it connected and knocked Lee out.

Everything was long over when Xiao Lian arrived. He heard there was a mentally challenged newcomer who dared to humiliate Xie Wuking, but before he could stop Lee, the guy was lying in the dirt unconscious.

Since there was nothing he could do about the situation, Xiao Lian picked Lee up and carried away, but the latter had already become the laughingstock of the day. Fortunately the event was so short, most people forgot about it when the next match started.

When Lee woke up the next morning in his bed with his clothes on, he realized he had bitten off more than he could chew. In the grand scheme of things it didn’t matter and his plan was still sound, but he knew he’ll have to deal with quite a bit of embarrassment during the upcoming months.

If in Sunwell he was far more developed compared to his peers, then here the difference between him, being around eleven or twelve, and a sixteen-year-old punk of the Nethermoon sect was like that between heaven and earth. In fact, with how weak he currently was, instead of Xie Wuking he might’ve challenged the sect master and the result would’ve been the same.

Lee wasn’t discouraged, though. On the contrary – he now saw what he had to strive for, and limped to the inner sect while analyzing the events of last night.

He spent the first half of the day doing physical exercises in Li Hanchen’s yard, and the second half meditating.

This time he didn’t focus on the sparks as much, but tried to visualize Xie Wuking and the best ways to defeat him. The world was different here and the physical abilities of the natives vastly surpassed his own, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t catch up. He was young enough to do so and he intended to use this advantage.

In the evening, though, it didn’t look that his effort mattered. Under the eyes of the bored spectators, Lee fell in the dust like before. But contrary to the last night, Xie Wuking didn’t hold back. To went his frustration he punched Lee so hard, he flew out of the arena and landed on the walkway next to it, getting additional bruises on the back of his head.

Of course, he didn’t feel anything, because before his feet left the ground and he was sent flying, he was already unconscious.

Xiao Lian arrived late again and all he could do was pick Lee up, and carry back to his room. But even though Junior Elder Yuan Xianwei guessed that Lee got a light concussion at most, it was clear he would become a complete retard if the things continued this way.

After weighing his options, Xiao Lian went back home, but returned before the sunrise.

"What are you doing here?" Lee asked, surprised to see him, but then added, "Thank you! You’re the one who brought me back, right?"

"Why did you have to do this? He’ll beat you to death!" Xiao Lian sounded genuinely concerned.

"No worries!" Despite the last night’s result Lee was in a good mood, "I have a plan!"

"Is the chance to meditate in the senior brother’s cultivation room really worth the torture?" Xiao Lian asked, "I understand it’s better than nothing, but you can’t compare it to the Ascension tower. You should better take on a mission to earn contribution points so you could use them to become stronger. Give up on this room and ..."

"Wait, wait!" Lee ignored Xiao Lian’s suggestion, and asked, "What’s a cultivation room?"