This Was Clearly an Old Man Toying with a Naughty Child!

She controlled Xiao Baichuan's body, drawing back slightly to put two steps between herself and Liu Ling.

Then she spoke in Xiao Baichuan's voice, yet with the casual air of an old hand.

"I gave you twenty moves. Now it's my turn."

Liu Ling's pupils contracted. Before he could react, Ling Xi had already moved.

She tucked her left hand behind her back, raised her right hand palm-up, and lightly curled her fingers.

"Come."

That single word sent fury blazing through Liu Ling. With a roar, he threw a punch with all his strength.

Ling Xi sidestepped it, smoothly laid her right hand on his wrist, and gave it a gentle tug.

Liu Ling's entire body was pulled off course, and he staggered two steps before regaining his balance.

He had only just steadied himself when Ling Xi's fingertip tapped his Jianjing acupoint with precise force, neither too light nor too heavy.

Liu Ling's shoulder went numb, and he could barely lift his arm.

Shocked and furious, he turned and attacked again.

Unhurried, Ling Xi reached out with her right hand again and flicked the inside of his elbow.

Liu Ling's elbow went weak, and his fist flew past Xiao Baichuan's ear.

Every time Ling Xi landed a move, she paused briefly, waiting for Liu Ling to recover before making her next move.

It was like teaching a slow student his lessons.

A tap to the shoulder, an elbow strike, a push at the waist, a pat on the back.

Every move had a clear purpose, and every move left precisely the right amount of leeway.

In the Sea of Consciousness, Xiao Baichuan watched without blinking, his eyes wide and round.

"Lecher, this emperor has demonstrated it in enough detail. If you can't even learn this, you'd better go back to farming."

What Ling Xi was doing now amounted to chewing the food into mush and feeding it straight into Xiao Baichuan's mouth.

If he still could not learn this way, one could only say that Xiao Baichuan had no talent for cultivation.

Of course, she did not believe Xiao Baichuan was truly that stupid.

Yao Chen also began to see what was going on, and the shock on his face deepened.

How was this a battle against someone above his level?

It was clearly an old man toying with a naughty child. From beginning to end, Liu Ling had never had the slightest chance of winning!

Every move Ling Xi made revealed an utterly natural mastery of form. Her movements were seasoned and steady, and her application of force was frighteningly precise.

This was nothing like the combat experience a teenage boy could possess.

Liu Ling was toyed with so thoroughly that he could not fight back at all. Every counterattack was casually neutralized, and every attack seemed to hand over his own openings.

The Xiao Clan disciples watching around them were dumbstruck as well.

"Th-this... since when could Young Master Bai Chuan fight so well?"

"Wasn't he still at the eighth stage in yesterday's test? How is he beating a One-Star Dou Zhe into submission?"

"No, no, that footwork, those moves-they're nothing like our Xiao Clan's!"

"Has Xiao Baichuan been hiding his strength, playing the pig to eat the tiger, or is Liu Ling all reputation and no substance, getting thrashed by someone below his level?"

The longer Liu Ling fought, the more stifled he felt. Listening to the chatter around him, his expression grew increasingly ugly.

A ruthless gleam flashed through his eyes.

He suddenly roared, no longer suppressing his cultivation. The Dou Qi within him surged violently, and his presence shot straight back from One-Star Dou Zhe to Five-Star Dou Zhe.

"Xiao Baichuan! Die!"

Liu Ling hurled a punch with all his strength, Dou Qi roaring toward him amid the wind of his fist.

The surrounding Xiao Clan disciples' expressions changed drastically.

"Liu Ling! You're shameless!"

"You agreed to suppress your cultivation!"

"You're actually cheating!"

Ling Xi had already anticipated Liu Ling's behavior.

She merely tilted her head slightly, and Liu Ling's fist flew past, brushing her hair.

Then Ling Xi said to Xiao Baichuan in the Sea of Consciousness,

"Watch closely. The last move."

Hearing this, Xiao Baichuan thought Ling Xi was about to teach him her most closely guarded trump card, and immediately watched even more attentively.

He even abandoned the move he had been halfway through rehearsing in his mind.

Controlling Xiao Baichuan, Ling Xi took two steps back, swiftly opening up the distance.

Seeing Xiao Baichuan retreat, Liu Ling thought his opponent could no longer hold out. A flash of delight crossed his eyes, and he pursued without hesitation.

Ling Xi raised her right hand, her movement as fast as lightning.

Her five fingers pressed together, Dou Qi adhering precisely to her fingertips and giving off a barely perceptible glow.

The instant Liu Ling rushed in front of her, Ling Xi's hand moved.

Jianjing, Danzhong, Tianshu, Zhangmen, Qihai.

Her fingertips tapped them in sequence, each strike sinking precisely into an acupoint, each one injecting a strand of Dou Qi.

Liu Ling only felt several spots on his body go numb. Before he could understand what had happened, Ling Xi's final palm strike had already pressed against his Qihai.

Then Ling Xi turned her wrist, and the Dou Qi in her palm erupted.

"Disperse."

All five acupoints were triggered in succession. Like a breached dam, the Dou Qi inside Liu Ling poured out through all five at once.

His expression changed drastically. Terrified, he tried to suppress it, only to discover he could not control it at all.

Dou Qi rampaged through his body, leaking ceaselessly from his acupoints as his presence plummeted.

Five-Star Dou Zhe, four-star, three-star, two-star, one-star!

It continued until he could not even maintain one-star, his Dou Qi so thin it seemed liable to disperse at any moment.

"No! My Dou Qi!"

Liu Ling screamed in terror.

Ling Xi gave him no chance to catch his breath. She raised a foot and kicked him in the chest.

Liu Ling went flying and crashed heavily to the ground, lying there like a dead dog, unable to get up again.

Dead silence fell all around.

The Xiao Clan disciples gaped, their eyes wide. For a long while, no one spoke.

Yao Chen's illusory beard trembled slightly, the shock in his eyes almost spilling over.

"Such skilled control of Dou Qi, along with impressive footwork and combat skills!"

"Even his combat awareness is absolutely top-notch!"

"This brat... just where did he come from?"

Meanwhile, Xiao Baichuan was excitedly savoring that last move in the Sea of Consciousness.

"Holy crap, detonating the Qi sea directly... no, planting Dou Qi in his acupoints, then using that Dou Qi to detonate the Qi sea!"

"Ling Xi, you're way too amazing!"

Ling Xi settled into a steady stance, lowered her left hand from behind her back, and lightly flicked her right hand, dispersing the Dou Qi.

Her movements were clean and elegant, and paired with Xiao Baichuan's handsome face,

he looked just like an immortal banished to the mortal world.

Xiao Baichuan watched from the Sea of Consciousness with shining eyes and could not wait to speak.

"Ling Xi, what's that move called?"

Ling Xi thought for a moment.

"Hmm... let's call it the Transforming Qi Palm."

Xiao Baichuan slapped his thigh.

"Transforming Qi Palm! Now that's a badass name!"

Then he asked another question.

"Is this your signature technique?"

Ling Xi glanced at him as though looking at an idiot.

"A move like this deserves to be this emperor's signature technique?"

Xiao Baichuan froze, then realized he had gotten carried away with excitement and asked a rather stupid question.

He gave an embarrassed laugh.

"Ahem, fair enough."

Ling Xi added in an even tone,

"This emperor created this move on the spot. It happens to suit battles between low-level Dou Zhe like you."

"However, this move demands considerable control over Dou Qi. Once you learn it, you can catch an enemy completely off guard."

After hearing this, Xiao Baichuan felt an indescribable envy.

A casually executed move was a self-created Dou Technique.

He truly wanted talent like that.

Then Ling Xi handed control of his body back to him.

Xiao Baichuan regained control of his body and moved his hands and feet, feeling considerably clearer and freer throughout his body.

Every move Ling Xi had made while fighting with his body seemed engraved in his mind.

Just as he was about to turn and return to his room, Yao Chen's voice suddenly rang out.

"You little brat."

"Hmm? What is it?"

There was a distinctly scrutinizing note in Yao Chen's voice.

"Tell me honestly."

"Is there another powerful expert by your side, someone I can't see, guiding you?"