[img]http://puu.sh/AljWu/e2c0bd0ecd.png[/img]

[quote]Plopping his body on his bed, and falling back into it, Jun Long sighed to himself at how inconvenient everything was in this world.  He started feeling homesick, and wanted to play his virtual reality games.  Just as he was thinking of how much he missed the taste of BBQ pork noodles, the voices of his family members could be heard from the front of the house.

"[i]Aiya...  I keep telling you that you should stop wasting your money on all that make-up from those merchants.  You'd be ugly with OR without it![/i]"

"[i]You're just blind, you old bat!  You wouldn't know beauty if it hit you right smack in the face![/i]"

"[i]Would you two please hurry up and get inside?  I'm hungry![/i]"

Jun Long could recognise these three voices.  His IMC was really an amazing and fascinating piece of technology.  Not only could it record and playback memories, there was full audio support, too!  It was easy to tell that his Grandfather Lo Bei Fung was berating his Aunt Zhang Fei, while his cousin Lo Ming tried to push them into the house to start dinner.

"[i]Grandfather, Aunty and Ming-ge![/i]"

"[i]Ah, Xiao Fang, you're here.  Good.[/i]

"[i]Xiao Fang, did you get wet playing with those kids?[/i]"

Jun Long's elders seemed to be friendly enough.  Even though it wasn't all smiles and praise, it seemed that Lo Bei Fang would at least be noticed if he were in the room.

Of the three family members that just returned home, his cousin Lo Ming was the only one that didn't greet Jun Long upon seeing him.  Looking back into Lo Bei Fang's memories, it seemed that there was some animosity between the two.

The Lo family, according to Lo Bei Fang's memories, were the top family in Qing Shui town.  There were three other families that would vie for the top spot within Qing Shui town.  Being the top family in the town meant getting the most resources from the township - not unlike a government taxing their people.  Because of the Lo family having been the top family for the last few decades, they have been able to groom their young ones to become the best of the best battle mages in Qing Shui town.

Recently, however, there have been fewer and fewer talents among the youngsters of the Lo family.  This was a rising concern for the elders.

Every ten years, there would be a big competition held in Qing Shui town to decide on the top family for the next ten years.  The content of the competition would slightly change every time, but there would always be a big tournament set-up to allow all families - big or small - the chance to rise to the top.

The tournament was traditionally a series of duels between the younger generation of each family to see which family had the stronger sense of cultivation within Qing Shui town.  It was widely believed that, given time, any practitioner of Magic would be able to cultivate themselves to the highest level.  The tournament would allow everyone to see just which family truly deserved the most resources in Qing Shui town - which would allow them to cultivate their younger generation to become the next leaders of the township.

Not only would they be able to become the next leaders of the township, but the family that won the top spot was the only family that was fully supported by the township to send their young to battle mage academies well outside of Qing Shui town.  Other families could also send their young to attend those academies, but they would have to fork out the tuition fees and such from their own savings.

Lo Ming was the current top contender in the Lo family, and they were cultivating him carefully and without limit to give him the best chance of winning the upcoming tournament in the next half year.

Lo Bei Fang, on the other hand, was seen as the trash of the Lo family.

Jun Long already knew that previous owner of his body was looked down upon by his family members, and was prepared for their disdain towards him.  He didn't take it too seriously when Lo Ming did not greet him upon seeing him.

"[i]Go set the wood for the fire, and grab the pot from the storage, Xiao Fang.[/i]"

"[i]Yes, Aunty.[/i]"

"[i]Don't forget to sweep the wood chips, too!  I don't want to see any wood chips on the floor when I go out there to start the fire![/i]"

"[i]Yes... Aunty.[/i]"

Jun Long feigned obedience so as not to raise suspicion.  Lo Bei Fang was seen as the dog of the family; just someone to do the menial chores around the house.  Jun Long played the part, knowing full-well that his was going to be quite the Cinderella story in the near future.

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