Asura went to Xiao Sect to look for Su Lin. He was puzzled to learn that Su Lin had been absent for about a week. Her best friend Rose did not know where she was.
Rose said, "Sister Lin said she had an important matter to deal with and would come back soon. But it's already been over a week and she hasn't appeared."
Asura asked again, "Do you know where she might have gone?"
Rose hesitated. She had a guess but not had confident about it. She was about to tell him Su Lin might have gone to the Li Family, but before she could speak, Su Lin suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Both Asura and Rose were taken aback by Su Lin's sudden appearance.
Rose said, "Sister Lin, where have you been all this time? I was really worried about you." There were tears in Rose's eyes as she spoke. Rose had truly been worried about Su Lin. If Su Lin had not come back that day, Rose would have definitely gone to look for her.
Su Lin looked at Rose, who had tears in her eyes and said apologetically, "I'm sorry for making you worry so much. It took me longer than expected to deal with what I had to do."
After listening to Su Lin, Rose gave Asura a fierce glance secretly. Though she didn't know the details, her intuition told her that Su Lin's matter was related to Asura and she may have faced difficulties dealing with it.
Rose was the only one besides Su Lin's master who knew about Su Lin's feelings for Asura. Sometimes Rose felt like telling Asura how many times Su Lin had secretly helped him, but she didn't because she knew Su Lin didn't want that. She also didn't want Su Lin to get into danger.
Asura remained silent for a while, letting Su Lin and Rose talk for a few minutes. Then he said the real purpose for finding Su Lin, "Su Lin, I would like to spar with you. Will you join me?"
Su Lin looked at Asura and it seemed like she had realized something. She replied in a gentle yet neutral voice, "Oh, you have reached the first stage of the Spirit Realm."
Although she didn't show it, inside she felt extremely happy about Asura's achievement.
Su Lin said, "I will lower my cultivation to the first stage of the Spirit Realm so we can spar fairly."
Asura responded, "Wait a minute. What do you mean by lowering your cultivation level to the first stage? Are you saying you've already broken through to the second stage?"
Su Lin smiled. "I broke through to the second stage one month ago but I haven't made it public to avoid attracting too much attention."
Asura was surprised. He didn't realize Su Lin's talent was so much greater than his own. She had already reached the second stage and had only been in the Spirit Realm for a little over two months.
This caused Asura's confidence to falter slightly. While he was undefeated against others at the same cultivation level or precisely at the same cultivation stage, he knew he wasn't invincible. He had only fought arrogant nobles who were slightly better than ordinary cultivators.
Though Li Cao was not an outstanding cultivator, he was more skilled than ordinary cultivators as well was quite famous, otherwise the Li family would not have tolerated his death. The Li family tolerated his loss because they had a member ranked in the top ten geniuses of the Xiao sect, and their focus was on cultivating that family member.
This would be Asura's first fight against a genius from the Xiao sect, which ranked 10th on the list of genius cultivators. Although it was just a sparring match, Asura knew he was likely to face some harsh realities.
Asura and Su Lin faced each other in the courtyard, bowing respectfully. Su Lin spoke first. "Let us spar as fellow disciples, with mutual improvement as our goal." Then she added, " I will not use a spiritual attack or spiritual weapon because I know you don't have this currently and after reaching The spiritual realm you have to learn how to control your spiritual energy, so, let me help you."
Asura nodded. "Agreed." He took a deep breath and summoned his spiritual energy, launching a forced strike at Su Lin.
She deflected it easily. "Your attacks lack finesse. Focus your energy into a sharper point."
Asura tried again, channeling his energy more precisely. Su Lin deflected the blow again but nodded in approval. "Better."
The fight continued, with Asura throwing punches and kicks imbued with spiritual power. Though Su Lin easily avoided his attacks, she offered pointers and advice.
"Shift your weight onto the back foot for more stability...Direct your qi along your arm for more penetrating strikes...Be like water, adapting to my movements."
Asura followed Su Lin's guidance and found his attacks becoming more effective. Su Lin had to put in more effort to block him.
She launched a flurry of palms strikes at Asura, forcing him onto the defensive. "Don't just block - find an opening to counterattack."
Asura watched Su Lin's movements closely for an opening. When she overextended a kick, he struck at her shoulder. Su Lin was forced to retreat a step.
She smiled. "Good. You're learning quickly."
Asura smiled back. "Thank you for sparring with me and teaching me. I appreciate your help."
Su Lin's expression softened. "You have grown much in a short time. Keep practicing and you'll go far."
They bowed to each other and Su Lin said, "Let us spar again soon."
Asura replied eagerly, "I look forward to it."