Chapter 2: When You Are Being Beaten, You Have to Struggle—Otherwise He Will Not Enjoy It!
The moment she heard her son speak, Yang Suying was overjoyed.
She turned around and pressed her cheek against Li Mu's forehead.
A thread of true qi slipped into Li Mu's body to examine him.
At this moment, after being reshaped by the Unranked Heavenly Immortal Art,
Li Mu's body had already recovered by seventy to eighty percent.
Yang Suying's eyes lit up as well.
Just a moment ago, her true qi had clearly detected severe injuries inside Li Mu's body, which was why she had been frantic with fear.
But now Li Mu had obviously passed out of mortal danger.
"Mom, I'm fine now. I'm just tired. I want to rest."
Li Mu spoke again, sounding better than before.
If his bones had not yet fully recovered, he would have wanted to get down and walk on his own.
"All right! We're going home."
Yang Suying nodded excitedly. Strength seemed to return to her legs as she turned into a small street in the opposite direction.
A little over ten minutes later, they arrived in front of a blacksmith shop.
Yang Suying pounded on the gate, then looked up at the surveillance camera by the entrance.
Very soon, the wooden door opened.
A beautiful woman who resembled Yang Suying by about sixty percent hurriedly opened the door.
"Big Sister! What happened?"
This woman was Yang Suying's younger biological sister, Li Mu's aunt, Yang Yourong.
Standing beside her was a sturdy, muscular man, Li Mu's uncle by marriage.
He quickly took Li Mu from her arms. "Quick, get inside first!"
Lightning flashed. Thunder roared.
The rain lashed down, and the wind howled.
Li Mu slept heavily through the entire night.
The next morning, the moment Li Mu opened his eyes,
he checked his body and found that he had fully recovered.
That was not only thanks to his Unranked Heavenly Immortal Art.
It was also because his aunt and uncle had taken out a recovery potion last night worth twenty to thirty thousand.
Li Mu sat up and stretched lazily.
Only then did he notice a folding camp bed in the corner across from the bed.
Yang Suying was sleeping there, her brows tightly furrowed.
For no reason at all, Li Mu suddenly felt his nose sting.
So this is what it feels like to have a mother...
Perhaps sensing something, Yang Suying drowsily opened her eyes.
The instant she saw that Li Mu was awake, her bloodshot eyes filled with surprise, and she quickly sat up.
"Mom! I'm all right!"
The best thing Li Mu could do was jump down from the bed briskly at once so his mother would not worry anymore.
Seeing Li Mu so lively and full of vigor, Yang Suying let out a long breath like all the air had suddenly gone out of her.
The moment she relaxed mentally, a weariness unlike anything before washed over her.
"As long as you're fine, then Mom will sleep a little longer..."
The moment she finished speaking, she dropped back down and fell asleep.
Li Mu could not help laughing. He stepped forward and tucked the blanket over his mother.
Then he took out his phone and checked it.
Sure enough, the Li family had already posted an update on a self-media platform announcing a change to the family genealogy.
In large scarlet lettering, Li Mu's name had been crossed out from the family register.
The video had quickly shot to the top of the city's trending searches as well.
After all, yesterday the Li family had already trended once because Li Mu had called the police after his S-rank talent was stolen.
But when it came to clan matters, the authorities had not intervened. Public opinion amounted to little more than angry curses and could not inflict any real damage.
People sympathized with Li Mu, but they could do nothing to the Li family.
And the Li family did not care about public opinion in the slightest!
They were about to rise to power. They were already so busy receiving elites from all kinds of industries who wanted to discuss cooperation that they scarcely had time for anything else.
In the end, this was nothing more than a news story.
Li Mu pushed open the door and stepped outside.
This was the blacksmith shop run by his aunt's family.
A steaming breakfast had already been set out on the stone table in the courtyard.
His aunt was arranging the dishes, while his uncle was moving iron billets around, preparing to begin the day's work.
The instant they saw Li Mu, both of them stopped what they were doing.
The atmosphere grew unbearably heavy for a moment.
His aunt's eyes abruptly reddened. She hurried forward, pulled Li Mu into her arms, and comforted him softly,
"That damned Li family. They have ruined my nephew!"
Her voice trembled, filled with endless heartache.
Physical injuries did not amount to much.
But his S-rank talent had been stolen. That was a person's fate!
He should have had a dazzling life, soaring straight into the clouds.
Instead, it had all turned into a pool of mud.
At the side, his uncle by marriage clearly did not know how to comfort him. Scratching his head, he said,
"It's all right, big nephew! From now on, just follow your uncle and learn blacksmithing!"
"At least it's still a skill you can rely on."
Li Mu felt warmth spread through his heart. Instead, he patted his aunt on the shoulder to comfort her.
"Aunt, I'm fine."
"Uncle, you definitely have to teach me blacksmithing, but I still have to go to school too."
The couple exchanged a glance, both with sighs filling their eyes.
It seemed Li Mu still could not accept reality. With an F-rank talent, if he still wanted to continue school and rise above the rest, it would be harder than ascending to heaven.
But they truly could not bear to discourage him any further.
"Fine! You can go to school, but you have to transfer to another one!"
"Those cursed brats from the Li family will never let you off, and your older female cousin is in the same school as you."
His aunt spoke with deep concern.
Li Mu showed her a reassuring smile, his tone firm.
"Don't worry, Aunt. The Li family thinks they can rise to power with just one S-rank talent."
"But I, Li Mu, am going to grind them into the mud beneath my feet."
Li Mu's words were undeniably bold and full of ambition.
But to Yang Yourong, they only sounded all the more heartbreaking.
The child had gone mad!
How could that possibly happen?
Li Xiaohao's S-rank talent did not even need time to mature.
There would already be crowds of people lining up to throw money at the Li family and seek cooperation.
Riding that powerful tailwind, the Li family would certainly rise in one stroke and become a top-tier clan.
After all, everyone understood the value of investing in someone before they became great.
If you waited until they had truly grown powerful and only then went to add flowers to brocade, the meaning would be far less.
And besides, four days from now would be the Abyss First Battle.
It was a grand event that big figures from both the military and education worlds would be watching.
Li Xiaohao would definitely stand out in that first battle.
When that happened, the Li family's rise would only become even faster!
Li Mu naturally saw what they were thinking, but he did not bother explaining. He only asked casually,
"Where are Jiaqi and Jiafeng?"
His aunt and uncle had a son and a daughter, both in high school, one in her first year and one in his second.
"They went to school," his aunt said.
"I didn't even have time to tell them what happened to you."
"I should get going too."
Li Mu took out his phone and checked the time. It was indeed getting late.
After saying goodbye to the two of them, he ran out the door.
"At least eat something first!" his aunt shouted.
"I'll eat on the way."
Li Mu's voice drifted back as he was already out on the street.
Soaring Dragon Martial Academy.
That was the school Li Mu currently attended.
One of Li Mu's older female cousins, Li Xiaohong, also studied there.
On the very day Li Mu had awakened his S-rank talent, Li Xiaohong had been promoted to Student Council President.
And today, the moment Li Mu stepped onto campus, a student who seemed to have been waiting for him for a long time walked over.
"Li Mu! Um... the Student Council President told me to bring you over as a sparring partner."
"For whom?" Li Mu asked flatly.
"For Sun Long..." the male student muttered hesitantly.
Li Mu's eyes instantly turned cold.
Sun Long came from a family with a bit of money.
He did not dare enter the Abyss and face monsters, but he was especially fond of the feeling of striking flesh with his fists.
Even before talent awakening, he had often beaten several poor students.
He would leave them covered in bruises, yet smile in delight.
The day before yesterday, Sun Long had awakened an A-rank talent, so naturally he had become even more arrogant.
Li Mu had not expected Li Xiaohong to hook up with him so quickly.
From now on, with Li Xiaohong using her authority to find human punching bags for Sun Long,
wouldn't that make him even more pleased with himself?
"Fine!" Li Mu let out a cold snort and strode toward the martial practice grounds.
At that moment, a large crowd of third-year students had already formed a huge circle around the practice grounds.
In the open space at the center,
Sun Long was viciously beating a sparring partner.
Before talent awakening, that sparring student had actually been rather gifted and was definitely stronger than Sun Long.
Although Sun Long had now awakened his talent, it had only been two days.
The increase in combat power from his talent had not yet fully manifested.
And yet that sparring partner did not dare fight back even once.
Several other sparring partners stood nearby, every one of them looking as dark as the bottom of a pot.
But there was nothing they could do.
The Student Council President controlled the distribution of part of the cultivation resources. Those resources came from off-campus donations and were not as abundant as what the school provided.
But for poor students, they were still extremely important.
The male student who had brought Li Mu over stepped forward and informed Li Xiaohong.
Li Xiaohong turned around and, upon seeing Li Mu, immediately revealed a cruel smile.
She quickly walked up to Li Mu, leaned close to his ear, and said,
"I didn't expect you to recover this fast."
"Listen carefully. My boyfriend specifically asked to beat you."
"In a little while, you absolutely must not just stand there. You have to struggle a little."
"Otherwise he won't enjoy beating you enough!"
"And if you fail to make him happy, then I will definitely make your life a living hell every single day."
After saying that, Li Xiaohong even patted Li Mu on the shoulder.
Her eyes were filled with the twisted pleasure of someone utterly convinced she had him cornered and crushed beneath her feet.
Li Mu had once awakened an S-rank talent, only to fall from the heights into the dust overnight.
There was not a single male student who would not want to viciously trample this former genius underfoot.
What a thrilling sense of conquest that would be!
Sun Long had specifically named Li Mu as the one he wanted to beat, and Li Xiaohong had agreed that as long as Li Mu showed up, she would make the arrangement.
Originally, she had thought Li Mu would not be able to come to school today.
But to her surprise, Li Mu had actually come.