The soil was soft. Soft and relaxing. Victor laid on the soft ground as he looked up at the dark endless expanse above him. He remembered the first time he came here. He was afraid back then. Now, the darkness seems almost welcoming. Victor extended his senses into the nothingness. For a moment, his spirit soared into the empty void. All was quiet and peaceful.

“Just how long are you going to lay there?”

And then, it was broken.

Victor turned his head and glared at his system. “Shut up, Reunion. I’m trying to rest here.”

Reunion just rolled her eyes. “Well, rest faster. You are wasting time. How long are you going to rest there? Don’t tell me the bear has already broken you. It’s only one hundred and seventy-nine defeats in a roll. That’s nothing.”

“Shut up.” Victor growled.

“Nope. Correction: you are nothing! You are a terrible host. One hundred and seventy-nine defeats with no victory. You are scum! You are dirt! You are worthless! You are- “

“What are you doing?”

“I am trying to motivate you. Get off your ass! You are a worthless piece of scum! Get to work!”

“Insults are not motivating.”

“Yes, they are.” Reunion immediately corrected. “Are you not angry? Is there not a fire lit within you? Are you not going to do something about the matter? Get up, and-”

“You do know those don’t work, right?” Victor groaned.

“Nonsense! Of course, it works. Do you know how many motivation speakers there are among the different worlds? There is even a Dao of Motivation.”

“I have no idea what the Dao of Motivation is, and I have no wish to know. Just keep quiet. Insults are not going to make me get up.”

“True, you are a stubborn old coot. Pig-headed idiots like you probably won’t get it. How about a gentler form of motivation? Let me tell you grasshopper, ‘The secret of getting ahead is getting started.’ Now, get up and get back to training.”

“Did you just call me a grasshopper?”

“Yes. It is a form of endearment in some cultivation worlds?”

“Dao of Motivation, Mount Tai, calling me grasshopper; you do know I have no idea what any of these means. I don’t have the cultural context you have.”

“You’re right! You are ignorant. So, let me enlighten you and tell you the meaning behind these wonderful idioms. Once, there was a show called-”

“You are just going to keep annoying me till I get up, aren’t you?”

“I can neither admit nor deny that. Now, where was I? Oh yes, once there was a show about a monk called…wait, you don’t know what a monk is. Let me start from there. On many worlds, a monk is-”

Victor sighed. “Okay, I’m up.”

Victor sat up with a grimace as his system pumped her arms in victory. Victor chose to ignore her. Although his recovery time was much better here due to the time dilution, Victor could still feel pain and tiredness. He could also feel frustration.

Victor looked over at the bear currently lounging in a distance and felt a sense of helplessness. He had no idea if the numbers of losses Reunion gave was correct, he had long given up on keeping count, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it was. The losses weren’t even the problem, it was the fact that Victor was not even close to beating the bear. Victor was stuck.

“Ready to start again?” Reunion asked cheerfully.

“No, this is not working.” Victor gloomily replied. “I am not improving.”

“Really? I thought you were doing well. When you started, one swipe from the bear and you were defeated. Now, you could last three to four swipes. That’s progress!”

Victor’s face twitch at the reminder. The truth hurts. The bear had been beating him to a pulp since they started the training, and Victor believed the bear had been going easy on him. Victor sighed again.

“Ok, let’s go.” Victor shouted as he stood up. As if it had sensed Victor’s intent, the bear stood up on its hind legs, and gave the villain a lazy yawn. Victor’s heart raged. The bear was not treating the spar seriously, and it was still able to sweep him aside. Time for Victor to change that. Victor activated Bear’s Charge.

His feet kicked the ground and the soft ground erupted as Victor charged forward. As he neared the bear, Victor leapt forward with a superman punch. The punch hit the bear's body. The bear took the punch and responded with a swipe. Victor ducked beneath it and launched into Flurry of Punches. An endless stream of punches, one after another, landed on the bear. The pressure of the attack forced the bear to take a step back. Victor took heart from that and pressed on. The bear swipe again, this time at his body and Victor had to step back. Experience had told him how powerful the bear’s strikes were. The bear then raised its two front paws over its head and gave Victor a sneering smile. Victor had been in enough fights to sense danger and retreated. He was too late.

The paws came down and smashed onto the ground. The ground shook and Victor lost his balance for a moment. It was all the bear needed. It stood on all fours and charged. In desperation, Victor jumped aside, making the bear’s charge missed by a hair’s breadth. He thought the immediate danger was over, but the bear then caught Victor by surprise.

The moment it went pass Victor, the bear stopped on a dime, turned, and charged at Victor again. Victor saw the close-range charge and knew he could not avoid it. He called on the woods, and a layer of bark engulfed the villain. Victor knew it would not be enough. So, Victor drew on the wood further, and the Wood Qi responded. He felt roots digging into the soft soil. The bear hit Victor, and for the first time since they began sparring, the villain was not sent flying. Instead, the hit forced Victor back and a ditch appeared in the ground as Victor’s root dug up the ground. Victor did not have time to celebrate the achievement. The bear exerted its strength, and Victor’s eyes widened as he saw the ground beneath the bear trembling. The bear’s paw struck Victor like a speeding truck. Victor managed to stay on his feet, but the swipe broke his stance and caused Victor to show his back to the bear. It was all the time the bear needed. When Victor turned back to face the creature, its front paws were once again above its head. Victor dropped to one knee and raised his arms to defend himself. The doublehand strike came down and …