chapter 1 silent boy

"You are already dead!"
Ricardo withdrew the sword from Sonny's throat, turned around, and walked away.
The audience below the martial arts stage erupted in commotion.
"This... Sonny is really unlucky. His martial arts foundation was already weak, and he unexpectedly encountered the strongest Ricardo in the first round. Isn't this seeking humiliation?"
"If it were me, I would just forfeit and not come out to embarrass myself."
"But I do admire Sonny's courage... Haha!"
Mocking words from the crowd continued to echo, reaching Sonny's ears clearly.
Sonny's expression remained calm, and there was no sign of discouragement in his eyes. On the contrary, they seemed even brighter, full of fighting spirit.
"Three moves—what a shame."
Sonny silently uttered a phrase in his heart, turned and descended from the stage, paying no attention to the taunts from the crowd. For him, the more attention he paid, the more troubles and annoyances he would face.
The mouth is always on someone else—you can't shut others' mouths, but you can use actions to silence them.
This had always been Sonny's belief.
After leaving the competition venue, Sonny quickly headed towards his dormitory. The scenes of his battle with Ricardo replayed in his mind, and every move and action were replayed in slow motion. Sonny was searching for a method to break the opponent's moves.
A beautiful figure blocked Sonny's path, her lavender dress swaying in the breeze, and a fragrant scent entering Sonny's nose.
“Arabella—you're here!”
Sonny looked at the figure before him with some excitement.
"Sonny... you should leave here quickly. Staying here will only subject you to endless mockery and bring shame to the Ayesa Family... I am even ashamed of you. Just leave!"
The girl's words were slow, but the weight behind them was heavy.
Sonny's expression changed slightly, and he lowered his head.
After a long time, Sonny raised his head, looked at the girl, and there was no trace of anger in his eyes. They were still as bright as ever, like clear water, crystal clear, like the vast starry sky without an end.
"Arabella Ayesa... Whether it's mockery or shame, it's my own business. I'm sorry for making you feel ashamed. I apologize!"
Sonny bowed slightly to the beautiful girl in front of him, expressing his apology, stepped around her, and walked away with firm steps.
Sonny raised his head, gazing at the clear sky.
His steps were calm, but inside, his heart felt like it was being cut with a knife.
Pretending to be calm.
Friendship from childhood to adulthood lost to the cruel reality, it was always being considered useless, no one would look up to him, and sometimes the harm from loved ones surpassed that from outsiders.
Arabella watched Sonny's departing figure, feeling a tingling in her nose, and tears uncontrollably flowed from the corners of her eyes.
"He used to call me Arabella...but now he addresses me by full name. Maybe my words hurt him, but... isn't this a form of protection? Sonny, what are you thinking? If you stay here all the time, I'm afraid the family's assets left by your father will be consumed by the clan, and once you are expelled from the Sword Sect, where will you go?"
Arabella also felt a pain in her heart, watching the bleak figure in the distance and sighing, "Well, I guess I have to protect you to the end in this life—what's the harm in that?"
Arabella once again assumed the role of the ice-cold goddess, but the faint traces of tears were not wiped away.
Back in the dormitory, Sonny sat cross-legged on the bed, took a few deep breaths, and silently practiced the Frozen Heart Technique, his whole being felt refreshed, and all distracting thoughts were expelled from his mind.
In his mind, Sonny slowly replayed the scenes of the battle with Ricardo, carefully pondering the three moves.
The world's martial arts, only fast not broken.
Sonny drew his sword very quickly, faster than Ricardo, but he lost three moves in a row, this is worthy of Sonny's consideration.
Sitting cross-legged quietly.
The moves are constantly being rehearsed in his mind.
As the sun set in the west, casting a golden glow across the earth, the entire Sword Sect was enveloped in a solemn and sacred light.
The martial arts competition had come to an end, and undoubtedly, Ricardo, was still the champion, the pride of heaven.
Ricardo left with pride.
Other defeated Sword Sect disciples silently swore to catch up with Ricardo and defeat him.
Sonny finally woke up from his meditation, his eyes shining brightly. He casually drew the long sword placed on the table and headed to the training ground.
The training ground was silent at this moment.
Sonny continued to wield his sword against a bronze dummy, gradually increasing the speed from slow to fast. The sword tip repeatedly struck the marked injury spots on the bronze dummy.
After three thousand consecutive sword strikes, Sonny's last bit of strength was depleted.
Lying flat on the ground, Sonny closed his eyes.
When he woke up again, it was already dawn. A night's rest rejuvenated Sonny.
After returning to the dormitory and changing into clean clothes, Sonny returned to the training ground.
In the early morning, as the purple energy rose from the east, it was the best time for cultivating inner strength.
Reciting the Sublimation Technique silently in his heart, Sonny greedily absorbed the spiritual energy between heaven and earth. The cool spiritual energy entered his body, and Sonny felt a refreshing sensation. He slowly mobilized the energy, tempering his body and attempting to open the acupuncture points.
The path of a martial artist is a long journey, emphasizing gradual progress, absorbing the energy of heaven and earth, tempering oneself, and opening the eighteen major acupuncture points throughout the body, this is the starting point for a martial disciple—a warrior, opening the eighteen acupuncture points grants the tremendous strength, beyond martial disciples is the martial master, possessing an incredibly powerful body, through mental martial arts, lifespan greatly increases, reaching over a hundred years, advancing beyond the martial master is the acquired realm, using Qi as power to resist and attack. The body becomes light as a goose, able to cross water surfaces and move like the wind. After the acquired realm comes the innate realm, where innate energy permeates the body like morning purple energy. Lifespan extends, reaching hundreds of years, and movements carry a unique charm. Killing one person in ten steps and becoming the enemy of thousands is the mark of innate mastery. Advancing from innate is the master realm, where victory is achieved effortlessly. Establishing a sect and passing on knowledge in all directions follow...
Warriors speak with strength, without strength, everything is futile.
This truth is understood by everyone. Children of the Solarian Empire start tempering their bodies and opening acupuncture points at the age of five, laying a solid foundation for the path of a warrior.
But...
Sonny's life began with tragedy.
Since the age of five, when he began tempering his body, Sonny had only opened five acupuncture points. Children of the same age were already one step away from eighteen acupuncture points—the glaring difference burdened Sonny with the title of waste.
Fortunately, Sonny's father had made significant contributions to the clan, when the Sword Sect accepted disciples, Sonny easily entered, however, the price was erasure of his father's achievements.
This was Sonny's father's father's dying wish.
After entering the Sword Sect, the label of waste continued to follow Sonny, the only difference was that there were more and more taunts around him.
Sonny had been silently enduring and practicing.
Without strength, everything was meaningless.
These were the last words his father told him before closing his eyes, Sonny had always engraved them in his heart.
Sonny endured years of mockery.
However, for many years, people only knew that Sonny had only opened five acupuncture points after eight years of hard training. They didn't know his true strength.
Words are fearsome, and rumors spread.
This was how the title of waste firmly clung to Sonny.
Sword Sect disciples knew Sonny as a waste, but they didn't know that in terms of swordsmanship, the difference between him and the top genius Ricardo was not far, he only lost in three moves, the real gap was in internal strength.
When masters clashed, everything happened in an instant, it was unspoken.
Ricardo's pride did not allow him to defend Sonny's title as waste. A win was a win, and a loss was a loss.
Sonny had grown accustomed to enduring in silence.