"Y-yes," he meekly nodded. "That would be me."
Her glare sharpened. A faint sneer crossed her face, twisting her beautiful features into a picture of disdain. He felt her gaze on his worn-out school uniform and scuffed shoes. Yunfan noticed her clothes were all new.
Yonghe Hua, the only child of a wealthy military family. As expected of someone born with a golden spoon in their mouth.
"Get over here."
"Just give me a second to change…"
I can't afford to buy another uniform…
She simply sighed impatiently and gestured for him to hurry up. As he did, the stark difference between their lives felt more and more obvious.
After changing into loose exercise clothing, he walked over to Young Miss Yonghe.
"So how should we…" he awkwardly began.
"Just get straight to the point!" she growled in frustration, before leaping forwards and swinging her fist at his jaw.
"Why did my father hire a weakling like you anyways?! Come on and fight!"
Yunfan yelped, leaning backwards and narrowly avoiding her fist. His eyes narrowed into predatory slits and his aura suddenly changed from a faint wisp into a subtle, stalking hunter.
She seems to be at the Blood Purifying stage as well, he deduced through her Internal Energy control and movements.
He chose to ignore her words, twisting his body around to launch a powerful roundhouse kick at her head.
However, Yonghe Hua simply raised her hand and blocked the blow. Chu Yunfan hissed; although Yonghe Hua had been forced to step backwards, his leg felt like it had struck solid iron.
"Her hands are strengthened…"
"This seems similar to the effects of cultivating the Iron Palm Technique."
"Not very creative naming sense."
"Efficacy over style," the Emperor tutted.
Seeing Yunfan distracted for a fraction of a second, Hua sneered. "Take this seriously!"
Within two steps, she was right in front of him and her black fist was swinging at his chin.
"Ascending Tiger!"
Immediately, Yunfan's eyes glowed with faint, nearly-invisible starlight. His acute vision locked onto her fist, tracing its path through the air. Within seconds, he had completely dismantled the flaws in her technique.
He simply pushed her fist aside with one hand and viciously punched her in the stomach with the other.
Although the action seemed easy, it required precise calculation and control for him to not only spot the weaknesses in her form but also take advantage of it. A single mistake and he would have received an iron fist to his jaw!
Yonghe Hua immediately folded, taking several steps backwards as she gasped for breath. She recovered in an instant, her strengthened internal organs restabilizing.
"How—" she coughed. "—did you do that?"
Has he… stepped into the Mastery Stage? she wondered. But he's the same age as me…
"Your technique is flawed. I just magnified the weak points," Yunfan impassively spoke, gesturing for her to come at him again.
She made no noise this time, any disdain disappearing as she rushed forwards. Her open hand sliced through the air towards Yunfan's neck.
"Fatal Pierce!"
"Step forwards more."
Yunfan took one step backwards. The hand stopped only millimeters from his throat.
"Let me show you how."
His hand extended forwards, killing intent nearly tangible in the air.
"Fatal Pierce."
Chu Yunfan stopped his hand a centimeter from Yonghe Hua's nose. A tiny pinprick of blood dripped down her face.
The boy could see the bodyguard untensing his body out of the corner of eye. His killing intent was pretty dangerous for a second there.
Meanwhile, Hua raised her hands in surrender, stepping away from his extended hand with a scowl.
"Let's take a break," Yunfan suggested, sweat still trickling down his back from the protective expression on the bodyguard's face.
She sighed with a defeated expression, and gestured for her bodyguard to come over. He brought two vials of an unknown blue fluid, giving both Yunfan and Hua one. He locked eyes with the boy for a moment, sending shivers down his spine, before returning to his place at the edge of the sparring mats.
Chu Yunfan was left to examine the fluid-filled vial. What is this?
Seeing his evident confusion, Hua explained. "This is Energy Replenishment Fluid. It's pretty obvious what it does."
She was less disdainful and judgy after the sparring match.
"Not very creative naming sense."
Shut up.
Chu Yunfan gave the vial a skeptical stare for a few moments, before downing the whole thing in one gulp. Immediately, he felt strands of light in his body like he had when he drank the nutrient fluid.
He circulated his cultivation base and began turning the lights into Internal Energy. Yonghe Hua also did the same. Within moments, they were both back in top form.
"Again?" Yunfan asked, widening his stance again.
She wordlessly nodded. Although she didn't give an apology to Chu Yunfan, she treated him with complete seriousness as she readied her guard.
***
"Here's your money," Yonghe Hua said as she tapped at her smartwatch.
Yunfan watched a small notification with the number 2000 appear on his watch. "I think you made a mistake… we only sparred for two hours."
"Consider it a tip; I'd feel like I would be taking advantage of you if I paid you less. Sparring with someone in the Mastery Stage is a valuable experience," she replied earnestly, her expression practically glowing. "I feel like I've made massive improvements already!"
He had to admit that her progress was definitely noticeable. If he had to guess, she seemed to have gone from 10% of the way from Competent to Mastery, to about 15%. This was astounding progress for someone without masterful talent or a divine artifact like Yunfan.
"Then, I suppose I must humbly accept," he said while bowing. "Thank you Young Miss Yonghe."
"Just call me Yonghe Hua," she said, clasping his hand in admiration.
Her personality has turned around completely within just two hours, he sighed internally. This is too much…
Guess she's not that scary anymore.
***
Yunfan rubbed his aching body as he returned home. Even though I've healed myself repeatedly with Internal Energy, everything still hurts…
"Aren't you afraid that she might tell someone about you reaching the Mastery Satge with The Tiger Descends The Mountain?" the Alchemy Emperor curiously asked while floating besides him.
Yunfan snorted. "Who cares? I started standing out when I beat Mu Zhenfei. As long as my progress isn't too suspicious, then it should be fine."
The Alchemy Emperor raised an eyebrow but didn't make any further remarks. Instead, he shifted the topic. "What do you plan to use the money for?"
"Well, I'm giving some to Qingxuan and Dad. The rest I'll use for alchemy— it's quite the disgrace that the disciple and inheritor of the Alchemy Emperor hasn't done any alchemy," Yunfan joked.
"After you step into Internal Observation, you will be able observe the Divine Idol within your mindscape whenever you want… you will also be able to access more inheritances in the Mountain River Diagram.
"You'll be able to access some alchemy ingredients and equipment by then."
"I'd rather not wait until then, though."
The Emperor hummed in agreement. "I suppose I can show you how to concoct some medicines that are helpful for early stage cultivators.
"In particular, after you consume the Blood Essence Refinement Pill, you should be around mid- to upper-stage Blood Purifying. You can use your world's strange 'nutrient fluid' to enter Energy Gathering. After that, we can concoct an Endless Hunger Pill to help you enter the Energy Gathering stage!"
"That's a lot of medicine… won't the trace impurities accumulate if I use so much in such a short time?" Yunfan asked.
"Don't worry about that; I have a solution when you get to that point," the Emperor chuckled. "Just put some trust in your predecessor, alright?"
Yunfan gave him a skeptical glance, before sighing. Alchemy was the Emperor's forte after all, and although Yunfan didn't inherit all of his mentor's memories, he remembered the how the Emperor had been lauded as the genius of the last sixty-seven generations— an unrivaled talent within the heavens and earth! If there was anything that Yunfan could trust him with, it would be alchemy.
Just thinking about the boundless potential ahead of him had him giddy. But what had him even more excited was that he was slowly getting closer to getting a cure for Qingxuan.
"Either way, Blood Inheritance Pill or the medical treatment… it doesn't matter. As long as my sister will be alright."