Suction Palm

By now, even Old Yao felt it was inappropriate to keep wishfully assuming that she coveted something from Xiao Yan or himself.

Even if she was after the Fen Jue, there had been no need for her to go this far.

What was more, she had not mentioned the Fen Jue even once since then.

Sigh... Could that brat really have stumbled into incredible luck and picked up such a helpful companion for free?

Old Yao frowned imperceptibly, yet he remained somewhat unwilling to believe it. After all, he had suffered greatly from such things before.

Still, she probably would not make a move against them now...

Having reached that conclusion, Old Yao took out his Medicine Cauldron and began refining pills.

Since Old Yao could not be disturbed, Yao Wan turned her gaze to Xiao Yan.

The Dou Technique Xiao Yan practiced was rather interesting.

Feeling somewhat tired from training, Xiao Yan stopped and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Miss Wan, what are you doing?"

"Old Yao is refining pills, and I can't help him, so I came to watch you."

Yao Wan crossed her arms and watched Xiao Yan with interest.

"But the Dou Technique you're using seems rather strange. It doesn't look like an ordinary Dou Technique... Want me to teach you a few moves?"

"Huh? Miss Wan?"

Xiao Yan hurriedly waved his hands. "You're a Dou Wang. There's no need to bully a tiny Dou Zhe like me, right?"

"Hmph, when did I say I was going to use my strength to bully the weak?"

Yao Wan smiled, then clasped her hands behind her back. "I won't use Dou Qi Wings or Dou Qi Armor. I'll only use the strength of a Dou Zhe and exchange a few moves with you. What do you say?"

Xiao Yan frowned. Even if that was the case, it did not really mean Miss Wan was giving him an advantage.

The gap between them was simply too great.

Although his physical strength was considered formidable among those at the same level, Xiao Yan had not forgotten who had forged his body of steel and iron.

"What? Too scared?"

Beneath the Bamboo Hat, the corner of her breathtakingly beautiful face curled upward.

"What's there to fear!"

Xiao Yan took a deep breath. He knew very well that he probably could not avoid this fight today, but this was still his first time sparring with someone like Miss Wan...

Even Xiao Yan himself would not believe it if he claimed he felt no pressure at all.

Yet hesitation and retreat were never colors that belonged to a youth.

Xiao Yan suddenly stomped the ground, surged his Dou Qi, and cupped his fist in salute. "Then Miss Wan, be careful!"

"Whether I need to be careful will depend on your performance."

Yao Wan finally withdrew her left hand from behind her back as she spoke.

Xiao Yan inhaled deeply and rushed toward Yao Wan in just a few strides.

"Eight Extremes Collapse!"

"Oh my, are you already so eager to use your trump card?"

Yao Wan teased him, then circulated her Dou Qi and directly met Xiao Yan's charge.

Though she looked like nothing more than a frail young woman concealing her face, Xiao Yan knew all too well just how fierce Miss Wan's fists became in battle.

They even made his hands ache from the impact.

Yet what shocked Xiao Yan even more was that the girl before him was clearly using a Dou Technique as well, and it seemed to be the very same one he was using!

What was going on?

Did Miss Wan already know this Dou Technique?

Or had she secretly learned it at some point?

Xiao Yan's eyes widened instinctively, but he soon vaguely noticed something was off...

Miss Wan's Dou Qi circulation... was so strange...

"Oh, so this is how this Dou Technique circulates...?"

Yao Wan's murmur made Xiao Yan's pupils suddenly contract, and he immediately guessed at an almost impossible possibility.

"Miss Wan, the Dou Technique you're using is..."

"Eight Extremes Collapse. I just learned it. You can think of it as a crude version of yours."

Yet Yao Wan's answer undoubtedly confirmed the wild and terrifying thought in Xiao Yan's heart.

"Circulating Dou Qi after only watching it once was indeed a little reckless. It seems I'll need to make more improvements to this move next time."

As Yao Wan spoke, her surging Dou Qi overwhelmed Xiao Yan's.

Xiao Yan was not surprised by that at all. Miss Wan was a Dou Wang, after all; comparing the depth of his Dou Qi against hers as a mere Dou Zhe was no different from courting death.

But the move Miss Wan had casually displayed just now truly gave Xiao Yan a fright.

She had roughly learned the Dou Qi circulation method of Eight Extremes Collapse merely by watching it once?

How was that possible? Dou Qi circulated within the body, so how had Miss Wan seen it?

Perhaps Yao Wan's strike had shocked him too deeply, because Xiao Yan did not immediately realize that he had already been sent flying.

Only when he came to his senses and was prepared to take a vicious blow to the back did he see the girl growing farther and farther away merely stretch out her hand. It was as though a whirlwind had formed in her palm and pulled him straight back.

"Xiao Yan, are you all right?"

After drawing Xiao Yan back with a raised hand, Yao Wan gently set him down.

"I'm fine... But the Dou Technique you used was...?"

"Suction Palm. I made it up for fun. Wait, don't you know Suction Palm?"

Yao Wan seemed quite interested, but halfway through speaking, she appeared to realize something and looked at Xiao Yan in confusion.

"I'd like to learn such strange and unusual Dou Techniques too."

Xiao Yan shook his head. He was beginning to vaguely understand that Miss Wan was probably the sort of peerless genius who could create Dou Techniques on a whim. Comparing himself to her was nothing but asking for suffering.

"You didn't get that? Like, a pitch-black iron shard..."

Yao Wan pondered for a moment and hesitated before speaking. Only then did she realize that the timing seemed off; it was perfectly normal that he had not obtained it.

"Iron shard? No."

Xiao Yan shook his head.

"Ah, then forget it. It's fine if you don't have it. I can teach you instead."

As she spoke, Yao Wan circulated her Dou Qi and focused her spiritual strength, drawing out from her mind the method for the Suction Palm she had created herself. Then her jade-like finger lightly tapped Xiao Yan between the brows.

Xiao Yan immediately felt as though enlightenment had been poured into his mind, and the method of cultivating Suction Palm appeared within his thoughts.

"Suction Palm, drawing people and objects toward oneself...?"

Xiao Yan murmured.

"It isn't a particularly powerful Dou Technique, but it is perfectly adequate as a utility technique."

Yao Wan beckoned with her hand, and a tree branch by her feet flew over and landed in her palm.

"Look, like this."

"At first, you may only be able to create a tiny bit of suction, but as your cultivation gradually improves, you'll have no problem pulling branches, stones, your own weapon, or even enemies."

Yao Wan tossed the branch in her hand and smiled. "Well? Pretty impressive, right?"

"You really figured out this Dou Technique yourself, Miss Wan?"

Recalling the cultivation method of Suction Palm, Xiao Yan unconsciously touched the spot between his brows and could not help asking.