Chapter 14: Conflict

The surrounding crowd was now alight with excitement. This news was just too shocking.

This fellow, that looked like no one they've ever seen before, was simply a mortal only a week ago. It was common knowledge that he had failed to even take a single step into comprehending Strength Training with a whole week of cultivation. It was actually something that caused some people to question the clan's chief, Qianggong Zhufu Feng.

Why would he shelter someone that bared no resemblance to any human they had seen before? They weren't even sure if Eric wasn't some type of demon until he was heard speaking. Even that much wasn't too reassuring.

Why would he give Eric a cultivation scroll? Granted, it wasn't a combat oriented cultivation technique, but it was still an inheritance of their clan. One where only a few comprehensible copies existed, since the methods to create a cultivation scroll were difficult and required one to reach the next stage above the scroll being made in order to create anything of worth. The one in Eric's possession was even more rare, because it was the closest to the founder of the Thunder Sect's own technique and predated the decline into the Thunder Clan, which was why it had parts redacted.

What they didn't know was that the version in the Chief's possession was the hardest scroll to interpret. Meaning, if the one using it didn't have enough talent, they wouldn't be able to make any progress.

Nor did they know of the deal that was made.

Peak of Strength Training within one month.

Eric knew the deal was unfair once he entered the dormitory. There were people that had cultivated for as long as two years there in order to reach the late stage of Strength Training. In fact, reaching peak Strength Training with a stable foundation within six months was enough to be considered a genius.

To reach peak Strength Training within a month with a stable foundation was unheard of. Eric surmised that chief Qianggong Zhufu Feng was planning on him either failing to succeed or to have a weak foundation from then on, essentially making him weaker than those at the same level and potentially killing his chances to advance.

He didn't mind, though. Ying Yue was nice enough to tell him the odds before he was escorted to the dorms. At the time, he was certain that the task would go off without a hitch, since he had to have been sent to this world for a reason.

Seven forty-eight hour days served to wipe that confidence from his mind.

The days in this world were twice as long as the ones back on earth and as such he had secretly placed an even harder goal of one earth month, or two of this planet's weeks.

'Barely made that goal, now that I think about it.'

Eric stood before the flabbergasted Pen Yushui and his accusing finger with a look of pure nonchalance. Causing him to contrast even more with the people around him.

"Yeah, as of two days ago. I took some time to stabilize my foundation."

Ying Yue appeared in front of Eric, like a snowflake fluttering in the wind, and caught the flapping piece of cloth that still held his badge.

'Was that a movement technique?'

The look of worry in her face immediately turned to one of surprise as she looked up into his eyes, "How is your foundation so perfectly solid?"

Eric chuckled warmly, causing Ying Yue to notice just how close they were to eachother. She blushed slightly before backing up quickly.

Eric gestured to the Primeval Boar behind her and Pen Yushui in response.

"I had no choice if I wanted to survive that thing."

Everyone present looked from the giant boar to his vibrant red badge and back again before deciding not to feel shocked anymore. This day was just too stimulating for these simple folk.

Pen Yushui seemed more and more agitated as the events unfolded, to the point that his words were more growled than spoken, "So it was you that killed the Primeval boar? How did a nobody like you pull that off without a weapon?"

Eric looked over Ying Yue's head and made eye contact with Pen Yushui.

"None of your business."

Eric decided that he wasn't going to accommodate this idiot's nonsense anymore. He had long since noticed Pen Yushui's cronies spreading out throughout the crowd. He was surrounded and knew the only reason this guy hadn't attacked yet was his attempt to buy time and possibly bait Eric into attacking first.

'One, two... seven... fourteen. Well, fifteen if you count the rat.'

Never forget the rat. That was a lesson he had learned the hard way.

Every one of these thugs was below Pen Yushui and himself in terms of strength, so he was confident in his ability to handle a few of them at a time. He glanced at the petite woman in front of him and knew that she was more than capable of protecting herself.

The problem with group fights was that they were simply exhausting and unpredictable. Unlike in the movies, simply fighting two people required constant mobility, superior positioning and constant awareness. Each factor escalated exponentially for every new combatant involved.

Eric readied himself. His tirade across the American continent, Eurasian continent and everywhere in between had landed him in more group fights than he cared to remember.

'Just breathe.'

Primal essence began to gather around him as he relaxed his stance and began circulating the Thunder Emperor's Body cultivation technique.

Pen Yushui had finally recovered from his indignation, "That's it! I'm going to show you the meaning of respect!", he said, before immediately rushing forward.

"Watch you back, Yue'er."

Eric dashed around Ying Yue at a speed that surprised all present, heading straight for Pen Yushui.

'Eliminate the strongest one first.'

The thugs were already charging, from all sides, at him. Years of experience told him that he needed to at least break a finger on the strongest guy first in order to alleviate some of the incoming pressure. Pen Yushui may be at the Flesh Training realm, but his experience in combat was probably miniscule at best, since this was a peaceful village. Yes, he had killed a Primeval Boar, but from the looks of it, he had help from his crewmen and probably whatever tools they used to cut down those ironwood trees. Eric remembered several cuts on the first Primeval Boar corpse.

The difference in realms was the thing he worried most about. Just crossing that threshold was enough to double your previous strength, not to mention the armor-like skin that came with it.

Eric was pretty confident that every breakthrough of his was as perfect as possible. Meaning that he had more than likely achieved a perfect thirty-six times increase in strength. However, even if Pen Yushui had a poor foundation and had only managed an increase of eighteen times before advancing and doubling that amount, that would put him dead even with Eric at the very least. The hardened skin would serve to break that balance.

Hoping that Pen Yushui's foundation was below average was unrealistic, since breaking through to a new realm was always much harder the worse a foundation was. This meant that Pen Yushui was at least one and a half times stronger than him.

'Technique is the only way I'll survive this.'

Eric closed in on Pen Yushui in a flash and just as he began maneuvering to the side in order to avoid the swinging baton, a grey blur crossed his vision before the ground exploded between the two young men, causing them and the incoming thugs to be sent flying back several meters.

The cloud of dust was tremendous and caused the majority of the district to be obscured for several minutes. As it cleared, a giant sword, whose blade alone would reach Eric's shoulder standing straight up, could be seen stabbed halfway into the ground at an angle. A crater several meters in diameter surrounded the rough blade. The shockwave from the impact had knocked everyone that wasn't directly hit by the explosion, on their back sides.

Eric, Ying Yue and Pen Yushui were the only ones in the area left standing.

An unfamiliar figure descended from the sky and landed lightly on the handle of the imbedded blade.

It was a middle aged man with a stern look and sword-like eyebrows. Eric thought he resembled chief Qianggong Zhufu Feng. His robes had various pieces of armor and a warstaff rested in his right hand. A surprisingly deep voice rang out in the silence, "Now that everyone has calmed down... you three. Come with me immediately."