Slapped in the Face Again!

As soon as Jiang Yuan finished speaking, Cao Ying bristled.

She stared at him in shock. She had never expected him to say she wasn't good enough for him.

She was the foremost talent of the Pill Tower's younger generation, a genius who could refine Seventh-Tier Pills. And now a good-for-nothing who hadn't even been able to refine a Third-Tier Pill was saying she wasn't good enough?

Her face darkened at the thought, and her anger erupted.

"You bastard, what did you just say? You're saying I'm not good enough?"

"Don't think refining one Eighth-Tier Pill makes you so impressive! So what if you made it? What about your strength? How strong are you right now? You haven't even reached Dou Emperor. What gives a good-for-nothing like you the right to say I'm not good enough?"

Seeing his reaction only made Cao Ying angrier. She took out a scroll for a technique she had recently been practicing and set it on the table.

"This is an intermediate Earth-class movement Dou Technique called Wind Shadow Step." Cao Ying folded her arms and looked at Jiang Yuan, her mocking expression returning. "You should know the Pill Tower has long been a target of the Hall of Souls because of its soul power."

"When you're in danger, a movement Dou Technique is crucial. You have to be fast enough to escape with your life."

"You think you're so capable, don't you? Then learn this technique and show me. If you can really master this intermediate Earth-class movement Dou Technique, I'll admit you have some ability."

Jiang Yuan almost laughed at her taunts. She really won't give up until there's no hope left.

She just got slapped in the face and wants to go again? Is her face not swollen enough?

But that was fine. He had every reason to be confident now. If she wanted to see, he would show her.

Without further hesitation, Jiang Yuan picked up the scroll and began reading.

The Wind Shadow Step recorded in the scroll was an intermediate Earth-class Dou Technique, an impressive one among movement techniques. It demanded exceptional control over Dou Qi and physical coordination. An ordinary person would need months, perhaps even years, of hard practice to master it.

But thanks to Heaven-Defying Comprehension, Jiang Yuan had barely been reading when the system's voice sounded in his mind.

[Detected: Host is studying the intermediate Earth-class movement Dou Technique "Wind Shadow Step." Due to the Host's Heaven-Defying Comprehension talent, learning speed has increased significantly... Analyzing technique... Analysis complete.]

[Congratulations! Host has mastered Wind Shadow Step and reached the perfected stage. In addition, the Host's Heaven-Defying Comprehension has filled in the technique's missing sections during analysis. Wind Shadow Step has been upgraded from intermediate Earth-class to advanced Earth-class.]

Jiang Yuan was stunned by the notification. He had learned it that quickly—and even filled in the missing sections, raising it to advanced Earth-class!

Heaven-Defying Comprehension really is an incredible cheat.

Suppressing his excitement, Jiang Yuan closed the scroll and looked up at Cao Ying. "All right. I've grasped it."

Cao Ying couldn't help scoffing inwardly when she heard that.

"Stop bragging. How long did you look at it? Not even enough time for half a cup of tea to brew, and you're claiming you've grasped an intermediate Earth-class movement Dou Technique?"

"Jiang Yuan, there's a limit to how much you can boast. Do you think Earth-class Dou Techniques are as common as cabbages, that you can learn one at a glance? Even the Pill Tower's greatest geniuses need at least several months to learn an Earth-class technique. You're telling me you've grasped one in less than half a cup of tea's time? Do you take me for a gullible three-year-old?"

As Cao Ying finished, Xuan Kongzi frowned. He, too, thought Jiang Yuan's claim was far-fetched.

An intermediate Earth-class movement Dou Technique would take even him considerable time to master. Jiang Yuan had only glanced at it a few times. Claiming he had already grasped it was hard to believe.

Xuan Kongzi was about to smooth things over, but before he could speak, Jiang Yuan moved.

Jiang Yuan's body blurred into an afterimage. In the next instant, he appeared on the other side of the inner hall, moving so fast that neither Xuan Kongzi nor Cao Ying could react.

Then his foot tapped lightly against the floor, and he darted through the inner hall like a phantom. Each step was as light as the wind, his movements so unpredictable that no one could follow his path.

Cao Ying stared hard at Jiang Yuan's figure. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she never would have believed it.

Wind Shadow Step.

What Jiang Yuan had just used was unmistakably Wind Shadow Step.

And his execution was more refined than the scroll's description. His movements flowed more smoothly, and his speed was greater.

At that level, he had mastered Wind Shadow Step so thoroughly that even Cao Ying herself couldn't match him.

Before long, Jiang Yuan stopped and returned to where he had started. Without so much as a flushed face or a quickened breath, he looked at Cao Ying. "Well? Does that count as learning it?"

Cao Ying looked embarrassed. She had nothing to say.

She stared at Jiang Yuan in a daze, her face burning.

She had been slapped in the face again.

And this time it stung even more than the previous two. She had thought Jiang Yuan had merely gotten lucky with alchemy. Surely his combat ability and talent for learning Dou Techniques were nowhere near hers.

Instead, he had mastered an intermediate Earth-class movement Dou Technique in less than half a cup of tea's time—and performed it perfectly.

Cao Ying suddenly felt like a clown. Time and again, she had made things difficult for him, only to be proven wrong almost at once.

How can this be...? she wondered.

Wasn't he a good-for-nothing who wasn't worthy of me? How did he suddenly become so capable?

He can refine Eighth-Tier Pills and master an Earth-class Dou Technique that quickly. His Wind Shadow Step is clearly more refined than the version in the scroll. How did he do it?

A complicated feeling Cao Ying had never known before rose within her.

Then a realization struck her.

It isn't that he's not good enough for me. I'm not good enough for him.

Cao Ying froze as the thought crossed her mind.

He had refined an Eighth-Tier Pill in such a short time, then mastered an intermediate Earth-class Dou Technique in less than half a cup of tea's time and performed it perfectly. Talent and ability like that were rare across the Central Plains, even across the entire Dou Qi Continent.

By comparison, her ability to refine Seventh-Tier Pills hardly seemed worth mentioning.

Cao Ying pressed her lips together, her face turning a little pale.

Looking at the calm Jiang Yuan before her, she suddenly felt that her former pride and sense of superiority were laughable.

Jiang Yuan watched her stunned expression without rushing her. "What? Nothing to say again?"

"Want to try something else? Cultivation methods, Dou Techniques, alchemy—pick anything, and I'll take you on."

Cao Ying had no answer to that.

The inner hall fell into a strange, delicate silence. Xuan Kongzi watched the two of them, unsure what to say, though he found himself more and more impressed with Jiang Yuan.