Reborn of the immortal cultivator

3. Joe and his minions

Before Wallace could process what was happening, something slammed into him, snapping his head sideways and disrupting his composure for a fleeting second. His expression darkened as he slowly regained his balance while he shook his head slowly.

Standing before him were the same students who had joined the academy at the Qi Condensation stage with him years ago and judging by the hum of energy radiating from them, they had recently broken through to the Golden Core stage.

To the rest of the academy, they were prodigies. However, they were nothing to him.

“What do you want?” He asked them coldly.

The two students exchanged a glance, then glared back.

These two were the academy’s brutal bullies, notorious for tormenting Wallace and anyone else they deemed "trash." They were halfway to the final level of student cultivation, and they knew it.

“How dare you question us?” one of them snapped.

The outrage in his voice was genuine. The old Wallace had never questioned them. If he spoke at all, it was through stammers and shivers. But the man standing before them now seemed to have grown a skin of iron. He didn't even flinch.

Was it not just two days ago they had forced him into a sadistic bet? They had demanded he reach the Golden Core stage in twenty-four hours or walk on the Forbidden Ice for seven hours.

They remembered his despair as he crawled across the frozen waste, his feet cracking, while the teachers watched from the balconies, claiming the "hardship" would boost his potential.

Now, he was looking at them with a maliciously calm face.

What changed?

Joe, the leader of the duo thought as he stepped forward and gripped Wallace’s chin, forcing it upward.

“What do you want, Joe?” Wallace repeated.

“How dare you touch Clara?” Joe hissed. “Have you forgotten she’s my woman? Do you want to spend ten hours on the ice this time? Do you want your feet to actually shatter, you pathetic waste?”

“Oh... that girl?” Wallace’s lips curled into a dry, mocking smile.

“The one who nearly tripped over her own shadow the moment I took a step forward? She’s your woman? That’s tragic. A moment ago, she…”

“Shut up!” Joe roared, his face flushed as he clenched his fist.

Wallace let out a sharp, short laugh that echoed in the small room. “Relax. Nothing happened. I didn't touch her... at least, not yet.”

What?

Joe thought as his fury boiled over. He grabbed the front of Wallace’s robes, pulling him close. “Clara is mine! If a weakling like you… someone who can’t even crawl out of the lowest stage ever thinks he can take her from me, I’ll make sure you never walk again. Is that clear?

Wallace scoffed instead.

He simply looked Joe in the eye and with a sudden, explosive burst of strength, Wallace shoved Joe’s hands off him.

He felt a primal urge rising from within which was the remnant memories of the body he now inhabited. It demanded justice and revenge against every soul that had a hand in its previous "death."

“I will touch her,” Wallace said slowly, “and you will be the one walking on the ice.”

The two bullies froze. Something was fundamentally wrong.

The old Wallace would have looked at the floor, pleading for mercy. This man was looking at them like they were insects.

“What did you just say?”

“You heard me,” Wallace replied. “If she crosses my path again, I’ll have her. Instead of being the errand boy who does everything for her and her sycophants, she’ll be the one serving me. If she wants someone to walk for her, she’d better find someone else.”

With his ego bruised, Joe began to mold his Qi with the air shimmering as a glowing ball of energy formed around his fist.

Only then did he swung a brutal strike that was meant to shatter Wallace’s ribs and half a second later, Wallace moved.

Instead, the glowing fist whistled past his ear and slammed directly into the stone wall behind him.

Joe yelped in agony as the feedback from his own Qi vibrated through his arm.

In this academy, dodging a molded Qi strike was considered impossible unless you were an Immortal Master.

“Oops,” Wallace said, shrugging.

To him, this was just a toddler playing with matches. He had spent lifetimes battling immortal gods and this "Golden Core" brat didn't even understand the basics of an ordinary weight distribution.

Joe refused to believe it. Nursing his throbbing hand, he waited for Wallace to look away, then lunged again, pouring every ounce of his Qi into a double-fisted strike.

Wallace didn't even turn his head. He stepped slightly to the left, and Joe’s momentum carried him face-first into the wooden bunk. The wood broke instead.

“Argh!” Joe screamed, clutching his face.

“Boy,” Wallace said, his voice reeling from boredom. “You’re too slow.”

Boy? Joe’s mind spun. He had never been so humiliated.

“You... you were hiding this! You were never a weakling! What is this? What do you have against me?”

“Is that what you call strength?” Wallace asked. “You don't even understand the fundamentals of molding Qi. How did you even reach the Golden Core stage? The other students are admiring an empty shell, and you’re happy being one!’

Joe’s heart sank.

Being called "trash" by the school’s most famous failure was a slap to the soul. He heard footsteps in the hall which meant that other students were gathering, drawn by the yelling. They expected to see Joe standing over a broken Wallace.

He couldn't let them see him like this. He had an image to protect.

Joe scrambled to his feet, smoothing his robes and wiping the blood from his nose. He pointed a trembling finger at Wallace maliciously.

“You think you won? This is just the beginning. I’ll come back for you. We have a bet now, trash!”

He replied as he turned and stormed out with his minion walking behind him with a frightened look.

Wallace watched them go as he glared at them coldly. “An empty fool who knows nothing. I can’t believe the original Wallace let himself be broken by a barrel like that.

This is just the beginning, Joe. Very soon, you'll crawl on your knees while you go through everything you put Wallace through!”

“Wallace ..”

He suddenly heard someone call in despair.