Ch.24: Two Disciples, Both are Manic
With steps as fast as lightning, Lu Sheng appeared before, followed by a punch directed at the opponent's solar plexus, aiming to knock out the opponent in front of him.
But his opponent was no slower, knowing she couldn't dodge, Li Yao crossed her arms in front of her.
Taking the attack head-on as she slid backwards, negating much of the damage.
As the force dissipated, she once again leaped into the battle with a high kick.
Starting with different types of kicking techniques, trying to attack while maintaining a distance.
A good choice of attacking for opponents without weapons, and those who don't allow you to dodge as easily.
That is, you are proficient in fighting using only kicks.
Otherwise, you are just a stationary target.
A back-and-forth exchange of punches and kicks was happening.
This time, though, it was Lu Sheng who was also actively attacking instead of just dodging.
And even though both had a similar level of physique, it was quite certain that due to a lack of experience or no proper technique, one side was lagging severely and would be beaten soon enough, even if her strength was greater.
And that was indeed so.
But despite all of this, the shock in Lu Sheng's eyes couldn't be hidden anymore.
Maybe because the other three were not the ones directly involved, or they were a bit far away.
Or because his reading skill was pretty high leveled.
Behind the losing figure of Li Yao, he could see the improvements she was making subconsciously while fighting him.
Followed by positioning of steps to the angle of tilts, to even breathing being adjusted, and attempts at redirecting attacks.
Though she was still unable to hit him or dodge an attack, she was improving.
Without anything being taught.
Without actively trying.
She was improving in the way she fights subconsciously!
What is this if not an example of top-tier talent often given in anime and novels?
Suddenly, he remembered the rumors floating around the city on the day he returned.
'A heaven-sent prodigy...'
'Martial spirit awakening, causing visions in the sky...'
'Will surpass Lu Sheng in no time...'
Seeing her rate of improvement, he had no doubt she would be able to do all that given enough time.
"But there's still quite a bit of time till that happens." Lu Sheng stopped himself from thinking too much.
"I will just increase my rate of progress so no one can ever catch up to me." He said, a fire burning in his eyes.
Even the blue color of his eyes intensified as if his eyes were glowing on their own, giving him a sharp, menacing look, which couldn't be mistaken for anything else if not it.
"First Spirit Skill: Elemental Core!"
A brilliant purple spirit ring appeared around Lu Sheng.
Followed by the soul power travelling in the core, it converted into fire attribute one.
A Ball of flame appeared in the palm of his hands.
Surprisingly, Li Yao,
"Let's see how you handle this."
Lu Sheng said, vanishing from the spot.
Appearing behind Li Yao, the ball of fire was directly at her face.
Boom!
Followed by a face-first explosion as fire hurled about her face, forming an extremely elongated elliptical shape made entirely out of fire.
This action surprised even the trio watching from outside.
In their eyes, Lu Sheng's sudden action was indeed ruthless.
Perhaps he himself hadn't noticed it as he was still condensing a ball of flame in his other hand, with no intention of stopping.
A grin which somehow formed on his face, growing with each passing second.
Li Xueya was about to intervene the instant Lu Sheng appeared behind Li Yao, but was stopped by Zhou Ming.
"Let go, she could get hurt!"
She said, even about to summon her martial spirit avatar, but he still didn't let go.
But then saw the calm look in his eyes as he shook his head.
"It's fine, she won't get hurt."
She did not believe it one bit, but still decided to trust him for once.
And indeed, as Zhou Ming said, she was absolutely fine.
With two purple spirit rings above her head, her aura was completely unrestrained.
Level 26 Soul Grandmaster.
Despite taking the attack head-on on there was not so much as a scratch on her face.
The only indication that something had happened was that her hair was now straight without any curls, like readily done with a parlor hair straightening.
Though she was on the safer side.
But the cold look in her eye had intensified much more compared to before.
Lu Sheng looked up, realizing that she had 2 spirit rings, with the first one shining.
'So, that's how it is.'
He thought, realizing that she was a soul grandmaster.
After all, how could someone at the same level match his strength? It must have been like this!
It was because she was stronger in the realm that she could match him.
And the spirit ring? It must be a defense type one.
He was absolutely certain, drunk on power so much that he himself hadn't noticed the changes in himself.
But looking at him now, Zhou Yueling had tightened her fist, her anger growing as she looked at the increasingly strange behavior of her supposed elder disciple.
"This brat certainly needs beating," Behind her, the old couple also nodded.
"So, can we interfere now? I don't think the defense-type spirit skill of hers will be active all the time." The old woman said, pointing at the ball of fire fully condensed in Lu Sheng's other hand.
"She doesn't have a defense-type spirit skill." Her granddaughter said.
"What do you mean, didn't she just take the fireball head-on?" The old woman's voice soon followed, not quite following what she meant.
"It's true she indeed doesn't have a defense-type spirit skill," the city lord also interjected.
".... Then how is she completely fine?" Li Xueya said, somewhat unbelieving of the granddaughter-grandfather pair.
"Why don't you see for yourself. You have a skill perfectly suited for it." The old man just chuckled without explaining anything.
The old woman also didn't bother arguing, only to look forward and see a scene which stunned her, shocked...
BOOM!
There was a smoke rising with a sound much larger than before, like something heavy had just been dropped onto the ground with a very strong force.
It was Lu Sheng.
Face being shoved into the ground by none other than Li Yao.
"She has an all-around strength, defense, speed, stamina, argumentation type ability for the first skill..."
Li Xueya simply looked at her granddaughter, who uttered those words as she watched the scene in front of her.
And then looked at the arena where the constant sound of loud punches kept occurring.
Through the rising smoke, nothing was clearly visible.
But one thing was certain:
'Lu Sheng was really in for a good beating today.'
Watching as the gentle and shy girl transforms into an icy, expressionless brute.
With her eyes glowing with the same intensity as Lu Sheng's from before, her face expressionless.
Like a completely different person.
Seeing the striking contrast in personality, Li Xueya felt that the girl was also not quite right in the head.
"Two monstrously talented disciples, but both equally problematic..."
She didn't know what more to say.
She only felt that her granddaughter was really... pitiful at this moment.
"At least they both share the same spirit as her."
She looked at her husband, who spoke those words his words carrying a strange conviction.
'At least take that grin off your face before you speak, so damn it!'
...
[A/N: regular updates come with short chapters...]