A white tiled room was silent. Only the sounds of breathing could be heard. Cuojue woke up from her sleep.
She rubbed her eye and took a look of her surroundings. She tried to recall what happened before ending up in this situation. And what hit her next was the last bittersweet moments with her father.
Cuojue took awhile to calm down and wiped away the last droplet or water that remained in her eyes. She smiled, one that was free from sadness and worries, a pure one. She prayed that Wuqing would have a beautiful afterlife.
Cuojue than thought "Wheres Pyun?" and looked around.
She saw Pyun on the smooth looking floor, not showing signs of being awake. Cuojue quickly cupped the round ball and held it near her chest.
Cuojue than looked at Pyun with a thankful gaze and rubbed it's shiny surface. She knew that Pyun had created a hologram of Wuqing and was grateful that it did so. She understood that because of the stress and pressure that she broke down and her connections to her previous life resurfaced. No matter what she did these 6 years, she still couldn't let go of her attachments on earth.
With what Pyun had done for her gave her the strength to let go of her past and move on. All these while, she felt that she wasn't really herself, but today, she truly felt that she was Cuojue. She finally got to say goodbye to her father, no longer any regrets. Now she was a step closer to get out of that broken shell. The very self who locked the pain away. Now her eyes that were once devoid of light was filled with colour.
Cuojue was no longer in the mood to train and decided to rest with Pyun. She wanted to instead take care of Pyun to show her gratitude.
She asked the arcnobots to clean up the training room and kept the other harbringer in her inventory before leaving.
***
It has been a few days after her last moments with her father, Wuqing. Cuojue had been training. Her skills had made progress and she started to feel that the barrier that was holding her back when she practice martial arts was beginning to crack. She had also progressed her cultivation to 3 Star Realm and could now lift 300kg or more.
Here were her current stats
She had spent more time with her little brother and also fed him food once in awhile. She also frequently chatted with her parents and grandfather on WhatsIn in their group chat.
"Father and grandfather are saying that negotiations are failing again and that war may erupt. They said that I don't have to worry...but won't that just make me more worried? Hah...." Cuojue spoke to herself while she was walking down the halls and sighed.
Cuojue had just finished her private tuition with her tutor and was on the way to get a quick snack. As she was nearing the backyard of the mansion, she heard the bonking of wood. Cuojue followed the sound and saw multiple man sparring one another while the a man with a sharp beard and shaggy hair overlooking their training. He had black eyes and a long nose. Appearance wise, he looked ok. It was the gaurd captain of the huang family, Keane Fong.
Keane who was focused on his men sensed Cuojue and greeted the young lady of the house with a professional bow.
"Miss Cuojue, It nice to see you lively and well. These old bones are happy that you have come to overseer our training."
"It's ok Uncle Keane, I have just reached 3 Star Realm today! And i wanted to participate in the gaurd's training." Her eyes were shining while she puffed her B cup chest out.
Keane who heard that was happy that the young miss wanted to train with them. But he remained a stoic face and waved for Cuojue to come to his side.
"Thank you Uncle Keane. Sorry for the trouble."
"Its alright. You are not a bother and it is also good for you if you trained with us once in awhile. How about you try sparring with them? Jake! You lazy buffoon! Come here!"
A young man who had sharp blue hair and blue eyes walked over with a slouched posture. His face was slightly better than average, but if only his nature wasn't a lazy one, many girls would ask him out.
Jake yawned and walked over before saluting, but remained that of a tired face.
Keane introduced him.
"Miss, this is Jake Kung, a gaurd captain candidate and had recently begun to live in this premise. His parents went on a vacation and left him with me. He is trustworthy and has is very capable, but he doesn't listen to anyone else but me. Hah..."
Keane sighed, remembering how much of a pain it was to get him to listen. He had to always beat him into submission.
Cuojue greeted him with a smile.
"Hello, my name is Cuojue Huang. Nice to meet you Jake."
Cuojue also used inspection. And just like she expected, she could only see question marks
Jake who was opposite of her showed no reaction and just dug his ear like he didn't hear anything, but he also felt that she could see into his soul and shivered. He didn't understand this feeling and just put it aside like his imagination.
Suddenly, a large fist pounded on his head. "Gah!" Jake shouted in pain.
"Greet the young miss of the huang family, if you show her disrespect, I will kick you off this planet." Keane glared at him like a demon, waiting to pounce at his prey. His loyalty to Cuojue was really great.
Jake had no other choice but to greet Cuojue with 'respect'. "Hello, mis-"
Knowing Jake wouldn't completely listen, Keane glared at him again, but this time twice the pressure.
Scared, Jake took a straightened posture with a salute and greeted properly this time.
"My name is Jake Kung! It is a pleasure to work for Miss Cuojue and the Huang Family!"
Jake was sweating alot.
Cuojue smiled and spoke with a kind voice.
"Its ok, you can relax, everyone who is willing to serve us is a family. The same goes for you too."
Jake who stared at her beautiful smile thought (Maybe it isn't so bad to serve her afterall.)
Jake was biased to rich people, thinking they were arrogant and didn't care much about others. But this misconception turned out to be half wrong when he met Cuojue. Really, beauty can be a scary thing.
"Now Jake, Miss Cuojue here would like to join today's training and you would be her sparring partner. Is this fine with you young miss?"
Keane looked over to cuojue for confirmation.
Cuojue gave a nod and made a determined face while Jake had no other choice but to nod. He was slaved to this man when he is around. Although he was tired and lazy, he was feeling a bit expectant to face the young lady of the Huang Family.
Keane ordered all the men to stop training and asked them to make space, they made a ring around an open field to spectate the spar between Cuojue and Jake.
Jake stood on one end of the field, training spear in hand and was laidback, while Cuojue who was on the other side held two training daggers and had a relaxed posture.
All the gaurds cheered. They sided with both Cuojue and Jake. Jake had the most support since he is well-known for his martial-arts in the spear.
"Both participants, the first person to get knocked out or concedes loses and other is the winner. Jake make sure to restrict your cultivation to 3 Star Realm."
Jake nodded and got into stance. He pushed his cultivation to 3 Star Realm and locked it down. Cuojue also got into an awkward stance. Dagger in front at her waist level and the other on her hip.
Jake saw her posture and thought she was inexperiencd and could hurt herself. This was the first time he felt worried for a girl 20 years younger than him, whom looked frail and could break easily. He warned Cuojue.
"Young miss, shouldn't you cancel this match? You don't seem strong enough to hold your own."
Cuojue who heared what he said felt offended and corrected him.
"It's ok, I am confident that I can handle myself fine. It is you who should handle yourself. Please don't hold back." Her eyes flickered flames.
Jake heard these words for the first time felt his blood boil.
'What a strong determination. I hope she doesn't dissapoint.'
"Very well young miss, don't blame me if you get injured." His hesitation and his underestimation of her were gone. But he still felt reluctant to hurt her.
Keane started the counted down with his gruffy voice.
"3...2...1...BEGIN!"
They both didn't move. Either side could not find an opening. Jake had this feeling that she had no openings even if her posture was weird. While Cuojue was impressed that Jake showed no openings either and that he decided to distance himself. So cuojue decided to play the waiting game.
1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes.
Jake felt it was like forever, tension was growing and was starting to feel that he had to make the first move, when suddenly he saw an opening.
(Her both hands lowered and her front is exposed!)
Jake dashed forward like lightning, not giving her a chance to recollect herself. His spear thrust forward like a missile. Aiming straight for Cuojue's chest.
When it seemed like he was about to hit, everything happened so fast that it was surprising Jake managed to react in time.
It was a trap!
Cuojue allowed her body to drop so low that it went under the spear and she thrusted both of her daggers at his adam's apple. Scared out of his wits and with his reaction speed Jake managed to pull back his spear in time to block the strike.
Cuojue who saw everything in slow motion expected the block and shifted her legs abit more. (Ninth Form - Wraith's Point-Hit)
Both of her hands turned black along with the daggers and made contact with Jake's spear. Jake was then sent flying into the air.
(Kgh! Such power!) Jake who was flung felt his hands numb and almost letting go of his spear. He was surprised by the strength behind those small hands.
Cuojue than made a follow up move.
(Illusion Cleave + Wraith's Point-Hit!)
Cuojue disappeared like air and appeared above Jake. She sent her right leg down like an axe that was covered in darkness.
Jake who saw her darkened leg quickly spun around and used his own martial arts.
(Dragon's Spin + Counter Flow!)
Both moves clashed and Jake was sent flying down. Using the momentum and the remaining power he had left in his swing along with Cuojue's kick, Jake slammed his spear into the ground and softened his impact. He then stabilized himself quickly and use his foot technique to get out of the dust cloud.
Jake was sweating, he almost became a painting in the ground. Even though he had suppressed his cultivation and had alot of experience, he felt alot of pressure from Cuojue. His hands was numb and he had a thought.
(This girl is a monster. Is she really 6 years old? But the pressure I'm feeling from her is like facing an old expert.)
Now Jake no longer deemed her weak and truly took her as a worthy opponent.
When the dust cloud cleared Cuojue was no where in sight. Jake focused his senses and quickly jumped to his right and swung his spear to his left. And a loud boom sound occured. He was lucky to have felt her pressence at the last minute or he would have been on the ground bawling out stomache juice.
Cuojue had used (Elusive Steps + Silent Palm) to stealthily deal a heavy attack, but it seemed like Jake was really capable. Jake had managed to block her attack and allowed his body to fly back to gain distance.
"Young miss, you are truly incredible. Let me apologise for my rude behaviour earlier. But now I no longer feel the need to hold back."
Cuojue smiled and gestured for him to come.
'Thats what I want~ Don't hold back!'