Battle Ruolin

Instructor Ruolin glanced at Jia Lie Jun in slight surprise. She had not expected that this fellow, who looked like he was full of sweet talk and bad ideas, and had tried to win a girl's sympathy with a self-inflicted injury scheme, was also a genius whose potential far surpassed S-rank. Xiao Yu and the others, however, wore grave expressions. The Xiao Family and the Jia Lie Family were sworn enemies, and now that the Jia Lie Family had produced someone like Jia Lie Jun, it was greatly disadvantageous to the Xiao Family.

"Wow, handsome, I never thought you'd be a monster whose potential far surpasses S-rank too. Xun Er is the same. The two of you are practically a match made in heaven," Xue Ni said with a lovestruck look.

"Uh, really?" Jia Lie Jun shyly glanced at Xun Er, scratched his head, and asked happily. Xun Er merely pursed her lips.

"Instructor Ruolin, may I take a leave of absence?" Jia Lie Jun asked softly.

"You may. How long do you want?" Ruolin replied gently.

"One year." Jia Lie Jun timidly held up one finger. He truly felt a little apologetic about asking for an entire year off. He had quite a favorable impression of Instructor Ruolin. He was genuinely grateful that she had not publicly exposed his act of pretending to faint. Though that little trick could never have fooled Xun Er, some of the students had believed he had really fainted. If the truth got out, he might earn a bad reputation. Though Jia Lie Jun did not think of himself as a good person, one always had to wear a fine mask when out in the world.

"How long did you say?" Ruolin asked in disbelief. The students around them twitched at the corners of their mouths, their faces full of admiration.

"One year," Jia Lie Jun repeated, forcing himself to say it.

"No." Ruolin immediately refused.

"Instructor Ruolin, I need such a long leave because I have urgent matters to handle. If you can't agree, then I can only temporarily withdraw from Jia Nan Academy and apply again next year," Jia Lie Jun said apologetically. Xun Er, standing nearby, grew curious upon hearing this. She had no idea what scheme this fellow was plotting again.

Ruolin's expression turned troubled. After pondering for a moment, she said, "I can agree, but I have one condition: you must withstand twenty exchanges against me. Otherwise, you'll obediently return to the academy with me." Faced with a student whose potential far surpassed S-rank, she could not simply let him go. Yet she did not want to grant him such a long leave either, so this was the only compromise she could think of.

"Fine, I agree," Jia Lie Jun answered solemnly. With his cultivation as a one-star Dou Shi and a One-Seal Rune Master, and considering that Instructor Ruolin presumably would not be too harsh on him, enduring twenty exchanges should not be too difficult.

"This place is too cramped to fight properly. Let's go outside," Ruolin said to Jia Lie Jun. She then took the lead out of the tent, and the students hurried after her. There was a spectacle to watch. Moreover, it was a spar between a student and an instructor—they had no intention of missing it. By then, the sun was already setting outside the tent. The crowd in the square had long since dispersed, leaving only some Jia Nan Academy students strolling about leisurely in pairs.

"Instructor Ruolin, please go easy on me later," Jia Lie Jun said with a fawning smile.

"Brat, you agreed so readily just now that I thought you had some trump card and weren't afraid of losing," Ruolin scolded with a smile, rolling her eyes at Jia Lie Jun.

"What trump card could I possibly have? I just thought that someone as gentle as Instructor Ruolin would definitely show mercy," Jia Lie Jun said flirtatiously.

"Enough with that smooth talk. You little rascal, your head is full of bad ideas." Ruolin raised her jade-like hand slightly. The green Storage Ring on her slender, delicate finger flashed faintly, and a long blue whip appeared in her hand. She then took out a longsword and casually tossed it toward Jia Lie Jun. The blade whistled through the air as it flew at him, then abruptly plunged downward when it was half a foot away, stabbing viciously into the ground.

"Thank you, Instructor Ruolin, but I've never learned swordsmanship. It would only be a burden in my hands, so I won't use it. But since it's Instructor Ruolin's personal sword, I'll accept it." Jia Lie Jun pulled the longsword from the ground and stored it in his Storage Ring.

"Let's begin." Ruolin flicked her long whip lightly, and a faint mist swept through the air, making the previously dry atmosphere somewhat moist.

"Alright." Jia Lie Jun nodded with a grave expression. Dou Qi immediately flooded into his feet. With a bang, stones shattered beneath him, and his body shot toward Ruolin like a cannonball. Ruolin brought her whip down in a vertical strike. Jia Lie Jun twisted aside, and the whip grazed past his body before smashing into the stone pavement. The hard slabs instantly shattered into pieces, sending dust into the air. The onlookers broke out in cold sweats. Had that strike landed on someone's body, the thought alone was terrifying.

Ruolin lightly flicked her whip, and it coiled toward Jia Lie Jun like a nimble serpent. Jia Lie Jun tapped lightly off the ground and leaped into the air. Clenching both hands into fists, he rapidly condensed azure whirlpools and dove down toward Ruolin. Ruolin's jade-like hands swiftly formed a seal. The moisture in the air rapidly condensed into droplets, which immediately gathered before her and formed a half-meter mirror. The entire process was completed almost instantaneously.

Power-Dispelling Water Mirror. Ruolin shouted softly. The Power-Dispelling Water Mirror was a high-level Yellow Tier Dou Technique. Though its rank was not high, it was extremely practical and possessed powerful defensive abilities.

Jia Lie Jun's fists struck the mirror's surface. The watery surface rippled, yet did not shatter. Just as Jia Lie Jun was about to exert more force, he felt a fierce gust strike toward his waist. He performed a backward flip and barely dodged the attack. The instant his feet touched the ground, he retreated rapidly.

After steadying himself, Jia Lie Jun extended one palm, curling his five fingers into a claw. Dou Qi rapidly gathered in his palm, forming a vortex that resembled a black hole. A powerful suction force erupted from it and violently pulled at the water mirror. The force tore out a water column as thick as a bucket, causing the mirror to rapidly shrink and nearly shatter.

Seeing this, Ruolin's hands changed swiftly as one complex hand seal after another flashed into existence. Vast Dou Qi surged endlessly from her body like a fountain. The water mirror, which had been on the verge of shattering, rapidly changed shape and split into dozens of water columns before quickly converging again. It formed a massive water python five or six meters long. The water python raised its head and roared toward the sky, revealing sharp fangs. At the sight of the enormous water python, the surrounding crowd cried out in alarm. It was Instructor Ruolin's signature technique, Water Mandala.

Jia Lie Jun no longer held back. The Dou Qi throughout his body began to circulate, and an even more powerful aura erupted from him. His hands formed seals continuously as Dou Qi rapidly condensed into a faint spiral cone. As he kept pouring Dou Qi into it, the spiral cone gradually solidified. What Jia Lie Jun was using was the Azure Wind Vortex Fist, a Dou Technique perfected by the Ancestral Talisman. This was his first time using it. In his previous battles, he had only used the most basic Whirlwind Fist.

Water Mandala, a mid-level Mystic Tier Dou Technique.

Azure Wind Vortex Fist.

The water python and spiral cone collided in midair, deadlocked against each other. The cone spun at high speed, seemingly trying to drill through the water python, while the python's fangs clamped down tightly on it. With a thunderous bang, the spiral cone pierced through the giant python's head, but the cone itself also shattered into pieces and dissipated into the air. The powerful impact blasted toward Jia Lie Jun, sending him sliding more than ten meters before he came to a stop. The water python turned into raindrops and fell to the ground.