’Zhen Li...you’re a disappointment.’
This is a phrase that had ran through Zhen Li’s mind more times than he cared to count.
But the unusual thing about this comment was that nobody outside of his own head had actually told him this before.
This was his own little complex.
Something that had developed in his psyche over years and years of being a member of the main Zhen Clan.
But to understand why he this phrase became a part of him, it’s necessary to look into the Zhen Clan’s illustrious history and the pressure that such a history brings.
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The following is a small excerpt from a history book discussing the Zhen Clan’s place in the Blossoming Scales Kingdom.
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"If you want to be a hero, learn from Zhen."
This is a saying that many people in the Blossoming Scale Kingdom believed in in regards to the Zhen Clan and their impeccable ability to turn even the most talentless individuals into powerhouses that could shake up entire cities with their presence.
Initially established as a small, family-owned dojo, by the honored ancestor Zhen Chong, nobody could’ve predicted that his humble little establishment would become the premier institute in which young would-be heroes from all over the land would flock to.
But why did these young warriors flock to this one place, to seek tutelage under this specific clan and not one of the other great clans?
Was it due to the clan’s exclusive wandering ruins that would regularly supply the students with all manner of natural treasures to aid in their development?
Was it due to the clan’s impressive roster of experts that could teach a wide variety of techniques, aether arts and formulas?
Was it due to the fact that the honored ancestor, Zhen Chong, was still alive to this day and was one of a handful of the Empire’s Aether Saints?
The reason why so many youngsters flock to the Zhen Clan was because...it was fair.
The Zhen Clan operated on a meritocracy in regards to handling their disciples and students, meaning that if a student wanted access to more knowledge, more resources and more personalized training with the vaunted masters, they’d have to earn it.
The moment one walks through that door, any and all prospective students could forget about relying on nepotism or connections as a form of clout, because in the Zhen Clan territory, power is power.
But pure power, plain and simple.
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At least... that’s how they like to think of themselves.
In reality, it’s a bit plicated.
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"Congratulations, it’s a boy!"
Zhen Li was born as a direct descendant of the Zhen Clan, essentially giving him every possible benefit he would need in order to make rapid progress on the path of becoming a top tier Aether Warrior.
The Zhen Clan may have the reputation of being a "hero academy" of sorts, but even they fell prey to the machinations of nepotism.
Granted, their version to nepotism meant that direct descendants could access all of the exclusive and high tier training resources that outsiders would normally have to pass through rigorous tests to obtain.
But what the rest of the world didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt them.
With these advantages in hand, Zhen Li made, as expected, rapid progress in his cultivation to quickly become one of the rising stars of the Zhen Clan’s training institution, eventually even earning a place as the direct disciple to one of the clan’s honored elders.
In the eyes of the world, Zhen Li could be considered a genius among his peers.
There was just one problem.
"Did you hear? The clan head’s son has managed to claim the Mountain Devil Saber as his own!"
"The sixth young master has fully mastered the six of the eight forms of the Bagua King’s Dance!"
"The fourth Young Mistress has managed to tame a Sunlight Weaver Dragon!"
He was only an "average" genius in comparison to the rest of his generation, at least in the Zhen Clan.
The funny thing about the Zhen Clan, probably due to their chosen vocation, is that not a single member of the Zhen Clan’s inner and blood related circle could be considered average or normal.
Every single last one of them, from generation to generation, could be considered a genius, a talent, or both.
Adding to the fact that the Zhen Clan members were encouraged to find spouses stronger than themselves, until they themselves got stronger, and it becomes a lot less difficult as to see why each successive generation was more and more freakish in regards to their abilities.
This meant that despite Zhen Li being considered a talent by literally everyone else, being the type of young warrior that many other clans would consider a once-in-a-generation blessing, he was only an "average" talent at best.
It’s hard to be seen as a genius, when you’re born into a whole family of geniuses.
Or in his mind at least, kind of hard to appreciate certain achievements made growing up when cousins who were his age or younger had already surpassed him by a whole lot more.
For example, Zhen Li reached Aether Master in his twenties, an incredibly fast pace for most other people, he considered it slow since his peers had reached Grandmaster or Lord at his age.
Zhen Li had managed to master at least two minor World tier Aether arts, but his peers had already mastered two intermediate World tier Aether arts.
Time and time again, whenever Zhen Li managed to achieve something that average people could only dream of doing, he wouldn’t notice due to how far ahead those immediately around him had gone.
None of these peers would talk down to him, why would they?
They weren’t even in the same league as one another.
As such, Zhen Li ended up developing a warped personality of sorts.
In front of those people outside of his clan, Zhen Li would act arrogant, condescending, essentially show that he was "superior", all in the name of vainglory.
In front of people in his clan though, he would come off as humble almost to the point of sycophantic, respecting those above him like a peon to a superior.
Zhen Li had figured this would be his lot in life, a snivelling subordinate inside of a historically respected clan, a domineering king to those outside of the clan’s structures.
"I want to make you an offer."
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=The sudden mutation of a desire core we had already extracted from Zhen Li due to our lord’s line of negotiations leading to this guy to dig up a desire he had long since forgotten about?=
=Indeed...I’m going to go check on what it became exactly. I’m fairly certain I know how this will play out, can you send over that contract once the conversation reaches a certain point.=
=Honestly, I figured scenarios would happen at some point, so I wrote up a whole variety of them depending on the situation.=
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"If you want to say no, I completely-"
Zhen Li looked directly into the Overlord’s (Zhen Liu’s) eyes,a look of resolution and desire plain on it like paint on a white marble wall.
"You just want information, right? To make sure that the main branch doesn’t try and do anything sneaky to the side branch, or more specifically, your disciple. Right? And in exchange for all that, you’ll give me the power of one of your demons?"
Zhen Liu was tempted to correct Zhen Li, telling him it was for the sake of the whole branch clan and not just himself, but he was playing the role of an arrogant Overlord master right now, so all he could say was a simple "yes".
"In that case... there’s no real argument is there?," Zhen Li added, "so do I get to choose which demon’s power to use, or-"
"Ahdibababa, no.I’m not going to just blast you in the face with k-demon power until we...formalize this agreement," Zhen Liu lied.
In reality, Zhen Liu would’ve blasted Zhen Li in the face with the Possesstol there and then, but all of his kaijin were out doing stuff, except maybe Spring Brawler, but he was just a proto.
He needed time to vamp a bit and give a kaijin time to show up.
That or listen to Logos and Pathos again.
Doing as instructed, Zhen Liu presented his palm upward and pointed it towards Zhen Li.
A second later, a sinister looking scroll appeared in Zhen Liu’s hand, accompanied by black flames.
Zhen Li looked shocked at the document being summoned, Zhen Liu grimaced behind his masked facade.
’A literal devil contract? Really?’