Doubt, Understanding, Becoming

"If we're going to demonstrate magic, maybe Old Tang should fight me instead?"

The Bai Family head's face was as black as a pot, but backing down now would be too embarrassing, so Emiya proactively suggested Old Tang.

"Huh? It's my turn to get beaten up again?" Old Tang's face stretched into a long, bitter expression.

He'd figured it out: his brother Emiya was a training fanatic.

Yesterday, he'd stayed up late at the bar playing esports and hadn't fully recovered his energy, only to be dragged out by Emiya for a sparring session this morning. His good brother's excuse was that daily progress was sure to yield results, and how could Thought Partition's future calculations become more accurate without frequent practice?

Old Tang complained, I'm not a fighter, I'm a brainy Alchemist from the academy! Can't I use this skill to predict stock market trends, then add dozens of times leverage and buy in minutes before selling?

Emiya said, "Good question, but all I see is you playing StarCraft day and night. You don't even have a stock trading app like Flush on your phone. When you talk about trading stocks, are you just blindly trading while playing StarCraft in some shady internet cafe?"

Old Tang's eyes widened, and he stammered, "How can you just slander someone's innocence like that... Can a StarCraft player's actions be considered 'blind'?" This was followed by a string of confusing phrases like "upgrading to a Tier 3 base" and "holding steady," which made the passing Zhou Family members laugh heartily...

So, Old Tang couldn't refuse Emiya this time either. Yawning and listless, he was dragged into the arena. Whatever, it's just a flashy exhibition match anyway.

The two walked directly out of the main hall.

Bai Ziyang watched the two suddenly leave, utterly bewildered. The Wa Lord and the rest of the Zhou Family members who followed closely behind seemed to have reached a tacit understanding, leaving their seats and exiting the hall as well.

The last person to approach him was a lean young man. "Guests from the Bai Family, please follow."

"You are?"

"Zhou Yuxuan, just a regular attendant to the family head," Zhou Yuxuan glanced up and saw the two figures outside the door already subtly radiating Mana, so he explained to Bai Ziyang, "These two have a rather large combat range, it's not very convenient inside the palace."

"Not convenient?"

As Bai Ziyang walked outside, he muttered under his breath, When you sent the information and demo videos, weren't they all filmed indoors?

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

Measuring these two by the standards of a Hybrid?

It's just laughable.

Boom boom boom boom boom—

Two figures clashed fiercely, as if dancing in a swirling, almost distorted air furnace of intense heat. The ripples of Mana they unleashed constantly shot out, instantly cracking the thick flagstones on the ground.

Under the gazes of the Bai Family disciples, who looked at them like monsters, every punch and kick from Emiya and Old Tang produced sharp sonic booms. Emiya's powerful kick shattered the stone slab, repeatedly creating craters in the ground, sending fragments and dust flying.

Old Tang's palms glowed and heated up, raising bright, dazzling flames to hurl at Emiya. Fireballs shot out and crashed down, splashing dangerous orange-red streams of flame everywhere, scorching the ground into black, crisscrossing long shadows. The fierce heat instantly made the scene scorching hot.

Emiya and Old Tang were in perfect sync. They both used large amounts of Mana to Reinforce their bodies, but Emiya reduced his strength when clashing with Old Tang, only using his full power when destroying the floor.

Old Tang's fireballs were also masters of outlining the human body, easily dodged by his opponent simply by turning his head or body.

It was an exhibition match, after all, focused on performance and spectacle.

But the Bai Family members watching nearby didn't think that way.

From their perspective, this was a life-and-death duel at least at the Super Hybrid level. Every fierce move had terrifying power that caused the air to tremble violently. The wild and ferocious attacks from both sides made their Dragon Blood boil with excitement.

Boom—!

Flames swelled and exploded under the sunlight. The booming sound of their clash was like a frantic, sharp roar.

Bai Ziyang also stared intently at the fiercely clashing figures. The young men only saw their wild fighting, but as the Bai Family head, he focused on the extra advantages brought by the Magic Circuits—

They seemed to be able to apply different levels of strength enhancement to their bodies. The release of Words of Power was also more free and varied in form, requiring no chanting of Dragon Script and showing no signs of physical exhaustion—they were consuming an elemental flow called Mana?

The battle was escalating.

Emiya pulled out a black bow and Projected—what looked like arrows appearing out of thin air—which zipped away with flashes of light.

Under the eyes of the onlookers, who were bewildered but greatly shaken, the rapidly approaching stream of arrows plunged into the fireballs with a splat, but instead of piercing or melting, they made a thunderous noise upon contact, shattering with a bang—they exploded, astonishingly!

Emiya was clearly using a bow and arrow, but based on the scene, it looked like he was using an infinite ammunition grenade launcher!

The distance between the two gradually widened, and Emiya and Old Tang's firing speed also increased. Brilliant and magnificent flames and explosions flashed, shrieked, and fell through the air. They came in groups, refusing to yield, like two armies facing off in a fight to the death. The booming roar of furious battle echoed, sending startled dust and thick smoke scattering.

The onlookers were now forced to choke on dust—they were already dumbfounded, almost in a trance. These two people had managed to create the intensity of a modern military engagement... You wouldn't happen to be able to pull out something like a man-portable surface-to-air missile, would you?

The battle paused briefly. Just as Emiya was about to Project a higher-grade Pseudo-Noble Phantasm, the Wa Lord suddenly clapped her hands.

"That's enough! The current commotion can still be explained away, Shirou. Any more fighting and they'll suspect it's a terrorist attack or a chemical explosion."

Although this was Tang City, there was no way it could be related to strange explosion accidents. They couldn't possibly say it was a gas explosion.

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

"Satisfied, extremely satisfied! The Bai Family is completely convinced of the authenticity of the information provided by the Zhou Family!"

Bai Ziyang thought to himself, You've shown off your strength to this extent, how could I dare to be unsatisfied? Besides, even if Emiya and Old Tang were exceptional geniuses, he'd accept it. As long as the system had a high enough upper limit, his Bai Family might also produce a genius.

"Very good. Then I'm sure the other noble families will also be very satisfied after seeing the new demonstration video... Also, congratulations to the Bai Family! Once the joint operation is successful, you will be the first to receive the complete cultivation data for the Magic System, and you are expected to become the first family to join the Thought Plate project!"

This sweet reward made Bai Ziyang's eyes immediately crinkle with a smile. His attitude did a complete 180, and he offered a string of flattering words:

"Excellent, excellent! The Bai Family promises to contribute our efforts... The Thought Plate research, our Zhou and Bai families will work together in perfect harmony, and our future will surely be bright and prosperous!"

Question the Zhou Family, understand the Zhou Family, become... a staunch ally of the Zhou Family!

Watching from the side, Emiya recalled the Thought Plate, which was still in the theoretical stage and far from completion. He shook his head in silent pity. You, sir, are the first sucker.

Thanks to @司械@书友20180313101901010@泪枯心死@炸天帮正直的猥琐老汉@诸葛睛@九耀无@阳光飞舞@心之不灭@人生长恨水长东悲剧@我本乃三 for the monthly votes!