On a dirt path some distance from a lake, two men faced each other. One was Luo Ji, who stood with a straight back and revealed what was beneath his mask. In front of him, Liu Xing stood, his eyes widening slightly. As they stared at each other, the wind blew, and the rustle of leaves could be heard while Luo Ji traced one of his scars.

From Liu Xing's point of view, instead of seeing the face of his bully—a face familiar and one that would no doubt induce rage—he saw a scarred face beyond recognition. It looked as if his face had been dunked in lava, torn by dog bites, splashed with acid, and to top it off, some of the flesh on his cheeks was black and rotten. The wind carried the rotten smell from his horrifying face, making Liu Xing gag slightly. This face was so horrendous that even a spirit beast would feel disgusted, yet compared to the scar in his heart, it was nothing.

"I'm a bit unrecognizable, but this is my current face," he said.

Liu Xing pressed his lips together, likely disgusted by his face, which was alright. This face was still beautiful compared to his former one.

"You're truly Luo Ji," Liu Xing said.

Luo Ji nodded. Deep down, a small part of him hoped he might gain sympathy because of his scars. Perhaps, seeing his face, Liu Xing would forgive him. Yet, when he saw Liu Xing's face morph once again into a frown, his hope seemed dashed, and he felt ashamed for even thinking such a thing. That's not how a good person should think.

"Senior," Liu Xing added, "Whether your face is rotten or still like it was in the past, I don't care in the slightest. The fact remains. I hold a grudge against you and that feeling won't vanish easily. I still think this is some kind of scheme, a way for you to bully me, and therefore, I will still kill you."

Liu Xing stared at him with narrowed, focused eyes, as if Luo Ji were a demon that needed to be vanquished from the world. His qi cycled so fast and powerfully that even the air around him seemed affected, and Luo Ji felt danger all over his body, as if he were facing not an outer disciple, but a core disciple.

"Then, you can try," he said, a decision formed in his heart.

There had been many times when he had wanted to end his own life, but he would never do it. He wanted to become a shield to protect the weak, and he couldn't do that if he were dead. No, in order to achieve his goal, he had to become an immortal, so he would not let Liu Xing kill him.

He cycled his qi around his body and activated his enhancement technique. A white, almost transparent mist began to form around him, making his form ethereal. This technique was different from his movement technique. While that technique focused on speed, this technique focused on both speed and strength.

Liu Xing released his stone blade from his grasp, making it hover beside him, and adjusted his stance. His left hand poised as if holding something, and then a blade made of lightning materialized in his right hand.

Upon seeing this, Luo Ji frowned. Even at a glance, Luo Ji knew that blade was a treasure, and he felt a bit disrespected that Liu Xing wouldn't use it to fight him. He tried to suppress this feeling, but before he could, Liu Xing lunged at him and swung his lightning blade..

Upon seeing the attack, Luo Ji adjusted his stance. With both fists clenched and his center of gravity lowered, Luo Ji unleashed a strike at the incoming Lightning Blade. The lightning blade felt strong, but Luo Ji doubted that Liu Xing had any means to obtain a Heaven Grade Technique or even an Earth Grade Technique. Instead, it felt like a Base Grade technique trained to the utmost perfection. This kind of technique, though impressive, should not have even scratched him. However, when his fist connected with the lightning blade, a mighty force hit him. The ground beneath Luo Ji's feet cracked and sank as if he had just caught a boulder weighing several tons, and his eyes widened as a result. Moreover, the lightning blade remained intact, as if his strike was weak.

"What a cocky move," Liu Xing said, twitching his left index finger. A blue bolt shot so fast that it arrived in front of Luo Ji's nose in an instant. Still holding Liu Xing's lightning blade with one hand, Luo Ji slapped the oncoming bolt with his other hand, but when his slap connected, the bolt exploded with such powerful force that Luo Ji was blown back by the blast.

Thrown into the air, Luo Ji's eyes widened. Both of Liu Xing's attacks were so potent that they surprised him.

"You've become strong," Luo Ji said.

Liu Xing replied to his compliment by whipping his lightning blade toward him. The blade, now more than dozens of meters long, cut through several trees as if they were tofu. Knowing the attack was so heavy, instead of trying to deflect it, Luo Ji activated a technique that created a wind platform below him and used it as a foothold to jump higher.

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Upon seeing that technique, Liu Xing commented, "Air Step Technique."

"Seems like you know about it," Luo Ji replied, "but do you know about this application?"

As Luo Ji soared higher into the sky, he pushed both hands out and activated his technique. The foothold he had just created suddenly grew bigger and wider, and with a thought, he commanded it to fly at Liu Xing.

Luo Ji's eyes darted around. He knew that attack wouldn't end the fight. Instead, Liu Xing would either dodge it or destroy it. He needed to anticipate both outcomes and plan accordingly.

As Liu Xing retracted his lightning blade and slashed at the approaching wind platform and destroyed it, Luo Ji cycled his other technique and activated it. A ball of blue mist materialized in front of him. A cold aura spread from it, as if the ball of mist were eternal ice. He commanded the ball of mist to rush toward Liu Xing and It accelerated almost like lightning.

Liu Xing pointed his left hand and released another blue bolt that shot toward his mist ball, which surprised Luo Ji. He had timed that attack perfectly, yet Liu Xing had anticipated it. This meant Liu Xing's perception was quite sharp. When the bolt hit the ball of mist, his attack exploded into a cloud of white mist, so thick it looked like smoke, and began to spread as if it were unfolding clouds.

This technique was an Earth Grade technique that he had trained diligently. It was such a useful technique that he was surprised more people didn't use it. Inside this mist, Lui Xing would be blind, while Luo Ji could see everything his mist touched.

"Your fighting style has changed," Liu Xing's voice reverberated from the spreading mist.

Luo Ji landed softly inside his mist atop a fallen tree that Liu Xing had cut down. Indeed, his fighting style had changed. As an outer disciple, he had been a close-range combatant who used fist techniques exclusively. While he had some long-range techniques, he rarely used them, since punching people excited him more.

Luo Ji exhaled deeply and deepened his connection with the mist. While he refrained from being too prideful nowadays, he was actually quite proud of his usage of this technique. After all, this technique was one that made him so dangerous on the battlefield, one that had enabled him to kill so many people. He cycled his qi to activate another aspect of the technique, making the mist heavier, which made it harder for his opponent to breathe, while preventing it from being blown away by weak gusts of wind.

Not far from him, Liu Xing's stone blade lay on the ground. He could sense the river at the edge of his mist, as well as fleeing squirrels and a running fox nearby. After scanning his mist to find Liu Xing, he began to frown. He couldn't find his opponent anywhere.

He knew Liu Xing possessed a technique that concealed him so thoroughly that he felt as if he had simply disappeared, but it seemed this technique was stronger than he had thought. Realizing this, Luo Ji focused on the area around him. Unlike him, Liu Xing was trying to kill him, so he wouldn't run away. Instead, he would try to attack him.

Luo Ji breathed in and out. This fight was harder than anticipated. He didn't feel like he was bullying Liu Xing at all; instead, it felt like an equal fight, one that made his heart pound with excitement, a feeling that had become rare with his new self. Still, this was a serious fight. If he became too excited, he would die.

Luo Ji concentrated fully on the mist around him. This mist should have been enough to limit his opponent's senses, which meant Liu Xing would have trouble sensing him. But, as he thought that, he felt a small flicker of mist behind him, one that felt unnatural. Trusting his instinct, Luo Ji turned his body, and as he turned, a bolt of blue suddenly materialized and hurtled toward him. Seeing this exploding bolt, Luo Ji jumped away and glided lightly in the air filled with mist, seeing that the bolts struck a tree, yet hadn't exploded; instead, arcs of electricity spread from the center of impact.

Luo Ji was surprised; this bolt had many variations. This was a sign of mastery. However, before he could process this attack, a sudden heavy blow hit his stomach. Immediately, his body folded and a little blood spurted from his mouth. Luo Ji looked down and saw nothing, but he clearly felt the heavy palm strike.

Moving on instinct alone, he swirled a mist on his right hand and brought it down on the presumed location of the invisible Liu Xing. He felt his punch land, but he felt as if he had just hit a wall reinforced with formations instead of flesh. Then, electricity blossomed from his stomach, and Luo Ji was thrown back like a ball.

Luo Ji gritted his teeth and looked around using his mist. This was not as he expected. Liu Xing was a genuine threat. At the start of the fight, while he knew Liu Xing was serious about trying to kill him, he hadn't felt threatened at all. But as his eyes frantically scanned his surroundings and his mist tried to find him and found nothing, he finally realized the danger emanating from Liu Xing was serious. This guy was strong!

Luo Ji arrested his momentum by solidifying some mist behind him, a move that revealed a shifting mist near him. Luo Ji materialized a foothold from air and decided to jump to the side, and then he cycled his qi to pull the spreading mist towards himself. It seems the current mist concentration wasn't enough to detect Liu Xing, but with thicker mist, he could track his opponent's movements.

As he pulled the mist, he also activated a technique that enveloped both of his fists with mist and launched himself towards a shifting mist nearby.

"Found you!" he shouted, unleashing a punch into the air. When his punch stopped against something that felt like a palm, Luo Ji unleashed his other hand, and he felt as if this punch was stopped by a knee. Luo Ji then made his mist coagulate around Liu Xing's position, and a silhouette became visible.

"Why does every enemy I fight know how to neutralize invisibility?" Liu Xing's comment echoed from within the mist, and Luo Ji laughed a little.

"Of course, an unseen enemy is the worst. When an enemy becomes invisible, making them visible again becomes a priority."

Luo Ji lunged at Liu Xing's silhouette once again, who moved back and sent a bolt of qi toward him. He gestured with his hand, creating a wall in front of him that soon exploded, leaving a hole in it, which Luo Ji used to send three transparent air arrows.

A lightning blade materialized and neutralized his arrows. Liu Xing moved to the side, and Luo Ji followed.

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