A week had passed since Kong Xiang and Li Luo met Ding Xiaolong. After receiving the gifts, Ding Peng had specially thanked them and personally took them home with his private chariot. If he was surprised upon seeing the dilapidated shack they lived in, he did a good job hiding it.
Right now, Kong Xiang and Li Luo were having a spar. Kong Xiang was bare chested and sweaty. Li Luo wore a sleeveless top and trousers. The two were locked in fierce battle.
'BOOM' Their fist collided, the shockwave pushing them backwards. Li Luo immediately employed her Phantom Drifting Form footwork, and like a ghost appeared in front of Kong Xiang, striking out with her fist again.
Her fist failed to hit Kong Xiang, as he had employed Cyclic Shield, the defensive art from the Aqua Source Method at the last minute. The force of impact pushed Li Luo a meter backwards, also breaking the shield. Somehow, the wave didn't push Kong Xiang back but instead layered his next punch with additional force.
"TUMBLING WAVES FIST"
He punched out at the retreating Li Luo. She steadied herself and breathed in, channeling her qi and simultaneously executed her fist technique with both hands.
"FORT BREAKING"
The impact was stronger than before. Kong Xiang's Cyclic Shield absorbed the impact and doubled the force of his next punch which he executed immediately.
'BAM' Li Luo was knocked backwards again, blood dripping out of the corner of her lips. She licked it off her lips and said, "I guess you've had your fun bullying me."
As soon as she finished her sentence, her aura exploded. Unlike earlier, this time she released her Battle Intent, multiplying her combat strength.
'BAM' This time, it was Kong Xiang who was pushed back, the fist completely breaking apart his Cyclic Shield. Before he could absorb the impact to layer his next punch, she punched out again.
Kong Xiang had to resort to the Herculean Thunder Art to cast an AOC apocalyptic attack to throw off Li Luo. He replied on the explosive speed of thunder to escape her Phantom Drifting Form. The battlefield was soon covered in flashes and afterimages.
Li Luo stopped and took out her longsword. Her aura changed. Shockingly, in the last week, she had gained insight to a Second Intent, Sword Intent. Her battle aura converged on the sword and merged with the sword Intent. With closed eyes, she slashed forwards.
Kong Xiang stabbed Marchives into the ground and started channeling wood power from the forestry around. He circulated it to form a green halo shield around his body, after which he initiated Cyclic Shield for defence.
The battle sword qi struck Kong Xiang. The Cyclic Shield weakened its impact, and the rest fell on Kong Xiang, instantly injuring him. The injuries closed up immediately under the glow of the green halo.
Kong Xiang and Li Luo sat down and started absorbing qi from the atmosphere to regain their exhausted energy They had been sparring like this every day to improve their combat strength and instincts
Like this battle, Kong Xiang had narrowly tied with Li Luo in all their battles. Compared to Li Luo who had two battle intents, he only had a non combat intent, Nature Intent. He was only relying on the arts in the three formulas given to him by Ding Xiaolong to fight to a tie.
In fact, Kong Xiang knew he would lose instantly if Li Luo used the techniques recorded in her cultivation art and not just her Intents and newly obtained fist and feet techniques.
As for the ability of his Intent...he released his Nature Intent and instantly felt a connection to a domain of one mile around him. Kong Xiang named this the Nature Domain. It allowed him to perfectly assimilate to nature within one mile around him. Unless one saw him with the eyes, he was practically invisible. He could also channel Nature qi to anyone within this domain, not to mention his ability to sense and manipulate wood, water and thunder qi was multiplied infinitely. Also, he was able to perfectly capture every movement within this domain. This last effect alone was worth it, as external sensory perception was an ability possessed by Soul Embryo experts and some Cyclic Core experts with secret techniques. Relying on his domain, he was able to replicate this feat, although his field of range was comparatively way smaller.
Kong Xiang channeled qi through his domain to encapsulate Li Luo, repairing her injuries in an instant. Li Luo had marvelled when Kong Xiang first revealed this miraculous aspect of his domain.
The duo stood up a while later, eager to continue their sparring.