Jack floated in space. The Death Boat floated to the side, a looming behemoth, while the Bone Belt surrounded them in all directions, partially hiding the stars beyond. On a careful glance, Jack noticed this wasn’t the same part of the Bone Belt they’d been at before. The Death Boat had moved since his breakthrough. It made sense—he’d raised quite a ruckus.
“Ready when you are,” his opponent called out. She raised her spear, pointing it straight at his nose. Red lightning danced on its tip. She grinned. The crowd cheered.
Min Ling was a pale-skinned, dark-haired woman Jack had first met while training at the Cathedral. They’d been C-Grades then, with her being at the very top of the rankings. Despite that, she was not an asshole—a stark difference from many other cultivators.
The two of them had adventured together in the Green Dragon Realm and spent three years meditating in a cave. They were good friends.
Now, they had both reached the early B-Grade. Their once-uneven cultivations had caught up, and any clash between them would depend entirely on talent. That was what Min Ling wanted. She didn’t think she could win, but she was a warrior. Facing the unprecedented genius of Jack Rust, she wanted to see how she stacked up. Her anticipation was through the roof. She’d never been more excited.
So was the crowd. They also didn’t doubt the conclusion of this spar, but who would miss the opportunity to see two great talents go head-to-head?
Who would miss Jack Rust’s first battle since entering the B-Grade?
Jack smiled. “Prepare yourself, Min Ling. Here I come.”
“No need to warn me! And, just so you know, I will be going all-out. If I accidentally kill you, it’s your fault.”
He laughed. “You can try your—”The spear point was between his eyes. Power blasted out of Jack, slowing her down just enough to let him duck, dodging the strike. It zipped over his head, unleashing a straight thurst which penetrated the entire Bone Belt for a thousand miles. Rock and dust went flying. Space frothed like water currents.
Jack narrowed his eyes. That was fast!
His already clenched fist shot out, faster than Min Ling’s spear. A cage of sparks appeared to block it. Intense lightning snaked into his body through his arm, trying to paralyze him or slow him down, but he easily shook it off. His fist kept going, smashing into Min Ling and sending her flying. She’d barely managed to block with the body of her spear.
“Again!” she shouted. Her body blurred. Three Min Lings spread across space, each moving in a different trajectory. They flew in a complex pattern. Even Jack’s accelerated perception couldn’t differentiate them.
This wasn’t just an application of Space Dao, but more of her extreme speed. Even Jack had to admit that, on this subject, he was outmatched.
But speed was just one facet of battle.
He also blurred. Two Jacks appeared, smashing into the three Min Lings. Spears met fists. By this point, Jack’s knuckles were hard enough to clash directly against the tip of her spear. They were by far the most tempered part of his body.
Blows rained from either side. The two Jacks and three Min Lings maneuvered around each other. It was a spectacular sight.
“Look, she’s winning!” an audience member cried breathlessly.
“No, you idiot. Can’t you see he’s pushing her back?” another replied.
Though there were two Jacks and three Min Lings, in truth, it didn’t matter at all. Jack didn’t practice this technique. He was purposely matching her strong attribute with his weak one, but even that wasn’t enough. As the two sides struggled, Min Ling was pushed further and further back. She was faster than Jack, but not enough to secure an advantage. Meanwhile, he was stronger, more durable, with deeper insights into the Dao, and with significantly more energy at his disposal thanks to his larger inner world.
Jack burst with power. The feeling was almost ecstatic. He no longer needed to use the ambient Dao as he did in the D and C-Grades. It flooded out of him, an exorbitant amount of energy perfectly attuned with his Dao. It filled every spot of his body with firecrackers. This power was so explosive, so potent, that he moved at the speed of thought. His punches cracked out. Starry purple aura flowed outside his limbs, splashing back every time he attacked. To the spectators, he looked like a god.
Min Ling was a boat in a storm, struggling just to stay afloat. She fell into a defensive position. “Hah!” she shouted, her joy evident, as she pulled back to disengage. Her form-fitting leather armor was torn at places—her hair was disheveled, and she was panting, but her eyes remained spirited.
“You’re good, Jack!” she shouted. “I’ve never lost to someone at the same cultivation level, and I don’t plan to start now!”
“Then come!” Jack replied. He, too, was excited. This battle was the best opportunity to familiarize himself with his new powers. Energy flooded his inner world, an amount incomparable to anything he’d ever wielded before. It was a ten thousand mile wide sphere which answered only to him. He could quite literally blast a planet with pure energy and destroy it.
Red sparks emerged from Min Ling’s body. Purple flames burned. She was clad in lightning and fire, her two main Daos, and Jack could feel her power rising. Space was quivering by her mere presence. “This is my strongest form,” she declared. “I know you possess a similar technique. Bring it out, and let’s fight to our heart’s content!”
Jack smiled. “Make me.”
She snorted. Space rippled, and she disappeared. Her speed was vastly superior to before, as was her strength.
Jack leaned forward. A spear appeared over his head, having stabbed at him from his blind spot, then curved down to smack him. He punched its body, sending it off-course. Min Ling stayed on him. She pressed her advantage. Hundreds of stabs and strikes assaulted him. She was like a dancer, twirling and turning, maintaining her spear’s momentum as it pelted him with an increasing number of attacks. The lightning gave her explosiveness, the fire tenacity. She had him cornered and wasn’t going to let go.
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Jack twisted and turned. He ducked under a swing, leaned sideways to avoid a stab, then slapped another off-course. As she danced, so did he. Min Ling teleported behind and below him, already mid-thrust. He teleported himself upside-down, punching the tip of her spear. Sparks erupted. Fist and spear both recoiled, but Min Ling twisted around herself, borrowing the momentum of Jack’s attack to maintain her momentum.
She was good. Very good. Jack’s eyes flashed with appreciation. Her technique was immaculate, her body strong, and her Daos deep. Against any other opponent, she would have seemed unbeatable, as if she had no weakness. It was a shame that the one she fought was Jack, who was also an well-rounded fighter but better. His every attribute except speed was a tier above hers.
Min Ling pelted Jack with attacks. She was going all-out. This form she was using could pressure Jack, but she was also spending tremendous amounts of energy to maintain it. If he just defended, he could probably endure until she grew exhausted.
But where was the fun in that?
Jack homed in. Spacetime warped around him, enhancing his movements while obstructing hers. He was like a fish in water—like a leaf in the wind, untouchable. No matter how many spear strikes surrounded him, they couldn’t even scratch him. His eyes were focused. Every movement of her spear was clearly reflected there, as Jack gathered his energy and waited for his chance.
He leaned back, then to the side, then flew up and teleported behind her. She matched the movement, still stabbing. He dodged every attack by a narrow margin, saving enough time to dodge the next one as well. His eyes remained glued on hers, sensing her frustration, her growing sense of impatience.
A single spear strike went wide. Jack’s eyes flashed. Now!
Lightning erupted from his body with a boom. Thunder Body activated. His speed and power shot up. To her credit, Min Ling reacted instantly. She abandoned her strike and brought her spear back to defend.
Jack reached out, grabbed the spear body, and yanked it out of the way to expose her face. His strength was vastly superior. Min Ling had no way of stopping him. In the same movement, his other hand was clenched into a fist, shooting forward. He met her panicked eyes. She saw death.
Jack’s fist froze an inch before her face. She just remained there, unable to react in time. She was still blown back. He might have stopped his punch, but the momentum remained. Min Ling flew backward like a broken kite, her body warped by the extreme speed, crossing a thousand miles in the blink of an eye. Only then did she manage to stop herself, but the force of the strike kept going. The entire asteroid belt behind her exploded. A wide cone of emptiness cut right through it, sending rocks and dust and everything else flying away. A clear, starry sky was revealed at the far back.
Min Ling stood frozen. She turned her head around to look, gasping at the sheer amount of destruction Jack had wrought. That was just the escaping energy. If he hadn’t stopped his strike, all that energy would have gone into her face. Her head would disintegrate.
She turned back to the front and chuckled helplessly, not even registering her disheveled hair or the blood that flowed from her nose. “I lost,” she declared. Her voice reached the crowd. Voices rose in cheers, while many others spoke encouraging words.
“You fought great!” they said. “That was awesome!”
“Keep rocking, Min Ling!”
“We love you!”
Jack also received words of congratulations, but he only chuckled in amusement. Back during the Integration Tournament, the cheering audience had been made up of F-Grades, while the D-Grade mentors stood arrogantly at the back. Now, the least of his audience was D-Grades, with even B-Grades thrown in the mix. They were reacting the exact same way the F-Grades once had.
It had nothing to do with individual power. Once a person joined a crowd, they were all the same—and that was not a bad thing at all. It was a reminder that appearances were made-up. We were all humans at heart—or, well, whatever species each of them belonged to.
Or, maybe, personality had nothing to do with one’s level. Every level had assholes and good people. Take Starhair, for example—the man had reached a level of power most people would wet themselves just thinking about, yet all he could do was sit away from the crowd and grumble like a loser.
Jack turned and gave the man a thumbs-up. Starhair snorted.
“Good fight,” Min Ling said, appearing in front of Jack. “I lost fair and square. It was my honor.” She extended a hand.
Jack looked into her eyes and shook it. “The honor was all mine,” he replied. “You fought well. It wasn’t as easy as it seemed.”
The crowd erupted in cheers. Unlike most of Jack’s battles, there weren’t any bad feelings involved here. It was just a wholesome show.
She stuck out a tongue. “Liar. You didn’t use a single skill.”
“Thunder Body is a skill.”
“Yeah, but you only used it for show.”
He winked. “Really though. It seemed I was just dodging everything back there, but it was pushing me to the limit. You are by far the strongest opponent I have ever faced at the same level.”
“I’m not as great as you make me out to be,” she said. “Spoon once lowered his cultivation level to the early B-Grade and sparred with me. He completely kicked my ass.”
“Really?” Jack felt a sudden interest.
“Yeah. But, he already told me he won’t do that for you. He wants to fight you at full power once you reach his level.”
“Who says I haven’t?”
She laughed. “Trust me, Jack. He’s a whole different beast. When he reached eight thousand miles during his breakthrough, it was because he had an accident mid-way. The Elders thought he could have gone higher. Much higher.”
Jack turned his head to the side. Sovereign Heavenly Spoon sat there, calmly sipping on his tea. They crossed eyes. “I’m ready whenever, big guy,” Jack messaged him. Spoon smiled and ignored him. Jack smiled.
Sovereign Heavenly Spoon had been the Head Envoy of the Black Hole Church since he was at the middle B-Grade. That meant he was the strongest B-Grade around. Now that he’d reached the late B-Grade and was approaching the peak level… Just how strong could he be?
Jack felt a rare hint of excitement rising inside him. He really looked forward to fighting that man. Of course, if Spoon didn’t feel like it, he couldn’t force it.
“Next time,” the sovereign’s reply finally reached Jack’s mind, and he nodded, satisfied.
“Next time.”
“Jack,” a new voice came. It was Elder Boatman’s, though it sounded oddly weakened. “Come to the throne room. It’s almost time for you to go.”
Jack looked around. Besides his master, he didn’t have anything tying him down to the Death Boat. Dorman, who’d arrived here alongside Jack, had already left to join the front lines. Even the Spoon Squad would depart soon. He turned his gaze to the Sage, who was sitting there as if untouched by anything.
A clone of Enas… Jack thought. He shook his head. Whatever was going on there was beyond his current paygrade. Once the time came for him to be involved, hopefully things would become clear.
He looked back at Min Ling. “I gotta go,” he said. “I’ll see you around?”
She smiled. “You bet.”
The two exchanged a hug, then he teleported away.
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