Chapter 69: Days of Peace II

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Liu Jin’s body twists, so instead of his back crashing against the ceiling, he lands on his feet, diminishing the force of the impact as he bends his knees. Three of his fingers touch the ceiling as his eyes zero in on his opponent, his red eyes almost glowing.

Before gravity can do its job, he lunges.

His body bounces off the ceiling. A sonic boom rings through the training room as Liu Jin breaks the speed of sound, flying through the air like a cannonball, his Qi blazing around him. It is not the force of someone in the Ninth Level of the Inner Realm.

It is the power of someone who has reached the First Level of the Nascent Realm.

Xiao Nan counters with ease.

The young man barely moves his body, yet in the blink of an eye, Xiao Nan vanishes from Liu Jin’s sight, leaving him passing through empty air. However, that is not all. As Liu Jin passes by, Xiao Nan’s arms blur, and suddenly, Liu Jin finds his momentum turned against him. Even though he doesn’t even feel the moment in which Xiao Nan touches him, Liu Jin is somehow upside down now, his head mere inches from the ground.

There is no way for him to switch directions in time. Liu Jin crashes against the wooden floor of the training room.

Quickly, Liu Jin rolls to his feet. The motion is neither fluid nor graceful, but it is speed Liu Jin is after. However, it is not enough. Liu Jin looks up and finds Xiao Nan’s fist coming down towards him. He brings his hands up in a desperate attempt to block.

He need not have bothered.

Xiao Fang chooses that instant to attack

The Xiao Sect’s Young Master comes from Xiao Nan’s blindspot, his body propelled by the acceleration granted to him by his fastest Ground Contraction. Even Liu Jin’s eyes barely manage to catch a glimpse of Xiao Fang’s form blurring towards Xiao Nan, his fists stretched out before him, his entire body a battering ram.

For a moment, Liu Jin almost believes Xiao Fang has scored a hit.

Alas, it is for naught.

Xiao Fang passes through nothing but air, his momentum causing him to trip over Liu Jin a fraction of a second later. It is yet another reminder of who they are up against. This is Xiao Nan, the strongest prodigy of Eastern Port City. Liu Jin may have reached the First Level of the Nascent Realm, and Xiao Fang may already be in the Seventh Level of it, but before Xiao Nan, those things don’t matter.

He is Xiao Nan, and they are not.

It is that simple.

Of course, that doesn’t mean they are going to give up. Rising to their feet with eyes full of determination, they nod at each other, an understanding passing between them.

They charge.

Liu Jin goes for the left and Xiao Fang for the right. Moving as fast as their legs allow them to, they are on Xiao Nan in less time than it takes for a butterfly to flap its wings. Punches and kicks fly as Liu Jin and Xiao Fang attack in perfect tandem with each other, each doing their best to minimize the number of safe angles around Xiao Nan. Not even once do they get in each other’s way.

And yet, they remain unable to score a single hit on Xiao Nan.

The strongest prodigy of his generation moves in between them with impossible grace. It is almost like he is dancing. He ducks and weaves in between their blows, only occasionally using his hands to bat aside a stray kick or punch, and he does it with such gentleness, the two can barely feel him.

It is ridiculous.

Certainly, Xiao Nan is in the late stages of the Earth Realm, which is the sixth of all cultivation realms. By comparison, Liu Jin and Xiao Fang are only in the Nascent Realm, the third of all cultivation realms. The difference between them is that of three cultivation realms, but even saying that doesn’t get close to expressing the vast abyss between them. For Liu Jin and Xiao Fang to do anything against Xiao Nan is simply impossible.

At least, that would be the case if Xiao Nan were using his full power.

However, that is not what is happening right now. In fact, Xiao Nan is not even using half his full power. Right now, Xiao Nan is only using as much power as that of someone in the Spirit Realm, the fourth of all cultivation realms.

In other words, it is fully within Liu Jin and Xiao Fang’s combined power to match the current Xiao Nan.

That is how it should be.

The reality is anything but.

Even while limiting himself this far, Xiao Nan is still superior to them by this much.

How annoying.

Liu Jin’s feelings are clearly shared by Xiao Fang if the angry scowl on his face is any indication. Liu Jin feels Xiao Fang’s Qi spike in a, by now, somewhat familiar way. There is no need for Xiao Fang to tell him what he is planning because he already understands it. The Qi around Liu Jin spikes and changes nature as he seeks to occupy the bulk of Xiao Nan’s attention.

White Venom Fist!

His fists glow with power as Liu Jin seeks to strike Xiao Nan with poisonous Qi, his body moving with unnatural fluidity.

“I do not mean to offend, Little Brother,” Xiao Nan says as he keeps moving just outside the reach of his fists, “but you truly don’t have much luck using this technique.”

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Liu Jin’s eyebrow twitches.

It might be true.

That doesn’t mean he has to like it. Instead of rising to Xiao Nan’s provocation, Liu Jin switches to a technique he has had success using.

Art of the Roaming Thief.

His form vanishes from Xiao Nan’s sight, and at that moment, Xiao Fang strikes with all his might.

Void Fist!

Everything within six yards of Xiao Nan is utterly destroyed in the blink of an eye. The floor and the ceiling of the training room cannot withstand the distortion of Xiao Fang’s Void Fist. They shatter in a thousand tiny pieces and crumble, forming a deep crater in the space Xiao Nan used to occupy.

Used to.

Xiao Nan dodging that attack was only to be expected, and Liu Jin and Xiao Fang are ready for it. In fact, this is what they hoped for.

In order for Xiao Nan to dodge that attack just now, he’d have needed to use Ground Contraction, a move that lowers one’s visibility and ability to counter-attack. Thus, Xiao Nan is at his most vulnerable right now.

As Xiao Nan’s Ground Contraction comes to an end, Xiao Fang comes at him with a kick to the face while Liu Jin aims for his legs. Xiao Nan jumps and tries to twist his body away from Xiao Fang’s kick. Liu Jin barely manages to make contact with Xiao Nan’s robes before he vanishes, using Ground Contraction once more.

Xiao Nan reappears on the other side of the training room. However, there is a key difference.

There is a scratch on the side of his face.

Distantly, Liu Jin hears Su An and Big Nose Li cry with joy, but he cannot afford to take his eyes off Xiao Nan.