“What’s up bitches!?” Hu Tao kicked a disciple holding a bunch of high-ranked spirit stones in his hands. 

  The spirit stones went falling to the ground and the Inner Court disciples went diving like hungry wolves to a vulnerable sheep. Hu Tao grinned when he saw the greed in their eyes that blinded them. His chains scooped out and swept them all away as he stood in front of the fallen gems.  

“Ugh... It’s him...” A disciple sighed deeply. 

“Go away Hu Tao! We already know you're not here for the stones!” Someone yelled at him. 

“Why don’t you do us all a favor and jump off a cliff?” 

“Some of us are actually trying to progress in this whole cultivating thing. Not just fight everyone we see like lunatics!” 

“Why does it seem like no one likes me?” Hu Tao questioned. “Here I am, trying to get in on the fun with everyone else. But you all want to exclude me from it. How is that fair?” Hu Tao, the victim, asked in a voice filled with sadness. 

“The elders made this event for all of us to enjoy. I agree that a disciple like Hu Tao is a nice change to the activity. You know he’s not going to steal the stones for himself. All you guys got to do is work together and take them from him.” A 7th stage Qi Consolidator spoke up. 

“Who the hell are you?” Hu Tao questioned. Someone trying to help him meant that they were shifty bastards that stood to gain something from him being himself. 

“Nobody in particular.” They responded. “Just keep being yourself Hu Tao.” He smiled. 

  Hu Tao wrapped the high-ranked spirit stones in his chains and tossed them at the disciples. Doing the exact opposite of what that prick wanted him to do just because he had the nerve to act so damn cocky. The slight surprise on his face after seeing Hu Tao throw the stones wasn’t enough for the battle-crazed disciple. When lightning sparked all over his body and the wide-eyed look he gave him as his palm thrust forward into his jaw was enough for him though. 

“Guess you really are a crazy dog...” Just at the last second, he dodged Hu Tao’s blow. 

“What a shame. You’d be much more useful under my command, you know? I’d let you have all the fun you ever wanted.”  

“Heh. A sissy like you can’t hold a candle to that crazy BLEEP BLEEP!” His words at the end were cut off by a strange noise. 

“Huh?” He leapt a few meters away from Hu Tao, trying to process what he just said. 

“I said. You are nothing compared to BLEEP!” He repeated with a grin. 

“How are you making that noise? What are you trying to say?” He questioned. 

“This!” Hu Tao aimed his lightning-covered palm towards the confused disciple’s stomach. 

  A green barrier formed around his figure before it could connect. Only to shatter from Hu Tao’s blow. Thrice, he’s been surprised by someone more than 4 stages below him. This uncontrollable fighting maniac really was as dangerous as they said. He should suppress him while he has the chance. 

“Since you want to ruin my plans, I’ll have to ruin your fun as well.” His hand shot out and caught Hu Tao’s wrist. 

  Hu Tao grabbed his wrist back and started to crush it. The fake smile the arrogant bastard had plastered on his face was immediately broken when his bones started breaking. A brief flare of anger arose as Hu Tao started to feel faint. Did this bastard just poison him? 

“Did you just fucking poison me?” He asked. 

“Take a long sweet rest Hu Tao. This is for the stability of the Inner Court. Don’t hate me for this.” He answered. 

‘Like hell I'm letting a pussy ass coward like this take me out!’ Hu Tao called upon the power inside his chain and ball. 

  The lightning flowing outside and inside his body immediately got to work on cleansing his body and electrocuting the life out of the bastard who still had his hand on his wrist. The poison running through his blood was swiftly eliminated by the lightning and Hu Tao grabbed the coward by his neck. Multiple barriers from life-saving treasures broke in their attempt to protect him from Hu Tao’s lightning. If it wasn’t for the sudden arrow coated in qi being shot towards his head, Hu Tao would’ve managed to kill the piece of shit. 

  Hu Tao caught the arrow before it could hit him and looked in the direction of who threw it. They were crouched over 100 meters away but that arrow would’ve easily pierced through his neck. Hu Tao whistled at the impressive archer, ‘A blonde bitch, eh? She’s just my type too. Nice round shapely ass.’ He even ignored the poison guy who was leaping away just to get a few extra glances at her ass. 

“Are you done yet?” Jie asked. 

  Hu Tao focused his attention on her for a second and sighed in disappointment. 

“What?” She felt insulted. 

“Why couldn’t your ass be as nice as hers? I’d be looking forward to tearing it up so much more if it was.” He lamented. 

  Jie ignored this comment. She let it go through one ear and then out the other for the sake of her sanity. Hu Tao suddenly jumped off into the distance and she followed behind him. The look on his face was very different from what it was a couple seconds ago. It honestly terrified her at how excited he looked when he spotted them. Like a fearsome beast finding its favorite prey. But this prey wanted nothing to do with Hu Tao. He ran away as fast as he could, forcing Hu Tao to increase his speed with qi as well. Jie, by this point, couldn’t hope to keep up with those two even if she suddenly broke through two small stages. 

“You better not die damn it...” She muttered. 

  Hu Tao chased after his only rival in this lifetime. The only man who could ever keep up with him even after becoming Jing’s slave. His progress didn’t slow down but increased alongside Hu Tao’s! After training inside Princess’s Void World, he wanted to see just how much they matched up now. Would he show him another surprise and somehow be able to match against his full strength just like he always has in the past? Or will Hu Tao finally be able to say he’s surpassed this annoying fucker? 

“MANCHU! YOU CAN’T ESCAPE ME! GIVE ME A FIGHT YOU DRAGON BASTARD!” Hu Tao yelled to the top of his lungs. 

“Damn it...” Manchu cursed. He just had to run into Hu Tao today. 

“Hehehehehe! Are you playing around with these kids too?! Do you need spirit stones Manchu!? If you fight me, I'll be willing to gift you some high-ranked spirit stones!” Hu Tao cackled. 

“I’m not fighting you Hu Tao. I have other things to do today.” He responded. 

“What could be more important than fighting me you bastard?!” Hu Tao appeared in front of Manchu and nearly stopped him from going forward. 

“Everything.” He easily slipped past Hu Tao and didn’t seem surprised at his speed at all. A wide grin grew on Hu Tao’s face. 

“Tch. You’re lucky there are some fun bastards playing around in this little party or I wouldn’t let you go so easily.” He clicked his tongue. 

“If you know what’s good for you, don’t mess with the Great Prodigies yet. You will die.” He warned. 

“That only makes me wanna fight them more!” 

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, lunatic.” 

“The way you’re talking makes it sound like you fought one of them already. And seeing how you’re in one piece and not dead yet means you couldn’t have. Unless you're underestimating me, you shitty Dragon.” 

“Think what you want. But if you want to die, fight one of the Great Prodigies.” He leapt off into the distance, greatly relieved he wasn’t forced into fighting Hu Tao right now. 

“If a pussy bastard like you can survive against one, then there’s no way in hell I can’t.” Hu Tao let him go freely. 

  He could always fight with Manchu if he really needed to. Manchu might’ve avoided him like dog shit but that didn’t mean he was impossible to sniff out. Being his rival meant that he garnered as much attention as Hu Tao did. Just in an opposite way. Especially since Hu Tao let everyone know that Manchu was his rival and he was the only one allowed to kill him. This threat might not have meant much when he first declared it in the Outer Court but those who know of his strength now knows that he’s not to be look down upon. 

“I guess I can go pay a visit to those spirit stone hungry bastards again. That poison fucker distracted me by pissing me off. Next time I see him, I should kill him. Just for being so annoying.” Hu Tao decided. 

  He ran back towards the main plaza of the Inner Court. Jie managed to spot him as he was coming back and waved to him. She was instantly irritated when he ignored her and ran past her. Not even passing a single glance in her direction. 

‘I seriously hope you die!’ She screamed inside her head.  

CaptainBoyHole

I think this is our first chapter with the actual appearance of Manchu. I'm also falling behind again in chapter development. Keeping up with these chapters is like a never ending battle and i'm losing! 

Haha anyway, next chapter on Monday we'll be with Jing.

Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.