Perfecting his Path
Not expecting Xue Bai to suddenly charge at him, Wang Mo was caught off guard, but since the distance between them was almost 10 meters, he had a chance to react before Xue Bai reached.
His sword was already unsheathed and at his hip, so he swung it after realizing that Xue Bai wanted to fight him.
Xue Bai was calm, and rather than clashing with Wang Mo's attack, he slipped under the strike and pierced his sword upward, aiming to pierce Wang Mo's right armpit.
Of the many things that Xue Feng drilled into Xue Bai, one of them was that an almost surefire way to win a swordfight was to disarm your opponent. And since Wang Mo was a righty, if Xue Bai managed to maim his armpit, the arm would soon turn useless as well.
The armpit was the connecting part that linked your arm to your torso, lose it, and no orders coming from the brain would reach the arm. So even though the arm might be unharmed, it would turn worthless.
Xue Bai was aiming for that.
And his attack worked, to some extent.
Wang Mo was still in the illusion that Xue Baiw was a mortal. After all, Xue Bai still hadn't even turned ten yet. He was only a few months away from his birthday, but even if he was 10, children in the Baishen Plane awakened their Martial Veins at 11.
Let alone a 9-year-old child. Even a 10-year-old didn't have Martial Veins.
So the second that Xue Bai showed his cultivation base of the peak of the Vein Transformation realm, Wang Mo felt like he was seeing illusions and that the previous scenarios he was forced through were a mirage.
However, the second Xue Bai's Deep Glacier Sword cut an incision into his breast. Wang Mo realized it was true.
'A 9-year-old that can cultivate?! Moreover, he is at the 5th stage of the Vein Transformation realm!!' Wang Mo's mind was blown.
'Did I miss an update? Why the hell can he cultivate two years earlier than everyone?'
Yet, while Wang Mo's mind was blown by the fact that Xue Bai awakened his Martial Veins this early on in his life, something else came to his mind.
'Didn't we poison this piece of trash?'
Wang Mo was certainly of the top echelon in the Wang Clan. And because of that, he was told many things that most normal clan members wouldn't even know on their deathbeds.
Xue Bai's poisoning was one of them. Knowing this made Wang Mo confused about how Xue Bai avoided the Vein Swallowing Worm.
Realizing the many abnormalities that surrounded Xue Bai, Wang Mo almost panicked.
"How are you even able to cultivate? That Vein Swallowing Worm should've crippled you like the piece of trash you should be!" Wang Mo shouted out angrily as he defended against Xue Bai's next strike.
But just as much as the first strike shocked him, the second did so.
'He's clearly just in the Vein Transformation realm, and he hasn't even opened up his dantian yet. So why the hell is he so strong?'
Xue Bai wasn't wearing a cultivation-concealing artifact currently. So his cultivation base was clearly visible by the strong Wang Mo. However, seeing it made Wang Mo even more confused if he hadn't.
It wasn't impossible for someone to leapfrog stages and fight people above their cultivation base. The Baishen Plane was expansive. There were millions, if not billions, of cultivators living in it.
It would be impossible for people not to have special talents that allowed them to leapfrog.
But to leapfrog from the 5th stage of the Vein Transformation realm to the 2nd stage of the Blood Exchange realm? That was almost impossible.
Cultivation in the early stages was simple and purply foundational. It was there to lay a sturdy foundation so a cultivator could safely ascend to immorality or maybe even become a god.
Because of this, the strength of cultivators in the early stages was usually set in stone, and it was extremely hard for cultivators to leapfrog during these stages.
Xue Bai leapfrogging three stages this early on shocked Wang Mo.
'He can't live any longer! If he gets out of this secret realm, it's only a matter of time before he can threaten the Wang Clan!' Wang Mo knew he would die here. However, now that he learned how freakishly talented Xue Bai was, he resolved to, even if he died, kill Xue Bai!
Full of resolve, Wang Mo stopped dodging Xue Bai's attacks.
'Go blow for blow! Kill this piece of trash! Even if it costs your life.'
Wang Mo was a demon and a horrible person, but even people like him had a soft spot somewhere. And his was the Wang Clan.
Xue Bai didn't know about Wang Mo's sudden change of resolve. In his mind, only a few seconds passed after Wang Mo's question.
And since Xue Bai had no desire to answer Wang Mo's question, he stayed silent.
However, he noticed something in the next clash.
Xue Bai continued his offensive, focusing Wang Mo's right arm, hoping to maim it. But, to his shock, Wang Mo no longer jumped back at his swing but rather forward!
In a sword fight, there were two safe spots, out of the sword's range or directly in front of the sword's wielder!
Xue Bai's sword, though small, had a hilt. And because of Wang Mo's reckless forward lunge, instead of directly hacking off his right arm, Xue Bai's slash merely gave Wang Mo's shoulder bones a rough massage, courtesy of the hilt.
Ignoring the pain in his arm, Wang Mo, who was now right in front of Xue Bai, raised his knee up, delivering Xue Bai a powerful stomach blow.
Xue Bai was caught off guard by the sudden change of events, but he still prepared himself well. Before being kneed, Xue Bai managed to cover his stomach in a layer of Spiritual Qi that blocked most of the physical impact.
It was just the inertia that was suddenly given to him that sent him tumbling backward rather pathetically.
He wasn't distraught, though, and instead felt exhilarated. Xue Bai would've never fought an opponent like this if he had continued to spar with his father. A cornered rat was terrifying, and Wang Mo was in such a state of being.
Wang Mo was forced to make this move because of his resolve for mutually assured destruction and the fact that he was scared of the Thunderhawk not too far away.
Xue Feng helped Xue Bai with the fundamentals, but that's all that was fundamentals. In order to become a true expert, Xue Bai couldn't rely on the fundamentals. He needed to be strong in every manner of fighting.
His sword was his greatest weapon, and he needed to learn every facet, every type of fighting style, and every tactic it had for him to become the person he truly wanted to be.
The sheltered sparring he got at home would never be able to give him that.
Recovering quickly from the rollout, Xue Bai sprung right back and, without even wiping away the dirt, charged right back at Wang Mo.
"Again!" Xue Bai was full of fighting intent! He wanted to see how strong he was and how much potential Wang Mo could help him unearth!
Wang Mo could sense Xue Bai's rising fighting intent, but he didn't care about it. Xue Bai had to die!
Replicating Xue Bai's eagerness to fight, Wang Mo also lunged at Xue Bai, meeting the boy halfway.
The two clashed midway, and while the impact from their clash sent ripples through the wet forest floor underneath their feet, the scene was rather comical.
Xue Bai was nine years old still and was barely 1.4 meters tall. Wang Mo was older than Xue Bai, at 13 years old, but he wasn't much taller, only 1.6 meters tall.
So even though they were both full of fighting intent and resolved to have a great fight, the image of two prepubescent children fighting made it look funny.
Xue Bai, now back in range with Wang Mo, realized that it would take more than just swordsmanship to kill Wang Mo, who wanted mutually assured destruction, so even though their swords were intertwined, he decided to change the fight.
Raising his left leg, Xue Bai swept it upward toward Wang Mo's elbow attempting to disturb the boy's grip.
Thanks to the odd but worthwhile stretches that Li Rou taught him, Xue Bai was extremely flexible. Should he wish to, Xue Bai could almost kick himself in the forehead while standing.
Of course, he would never do this, but being able to do the act itself spoke about his flexibility.
Wang Mo saw through Xue Bai's shenanigans and simply punched downward with his left hand, parrying Xue Bai's foot and sending Xue Bai off balance.
Prepared, Wang Mo took a play from Xue Bai's book, and before he could get a stable stance, Wang Mo swept out his own leg at Xue Bai's only standing leg, sending Xue Bai into the dirt once more.
Wanting to stay a step ahead and knowing how quick Xue Bai's reaction time was, Wang Mo immediately attacked once more before Xue Bai could even land.
While the boy was still falling, Wang Mo swept out his other leg hoping to kick Xue Bai like a soccer ball, but Xue Bai learned from his previous error.
Crossing his arm in front of him, Xue Bai negated almost all of the power from Wang Mo's kick and managed to land safely before rolling just out of Wang Mo's attack range.
But he didn't stay for long as right after he made sure nothing was severely injured, Xue Bai charged right back at Wang Mo.
Xue Bai wasn't very good at fighting. He knew this. Unlike the other people in this world who were taught since birth about the horse stance and other various martial techniques, Xue Bai didn't start learning until two years ago.
Hell, Xue Bai couldn't even walk three years ago, as he was bedbound in a different universe altogether.
So even though he was getting royally screwed by the much more experienced Wang Mo, he felt happy.
It might've been a discrete awakening in Xue Bai's subconscious, but like getting schooled.
It made him realize his mistakes. His bad habits. His lack of awareness. And many other things that he wouldn't learn from Xue Feng. So even though he was getting sent into the dirt even more than when he fought Xiao'er, Xue Bai felt great.
He was visibly improving. The small mistakes in his sword stance were slowly leaving, and his reckless attacks were leaving his catalog of moves. Xiao'er was helpful as she could beat up Xue Bai, unlike Xue Feng, but no matter what, she wouldn't try her hardest against him.
Wang Mo, however, had no qualms and wanted to kill Xue Bai.
So, every one of his moves was outright deadly. Each of his moves was made with the intent to kill Xue Bai outright or leave him in a defenseless state that would make killing him a simple matter.
Wang Mo punished every one of Xue Bai's mistakes and, in response to the punishment, attempted to kill the boy.
Xue Bai would, in turn, learn and adapt, removing the mistake from his brain.
It was a cycle of experimentation and perfecting.
Xue Bai was growing, and Wang Mo was growing more and more terrified.
However, by the time Wang Mo realized that he had indirectly created a monster with infinite potential, it was too late.
Xue Bai learned all that had needed from Wang Mo.
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