Surpassing the original protagonist [LitRpg]

Volume Ⅰ: Beginning.

Arc Ⅰ: Training

Chapter 4. Passing the test.

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'This was conducted before, and they have failed.' Lei Chang thought, based on their discussions, that this test should be about strength or intelligence.

[ Quest from a punny 'Old Man Hao'

 Quest: Move the barrel

 Quest Difficulty: Impossible. You kids cannot compare to an old man like me. You kids are weak and pathetic.

Quest Reward: More spiritual food

Accept or Reject ]

Old Man immediately gives a quest to kids and he doesn't forget to mock them in the quest description itself.

[You accepted Old Man Hao's quest ]

Lei Chang, Xu Long and other kids accepted the quest seeing note specifically.

'Impossible, huh.' Lei Chang just smiled seeing the difficulty of the quest.

All the kids who had awakened status today formed a group after accepting the quest.

"I will come." A kid standing at the end of the group said smirkingly.

"Lin Su, are you sure?" Another kid asked who was standing before him.

"You are not the strongest in the group, right?" A Kid asked loudly, who was standing in the middle of the group.

"I am stronger than you, Lin Hie." Lin Su said confidently, making the kid in the middle silent. 

Lin Su came in front of the barrel and pushed it, placing his hands on it.

"Okay. Come on, kid, don't tell me you are weaker than me, an old man." The thin old man said encouragingly in his way.

"Haaaaa." Veins popped on Lin Su's hands and face as he used all his strength.

After a few seconds, the barrel didn't even budge.

"I cannot move it." Lin Su said sadly.

"Ah, pathetic kid; anyone else wants to try?" The thin man asked, looking at every kid.

No one answered, not even Lei Chang and Xu Long.

'I can do it easily with my 'Strength Meaning'. But it is one of my trump cards.' Lei Chang thought, keeping a plain face.

"You kids cannot even do what an old man like myself can do? How pathetically weak are you kids nowadays?" The thin old man said arrogantly, mocking the kids present.

"Aaa, I will try."

"Old man Hao!! I will show you."

"…"

Due to the mocking of the old man, everyone got angry and ran to move the barrel. 

"Old man Hao is making them purposefully angry." A Coach said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

"Coach Zhu, old man Hao is a body-tempering realm expert, so he can move that heavy barrel. But those kids are just ordinary mortals. How can they move it?" The Cheeky kid asked doubtfully, looking at the group of kids who were trying to move the barrel. 

"Xiao Chu, this test is not entirely about strength." Coach Zhu said solemnly, looking at Lei Chang and Xu Long with expectation.

"What we should do?" Xu Long asked Lei Chang in a low voice. 

Xu Long was angry as well, but he asked Lei Chang as he looked indifferent.

"Follow my lead." Lei Chang said smilingly, thinking of a plan.

Some of the kids have already failed to move the barrel.

When one kid stood in front of the barrel trying his power, Lei Chang and Xu Long came in front of the barrel.

"What are you doing?"

"Stand in line."

"Yeah, it is one by one."

"..."

"..."

The kids didn't allow Lei Chang and Xu Long to touch the barrel.

Old man Lin Hao was watching calmly.

'How will you respond, kids? When you face an unimaginable problem like this in the future, where your strength is useless.' Lin Hao thought, looking at the kids, hoping for them to somehow succeed as they are the future of the village.

"You can pull it if you follow my plan." Lei Chang said confidently, making all the kids silent.

The kids looked at each other silently.

"What should I do?" Lin Mao asked with a low voice, feeling embarrassed.

"What should I do?"

"…." 

All the kids asked one by one with embarrassment following Lin Mao.

They know that asking Lei Chang is now the only option as Lei Chang is the strongest among them.

They just hate Lei Chang for making their parents angry at them, but Lei Chang isn't their enemy. And asking for his help after disturbing him many times made them very embarrassed.

"Bring a strong and lengthy rope." Lei Chang said, looking at the kids, estimating the size required.

'Let's see. He should be Xiao Chang that popular parent kid, and Lei Ming Long's, Lei Ming Feng's brother." Lin Hao thought, looking at Lei Chang.

Lin Hao was watching on with interest to see whether Lei Chang could surprise him or not.

Quickly, a kid brought the lengthy rope.

"Don't you remember the game you all used to play with rope, tug of war? Here, the opposite side will be barrel instead." Lei Chang said, checking the rope for its elasticity while tying it to the barrel.

Everyone quickly stood in a straight line with rope in their hands, while Lei Chang and Xu Long stood at the end.

'Will they succeed?' Lin Hao was looking with hope and expectation.

Everyone stood in front of the barrel in a single line with rope in their hands, trying to pull the barrel.

Lei Chang and Xu Long stood in the end with rope in their hands.

"As expected of you kids, you are pathetically weak; even you all combined cannot do what I, an old man, can do." Lin Hao said mockingly while patting his non-existent arm muscles.

"You!!."

"Old man!"

"…"

Veins popped on everyone's arms and face as they tried to pull the barrel.

'Looks like I have to use my 'Strength Meaning.' Lei Chang thought without changing his expression.

When Lei Chang was about to activate his 'Strength Meaning' felt the barrel moving.

Zizi! 

"What?" Everyone was shocked seeing the scene in front of them. The kids managed to pull the barrel even though it was very little.

The barrel has been moved a little forward with a little mark on the ground.

'Even I didn't expect this. I thought I had to use my 'Strength Meaning'.' Lei Chang thought happily as everyone managed to pull the barrel with their own strength instead of his help.

"We did it." Everyone shouted with joy.

"Your plan worked, Chang." Xu Long said smilingly, patting Lei Chang's shoulders.

"It sure did, haha." Lei Chang said laughingly as everyone looked at Lei Chang with happiness and a thankful face.

"Good, very good." Lin Hao said with shock and joy on his face.

Lei Chang and his group did something extraordinary that no one had done before!

"Good, Xiao Chang sure lives up to expectation." Coach Zhu said, patting the knowledgeable kid next to him strongly.

"Stop, Coach Zhu, you are hurting me." The knowledgeable kid pushed away Lin Zhu's strong hand.

"Xiao Chu, didn't you ask how one can do it? Now, did you see it? It is how things are done." Coach Zhu said smilingly, imagining that Lei Chang's future would be very extraordinary.

"It is about teamwork." Lin Chu said sighingly, thinking that he figured it out.

"Now, let's go have lunch." Lin Hao said, taking the barrel from the ground and placing it on his shoulders.

Everyone followed Lin Hao to the village hall.

In the village hall, everyone is eating with relish. It is way different from the morning awakening. Many tables were already placed with different kinds of dishes. 

These dishes weren't mortal food but instead spiritual food.

Lin Hao placed the barrel back in the village hall. 

"Go ahead. Eat two plates of spiritual food. If you feel full with just one plate, take one plate home." Lin Hao said, looking at the kids with kindness.

"Okay, old man."

"I won't hold back, old man."

"...."

The kids shouted with joy and rushed towards the food.

Lei Chang and Xu Long also followed them.

"Hmm. Elder Hao, can we also eat two plates?" Lin Chu asked nervously, as his many friends stood behind him.

"No, if you had passed the surprise test, it would be the same treatment for you, but you all failed. Pity." Lin Hao said, rejecting directly without even thinking.

"…"

"…"

The Lin Chu's friends who were rejected looked sad.

Lei Chang, Xu Long, and his group started munching down the food without caring to sit after the old women placed the food on their boxes.

'Even the top chefs from my previous life cannot make this much tasty food.' Lei Chang thought while eating.

Spiritual food is much more tasty than mortal food, no matter how they cook!

Now Lei Chang and everyone was eating 'Spirit rice' with 'White noodles' and 'Purple cloud soup'.

All those are rank 1 low-level spiritual food. One can imagine how much tastier rank 1 mid-level and even higher rank spiritual food will be!

Lei Chang and his gang quickly ate food of almost 1kg and stopped feeling stomach full. 

Lei Chang and his group then took packed spiritual food to their home.

"How can they take spiritual food home and also have extra food?" A thin man asked confusedly, who had just arrived.

Kids who haven't entered the body-tempering realm can only eat spiritual food twice a week. Now, seeing that kids have taken another plate of spiritual food home. The man was very confused and wanted to take one home for himself.

Many have seen that kids have taken spiritual food home, so they went to an old woman and others who usually distribute spiritual food.

"Aunt Fu, is there something special." A middle-aged man asked with surprise, placing his box in front of the old woman, technically asking for more.

"Uncle Li, please more."

"Uncle Qi, seconds."

"..."

Many began to ask for more spiritual food.

"Sorry, the kids were to take the food home because the elder Hao allowed it." The old woman said while placing the spiritual rice in the man's box who had just arrived for his first time.

"Elder Hao…"

All backed down, hearing that it was Elder Hao who allowed it. Elder Hao is a member of the Elder Council of Mist Village, so everyone respects his decisions. 

Only kids don't respect this old man!

Lei Chang and his group quickly went home and placed the spiritual food safe to eat after they had digested the food they had eaten.

Spiritual food provides a high amount of energy for exercising and cultivating. Eating the same rank spiritual food once a week is enough for someone who doesn't train to the core, which also saves time to train as their stomach feels full until spiritual food is digested completely.

Mortal food doesn't make the body stronger, whereas spiritual food does as people train.

Most importantly, spiritual food is far more tastier than mortal food. This is what makes spiritual food very famous among cultivators.

After making sure that spirit rice, white noodles, and purple cloud soup wouldn't go bad, Lei Chang left his house.

Lei Chang, Xu Long, and everyone came back to the training ground for training. 

A man with a medium build body stood in front of Lei Chang, Xu Long, and the group.

The man looked to be in his mid-thirties, and even though his body is medium build, his body has muscles that look like metal.

"Coach Fang." Lei Chang and everyone greeted the coach.

Coach Fang nodded his head, accepting the greeting.

"You should have seen how old man lifted a heavy barrel easily while you couldn't. Do you know why?" Coach Fang asked loudly, looking at the kids.

"Because we are too young when we grow up, we will surpass that old man in strength." Xu Long said confidently, raising his hand to make everyone look at him.

"Wrong." Coach Fang said, cutting Xu Long's answer right away sharply.

Xu Long lowered his head, feeling sad that he had lost his chance to be praised and show off.

"How can this be?"

"What could be the answer?"

"…"

Kids began to discuss.

"It was because he is a body-tempering realm expert, a cultivator." Lei Chang said, seeing that no one was answering.

Lei Chang quickly wanted to get this over with and start his training.

"You are right, Xiao Chang." Coach Fang said smilingly, folding his hands.

"Now then, do you kids know about the body-tempering realm and cultivation?" Coach Fang asked again, looking serious.

'I see. Dad, Mom, and coaches never told me about a body-tempering realm. So, it should be the same for the others.' Lei Chang thought about it and understood why they got angry when Lin Hao mocked them, as they believed they would be stronger than an old man, not knowing about cultivation.

"We haven't told you kids about the body-tempering realm nor did about the cultivation because you were just kids, and you wouldn't even care if we told."

End. _____________________________________________________________________________

I hope you like the chapter.