Bidding For One's Time

Li Jing glared coldly at Li Yuan who had a smug expression plastered on his face and eyes full of disdain. He stood rooted on place as everyone laughter resounded in his ear.

He will remember this humiliation.

Li Jing, without wasting a single second, decided to leave.

Upon seeing him try to leave, Li Yuan wanted to stop him so, he said, "You cannot leave until the class is over or if I say so, Young Master!"

He halted his steps after hearing Li Yuan and turned to look at his with a murderous gaze and snorted coldly, "You low life, what right do you have to stop me? I am the son of Li Shang, one of the three Dukes of the Maple Sky and my grandfather is the Great Commander, so tell me with my status, do even have the right to be in my presence!? Who do you think you are!? I dare you to lay a hand on me and see if you live afterwards."

Everyone's eyes went wide when they heard what Li Jing said. Their ears seemed have deceived their minds as they couldn't believe what they just heard.

One has the know that Li Yuan was an early stage Meridian Opening Realm Martial Artist and could kill someone like Li Jing with a flick of his finger.

The entire courtyard went deathly silent as everyone looked at Li Jing and Li Yuan, whose entire body was trembling due to extreme rage he was feeling. He really didn't expect for a 7-years old brat to have insulted him in such a manner.

However, he could only swallow that anger up for now. After all, what Li Jing had said was right. He really couldn't lay hand on him given his background, not when their were others seeing. 

Li Jing looked at Li Yuan's trembling figure and smirked before leaving. He was currently on his way to find his father and ask him what was all this about.

...

Li Shang was currently sitting on his desk and going through the papers.

"Ah! Just how much more of these documents I have to go through!?"

He grumbled in his heart when he suddenly heard a knock on his door.

Knock! Knock!

"Come in!", he said in a deep voice.

A servant opened the door and walked inside, bowing lightly he said, "Master, First Young Master is here."

"Hm? Xiao Jing? Let him in.".

"What's the matter? He should be in the academy right now. What's he doing here?"

He thought while ordering the servant to let his son in.

"Father.", a moment later, Li Jing entered the room and greeted his father.

"What's the matter? Shouldn't you be at the academy?", Li Shang asked his son, the moment he entered the room, with a serious look.

Li Jing saw his father's serious expression, one which was like a star in a cloudy night and took a deep breathe before telling him everything.

The more Li Shang listened, the more his expression turned grave and rage was on him. However, he controlled himself from lashing out in front of his son, for he feared to scare his son.

Looking at his son's innocent face, he took a deep breathe and spoke in a deep tone, "That Li Yuan is some of the Grand Elder's faction. You're familiar with him, right? Your grandfather's younger brother and also my uncle, Li Wei Yi. It must be his doing."

"Does he hate us father?", Li Jing asked. Certainly, it was a classic of two brothers fighting for the seat of Patriarch and one of them succeeded, resulting in the other brother's failure and cracking the brotherhood.

Li Wei Yi was that brother and over time, the seed of self-disappointment within his heart grew into the tree of hate and obsession.

"Yes, he does. Your grandfather and he had competed for the seat of Patriarch, souring their relationship. At first he didn't hate us so much but after his son lost to me, he became extremely hateful and constantly targeted us at every opportunity given. 

However, he is a quasi-Grandmaster and hold tremendous influence and power within and outside the family. I can't deal with him or Li Yuan for now. Though, I will change your assigned instructor."

Li Jing understood his father's point and difficulty. But this was not the reason why he was here, he wanted to use this opportunity to ask for something else.

"Father, you don't need to change my class. As a man I won't run away from battle. I only want you to give me access to the Martial Library.", he shook his head and immediately denied his father's proposal of changing class. He was not someone who would run away from war.

Li Shang was surprised to see his son's determination and smiled, nodding in approvement, "Good! As expected of my son! Fine. I will give the access to the library tomorrow. For now, go home and rest. I will send someone to inform your mother."

"Thank you, father.", Li Jing left after thanking him.

Standing by the window, looking at the disappearing figure of his son, Li Shang couldn't help but sigh, "If only father was here, then, that old bastard wouldn't be so out of control."

...

The old bast- Ahem! The old man mentioned by Li Shang was currently sipping on his morning tea in his courtyard.

Li Wei Yi had an awe-inspiring presence just like his name, he had a big white beard and long grey hairs.

As he enjoyed his tea, a servant came in and whispered something in his ears. 

"Hmm. Let him wait in the guest room. I will be there soon.", he instructed the servant and continued to enjoy the tea when Li Yuan appeared in front of him, standing a few meters away.

Li Yuan cupped his hand in greeting and spoke, "Greetings, Grand Elder! I have accomplished my mission."

"How did that brat react?", Li Wei Yi asked indifferently, continuing sipping his tea.

"That brat was one arrogant bastard. He even said some very vicious things to me.", Li Yuan then went onto explain his entire ordeal of this morning.

"Hahaha! Even as a seven years old, he is one difficult nut to crack. However, that is a given since everyone calls him the 'Little Genius', had it not been for that one shameful incident of his, he would have been even more arrogant. Though, it wouldn't be long before he breaks."

Li Wei Yi laughed after he heard how Li Jing taught Li Yuan his place but immediately, his expression turned sinister. He then said to him, "You may leave now and call my grandson, Li Chun for me."

...

Currently, Li Jing was sitting on his cushion after having lunch, preparing to breakthrough to the 'Muscle and Skin Cleansing stage' of the Body Tempering Realm.

He started circulating the Reincarnation Qi inside his body. Slowly, the engraved mysterious blue veins on his bones and tendons started to glow and the bluish black energy started to seep into his muscles.

"Hiss!"

He hissed in pain when the his muscles came into contact with the Reincarnation Qi. He felt like being pricked by a thousand needles.

The process continued while he bore the pain for as long as he could. Soon, black liquid started to seep out of his body, forming a layer of black over his skin.

Time continued to pass but Li Jing showed no sign of stopping. He bite his lips to prevent himself from shouting or passing out.

Slowly, the pain began to subside, bringing forth a cool sensation throughout his body, making his extremely comfortable.

Late-stage Body Tempering Realm.

He opened his eyes which were full of confidence and clenched his hands, feeling the strength hidden within his fist. Just yesterday, his cousin Li Xun had broken through to this realm and now him.

Speaking of Li Xun, he was now hailed as the number one genius of Li family and also the youngest late-stage Body Tempering Realm Martial Artist the family had ever seen. The members of the family were all jolly and many took this opportunity to suck up to the First Elder.

It was fortunate that no on knew of Li Jing's realm otherwise they would just die from shame.

As for the First Elder, his faction could be considered a neutral faction in the family, maintaining good relation with both, the Patriarch's faction and the Grand Elder's faction yet keeping their distance from both.

The next day, Li Jing woke up early, feeling extremely refreshed after breaking through. He quickly washed up and after eating, he set off, onwards to the Martial Library.

The Martial Library was located due west of the academy, where all the Martial Techniques and Martial Arts were kept. As a result, the place was heavily guarded.

After walking for half an hour, Li Jing stood in front of a majestic gate which opened to a hundred stairs leading the world of knowledge and wisdom.

Two guards were standing in front of the gate. They were clad in silver armor and held a spear in their right hand, looking awe-inspiring.

The one of the two guards saw a small child approaching them and were prepared to shush him when...