Being a Saint since the age of myth

"Only that guy Hasgard enjoys teaching, patiently telling them practically the same things every day."

"But you and I both know that awakening the Sixth Sense, Manas, also requires a certain amount of talent."

"Without talent, even memorizing every Gold Saint's training experience backward won't let them break through!"

"That's true!"

Wuxin did not argue.

As an anomaly who cultivated incredibly quickly, a "genius" in other people's eyes, he could clearly see how vast the gap between him and ordinary people was.

It was enough to drive someone to despair.

"So giving them a few pointers occasionally is fine, but doing it every single day? I really can't take that!" Manigoldo shrugged helplessly.

"All right, all right, stop complaining. Let's have a proper spar!" Wuxin walked to an open space nearby and gestured to him.

"Sure, it's about time I stretched my legs!" Setting down his water flask, Manigoldo jumped down from the boulder after him.

"Hey, wait! Senior brother, you're not planning to spar with me wearing that Gold Cloth, are you? That would be way too unfair!" Wuxin hurriedly called Cancer to a stop.

"Oh, if you hadn't mentioned it, I would've completely forgotten!" Manigoldo laughed, then pressed one hand against the armor on his chest.

Clang!

With a series of crisp metallic clinks, the Cloth on Manigoldo's body disassembled itself and reassembled into a giant golden crab, settling onto the boulder.

Chapter 38: Sparring with Cancer (part two)

"All right, no problems now!"

Manigoldo stretched his arms and legs, casually shattering a nearby boulder taller than a man with a punch, then added, "I'll suppress my strength to roughly your level. Anything else you want to add?"

"No!"

Wuxin shook his head.

"Then I won't hold back! Let's see what you've learned in Jamir, little junior brother!" Manigoldo laughed and immediately accelerated toward him.

Bang, bang, bang!

The two immediately began a probing exchange at close range, their fists and palms colliding with a steady series of dull thuds.

In mere moments, they had exchanged dozens of blows, sweeping all the loose stones from the battlefield.

However, they had trained under the same master and were thoroughly familiar with each other's moves and routines, so after dozens of exchanges, they remained evenly matched, neither gaining the slightest advantage.

"Junior brother, looks like your time in Jamir wasn't wasted!" Manigoldo praised him as they fought.

"Master Hakurei and Yuzuriha both taught me a lot, but I still feel it's not enough!" Wuxin replied while defending.

"Indeed!"

Manigoldo grinned. "In terms of moves alone, you're already very proficient, but your actual combat experience is still lacking!"

As he spoke, he deliberately exposed an opening, as though talking had distracted him.

Without time to think much, Wuxin instinctively seized the chance and punched.

In an instant, his right fist bypassed Manigoldo's defenses, slipping smoothly beneath his arm.

Bang!

The solid punch landed squarely on Manigoldo's chest and sent him flying, but Wuxin felt no joy whatsoever.

His instincts told him something was wrong this time.

Manigoldo's strength far exceeded his, and his combat experience was much greater too. There was no reason Wuxin should have spotted an opening first.

While Wuxin was puzzling over this, the smile on Manigoldo's face grew even brighter.

"Sometimes, the opening you see isn't necessarily a real opening. It could very well be one your enemy deliberately shows you!"

As he spoke, Manigoldo, who had taken Wuxin's punch head-on, clamped his legs around Wuxin's waist the moment his feet left the ground.

"Oh no!"

Seeing that familiar movement, Wuxin immediately understood what he intended to do.

Unfortunately, he had fully committed to his attack and could no longer change moves to defend himself.

"Cancer Pincer Death Grip!"

With his legs clamped around Wuxin's waist, Manigoldo leaned backward with the momentum, then planted both hands on the ground and pushed.

In an instant, he became like a taut rubber band, tightening his legs while forcefully hurling Wuxin away.

Boom!

Wuxin shot out like a cannonball, crashing straight into a large rock nearby and smashing the entire thing to pieces.

Manigoldo pushed with both hands again, springing straight off the ground before landing firmly on his feet.

However, he did not press his advantage. Still wearing a teasing smile, he said, "When you face an equally strong enemy and can't find an opening right away, you need to consider drawing one out of them!"

"So..."

Wuxin climbed to his feet, understanding dawning on him. "So you deliberately show someone an opening, making them think they've found an opportunity, which causes them to expose an opening themselves."

Normally, when two opponents were locked in a stalemate, their vigilance was also at its highest, and they would rarely expose an opening.

But things were different if someone deliberately baited them.

In that tense state, once they spotted an opening in their enemy's defenses, they would instinctively seize the chance to attack, just as he had.

At the same time, that sudden opportunity would cause an enemy whose defenses had been airtight to neglect their own defense while attacking.

To put it simply, "To take, one must first give."

"Good, you're quick on the uptake. Let's continue!"

Manigoldo nodded and lunged at him again.

Wuxin did not retreat, meeting him head-on as they launched into another fierce round of close combat.

As before, they traded blows back and forth, neither gaining the slightest advantage.

Having already suffered once, Wuxin fought even more cautiously this time. Manigoldo exposed several openings, but he never rashly pursued them.

This left their second round even more deadlocked.

But Manigoldo was Manigoldo, after all.

Blocking another punch from Wuxin, he used its force to retreat, opening up the distance again while gathering his Cosmo at his fingertip.

He smiled and said, "Sometimes, being cautious enough doesn't mean you can handle every unexpected turn."

As he spoke, he thrust a finger forward.

"Sekishiki Meikai Ha!"

In an instant, seven or eight streams of silver energy flew from his fingertip, darting toward Wuxin like nimble snakes.

"Not good!"

Knowing how dangerous this move was, Wuxin did not dare try to block it. He likewise accelerated backward, gathering his Cosmo at his fingertip.

Moves that could directly attack the soul were generally difficult to defend against. Others could only dodge desperately when faced with them.

But Wuxin happened to know the same move, so that problem naturally did not exist for him. He could simply counter it with a move of the same nature.

Unfortunately, the idea was beautiful, but reality was harsh.

Manigoldo had prepared in advance, catching Wuxin off guard. Before he could finish gathering power for his move, those silver streams had already caught up with him, completely blocking his front, back, left, and right, cutting off any chance of dodging further.

"I'm done for!"

He sighed helplessly, watching several streams of silver energy pierce his body from different directions.

Then his vision blurred, and his soul was pulled out of his body by the Sekishiki, floating in midair.

"You lost again, little junior brother!" Manigoldo declared smugly, hands on his hips.

"All right, all right!"

Wuxin offered no excuses and readily admitted defeat.

This time, he had learned something new again.

Using a finishing move did not necessarily require openly announcing one's intentions. It could be concealed within ordinary attacks, then unleashed at the crucial moment to decide the outcome.

This could both lower the enemy's guard and increase one's chances of success.

Soon, his soul consciousness returned to his body, and the two began another round of fighting.

Only after ten consecutive rounds of combat, with Wuxin losing all ten, did the two stop, panting.

"All right, that's enough for today!"

Manigoldo put on his Cloth and added, "As for how much you learn from this, that's entirely up to you."

"See you next time, little junior brother!"

With that, he casually draped his cape over his shoulders, waved with his back to Wuxin, and vanished from the spot.

Chapter 39: Rampaging number four

After ten rounds of sparring with Manigoldo, Wuxin had learned a great deal.

But he also needed time to slowly digest it and absorb it all thoroughly.

Thus, in the days that followed, Wuxin began challenging the other Saints in Sanctuary, just as Tenma did, not even passing over Bronze Saints weaker than himself.

Although those Bronze Saints seemed weaker than him, that did not mean they truly had nothing to offer.

By fighting different people, Wuxin could also gain a great deal of practical combat experience.

That was also what he lacked most at present.

As he accumulated extensive combat experience, Wuxin's strength also increased rapidly, reaching a level of nearly three hundred thousand times the speed of sound.

Before he knew it, the day of the contest for the Cloth had finally arrived.

On this special day, apart from those away on missions, most of the Saints gathered at the arena, ready to enjoy the spectacle.