Question, Understanding, Becoming

"Since we're demonstrating magic, shouldn't Old Tang fight me instead?"

The Bai Family head's face had already darkened like the bottom of a pot, but if he backed down now after making such bold claims, he would lose face. Emiya therefore took the initiative to mention Old Tang.

"Huh? I'm getting beaten again?" Old Tang's miserable expression stretched long.

He had come to realize that his brother Emiya was an exercise maniac.

He had stayed up late drinking at bars and playing esports last night, and his energy had yet to fully recover. Yet Emiya had dragged him up for a sparring match first thing in the morning. His good brother claimed that daily improvement would surely bring rewards, and that how could Thought Partition's future calculations become more accurate without frequent use and diligent practice?

Old Tang complained that he wasn't a combatant but an Academy alchemist who used his brain. Couldn't he use that effort to predict the direction of bull-market stocks, then increase his position with dozens of times leverage in minutes and wait to cash out?

Emiya said that was a good question, but all he saw was Old Tang playing StarCraft day and night. There wasn't even an app like Tonghuashun on his phone. Was the stock trading he kept talking about actually just him fooling around on some shady forum while playing StarCraft?

Old Tang's eyes widened. Stammering, he said, "How can you slander someone out of thin air... Can a StarCraft player's business be called fooling around?!" He then launched into incomprehensible phrases about "upgrading to a level-three base" and "sneaking a proxy barracks," drawing laughter from the Zhou Family members passing by...

Thus, Old Tang once again failed to resist Emiya. Yawning and listless, he was dragged onto the field. Fine, fine. This was just a flashy exhibition match anyway.

The two headed straight out of the main hall.

Bai Ziyang watched in bewilderment as the two suddenly left. Wa Lord and the other Zhou Family members behind them seemed to receive some unspoken signal as well, rising from their seats and leaving the hall one after another.

At last, a lean young man came before him. "Honored guests of the Bai Family, this way."

"You are?"

"Zhou Yuxuan, an ordinary attendant to the family head." Zhou Yuxuan looked up and saw that magic power was already faintly rising from the two men outside, so he explained to Bai Ziyang, "These two have a rather large combat range. It isn't very convenient inside the palace."

"Not very convenient?"

As Bai Ziyang walked outside, he muttered probing questions. "When you sent us the materials and demonstration videos, weren't they all filmed indoors?"

Zhou Yuxuan could only smile and let the Bai Family head see for himself. The videos sent to you were already the earliest firsthand recordings, but these two... their rate of improvement is inhuman.

Using the standards for hybrids to measure those two?

It would only invite ridicule.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two figures fought fiercely, as though dancing within a great furnace of heat-distorted air. Waves of magic power continuously shot outward, cracking the thick stone tiles beneath them in an instant.

Under the Bai Family disciples' monster-struck gazes, every punch and kick from Emiya and Old Tang tore through the air with sharp explosive cracks. Emiya shattered stone slabs with a powerful axe kick, hammering craters into the ground again and again as fragments flew and dust danced wildly.

Old Tang's palms glowed and heated up as he raised blazing flames and hurled them at Emiya. Clumps of fireballs shot forth and crashed down, spraying dangerous orange-red streams of flame in every direction. They scorched the earth black with crisscrossing long shadows, and the savage heat wave instantly turned the scene scorching.

Emiya and Old Tang had a tacit understanding. Both used large amounts of magic power to strengthen their bodies, but Emiya weakened his force whenever he exchanged blows with Old Tang. When destroying the floor, however, he gave it everything he had.

Every fireball in Old Tang's palm was also a master of tracing human outlines, allowing his opponent to evade them with a casual turn of the head or twist of the body.

It was an exhibition match, after all. The important thing was the visual effect and viewing experience.

But the Bai Family members standing nearby did not see it that way.

From their perspective, this was a life-and-death battle at least at the Super Hybrid level. Every fierce strike carried terrifying power and made the air tremble violently. The wild, savage offensive of both sides stirred their dragon blood into a frenzy.

Boom—!

Flames swelled and burst beneath the sunlight, while the booming echoes of their clash sounded like insane, piercing screams.

Bai Ziyang also stared unblinkingly at the violently clashing pair. The youngsters only saw how wildly they fought, but as the Bai Family head, what he valued was the additional advantage provided by these Magic Circuits—

They seemed capable of granting the body varying degrees of enhanced strength. Their Word Spirits could also be released more freely and casually, in diverse forms, without chanting Dragon Script or even showing physical exhaustion—they consumed an elemental current called magic power?

The battle continued escalating.

Emiya drew a black bow. Projected arrows—seemingly conjured from thin air—shot forth in flashes.

Amid the stunned, incomprehending gazes of the crowd, the rushing stream of arrows struck the fireballs with a puff. Yet they neither pierced through nor melted. Instead, the moment they touched, they made a thunderous sound and shattered explosively—astonishingly, they exploded!

Emiya was clearly using a bow and arrows, but from the look of things, it was practically an infinite-ammunition grenade launcher!

The distance between the two gradually widened, and Emiya and Old Tang's firing rates rose accordingly. Splendid, magnificent flames and explosions flashed, shrieked, and fell through the air. They came in swarms, neither yielding to the other, like two armies fighting head-on in a battle to the death. Thunderous, furious war cries echoed out, sending the startled rolling ash and smoke scattering in all directions.

The onlookers were forced to swallow a mouthful of dust—already dumbfounded and nearly dazed, they watched two people forcibly create the momentum of two modern armies exchanging fire... Don't tell them they could even pull out something like man-portable surface-to-air missiles?

The fighting paused briefly. Just as Emiya intended to project a higher-grade Pseudo-Noble Phantasm, Wa Lord suddenly clapped her hands.

"That's enough for now! We can still gloss over the commotion so far, Shirou. If you keep fighting, people will suspect a terrorist attack or a chemical plant explosion."

Although this was Tang City, so it had nothing to do with bizarre explosion accidents. They couldn't exactly call it a gas explosion, could they?

"Bai Family, this demonstration should be enough to satisfy you, yes?"

"Satisfied, immensely satisfied! The Bai Family has complete faith in the authenticity of the materials provided by the Zhou Family!"

You've shown off your strength to this extent—would I dare be dissatisfied? Bai Ziyang thought. Besides, even if Emiya and Old Tang are exceptional geniuses, I'll accept that. As long as the ceiling of this system is high enough, the Bai Family might produce a genius as well.

"Very good. Then I imagine the other great families will also be very satisfied after seeing the new demonstration videos... And congratulations to the Bai Family. Once the joint operation succeeds, you will be the first to receive the complete cultivation materials for the Magic System, and may later become the first family to join the Thought Plate project!"

This sweet reward immediately made Bai Ziyang's eyes crinkle into smiling crescents. His attitude took a complete turn, and he offered a stream of flattering words:

"Good, good, good! The Bai Family promises that we will certainly lend our full support... With the Zhou and Bai Families united in the Thought Plate research, working as one in heart and purpose, our future will surely be bright and boundless!"

Question the Zhou Family, understand the Zhou Family, become the Zhou Family's... staunch ally!

Watching from the side, Emiya recalled that the Thought Plate was still only at the theoretical stage, with not even the first strokes in place. He secretly shook his head in pity. Sir, you're the first sucker.

Thanks to @Siji, @BookFriend20180313101901010, @TearsDryHeartDead, @Zhatiangang's Righteous Lewd Old Man, @Zhuge Qing, @Jiuyào Wu, @Sunlight Dancing, @Heart Undying, @Life's Eternal Regret, Water Flows Eastward Tragedy, and @I Am Number Three for the monthly votes!