"Don't look at me like that," Yohan said to Mo Zhao, who stood before him with hands on his hips. "And why is this brat here too?" he asked, pointing at Mo Haoran.
"First Brother wants to train—this is rare. I also want to see your training session, Big Brother," Haoran replied with an enthusiastic smile on his face.
Mo Zhao and Mo Haoran were close, but their current situation would look ridiculous to outsiders.
The second brother had to teach the eldest. Meanwhile, in terms of Mana energy levels, Mo Haoran ranked higher than both Mo Zhao and Mo Yohan.
"Don't be cynical. You should be grateful Third Brother is willing to teach you at all. And I... honestly, I don't want to teach you, First Brother. You don't have a Mana Core—how can you possibly learn Mana Reinforcement?! Isn't that absurd?" Mo Zhao shot back, only to receive a gentle reprimand from Mo Haoran through a shoulder pat.
"Second Brother, don't talk like that. First Brother wants to learn, and he has high motivation. As siblings, we should support him."
Yohan felt his ears hurt instantly. He didn't need this kind of support. To him, Mo Zhao and Mo Haoran were merely tools to make him stronger. Wherever he went, Yohan hated being weak and oppressed.
"Stop this dramatic conversation. Mo Zhao, if you won't teach me, I'll sell more jewelry and find another talented instructor—"
"What?! You bastard, now you dare threaten me openly?!" Mo Zhao looked furious, but fortunately Mo Haoran quickly held him back.
"Second Brother! Don't get emotional," Mo Haoran pleaded. "But First Brother, what do you mean by selling jewelry? What jewelry did you sell?" Mo Haoran seemed to already know the answer but wasn't certain yet.
Yohan smiled. "What jewelry? Our mother's, of course."
"Big Brother?!" Mo Haoran nearly lost his temper too, but he managed to restrain himself.
"See, this is why I don't like him. Before, he was just weak and had no Mana Core—I could accept that. Now he's not only weak and lacks a Mana Core, he's also arrogant!! Does he deserve to be called First Brother?!" Mo Zhao's voice grew more heated.
"Haish! Such naive youngsters. What's the point of keeping items from someone who's already dead? Will keeping them bring the dead back to life? I'm certain if I sell them for my own benefit, Mother would feel relieved in the afterlife."
"You—!"
"Enough, Mo Zhao. What First Brother said makes sense. If you don't want him selling more jewelry, teach him Mana Reinforcement. I'll teach him Mana Channeling later. How about it, Big Brother? Do you agree?"
Yohan smiled and mocked Mo Zhao with his gaze, as if his second brother had no choice but to follow his will.
"Damn it!! I won't go easy on you!" Mo Zhao finally said.
Yohan smiled. That was exactly what he wanted. He wasn't like the old Mo Yohan—he wanted real training to become stronger than everyone else, faster.
"Good. I also want to see what kind of training you can provide," Yohan taunted with a smirk.
~~~~
And now here they were...
At the hill behind the Sky Sword Academy, a place usually used for physical strength training to awaken Mana Reinforcement.
Mo Zhao had even asked Hanli to tie several sandbags to Yohan's legs and arms.
"What is this?" Yohan asked. His body felt weighed down by the sandbags on his limbs.
Mo Zhao smiled with satisfaction, even crossing his arms over his chest. He was glad to finally get back at Yohan.
"Big Brother, are you going to complain? I know your body is weak, but where did all that big talk from earlier go?" Mo Zhao mocked him.
Yohan couldn't say anything. He could only suppress his anger. He wanted to curse Mo Yohan's body. Why was it so weak?! Just a few kilos of sandbags made walking nearly impossible.
"So, Big Brother, now you need to go to the neighboring hill, plant this flag at the top of that tree, and come back here," Mo Zhao said.
Xu Chen noticed the cold sweat on his master's forehead and immediately felt worried. He knew the Young Master's body had improved lately, but carrying that much weight on the first training session would definitely cause difficulties. Xu Chen realized he couldn't do anything to help his Young Master right now.
"Second Brother, are you serious about asking First Brother to go to the neighboring hill while carrying 50 kg of sandbags? He'll—"
"I'm going," Yohan cut in. Without hesitation, he started walking. Yohan didn't like being pitied. That feeling could weaken him.
But Mo Haoran was sincere. He genuinely worried about Yohan's condition. Mo Zhao just shrugged—to him, this was the perfect moment to pay Yohan back and ensure their arrogant eldest brother knew his place.
To Mo Zhao, if you're weak, you should know your place. Don't try to show off in front of the strong. Stay quiet in your corner and don't stand out.
"Second Brother, are you serious? 50 kg for the first Mana Reinforcement training—that's cruel. Even instructors usually only assign 5 kg for beginners!" Mo Haoran protested.
Mo Zhao signaled Hanli to bring his chair. Hanli quickly brought a chair and set up a table beside Mo Zhao.
"Little Brother, this isn't my idea. First Brother asked for it himself," Mo Zhao defended himself.
Xu Chen, listening to the siblings' conversation, grew more worried about his master. In his heart, he could only pray that Yohan would be alright.
Yohan himself struggled to take each step. His determination was strong, but his body simply wouldn't cooperate. "Determination alone isn't enough, damn it!! I'll pay you back for this multiple times over, Mo Zhao!" Yohan muttered, clearly trying to boost his motivation for the journey.
~~~~
Each step felt excruciating, but Yohan kept pushing forward until he finally reached the hill Mo Zhao had mentioned.
Just as he approached the tree where he needed to tie the flag, Yohan froze. A gentle breeze revealed a beautiful woman who resembled him.
The woman reclined against a tree trunk supporting her slender frame. Her skin was smooth and fair, her hair flowing softly in the wind. Her closed eyes revealed a beautiful, delicate face with rosy lips.
"Who is this woman?" Yohan wondered, feeling strangely familiar with her.
Her face somewhat resembled his, but since she was female, she appeared more beautiful than Yohan.
The woman opened her eyes when she heard Yohan's presence and turned to look. Her expression wasn't friendly, nor hostile—just indifferent upon seeing Yohan.
But the young man didn't care much either. In Yohan's life, women were merely entertainment during leisure time.
"What are you doing here, Big Brother?" the woman asked.
"Big Brother?" Yohan was confused. Did this woman know him?
"Is that rumor true? They say you've seemed different lately after losing to me," the woman spoke again and descended from the tree. Now she stood before Yohan, her right hand holding a sword.
'Lost to her? Don't tell me she's—'
"Mo Yuchen?" Yohan finally said, guessing whether his assumption was correct. But Yohan clearly remembered Xu Chen saying he lost to the "Fourth Young Master," not "Fourth Young Miss"!
The woman immediately smiled cynically and crossed her arms over her chest. "So Big Brother really has gone weird after losing to me. Did my strike damage your brain?"
'Crazy?! So Mo Yohan lost to a woman? Out of all his younger brothers, he lost to his youngest sister who's a woman?!' Yohan screamed internally.
Mo Yuchen looked at Yohan flatly, observing his confused expression, which only irritated her more. What was her eldest brother really thinking?
"You should see Physician Wang, or you'll just continue embarrassing our family."
Mo Yuchen said this as she walked past. Yohan was naturally furious. But just as she passed beside him, Mo Yuchen stopped and glanced back with a mocking smile.
"Whatever you do, it'll all be pointless if you don't have a Mana Core. But good luck with your efforts, Big Brother."
'Arrrggghhh!!' Mo Yohan screamed internally.