(MC POV)
I doubled over and pretended to be in pain, dropping to the ground on my knees.
I saw a foot flying towards me from the edge of my vision and I had to pause time again.
"Xun Guan, don't harden yourself..." I told her off.
If the boy's foot hit me while she was in this state, the bones in his foot would most likely shatter and he may never walk with that foot again.
"But... How can I let him get away with kicking Master's face?" She protested.
"Trust me, he won't. And like I said, isn't he kicking you? Just let me deal with him, ok?"
Xun Guan made some grumbling noises but complied.
Seriously, stop making me manipulate time so much. There's a lot of things that can get messed up while I'm in this state. Things can change drastically even just by moving a chair, you know?
I let time resume again and the boy's foot resumed it's flight towards me.
His foot hit my face and even though I told Xun Guan not to harden herself, she still made sure to cushion the blow to the point I felt nothing from the impact.
Thus there was actually a split second of lag time before I tossed myself aside to match his kick.
Again, Xun Guan made sure to cushion my fall even though I wouldn't have felt anything anyway. This slime girl of mine is really overprotective, huh?
I pushed myself back on my feet and dusted off my shoulders exaggeratedly.
The group looked rather surprised that I got up, most likely because the other guy never got up after being beaten I guess.
I looked at the boy in the eye, "Was that all?"
The boy furrowed his brow, "What's this? Did you finally decide to poke your head out of your shell? Who the hell do you think you are, you talentless piece of shit?"
I shrugged, "At least I don't pick on others weaker than I am to make myself feel better."
He reached forward and grabbed me by the collar, "You trash. You've only moved up to Outer Core Practitioner because your granddaddy's one of the Elders. Your talent for cultivation is already abysmal, why are you even wasting your time here?"
Oh? That's interesting... If the boy I copied actually only got so far from connections alone, then it's understandable that the others who worked hard to get here would be upset with him.
But since he still stayed despite knowing his abysmal talent, it either means he's that shameless or he's actually trying his best to live up to expectations.
A quick check with omniscience revealed... Ok, the boy I copied was just living his day to day life aimlessly. He doesn't even cultivate and just use his privilege as an Outer Core Practitioner to live out his life.
Guess he deserves to be smacked around after all.
I smiled at the boy, "What if I told you that I've been secretly practicing all this while and I'm not as weak as you think I am?"
"Ha! If you really are strong then there's no reason to hide it! Why would you even allow yourself to be the trash of your family?! You're a disgrace!"
"Would you believe me if I said I just didn't want to attract attention?"
He clenched his fist and punched me in the gut again. I made sure to even double over semi-realistically upon impact.
He pulled me up by the collar again, "Well guess what. You stood out in all the wrong ways already. The only thing you're good for is letting us blow off some steam on you."
He looked ready to punch me again but a voice called out before he could.
"You boys over there! What are you doing instead of practicing?!"
He quickly let go of me and we turned to see one of the Sect Elders standing there with a displeased look on his face.
"Elder Ming!" The boy greeted with a polite bow, prompting his followers to do the same. "We just found Wugui here slacking off again so we were giving him a good talking to."
The Elder sighed, "Again, Wugui? When will you actually start cultivating seriously?"
Seems like this guy isn't liked by the teachers either. I'm surprised he managed to survive this long even with his grandfather's help.
I opened my mouth to explain but the Elder waved me off, "Forget it Wugui, I don't want to hear anymore of your excuses. Yong Gong, you as well, stop wasting time on him and concentrate more on your own cultivation. The same goes for the rest of you."
The boy who I assumed is named Yong Gong bowed his head, "Understood, Elder Ming."
Without waiting for us, the Elder turned and left, leaving me alone with this group of boys again.
Yong Gong turned back to scowl at me, "I don't know what you're trying to do... Even if you claim to be hiding your strength, the advancement test is tomorrow, everyone will see how bad you are during that test itself. The other Elders already said if you showed no improvement, you would have your position revoked and be relegated to a servant's status. There's nowhere for you to run anymore."
I grinned, "Oh don't worry, I'll definitely pass the test tomorrow."
"Ha! How about we make a bet?"
"Oh? What kind of bet?" I asked, a little interested.
He cracked his knuckles, "If you fail tomorrow's test, I'll break your legs and cripple your meridians!"
"And what if I pass?"
"Ahahaha! There's no way you'll pass! Fine, what do you want?"
I crossed my arms, "If I win, I get to break both your arms and your legs. I'm not so evil to suggest crippling your meridians but I'm definitely breaking those limbs."
"Bastard! Hmph! We'll see who will have their limbs broken tomorrow!"
With those parting words, he left with his posse of friends in a huff.
Honestly, I was expecting him to hit me again or something before leaving. This Yong Gong guy seemed like a pretty nice guy actually, just that he was a bit on the arrogant side.
It's this guy that I'm copying that's really quite trashy. I'd pity the dead guy a bit more if he had crippled meridians or something but it seems like his case was just a combination of a lack of talent and effort.
Oh well, the guy's already dead from a broken neck anyway so there's not much pitying left to do.
"Master... You're planning on participating in that advancement test to show off, aren't you?" Xun Guan asked.
"Oh, you know me so well. Of course I am and I'd really like to see the look on their faces when this 'trash' blows their expectations away. Then I'll go break that boy's legs and arms. Muahahaha~"
"Mmm... At least Master is having fun I guess..."
Well of course I am. What else is there for me to do around here? Even sitting in my courtyard and watching my disciples train while I drink tea can get boring, you know? It's not like a chance to do some big face slapping would just fall on to my lap any time ok?
Now let's just go join the other students to watch how they practice a bit.
