As Liu Ling listened to the mockery around him, his clenched fists cracked, and his face alternated between green and white.
He abruptly raised his head, a vicious glint flashing in his eyes.
"Xiao Baichuan, enough of your clever tongue!"
"I, Liu Ling, ask you one thing today: do you dare fight me?"
Liu Ling's chest heaved violently. He suddenly drew the longsword at his waist and pointed its tip straight at Xiao Baichuan.
"Xiao Baichuan! If you're a man, fight me!"
Xiao Baichuan looked down at the sword gleaming with cold light, then back up at Liu Ling, as though looking at an idiot.
"Is something wrong with your brain?"
"I'm at the eighth stage of Dou Qi, and you're a five-star Dou Zhe. You want me to fight you?"
The surrounding Xiao Clan disciples joined in condemning him.
"Exactly! A five-star Dou Zhe challenging someone at the eighth stage of Dou Qi? Have you no shame?"
"Is this guy here to make us laugh?"
"Why did Miss Nalan bring an idiot like this to break off the engagement?"
Listening to the surrounding mockery, Liu Ling's face turned green and white, and even his sword hand trembled.
He abruptly sheathed his longsword and spoke through gritted teeth.
"I'll suppress my cultivation, use only the strength of a one-star Dou Zhe, and won't use any Dou Techniques!"
Xiao Baichuan looked at him as though he were an imbecile.
The surrounding Xiao Clan disciples burst into even louder laughter.
"A one-star Dou Zhe against the eighth stage? Isn't that still bullying?"
"Is this guy sick in the head?"
"Xiao Baichuan, ignore him. Let him stand here by himself."
Seeing that he had lost all face, Liu Ling simply smashed the already cracked pot.
"Xiao Baichuan! What will it take for you to fight me?"
Xiao Baichuan did not hurry to respond.
Leaning against the doorframe, he rubbed his chin and asked in his mind.
"Ling Xi, you seem pretty bored too. Want to stretch your muscles?"
Ling Xi looked as though none of this concerned her.
"Not interested. He's just a junior. It would disgrace this Empress even to make a move."
Seeing that Ling Xi did not want to act, Xiao Baichuan immediately tried persuading her again.
"Oh, my lady Empress, for a Dou Di as wise and mighty as you, if I couldn't behold your heroic bearing, it would be a lifelong regret."
"Just think of it as granting this tiny wish of mine."
Ling Xi grew somewhat annoyed by his pestering.
"Enough, enough. Stop nagging."
"This Empress agrees. All those pretty words-don't you just want to borrow my hand to slap him in the face, then secretly learn some of my combat skills?"
Even after Ling Xi exposed him, Xiao Baichuan felt no shame. After all, he was the only one with such an opportunity right now. He had to treasure it and improve his strength!
"But your cultivation is too low. Go borrow some Soul Force from that old man. Not much, just enough for a one-star Dou Zhe."
Hearing this, Xiao Baichuan immediately called for Yao Chen.
"Old man, lend me some Soul Force. I want to fight him and improve myself."
Yao Chen raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure? He's a five-star Dou Zhe."
Xiao Baichuan grinned.
"Don't worry, I know my limits. You don't need to give me much. A one-star Dou Zhe's worth is enough."
Yao Chen did not refuse. After all, fighting someone above his level would be a great help to Xiao Baichuan.
An illusory finger touched Xiao Baichuan between the brows, and a wisp of pure Soul Force poured into his body.
The Dou Qi in Xiao Baichuan's Qi sea suddenly surged, his presence climbing steadily.
Sensing the Soul Force within his body, Ling Xi instinctively used Xiao Baichuan's body to make a disparaging remark.
"So weak."
Yao Chen immediately bristled at that.
"You're at the eighth stage of Dou Qi, and you call my power weak?"
"At my peak, I could crush someone to death with a casual flick of my finger..."
Only then did Ling Xi remember that she was currently using Xiao Baichuan's body, and she hurriedly interrupted him with a cough.
"Ahem, nothing. Go on."
Yao Chen gave her a suspicious look. He felt that Xiao Baichuan's tone just now had been rather strange, but did not dwell on it.
Controlling Xiao Baichuan's body, Ling Xi walked straight toward Liu Ling in the courtyard.
Everyone around them noticed that Xiao Baichuan's presence had suddenly become much stronger.
"Hmm? Why has Young Master Bai Chuan's presence changed?"
"These Dou Qi fluctuations... a one-star Dou Zhe?!"
"What? Young Master Bai Chuan has broken through to Dou Zhe?"
"That's not right. He was still at the eighth stage during yesterday's test. How could he become a Dou Zhe in one day?"
"He must have used some secret technique to raise his strength temporarily."
Liu Ling also sensed the change in Xiao Baichuan. He raised an eyebrow, then gave a disdainful sneer.
"Heh, it's nothing but a secret technique to increase your strength temporarily."
He lifted his chin, his tone brimming with conceit.
"In that case, don't say I'm bullying you."
"I won't use Dou Techniques, and I'll suppress my cultivation to a one-star Dou Zhe so we can have a fair duel!"
With that, Liu Ling circulated his cultivation method, suppressing his presence from a five-star Dou Zhe to a one-star Dou Zhe.
Although his presence weakened somewhat, the confidence on his face did not diminish in the slightest.
Today, he was going to teach this greenhorn who knew neither the height of heaven nor the depth of earth a proper lesson and vent Miss Nalan's anger for her.
Then Miss Nalan would surely see him in a new light!
Ling Xi stood there without answering, merely looking at him as though he were mentally deficient.
Meanwhile, Xiao Baichuan was extremely excited inside the Sea of Consciousness.
Sexy deal... pfft, an ancient Empress personally giving me one-on-one instruction.
At that moment, he felt like the happiest person under heaven!
Liu Ling moved first.
Pushing off with his toes, he shot forward, his five fingers curled into claws as he aimed straight for Xiao Baichuan's face with the Dou Qi of a one-star Dou Zhe.
Ling Xi remained motionless until the instant before that hand reached the tip of her nose, then shifted slightly to the side.
Liu Ling's hand brushed past the edge of her clothing without touching a single hair.
Liu Ling froze for a moment, then changed his move, sweeping an elbow back across.
Ling Xi tilted her head back slightly, and the point of his elbow narrowly swept past her chin.
Gritting his teeth, Liu Ling unleashed one move after another-fists, palms, knees, elbows-his attacks pouring down like a torrential rain.
Yet Ling Xi was like a leaf drifting on the wind, weaving lightly through the storm.
A shift left, a dodge right, a lean forward, a tilt back.
Each attack missed by a hair's breadth; each was evaded at just the right moment.
Liu Ling attacked faster and faster, growing more and more frantic. Sweat began to bead on his forehead, and his breathing gradually grew heavy.
From beginning to end, however, Ling Xi's feet had barely left their original spots.
In Xiao Baichuan's and Ling Xi's eyes, this was merely a live lesson.
But to Liu Ling and the Xiao Clan members watching the spectacle, Xiao Baichuan was toying with Liu Ling!
Hidden inside the Storage Ring, Yao Chen's illusory pupils contracted slightly.
"This movement technique... how is he using it so proficiently..."
He murmured under his breath, his tone filled with incredulous shock.
"This boy couldn't grasp it just now. How did he suddenly..."
Halfway through his words, Yao Chen abruptly stopped.
He narrowed his eyes, carefully studying Xiao Baichuan's every movement.
Footwork, movement, center of gravity, rhythm.
These were clearly instincts possessed only by a veteran of a hundred battles!
No, he was more seasoned than a veteran!
Yao Chen had lived for who knew how many years and seen countless powerful experts, yet he had never seen a movement technique like the one before him.
"Could this boy be hiding some secret even I don't know about?"
Yao Chen murmured to himself inside the Storage Ring. He realized that he seemed to be finding Xiao Baichuan somewhat inscrutable.
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