Both Break Through

Jiang Donghua's eyes flashed. He twirled his longsword in his hand, a cold smile curling across his lips.

"Is that all you've got?"

His figure flickered as he instantly activated Cloud-Chasing Steps, turning into a blur.

Before the giant rat could react, Jiang Donghua had already appeared behind it. His right palm glowed red like heated iron as he slammed it viciously into the rat's back with a scorching blast of air.

"Blazing Palm!"

Boom!

With a dull thud, the fur on the giant rat's back was instantly scorched black. It spat out a mouthful of blood reeking of burnt flesh.

It staggered as it tried to turn around, but Jiang Donghua had already circled to its side. His longsword struck like a venomous serpent, piercing precisely through its neck.

"Squeak—"

The giant rat let out a shrill scream. Its massive body crashed to the ground, twitched a few times, and then lay still.

The entire process had taken less than a minute.

Jiang Donghua flicked the blood droplets from his sword and turned to look at the battle on the other side.

Liu Mingyu was controlling Earth-yellow Battle Qi, raising stone walls from the ground to restrict the other giant rat's movements.

Liu Yuting held a longsword, Water Attribute Battle Qi flowing along its blade as she occasionally thrust out tricky strikes.

"Brother, left!"

Liu Yuting shouted.

Understanding immediately, Liu Mingyu clenched his left hand. A stone spike suddenly burst from the ground, forcing the giant rat to dodge to the right.

Seizing the chance, Liu Yuting swept her sword in a graceful arc, leaving a bone-deep wound on the giant rat's hind leg.

Jiang Donghua stood to one side with his arms crossed, a satisfied smile on his face.

This level of battle was just right for the siblings. It would not be too easy, but neither would it put their lives at risk.

With him, a Two-star Dou Master, holding the line, that giant rat would never be able to hurt them in the slightest.

"Don't rush to kill it. Practice your coordination more."

Jiang Donghua reminded them.

Hearing this, Liu Mingyu immediately adjusted his tactics.

He no longer hurried to attack, focusing instead on using stone walls to restrict the giant rat's space to move.

Liu Yuting began trying more complicated sword techniques. Her Water Attribute Battle Qi sometimes transformed into ropes that coiled around the rat, and sometimes condensed into water swords that thrust forward.

The giant rat was forced into a desperate struggle. More and more wounds appeared across its body. It roared furiously, yet it could never break through the siblings' joint assault.

Jiang Donghua watched with great interest, occasionally offering pointers.

"Yuting, that strike would've been better if you were three parts faster."

"Mingyu, watch your Battle Qi consumption."

About fifteen minutes later, the giant rat was at the end of its rope.

Liu Mingyu seized the opportunity and smashed a stone fist heavily into its abdomen.

The giant rat froze in pain. Liu Yuting instantly caught the opening, her longsword shooting out like a venomous dragon from its lair and stabbing straight for its throat.

Pfft!

The sound of the blade entering flesh rang out. The giant rat crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Beautiful! Great coordination."

Jiang Donghua clapped in praise.

Liu Yuting wiped the sweat from her forehead, a delighted smile appearing on her face.

Liu Mingyu was panting heavily, but his eyes were full of excitement.

"We finally got it."

Jiang Donghua flicked the blood from his sword and was about to call the siblings to leave when, from the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of emerald light from the giant rat's head.

"Wait!"

He dashed forward, his longsword precisely splitting open the giant rat's skull.

With a flick of the sword tip, a thumb-sized emerald crystal rolled out, gleaming softly within the cave.

"A Wood Element magic core?!"

Liu Mingyu's eyes widened, and even his voice rose in pitch.

Jiang Donghua scooped up the magic core, his grin nearly reaching his ears.

"Hahaha! I knew my luck couldn't possibly be this bad!"

Liu Yuting hurriedly split open the other giant rat's head as well, and sure enough, she found another magic core, though it was slightly smaller.

The hand holding the magic core trembled slightly.

"Brother, these two together are worth at least a thousand gold coins!"

"We're rich! We're rich!"

Liu Mingyu jumped up and down in excitement.

Liu Mingyu suddenly froze, an incredulous expression appearing on his face.

"Wait, the Dou Qi inside me!"

He looked down at his hands. Earth-yellow Battle Qi spilled uncontrollably from between his fingers, forming tiny whirlpools in the air.

Liu Yuting clutched her chest as the icy crystal pendant suddenly blazed with blue light.

"Brother, I think I'm about to break through too!"

Water Attribute Battle Qi began circulating around her on its own, condensing fine droplets of water over her skin.

Jiang Donghua raised an eyebrow, surprise flashing through his eyes.

"Well, damn. You two can both break through from one fight?"

Grinning, he gave both siblings a hard pat on the shoulder.

"Hurry up and meditate to regulate your breathing! Opportunities like this are hard to come by!"

As Liu Mingyu sat down cross-legged, he continued muttering to himself.

"The bottleneck from the eighth stage to the ninth stage actually loosened just like that."

He formed hand seals with both hands, and the surrounding earth automatically rose to form a protective wall.

Liu Yuting chose a flat boulder and took out a green jade meditation cushion from her Storage Ring.

With a light tap of her fingertip, Water Attribute Battle Qi drew a deep-blue ring of light around her.

"I can feel cracks appearing in the barrier at the peak of the seventh stage."

Jiang Donghua drew his longsword, fiery red Battle Qi blazing across the blade.

"Just focus on breaking through."

He turned to face the cave entrance, his back as steady as a mountain.

"As long as I, Jiang Donghua, still have a breath left in me, even if the heavens themselves come, they can forget about disturbing you!"

As he spoke the last few words, he deliberately emphasized them. He plunged his longsword into the ground, and a ring of fire instantly spread from him, forming a blazing barrier at the cave entrance.

Liu Yuting gave Jiang Donghua a grateful look before closing her eyes and entering meditation.

Liu Mingyu had already entered a deep meditative state, Earth-yellow Battle Qi forming a small vortex above his head.

Jiang Donghua stood with his back to them, but his ears remained constantly attentive to the movements behind him.

He could sense two distinct streams of Battle Qi steadily rising—one heavy as the earth, the other nimble as flowing water.

The corners of his mouth rose unconsciously.

"These two really are lucky."

After around ten minutes, the Battle Qi fluctuations inside the cave gradually calmed.

Liu Mingyu was the first to open his eyes. A flash of earth-yellow light passed through his pupils as he slowly rose to his feet. His bones crackled loudly, and he clenched his fists in delighted surprise.

"I really broke through to the ninth stage of Dou Qi!"

Immediately afterward, Liu Yuting also let out a long breath and stood up. With a flick of her fingertip, a strand of water-blue Battle Qi, more solid than before, flowed across her palm.

The siblings exchanged a glance, then both turned toward the tall figure at the cave entrance.

Jiang Donghua still maintained a vigilant stance, his fiery red longsword planted before him. He looked kind of cool.

Liu Mingyu suddenly recalled what his father had said while patting his shoulder before he left home.

"Mingyu, once you reach the academy, make sure you get along with that Jiang boy."

He had not quite understood back then, but now realization dawned on him.

How was this some ordinary classmate? He was clearly the benefactor of the two siblings!

"Brother Donghua, we're done."

Liu Yuting called softly, her voice carrying an intimacy that had never been there before.

Perhaps it was because they had faced life and death together, or perhaps because of that simple silhouette. Affection always quietly seeped into one's heart without anyone noticing.

Hearing her, Jiang Donghua turned around. His gaze swept over the two of them, and he grinned.

"Not bad. One at the ninth stage, one at the eighth. This trip was worth it!"

Liu Mingyu stepped forward, then suddenly cupped his fists and bowed solemnly.

"Brother Donghua, if it hadn't been for you this time—"

"Stop, stop!"

Jiang Donghua waved his hands repeatedly, deliberately putting on a stern face.

"Cut out that empty stuff!"

Yet he could not hide the smile in his eyes.

As the three chatted and laughed while collecting the corpses scattered across the ground, Liu Mingyu watched Jiang Donghua's back as he walked ahead and suddenly felt that his father's words were truly wise.

Some relationships were indeed worth cultivating with care.