Has anyone ever told you that they hate you?

Buddha's voice almost sounds smug when they reply [Current count is 10,348,569,839.]

Glad you are so happy about that. Now please change the settings for the alarm. Just play some music or sounds and increase the intensity until I am woken up. Just normal sound intensity, not some crazy frequency that makes my ears bleed from the sound. Also permanently disable any alarm feature that might cause harm to me.

[Noted, changes saved.]

Also set a new alarm chime, for 40 minutes before we have to be at the Blue Jewel please.

[New alarm is set.]

Sitting up and looking around, it's still dark inside the room. Taking some calming breaths and relaxing. Zhi closes his eyes and sits completely still for a few minutes. Exhaling a big breath he asks a question.

Why is there a setting like that on the alarm? Like at all? And why the hell is it the default setting?

[“Wake up Time, Bitch” is the first setting made for the alarm clock. The user who asked for the feature had a hard time waking up and when they created the feature they paid extra to make it the default setting for all other users.]

Wait, so some other user made that? How can they even make something for the system? Or for that matter enable it for all the other users as a default?

[They paid a lot of their system points to set it up and enable it for all users.]

So at some point I could change something like that for other system users if I wanted to? How would I even get enough system points? Doing thousands of quests?

[With enough system points it would be possible. But you would also have to upgrade your system and strength to be able to do it. Quests are one way, but you can get points for other things, like using your skills for their intended purpose. But only after you increase your cultivation. Recommend doing that when you have 8 or more hours of free time.]

Alright, I will do that tonight after I train Zhao. Speaking of which, we should get him up and start his training.

He removes some of Ming Zhi's old farming clothes and puts them on. After he stands up and stretches his body, Zhi goes through a set of practiced movements. Once finished he leaves the room and knocks gently on the door across the hall. Getting no response he knocks slightly louder and waits. With still no reply, he tests the door and finds it unlocked. Opening it slowly he looks around inside the darkened room.

The room is simple, much like the one he was given to use. But there is actually a standing dresser on one wall, the doors partially open with clothes hanging out of it. A small book shelf is next to it, a handful of worn books lay on the shelves. In the middle of the room is a sleeping mat, with Zhao sprawled out on it dead to the world with a smile on his face.

Walking next to the boy, Zhi crouches down and shakes the kid a few times. It takes a few times before he groggily sits up and looks around, while rubbing his eyes to clear them of sleep. When he is done he finally notices Zhi crouched down next to him, he jumps back slightly, but does not make any sound.

"Good you are finally up. Get up and get dressed in something you can get dirty. We need to do something before we go to the Blue Jewel for work. I will wait for you out front of the house."

Zhi goes outside and after a few minutes Zhao comes out in something similar to what Zhi is wearing. Just some simple linen clothes, he looks over at Zhi and lets out a yawn as he walks over to him.

“Alright, before we start I forgot to ask. How do you bathe yourself? Is there a bath house somewhere that you go to? Or do you have a bathroom in your house?”

Slightly confused at the question, Zhao says. “We don’t have a bathroom, we aren’t well off enough for that. But we can pull water from the community well out back and wipe ourselves down with hand towels. Once a month we go and use a bathhouse, there is one down the road that way.” Zhao points down the street behind him.

“Alright good enough, I just didn’t want us to show up to the Blue Jewel and be dirty and sweaty. So this is what I want you to do. Look at what I do and copy me. Once you do it once, I will stop showing you and have you do it again and I will help correct your form. Now follow along.”

Zhi goes through a full set of stretching exercises for flexibility, it takes almost 20 mins and then another 30 minutes to help Zhao do them properly. Once done they both feel better and more limber.

“Alright, now for the fun part. Have you ever done any type of exercise before?” Zhao shakes his head no, then waits for Zhi to explain.

“Alright, we are gonna start simple. Now watch what I do. Once I have done it a few times I am gonna walk you through it and then we will do a full set of them together.”

Stepping back, Zhi crouches down slightly then jumps up into the air almost 12 feet. He lands and looks slightly embarrassed, before he says. “I kinda forgot how strong I am, let me do it with less strength behind it.”

Crouching down again, he jumps up only about two feet high, on landing he moves into a crouching position again, with his hands out below him, in between his bent knees. Putting his arms on the ground, he kicks back his legs. His head, back, and legs are perfectly lined up. Zhi holds that for a second before flexing his arms and almost lets his chest touch the ground. Before pushing back up, jumping his legs back under himself then jumping up into the air again in one smooth motion. He repeats the process five times before stopping.

Looking over at Zhao, he says. “Alight, I want you to do the same thing. Start slow and I will correct your form till you have it right. Once you can do it correctly, we will both do a full set of ten to start and see how you feel.” Zhi makes a hand gesture to begin.

As Zhao begins to go through the exercise, Zhi helps correct his form. It takes awhile but Zhao has the proper form down, albeit a little slow. Zhi takes a position in front of him and says, “Alright we are going to do a full set of ten. We will do them at your pace, so you call out the count. Ready whenever you are.”

Zhao bends down and Zhi follows along. They go through the whole exercise and Zhao calls out “One” as they start moving to repeat the process. On the last set, Zhao still looks fine. Only a little bit of sweat is on his forehead, and his breathing is still under control. Zhi smiles at that and says to Zhao, “Alright, looks like you are fine, let's do another ten and see how you are.”

Zhao just nods his head in reply and begins to call out another set of ten. At the end of it he looks slightly sweaty and his breath is a little harder on the intake. But overall he looks to be doing well. Zhi asks, “You have one more set of ten in you?” Zhao doesn’t reply this time, he just goes into another set of ten. Once complete he has sweat pouring down his face and his breath is slightly ragged but mostly under control. But there is a slight smile on his face as he nods to Zhi.

“Alright, catch your breath and we will do one more thing before we should start getting cleaned up.” Zhi walks into the street in front of the house. His staff comes out and he draws a line across the compacted dirt. Once done he paces out from it about 5 yards and makes another line. Moving another 5 yards he repeats the process till he has 6 lines in the road. He stores his staff away and walks to the first line, while he motions Zhao to come over to him.

“So this is what we will do next, we are going to sprint from this line to the next line ahead of us. Then we will sprint back to this line. Afterwards we will sprint to the second line, then back to this one again. We will repeat this till we get to the last line. Once you get to that line, you will come back to this line and we will be finished. Are you ready?” Zhao still has sweat on his forehead, but his breathing is steading.

Zhi crouches down at the first line and looks over to Zhao who is copying him. “GO!” Both Zhi and Zhao take off to the first line. Zhi controls his strength to stay at the same pace as Zhao, as they go back and forth through the course. Once they complete the course Zhi is only sweating slightly, but Zhao is soaked in sweat from both sets of exercises. His breathing is coming in ragged gasps as he stands at the first line.

“Put your arms behind your head like this and keep walking around, it will help you cool down better and catch your breath.” Zhi puts both arms behind his head like he was planning to lay down on the ground and look at the clouds. Zhao copies him and begins to walk around for a few minutes. His breathing comes under control as he does. Once Zhao is breathing normally, Zhi says “Alright, let's head in and get cleaned up. It’s always good to show up to a job early, even if it’s just an interview. It always leaves a good impression on whomever you are going to see.”

Zhi pats Zhao’s back as they head into the house and down the hallway to the kitchen and dining room area.

Buddha, can you open the store page and do a quick search for some basic kitchen clothes, simple, black, and cheap. Two set’s, one for me and Zhao. Actually can I give system things away?

[System items that are purchased can be given away freely. Set of clothes found, they are only 1 MDP to buy. Would you like to buy two sets only?]

A small window pops up and displays everything the clothes come with and the overall design of them. Zhi smiles at the look of them.

Go ahead and buy five sets for me and five sets to fit Zhao.

[Purchased and stored in inventory.]