Underwhelming Fights

The next two days were underwhelming, the opponents he had were cultivators with cultivations in the Body Refinement level, and they quickly forfeited when they saw him, one guy was even blushing when he did so! Shaking his head, he lined up with the other 24 cultivators. There was a spinning cage that held balls numbered 1 - 25.

They would draw two balls every time, with the last one getting a free pass. The people that made it this far, were all dantian stage refinement 7 - 9, there were no hidden black horses unless you counted Jacob, who rose up like a rocket to stage seven from stage two in under a month.

Sadly, Jacob was not the lucky one who got to skip, but was instead selected to fight against another boy named Miles, who was proficient in a martial technique called, "Spinning Kickboxing". He was curious about how it would play out in a fight. He called up various videos showcasing it and was absolutely dumbfounded.

Apparently, this technique is best suited for people who have energy cycles reinforcing their legs, and uses universe energy to spin themselves at fast speeds to break through defenses and deal devastating blows. The scary thing is the amount of videos that feature broken legs as a result of this technique.

He stared at the other kid in horror, then started to read articles on how to counter it. The most common counter that was said, was to say out of range, because most practitioners have very little control in movement, then wait for them to tire themselves. Another advocated throwing in restrictive items like blankets or ropes, but he could not do that as 'weapons' are restricted.

Out of curiosity, he asked one of the teachers if he could throw his shoelaces at his opponent, which was responded to negatively. He then just started watching the other matches going on. The current match was between a Dantian Stage 8 girl and Dantian Stage 7 guy. The girl had an energy cycle in her legs, and her footwork was extremely good, and her kicks were fast and lethal.

The guy was surprisingly unique, he had an energy cycle in his brain, which is common among research type cultivators. He used just the 'Basic Boxing' and was able to crack most of the girls moves, by either redirecting the force or by dodging. He did not seem to have a high enough strength to directly block, because when he was forced too, he staggered heavily, allowing the girl to go in for a crushing blow, eliminating him.

The next match was really hot blooded, there was screaming involved, punches were thrown directly fist to fist, and the two people seemed even matched. Apparently the two are half-brothers, and they fell in love with the same girl. As he listened more his face darkened, as he realized that they were not talking about a girl in their school, but a popular singer/model, named Shaska Ford, that neither had met directly.

His enthusiasm for a dog blooded plot was dampened by the sheer ridiculousness of their arguments. The fight lasted a while as they exchanged blows, before one fell with the other falling moments later, but winning. Finally, it was his turn to go up.

He stepped on the wide stage and took a stance, looking warily at his opponent Miles. When the referee signaled the start of the match, Miles quickly started spinning like an ice skater. He slowly made his way towards Jacob.

Before Jacob could make his move though, Miles quickly stopped spinning. He quickly ran to the side of the arena and started barfing, leaving a dumbfounded Jacob behind. As Miles stood up dizzily, he tripped off the stage, leaving the crowd stupid. The referee called for a medic to come check on Miles, only to find him unconscious.

In the unbelieving eyes of the crowd, Jacob was announced the winner. The medic later stated that Miles was suffering from mild food poisoning, when coupled with his martial technique, led to a severe reaction. Everyone later went home after the match.

When Jacob got home he saw another slew of packages, as he took them into his room he found it was tons of various equipment he bought. He spent a bit of time learning computers, security systems, and automatic ranching this last month.

The first thing he wants to set up is the pens for various tamed exo beasts. Besides for the rooster, he has yet to buy any other type of beast. He decided to set up the chicken coop first. First, he set up a large area of land, about 500 meters in diameter. He then set metal poles around the perimeter, then with a roll of steel wire fence, he surrounded the whole thing, going a good into the ground.

In the center he placed another self- building chicken coop that automatically collects eggs, and can separate between fertilized and non fertilized eggs. Like the greenhouse it is much smaller, around the size of a basketball. He pressed the top, and up popped a chicken coop. It can hold up to 50 hens and 5 roosters in the recommended ratio.

He then set up an area for sheep, then one for cows. He doesn't plan to use either for meat. Right now he has 3 pens and one building haphazardly thrown around. Maybe in the future, he will make proper planning for it. He then left his dimension.

He then left his house to go shopping. While online shopping is extremely well developed, even the shortest time can take 7 days, because of interplanetary travel. It will take longer if you are waiting for items from farther star systems as well.

Foreign goods take the longest. He bought a few construction robots that humans currently do not have the technology to make, but it is estimated they will take up to two years to arrive. He is very lucky that his parents are wealthy enough to elicit this buying spree. He has a fear though, that they may expect something out of him soon though.

He was right, when later that night, at dinner, his father asked, "How confident are you tomorrow in being selected?" to which Jacob replied, "Of 13 people, 5, including me are at dantian refinement stage 7, and tonight I plan to breakthrough to stage 8, as long as I burst out all my power against the teacher tomorrow, I have complete confidence to be selected."

Except for his first fight, he did not fight at all, meaning he did not get to showcase his power at all. The last round is a fight against a teacher, where the lasting time is counted, with the last three being eliminated.

Based on his sturdy foundation, he has confidence to last the longest, as the teacher will only maintain a cultivation of peak dantian refinement, the only difference between student and teacher is experience.

Then, his father continued, "Well, as you may already know, the exam on Daliomon will be broadcasted live." Jacob nodded and his father continued, "I want you to wear our business logo and equipment that we sell." Jacob nodded confused, then asked, "Dad, what exactly does your company sell?"

His father, Charles, looked disbelieving at Jacob, "You have never paid attention? We sell sportswear? Have you ever wondered why you have so many sports outfits?" Jacob nodded confusedly, never really thinking about it. That is one mystery solved he guessed. Jacob eventually agreed to do it, as it helped him in the long run as they are his parents.

After dinner he sat cross legged on his bed and started cultivating, bringing himself to his peak, then drinking more pond water. It took longer than before, but he eventually broke through to stage 8, after he stabilizes he will break through to stage 9. With two weeks before he has to go for the survival training on Daliomon, he will have reached the peak of stage 9.