Huo Long's Fight
Today was the last day of Huo Long's week-long visit, and Xue Bai hadn't seen the protagonist the entire time. So at the very least, Xue Bai thought that it would be good to visit him at least once.
Thinking this far, Xue Bai jumped out of the medicinal herb bath and changed, planning to give Huo Long a visit.
Sometime last year, the original medicinal herb bath Li Rou prescribed to him had lost its effectiveness. And because of this, she gave him a new and much stronger one.
It was also because of this herb bath that Xue Bai was able to keep up with his father's "training." and continue it daily. If not for the new and improved herb bath, Xue Bai's child body would've long given out.
Sadly while the herb bath did wonders for his soreness and aching body, it did little for his physical appearance, so right now, Xue Bai looked like a panda. It was bad, but what could he do?
So albeit reluctantly, Xue Bai left his courtyard in search of the protagonist.
Xue Bai wasn't exactly sure where Huo Long was, but after a moment of thinking, he realized that the boy would most likely be accompanying his uncle. And since Huo Chen basically lived in the soldier barracks, Xue Bai chose that as his first place to look.
Sadly since the soldier barracks were all the way in the Outer Region of the estate, Xue Bai had to walk ahead of him.
However, just as he left, he remembered something. He was a Young Duke!
Why waste so much time and walk when he could just get ferried by the Wang twins.
It was a genius idea, and without hesitation or care, he found Big Wang.
"Big Wang, take me to the Outer Region!" Xue Bai announced as he walked into their courtyard.
Like usual, the twins sat in their bedrooms, diligently cultivating, at least until their Young Duke entered.
Thankfully instead of being forced into a week-long trip, all they had to do was ferry him over a few miles.
"Yes, Young Duke." Big Wang sighed.
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Big Wang, being at the peak of the Law Engraving realm, could easily fly at the speed of sound, and since the distance he needed to travel was so short, he was able to drop the Young Duke off within 2 minutes.
"This is so convenient. If I would've walked myself, it would've taken me hours!" Xue Bai was astonished.
Thinking this far, Xue Bai's eyes flashed in a weird light, and the way he looked at Big Wang changed.
'My own personal taxi!'
Big Wang didn't notice this, and after making sure that Xue Bai was okay, he left, returning to his courtyard to cultivate.
Now in the Outer Region, for the first time in a very long time, Xue Bai was naturally lost. So after finding a nearby soldier, Xue Bai asked for directions to the barracks.
"Young Duke, the barracks aren't far. If you walk a half kilometer that way, you'll reach it." The young soldier respectfully replied.
Xue Bai nodded and walked in briskly in the direction he was pointed to. And after a short ten-minute walk, he arrived.
In fact, Xue Bai didn't even need the soldier's directions as once Xue Bai walked a few dozen or so meters, he could hear cheering so loud that it went through the Sound Deafening Formation and outside.
This specific formation was like the Soundproofing Formation that was in his courtyard, but slightly different.
Mostly every building in the Duke estate had either an array that blocked all sound or most of it.
However, since the barracks were such an important area, in case anything tragic happened inside of it, the barracks had the latter type of formation.
This way, the outside world could hear any screams that were coming from inside.
Xue Bai knew this and grew curious about what was happening inside. So changing his walk to a brisk run, Xue Bai started to run over and see what was happening inside. And he was rewarded with a great sight.
The barracks were naturally a dormitory used to house soldiers, but since the Outer Region was so large, it also doubled as their training field. So in the center of all the dormitories and offices made for the soldiers was a large practice field made for sparring.
And in the center of that practice field was Huo Long doing what he did best, fight.
Currently shirtless, Huo Long was fighting against a grown man using only his spear and, unsurprisingly, holding his ground.
Though Xue Bai had no Martial Veins and couldn't sense any Spiritual Qi yet, from the lack of power in the limbs of the man he was fighting against, Xue Baii assumed that he had his cultivation base suppressed.
However, it was still an amazing feat for Huo Long to hold his own against the man.
Moreover, the fight looked extremely close as every few clashes Xue Bai could see the man's face reveal a trace of anger.
He was obviously feeling humiliated from being in such a close fight against a mortal child.
Xue Bai saw this, and thinking that something bad was bound to happen, he decided to find Huo Chen and see if the man could stop it.
Scanning the crowd around the practice field, Xue Bai quickly found Huo Chen by his signature armor, as only commanders were allowed to wear armor like his.
So walking up to the man, Xue Bai raised his concern.
"Commander Huo, what started this? That man fighting Huo Long looks like he is about to blow a casket."
Though Xue Bai was curious about it, he had a guess and had only asked the question to start a conversation.
"Young Duke, you know how when there is a new batch of soldiers, the new recruits have to face a hazing period from their seniors, right?" Huo Chen asked back.
Xue Bai nodded at this. How could he not?
It was the stereotypical plot in any military novel.
Huo Chen didn't know Xue Bai's true reasoning for knowing the simple fact, but since he did, Huo Chen continued his train of thought.
"Nephew Long didn't take kindly to that and instantly wanted to fight a squad leader. And while a tame and fine hazing is fine, that squad leader had indeed something rather vulgar to a ten-year-old. And since I felt that a fight was fair, I allowed it on the behalf that the squad leader suppresses his cultivation entirely. as any squad leader would have the cultivation of at least the Qi Sea realm." Huo Chen explained.
And his words were reasonable. However, it still was extremely unfair to Huo Long, as even though he had suppressed his cultivation base, the fact that he was in the Qi Sea realm was dangerous for the protagonist.
Only once someone advanced to the Qi Sea realm would someone truly become a cultivator, as not only had they finally completed the 5 physical realms, but a Qi Sea realm cultivator had already started to clear their spirit meridians.
Cultivation in the Baishen Plane had 2 Great Realms of cultivation; The Houtian Great Realm and the Xiantian Great Realm. But since the Southern Continent was 99.9% cultivators in the Houtian Great Realm, people on the Southern Continent usually tended to forget the second one.
And the Houtian Great Realm was divided into 2 main parts. First, the 5 physical realms where one would have to lay the foundation of their future cultivation journey.
In this part of the Houtian Great Realm, cultivators would have to do many things, from having to path out their veins that would be responsible for most of the Spiritual Qi circulation to tempering their organs to allow them to handle greater power.
After laying the foundation in the 5 physical realms was the first step in Immortal Cultivation, the Qi Sea realm.
This realm was where one would go beyond their basic veins and clear the 1100 spirit meridians in the human body.
By doing this, not only would one's lifespan increase all the way to 150 years old, but one would also finally become a true cultivator.
The spirit meridians heightened a cultivator's senses, made their Qi circulation almost seamless, and gave a cultivator so much control over their Spiritual Qi that it allowed them to hide their cultivation base without using a treasure.
So for Huo Long to go against a Qi Sea realm cultivator, Xue Bai was obviously stunned about it.
'Yup, I knew it. The protagonist's trouble magnet is still there even before he becomes a "Child of the Plane" thank the heavens I'm not one.' Xue Bai thought inwardly.
"How long have they been fighting for? Huo Long is getting tired. I think they are using their endurance against him." Xue Bai asked.
At this point, perspiration was all over Huo Long's face and chest, and Xue Bai could easily tell that the boy didn't have much more in the tank.
"They've been fighting for about 10 minutes, I think?" Huo Chen responded with uncertainty, "I haven't been keeping track, but my guess shouldn't be too far off."
"Then, shouldn't you stop it at this point? Surely Huo Long will build a large enough reputation just from part of the fight alone. It is obvious that that squad leader is just planning on using his endurance as a Qi Sea realm cultivator to beat Huo Long." Xue Bai asked.
However, Huo Chen shook his head.
"My nephew is still too arrogant and hot-headed. Losing once in his youth would serve as a good humbling method. And since he wants to become a commander like me, humility is necessary. So losing here would make him better in the long run."
Xue Bai didn't agree with that, but it wasn't his family. And Xue Bai wouldn't interfere with it. It was beyond his domain.
Also, another reason he didn't argue with the commander was that he didn't think that Huo Long would lose the fight.
Why?
Because Huo Long was a protagonist, who in their right mind would bet against one?
And sure enough, just as Xue Bai thought this, the fight started to change dynamics rapidly.
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