Liu Ming

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A young man, who looked around 20 years old, dressed in luxurious robes was fighting another boy who seemed to be only 16-17 years old. His clothing was too old and tattered. it was a one-sided fight.

The 20-year young man was laughing while throwing punches, kicks and occasionally sending palm strikes which glowed when he struck.

It seemed that it was only a matter of seconds until the younger boy collapsed however that was not the case If some experienced person saw this he would know that the boy wasn't injured in fact he wasn't even out of breath.

Unlike him, the older boy seemed exhausted. Just when he gathered enough power to send one more palm strike, the younger boy seemed to be frightened and collapse after being hit.

The older boy laughed in satisfaction after winning and threw a small pouch of silver coins and said in a proud tone ''You are good enough to be my sparring partner. Come here daily in the morning and I'll give you ten silver per day.'' He showed ten fingers and said as if ten silver were a very big amount.

Hearing his arrogant tone, the younger boy's expression darkened but it quickly returned to normal and he stood up, brought his fists together and said with a grateful face ''Thank you, young master, long. I'll be here on time.'' He then seemed to think of something and said in an apologetic tone ''Young master long, I apologize but I won't be able to entertain you tomorrow.''

Young master long frowned and when he was about to speak an angry voice sounded from behind him ''How bold of you, peasant! to dare to disobey young master long even when he promised to reward you generously. Are you tired of liv...'' Young master long waved his hand to stop him from speaking. It was one of his lackeys.

''Why can't you come tomorrow?'' He asked with a frown.

The boy said with a pained expression ''Young master long, although I had used my best defence technique I got a few internal injuries due to young master's overwhelming strength, so I have to get treated as soon as possible and it might take a full day to recover.''

Hearing this, young master long's frown turned into a smile and threw another pouch of silver coins which was heavier than the previous one and said ''Take this one too and get treated in one day, I want to you here tomorrow. Apart from you, no one in this village can take a few of my strikes.'' He then waved his hand to signal that he can go.

The boy happily took both pouches and thanked him again then went out of the long clan's residence slowly as if he was heavily injured.

As soon as he was out of the long clan's territory his speed returned to normal, he dusted his clothes and wore a mocking expression.

He looked toward the long clan and muttered "What a useless young master they have, Can't even fight properly. Tch, it's very hard to act weak against such a useless thing. Oh well, I got some good money out of him. Now I should get out of this village. I don't think staying here will help me become any stronger." He then kicked the ground and ran out of the village.

...

When he was more than a hundred miles away from the village crossing a forest, he heard the sounds of fighting. So he turned in the direction where sounds were coming from. After walking for a few hundred meters he found a group of people fighting a black wolf approx five meters tall, some people were already dead. Their corpses were scattered around the valley. The wolf had an intimidating presence but it seemed to be injured. A cave was behind the wolf which he seemed to be guarding.

"Are they after some treasure that this horrifying wolf is guarding?" He thought.

"Should I sneak inside and steal it under their noses?" A wild thought came to his mind but he instantly shook his head. This Valley that he was seeing wasn't naturally formed, it was the result of their fight. The area five miles around the cave was utterly devastated.

"Stupid wolf, today you are going to die. Say your final words." The man who seemed to be the leader of the group demanded scornfully. They then executed a group attack which was horrifying, to say the least.

"You damned humans, you will never be able to destroy my skyhowl wolf tribe. I'm going to bury you all here. Annihilation orb!" The black wolf opened his maw and gathered energy around it. Instantly A glowing orb formed in front of its mouth which was fired at the incoming attack. When the orb appeared light seemed to have disappeared from the world.

The group of people's expressions changed at this but it was too late. The annihilation orb shattered their attack and collided with them. There was a huge explosion and shockwaves of which knocked the boy out.

When he opened his eyes he was in a dark and damp place. He looked around but didn't see anything.

"What? Am I dead? So this is what hell looks like too bad I can't see anything." He mumbled and was looking around when a pair of giant glowing eyes opened in front of him and a deep voice was heard which gave him goosebumps.

"You are a peculiar human. Don't you feel frightened at the thought of being dead?" Voice asked.

"If I'm dead, what the point of being afraid. It's not like I can die again. If I'm not dead, I don't think being afraid will help me much in front of the existence of your level." He said without showing any nervousness on his face. He could feel that whatever what in front of him, if it wanted he would not even have a chance to resist.

"Oh not bad! human. But you should learn to be afraid be you want to live longer." The voice again sounded.

"Hah!"

He scoffed and said, "What's the point of being alive then."

"You're a foolish... human." The voice sounded again and his surroundings illuminated. He now could see a giant black wolf in front of him looking at him with his eyes the size of a big cauldron.

"It's you. Does that mean that group of people died in that attack?" He asked.

"Yes! Human tell me, what is your name?" Black wolf asked but its mouth wasn't moving even then he could hear its voice.

He didn't think about it as one becomes more powerful be it humans or beasts they get different kinds of power.

"My name is Lei Ming. What is your name senior?" He asked this time politely.

Wolf's eyes flickered seeing his attitude turn slightly respectful "I'm called Lang Xiang. Human, I have a favour to ask you." It didn't seem like a request though. It was more like a command. Lei ming's lips twitched.

"Say it senior. If I'm able to help I'll try my best." Lei Ming replied. Could he refuse? No. this wolf might have killed him if said no.