Chapter 38: Spar // Friend's duties

"!!!"

Their bodies subconsciously trembled from the sudden dreadful aura that Tang Xiurong released.

However, not a second later, the aura disappeared and Tang Xiurong resumed to speak in a normal tone.

"Naturally, for meeting my expectations, I will impart to you a unique martial art."

Meixiang's face brightened up as she looked up to her master.

"Really master?!" She was all smiles as she was excited to learn more martial arts.

Tang Xiurong didn't merely give them the martial arts. Instead, she made it a reward. The more they succeeded in completing their task, the more bountiful their rewards became.

As of now, Tang Xiurong has only imparted three unique grade martial techniques. Two of them to Jingfei and one to Meixiang.

Jingfei was rewarded for possessing the most Beast cores, which also meant that she had the highest contribution in most of their hunts.

Her martial arts were simply too fit to hunt large beasts as well as perfect for cleaving or dismembering the limbs of the monster.

"Yes, really. Aside from the unique martial arts, I'm also giving you another martial art that would be a good inspiration to the martial arts you are creating."

Meixiang gasped. "R-really master?"

"What do you think?" Tang Xiurong continued to smirk.

Meixiang was so happy that she almost jumped towards her master, but she stopped herself because that would be too disrespectful.

But still, she was very grateful to her master as Meixiang knew that she only reached this stage because of her master's guidance.

Tang Xiurong simply nodded before turning towards Jingfei, and finally, Lan'er, who was kneeling beside Jingfei while in spirit form.

"Now then... are you two ready to walk on the path of cultivation?"

The two nodded excitedly while Tang Xiurong turned to Zed as well.

"How about you, boy?"

"I am willing to participate." Zed answered.

But inside his mind, he was calculating who was stronger between him and Meixiang. He was excited to see the power of the "Apex" of the mortal realm.

Feeling Zed's gaze, Meixiang smiled as she was thinking of the exact same thing.

She knew that Zed was powerful. Very powerful.

So, she was also interested to see how she would contend against Zed. Would she be able to make him go all out, or had she overtaken him?

There was only one way to find out...

Woosh!

Zed and Meixiang simultaneously disappeared, leaving Lan'er and Jingfei surprised.

Tang Xiurong already noticed their intentions and she did not stop them because she was also interested to see who was the stronger one between the two.

It wasn't before long when they felt a large clashing sound far away, towards the front of the mountain.

The two children instantly realize that it was Meixiang and Zed fighting in mid air.

Boom!

Rumble.. Rumble..

The clash was so loud that it made the mountain slightly tremble.

"Master!"

Lan'er looks at her master worriedly, but the latter simply replied, "We will not stop them."

She continued, "Instead, you must observe well. This is an opportunity to see a battle between those who have reached the peak in the mortal realm."

"Beings who are one step away from ascending into the Immortal realm."

Another strong trembling in the air dragged Jingfei and Lan'er's attention back to the fight.

Meixiang and Zed were flying in mid air, three hundred meters away in front of the lone mountain.

Zed's eye glewed a dangerous glint as magic circles appeared on his palm, all were ready to activate and cast the spell.

Similarly, Meixiang was making a sweet smile as her nascent soul stage aura was freely let loose, releasing a tremendous amount of pressure into the surroundings.

Zed grimaced as he had already begun to sweat just by being in the presence of this aura.

The two stared at each for a few seconds before their excitement couldn't be controlled any longer and engaged in combat.

[Dragon's Will: Raging storm]

Her explosive aura gathered and materialized into the body of a dragon. Its vivid details were outlined by the blue aura.

Blue scales, a large and long body that spiralled for several hundred meters, four limbs containing ferocious claws, and lastly, its serpent-like head growing with three sets of horns and long whiskers.

It opened its eyes menacingly as it roared.

"GROAAAAARRRRR!"

A terrifying shout echoed throughout the island, making one think that a real dragon had descended.

Jingfei and Lan'er stared in shock at the technique their sister had used.

No doubt, it was the supreme martial arts that she had created.

"M-master..."

The two turned to their master only to see the latter staring at the technique in disbelief before quickly recomposing herself.

"No way..." She muttered slightly to herself before going back to focus on the fight.

They were interested to see what Zed would do to defend from this attack.

Jingfei and Lan'er couldn't help but become slightly worried as their sister Mei's technique was very fearsome.

Zed on the other hand, remained calm as he observed and studied the features of Meixiang's dragon.

Unfortunately, only a few seconds after its roar, Meixiang moved the dragon as it headed towards Zed.

Woosh!

It rushed at Zed at full speed, but the latter simply maneuvered beside it. Just as he dodged to the side, Meixiang suddenly appeared before him and launched an attack.

[Raging Bull: Palm Strike]

Qi was instantly imbued in her palms as she tried to strike Zed's belly.

Though she wholeheartedly trusted Zed and was confident that he could defend against her attack, She was still worried about him.

But still, she respected Zed so she did not hesitate in the slightest bit.

"Huh?"

Contrary to her expectation, her attack did not hit anything and instead, she was blown away by a strong force of wind.

WOOSH!

Like a pressuring hurricane, Meixiang was suspended in mid air as she tried to withstand the wind.

"Krhk!" Meixiang groaned as the wind pressure was too strong.

Knowing when to retreat, Meixiang decided that it would be best to get out of the hurricane.

Just as she was thinking so, The wind suddenly stopped.

But not a second later-

BOOM!

She was bombarded with large balls of fire.

From Zed's back, four large fire balls simultaneously appeared and launched towards Meixiang.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Continuous explosions occurred as Meixiang kept defending from the hot and burning force of the fireballs.

"Damn it..."

Under the barrage of fireballs, Meixiang found herself focusing on defense. The fireballs were simply too big and too fast for her to dodge.

If she lets go of her defenses, she would undoubtedly be injured.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

"Ready to give up yet?" Zed shouted from afar.

Meixiang scoffed and shouted back. "I refuse to believe you can keep this up!"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Is that so?" Zed snickers while looking at his mana reserves that were still near full tank.

It meant that Zed was capable of nonchalantly releasing attacks with this kind of firepower.

By now, a minute had probably passed and he had sent out 70-80 fireballs, all with the same sizes and power.

And even still, his mana reserves were barely depleted.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Although Zed was confident in winning against her in a battle of attrition, the spar would lose its meaning as both of them remained in a stalemate.

While thinking that, the continuous fireballs ended its assault and Meixiang could finally move.

Not wasting a second, the dragon she had made earlier suddenly appeared beneath Zed. Its head was so large that Zed looked like a fly getting swallowed by a dog.

"Ho?"

Zed's brow raised in interest as he realized that the dragon had disappeared and reappeared underneath him. This time, it appeared 10 meters beneath him so he did not have enough time to dodge and even if he did, Zed knows that Meixiang was prepared to steer it towards him.

[Intermediate-level Water Magic: Bula]

Before Zed was swallowed by the dragon, he activated the defensive spell of water mages. Water mages were the most versatile mages since they were able to provide healing and support as well as both offense and defense.

However, they did not specialize in any particular field unlike Fire mages who had the most offensive power. Nature mages in healing and regeneration. Earth mages in defensive power and terrestrial advantage. Wind mages in movement and transportation.

Going back to the fight, water appeared and surrounded Zed, making him stay in a human-sized water orb.

CHOMP!

The dragon mercilessly swallowed Zed whole.

Inside the dragon's mouth, he was surrounded by a strong raging Qi that ferociously kept twisting and turning.

If not for the defensive bubble, Zed would no doubt have been shredded to pieces.

'Interesting...'

Seeing that the qi was unable to tear through his defense, He took the time to observe the interior of the dragon.

Earlier, he saw that the dragon dispersed in the air. He thought it was just a short duration attack, but it suddenly materialized under him as soon as Meixiang willed it.

She did not go into a stance and it was as if the dragon only became invisible.

'Is that it? Invisibility? Or maybe teleportation? In any case... how did it appear so close to me?'

'If that was possible, then why didn't she do it in the beginning? Hmmm...'

Zed's eyes narrowed as he began to analyze the properties of the dragon before judging that he would need to interact with it some more.

[Basic-level Fire Magic: Ignis]

[Intermediate-level Wind Magic: Secare]

[Intermediate-level Wind Magic: Scalpere]

[Intermediate-level Fire Magic: Ardere]

One after another, powerful spells were cast to bombard inside the Dragon.

Zed attempted to use this to destroy the dragon, but as it turned out, the dragon was a lot harder and stronger than he thought.

20% of his mana reserves have been deducted while all his attacks failed to make any damage. He felt as if he was going through a blender, while razor sharp steels made out of Qi were constantly shredding his defensive spells.

He had to recast it several times in order to remain safe.

It had been about two minutes since he was swallowed and he heard an echo-like voice of Meixiang.

"Giving up yet?"

While she did sound confident, Zed noticed the slight trembling in her voice.

He couldn't tell whether it was nervousness for his well being or because the technique was sapping away her strength.

Either way, It was an opportunity for Zed.

Which was why-

[Advanced-level Water Magic: Torrienta Fluctus]

It was an extremely powerful spell that would generate a large amount of water to become a brutal tidal wave that would crush anything in its way.

It was one of the offensive spells that Water Mages in the 7th mana circle could release.

But for Zed, 'An entire 10% huh?'

Which meant that he had 70% left of his mana reserves.

The result was remarkable as a large amount of violent water was generated inside the Dragon's belly.

The violent water spun alongside the Dragon's blender-like innards and seconds later, water filled the entire Dragon.

Zed's eyes glowed bright blue as he continued to release more violent water in large amounts.

'56%... Still not enough?'

Zed guessed that Meixiang was guiding the dragon to spit out the excessive amount of water, but this only made him more determined to destroy the Dragon from the inside.

'Let's go all out for once....'

Thinking that, Zed spent a total of 20% of his mana all at once.

-

From outside, Meixiang was observing what was happening inside her dragon. She was surprised to see the countless powerful attacks that Zed released.

Fortunately, it didn't seem to have any effect on her dragon. She smiles, 'After all, that is a supreme martial technique made by yours truly.'

Seeing Zed stop when he realized that his attacks were fruitless, Meixiang thought it was the time to offer him to surrender.

"Giving up yet?"

However, Zed didn't answer as he began to do something new.

Strong surging water suddenly came out from his body which clashed along the shredding innards of the Dragon.

Seeing that this attack was leaving lasting damage, she immediately willed the dragon to spit out the water, but Zed's output was simply too much.

It didn't take long for her dragon to bloat from its belly before eventually-

POP!

Wooosh!

The dragon exploded as large amount of water, enough to fill an entire river, violently rained from the skies.

The forest below was destroyed as the water kept creating violent currents, leaving a tremendous amount of damage towards the forest it fell on.

At the same time, Meixiang violently coughed blood as she suffered from the repercussion of having her technique destroyed.

Zed shot out through the midst of the falling body of water and flew directly towards Meixiang.

But, the latter had yet to recover nor assume a stance, so she ended up being surrounded by large balls of fire, almost roasting her.

Violent wind spinning on top and below her made it difficult for her to breathe in the heated air.

All the spells remained steady as Zed spoke. "I'd say this is checkmate."

Meixiang grimaced with a pained expression. Sweat was dripping from her forehead while there was a trail of blood coming from her mouth.

She was in no state to continue the fight and so said, "I give up."

Immediately, the fireballs and suspended wind disappeared all at once.

Meixiang felt slightly weak and failed to stabilize her flight, leading her to fall from the skies.

"Oh no.." She cursed as this was the first time she had flown by herself.

The ability of flight was exculsive for cultivators in the nascent soul stage.

She closed her eyes, but the next thing she knew, she was caught in the arms of someone.

Meixiang was grateful as she felt the slow and gentle wind brush up against her body. She opened her eyes to see Zed's remarkable face who was in turn, staring right back at her.

Before she could drown in her fantasies once more, she realized that she was actually being carried bridal-style.

She grew red as her perverted mind started making countless fantasies while feeling his strong arms wrap around her body.

"Are you alright?" Zed asked because Meixiang didn't seem to be acting properly.

Thinking that this was her chance, she pretended to be weak and snuggled closer to Zed's chest, her hands shamelessly feeling the latter's pectoral muscles.

Zed didn't find anything weird while diagnosing Meixiang's state. She had a paled face and a sweating forehead.

Her lips had a trail of blood coming from it, which he removed using the sleeves of his robes.

He conjured a simple medicine that would help her regenerate more blood and some nutrients.

After making her drink them, Zed thought it was better to fly at a slower pace since he had a patient in his arms.

He also looked around and noticed that during their battle, they had traveled over a kilometer away from the lone mountain.

By the time they arrived back at the peak of the lone mountain, Lan'er and Jingfei were looking at them in admiration- is what Zed thought, but in reality, the two girls were staring daggers at Meixiang.

The latter on the other hand even took this time to sleep in his arms.

"I'll put her to bed." Zed stated while proceeding to walk towards their cottage.

Lan'er in spirit form was looking at them in jealousy while Jingfei had envious gazes towards her peacefully sleeping sister Mei.

Entering the house, Zed made his way towards Meixiang's room and gently lay down Meixiang on her bed.

As soon as he did so, Meixiang's arms suddenly wrapped around his head and pulled him towards the bed, making him lie down beside the "Sleeping" Meixiang.

Zed didn't resist too much since he was worried that it would cause Meixiang to slightly hurt herself, but he did wonder what the heck was up with her.

"I know you're awake, what do you want?"

Meixiang continued to pretend to be asleep while hugging Zed's neck tightly, but not to the point of suffocation.

"Meixiang?" Zed called out once more before sighing as he figured out what she wanted.

He laid in the bed properly and scooped up Meixiang's head unto his right arm. Zed then gently began caressing her head with his right hand.

The bed stayed silent as the two of them remained like that for quite some time.

Eventually, Zed spoke in a gentle manner. "Your father... he would be proud of you."

Meixiang slightly trembled when she heard what Zed said.

Her eyes began to well up in tears as she asked back. "D-do... do you think he's still alive? That the Xia Kingdom is still the same?"

Zed knew that Meixiang was always bothered by that throughout these past years. Her heart was never settled, as she kept worrying about the state of her family and kingdom.

"I don't know, Meixiang... In this world, there are no guarantees in life."

He continued, "But what I do know, is that your father isn't one to settle down without a fight. He is a courageous and ferocious man... much like yourself."

"He's the type of person who lives by the rule, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

Meixiang slightly smiled. "You're right about that."

"Of course I am. Didn't you know? I'm a master at grasping people's characters." Zed tried to joke to lighten up the conversation.

But Meixiang didn't respond to his joke as she continued to speak about her worries.

"But do you think... I have done enough? Was I able to live up to my father's expectations?"

She thought that Zed would comfort her, but the latter snorted before speaking. "Enough? I don't know if you're genuinely asking that or you're simply boasting, but, I'll remind you of what you have achieved."

While lying down beside each other, Zed cupped Meixiang's chin with his left hand and tilted her head towards him.

He spoke in a serious tone. "You are the youngest person to have reached the Nascent soul stage, the realm before becoming an Immortal."

"I don't know what set of expectations he had for you, but without a doubt, You have far exceeded them!"

Zed smiled warmly. "So stand up with pride and show an attitude befitting of that accomplishment."

Meixiang's smile trembled as she hugged Zed deeply before nodding.

Stuck to his chest, Meixiang spoke. "You're right... thanks, friend."

"No problem."

"I love you..." Meixiang whispered inaudibly.

Zed felt her lips move on his chest so he asked. "What was that?"

Meixiang shook her head. "It's nothing."

Edited By: WorthyAdversary