"Mao Di! Go!" Su Lang's voice sounded as the pair stood apart both in the horse stance before the Qi along Mao Di's arm exploded with bright orange light covering up to his elbow, a huge improvement from barely his fist.
Mao Di lunged forward, taking a powerful step with his left foot, crushing the fresh grass as his right fist shot out towards Su Lang's bare abdomen.
*Thud!*
His punch was more powerful than 2 days ago, slamming into the muscles of Su Lang and causing him to back off two steps while his stomach tensed, trying to ignore the damage before the second, third and fourth punches until 18 had reached his chest, all hitting the same spot with thunderous speed.
*Pa-Pa-Pa-Pah!*
"Ka.....Good!" Su Lang spat out the excess spit in his mouth before lowering his hips, a black aura covering his entire upper body—as he stepped forward, the grass parted around his foot like magic before he slammed his fist into the stomach of Mao Di, who wore protective leather armour.
*Bang!*
"Ugh!?" Mao Di's body slid across the dirt, his feet gripping the ground with his toes as a small trail of blood leaked from his mouth.
"Haa.....Haa... Su Lang... How did you master it so fast!?" Mao Di asked—this was their last hour of practise today as the happy Elder looked at them while they practised in the yard of Mao Di away from others.
To not let Mao Di feel embarrassed, Su Lang forced a bit of blood from his lips as it dribbled down his handsome chin before he looked at Mao Di with a wide grin.
"To be honest, whenever I fight you, the more you use it, the better I understand. So isn't it your hard work that helped me learn it faster?"
"Oh.... why are you always so nice these days..." The strange fat man blushed and looked away with a smile.
'This is where the Elder might come and try to learn my secrets or threaten me if he couldn't see the benefits that Mao Di also gained.'
"But somehow, it feels like part of my understanding is transferred to you, right?"
After the fight, Su Lang walked over and sat beside Mao Di, who was drinking some water, listening to his words; the fat man nodded before looking shocked and amazed as all he cared about was the improvements he felt each day.
"You're right... at first, I thought Morning Sun flowing fists were hitting people hard in the morning..." He looked at Su Lang with an annoying but honest smile.
"But the more I fought with you, I began to think about how hot the morning sun is, whether bright or dim... so many strange things... Then the more it spread through my body, I started to feel that the technique was "mine!"
"Good, at least your hard work is paying off." Su Lang smiled—honestly, the two days since he started to train with this boy, it wasn't so bad. They ate three meals together, and his father and uncle offered some decent aid.
*Step*
Suddenly the Elder approached. His face seemed angry or blank, but Su Lang learned this was just a result of the cultivation technique he used to reach the Cycle of the Sea—looking at his nephew, the lips of the old man curve ever so slightly before he turned to Su Lang.
"It is great to see my cute Nephew improving and to have finally made a friend, even one that is fine with being his target dummy despite being far stronger." The tone was a bit cold, but there was a nasal laugh at the end.
"Your special ability is likely a strange physique, and although, amazingly, there are far greater, so be careful, Xiao Su and keep up the hard work."
He then looked at Mao Di, "Di'er, the next chance for an upgrade is 20 days, the month's final day. Will you remain in the outer circle or try to enter the inner circle?"
Mao Di's body shuddered, remembering the past attempts where they all mocked him, then he looked at Su Lang, which caused his face to clear up, and he nodded.
"Uncle, could you please give me some more time? I wish to train more with Su Lang, and he will take the outer disciple exam in 20 days... I think with a full month together we can improve much more! So please give me more of those pills!"
Once again, Mao Di, with his cheeky smile, flashed to the helpless Elder Mao, who just covered his face pretending to be shocked. Then he shot four dusty blue pills into the pair's hands like magic flying through the air.
This time there were two each!?
Elder Mao looked at Su Lang, slightly bowing, "Once again, young man, I thank you for supporting our family's most spoilt yet beloved heir." He stepped closer, whispering in Su Lang's right ear, away from Mao Di's hearing.
"I know the truth of how he treated you and cannot speak the words for you to look past that and even gain power; you sought the path of friendship rather than conflict like a clueless monkey."
'This Elder Mao would have attacked me if I were like novel protagonists!?'
"He is a little clumsy, but thanks to your regular beatings... Ahem! Training, he seems to be more and more enamoured with cultivation.
"Once the summer festival begins, the great master wishes to meet you and thank you for the affection you have shown the Mao family."
'Score! Rich fat villains are the best! Two pills of Cycle Amplification!'
Su Lang bowed before giving a respectful look to the Elder that could slap him into dust with a simple slap! How did those people in the books survive so easily courting death!?
"Oh, Elder... Did the permission to enter the lower forest come through for me?" Su Lang asked politely—he needed to enter the forest to break through.
All thanks to the two days of training, his current Layer was overflowing with pale Qi, flowing to the brim.
The Elder coughed, stroking his long grey whiskers before looking down at Su Lang and nodding. "Be sure to not stray too far, murder and theft in this dark guild aren't rare, and I cannot leave the sect grounds even if you were to be attacked."
'Thanks, old man; you're just like Fattie Mao, right? Cold on the outside but a molten pot of honey in your heart!'
'Let me use you both, don't worry—I will help your precious Mao Di grow too.'
Su Lang nodded again, saluting the old man as he left the two, while Mao Di began speaking about tonight's meal. "Fattie Mao, I have a few more chores today so that you can have my portion of food. Okay?"
"Really!? Haha! No worries. You leave tonight... Do you not need me to come and help protect you when you break through?" Mao Di was a good friend once you beat him up several times...
"No worries, brother, I will rank up—then how about we try and find a new technique for us both to learn together?"
For a moment, there was shock and realisation on the face of Mao Di...
"Oh damn! I didn't realise you could do it with more than one skill... I will bug my dad for a skill! for sure!"
'And just like that, I no longer have to fight against my senior brothers and sisters to find a half-assed skill. Although it won't be earth-shattering, the skill this brother can help me get for free is beyond my current wallet!'
Su Lang smiled as he began to walk out of the Mao yard and headed towards the yard of Old Yang, planning to practise the technique in secret alone.
He had discovered two things in the three days since being returned to his body.
First, if he takes damage, his body will nullify most of the damage while absorbing part of the damage and creating some Qi that will circle his body and temper his flesh passively.
Secondly, when he practised techniques and used Qi, he mastered them the more he used them. He understood the meaning, perfect stance and posture without reading their books or the skill parchments. Everything was clearer the more he used it.
Furthermore, it seemed that when practising with someone not deemed an enemy, Su Lang could share his enlightenment and discoveries to help them slowly improve their skill mastery.
'I should be careful how I use the second part—for now, Mao Di is fine. Others can get nothing.'
For now, Su Lang needed to prepare for his trip to the forest to break through to the Second Layer called the "Outer Core", having already finished the "Inner Core" of the Earth Cycle.