"Alright, we get it. He's an anomaly," Lily said, rolling her eyes at Finne, though her own gaze on Alex was now filled with a new, complicated intensity. She took a sip of her spirit tea, the warmth a grounding presence against the sheer absurdity of their friend. "Speaking of which," she said, deliberately changing the subject before Finne could launch into another monologue, "you've missed quite a show, Alex. Being holed up here for three days."
Alex leaned forward, grateful for the change of topic. The weight of their collective awe was uncomfortable. "What kind of show?"
"The kind that reminds you how small you are," Jay said, his voice now serious, his earlier shock replaced by a cultivator's focus. "A summons went out after the tournament. The sect's true experts, the ones who spend years on missions in the uncharted territories or in deep seclusion, are starting to return."
Elara's eyes took on a distant, storyteller's gleam. "It's one thing to hear about them. It's another to see them. Yesterday, Senior Sister Yue Ling returned. She's a Peak-Stage Golden Core expert who was stationed at the northern border. When she landed, the air temperature within a hundred-meter radius around her dropped to freezing frost. Not from a technique, just... from her presence."
"They're on a completely different level," Jay added, his expression grim but his eyes burning with a new fire of motivation. "I saw two of them sparring on one of the inner sect platforms this morning. It wasn't like our fights. There were no wasted movements. Every strike of their swords contained an elemental intent so profound it could shatter stone from ten paces away without even touching it."
Lily scoffed, though not with disdain, but with a competitive frustration. "Intent is one thing. The Nascent Soul cultivators are another thing entirely. One of them, a senior named Bao, returned yesterday. He has a contracted beast."
Alex's ears perked up. "A contracted beast?"
"A bond between a cultivator and a magical beast," Elara explained. "It's a lifelong partnership. Most who attempt it fail, but for a Nascent Soul cultivator..."
"His contracted beast is a Crimson-Crested Cloud Serpent," Lily cut in, her voice tinged with grudging respect. "Massive. Covered in scales that shimmer like rubies. It flies without wings, riding the very currents of the wind. When senior Bao arrived, he just stepped out of the sky onto the main plaza. The entire sect went silent."
The image of a man riding a flying serpent left Alex momentarily speechless. He thought of the Marshlurker, a creature that had nearly killed all four of them. To have a beast like that, or something even stronger as a willing partner, was a level of power he couldn't yet fathom.
Elara continued, her voice soft with wonder. "The training grounds have become a spectacle. You see techniques you've only read about in ancient scrolls. Sword masters who can create illusions with a flick of their blade, formation masters who can trap a Golem with a few gestures. It's... humbling." There was a faint, almost imperceptible melancholy in her tone. Her recent breakthrough had felt monumental, but in the face of these returned legends, she was once again just a student at the foot of an impossibly tall mountain.
"Humbling, maybe," Jay said, "but it's also a goal. Seeing what's possible." He looked at Alex with a thoughtful expression on his face. "You know, there's one of them who fights a bit like you."
Alex blinked. "Like me? How?"
"Unarmed," Jay stated simply. "No sword, no spear. Just his hands and feet. We saw him training yesterday. He moves like a storm, every part of his body a weapon. His style is all about overwhelming the opponent in close quarters."
"But don't get any bright ideas," Lily added quickly, her sharp gaze cutting in Alex's direction as if to temper any growing arrogance. "He's a Nascent Soul cultivator. His every punch carries the weight of a mountain. One strike from him would probably turn a Foundation Establishment disciple to dust. It's a style that only works when you're overwhelmingly stronger or faster than your opponent."
The unspoken implication was clear: a close-quarters style was a high-risk, high-reward path. It left no room for error. A single mistake against a stronger opponent, and it was over.
"Doesn't matter!" Finne declared loudly, slamming his teacup down with a sharp clack. "Brother Alex's martial art is an unmatched technique! It transcends realms! I have no doubt that even now, he could give that senior a run for his spirit stones!"
"Finne, calm down," Alex said, trying to wave off the embarrassing praise. He turned back to Jay, his interest piqued. "Who is he?"
"His name is Kai Jin," Elara said. "He's a bit of a legend in the sect. They say he spent a decade meditating in the heart of a hurricane in the Storm-Breaker Peaks to perfect his art. He's... intense. And he's never without his partner."
As if on cue, a shadow passed over their gazebo. They all looked up. Soaring high above, circling the central peak of the sect, was a magnificent creature. It was a bird, but larger than any Alex had ever seen, its wingspan easily twenty meters across. Its feathers were the color of storm clouds, with a crest of brilliant sapphire that glinted in the sun. It was a finch, but a finch of mythic proportions.
"A Great Sky-Terror Finch," Jay breathed, his eyes wide. "They're said to be as fast as lightning and can command the gales with a cry."
Standing proudly on its back was a lone figure, a man with a stern expression and robes that whipped in the wind.
"That's him," Lily said. "That's Kai Jin."
Alex stared up at the man and his colossal beast, his tea forgotten, the conversation around him fading into a distant hum. It wasn't just awe he felt. It was a profound, magnetic pull of recognition. For months, his fighting style had been dismissed as "crude brawling," a last resort for the desperate. But there, soaring through the sky, was a master, a Nascent Soul expert, who had not only embraced that path but had walked it to the very summit of the sect.
He wasn't an anomaly. He wasn't alone.
Without a word, Alex stood. He drained the last of his now-cold tea in a single gulp, set the cup down on the wooden table with a soft, decisive click, and started walking.
Finne was on his feet in an instant, his loyalty absolute. "Brother Alex! Where are we going?" he asked, already moving to follow. Alex didn't answer, his eyes fixed on the distant inner sect peaks where the great finch was now beginning its descent.
The sudden departure shocked the others. "Hey!" Lily called out, jumping to her feet. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Alex, wait!" Elara pleaded, her face etched with worry. "What are you doing?"
He didn't slow down. Jay exchanged a grim look with Elara and Lily. "He's going after him, isn't he?"
The three of them scrambled to catch up, their hurried footsteps echoing on the stone path. They flanked him, their expressions a mixture of confusion and alarm.
"Alex, please, be careful," Elara urged, her voice low. "He's a Nascent Soul expert. You can't just approach someone like that."
"If you challenge him to a duel, I swear I am not scraping you off the pavement," Lily threatened, though the worry in her eyes betrayed her harsh tone.
Jay kept it simple. "We're just saying, don't do anything stupid."
Alex finally paused at the edge of his garden, glancing back at his concerned friends and the ever-eager Finne. A small, confident smile touched his lips, completely disarming their frantic warnings.
"Don't worry," he said, his voice calm and steady. "I'm not looking for a fight."
He turned his gaze back towards the inner sect, his eyes shining with an intensity they hadn't seen before, not the desperation of a survivor, but the hunger of a true student.
"I'm just going to watch a master at work."
---------------------------
The group followed Alex as he walked with a new, unshakeable purpose. The journey into the inner sect was a stark lesson in hierarchy. The simple dirt tracks of the outer ring gave way to perfectly paved stone walkways, and the repaired, but humble cabins were replaced by elegant pavilions with gracefully curved roofs and serene, private gardens. Alex glanced at a multi-tiered residence with spirit carp swimming in its pristine pond. 'Seems wealth disparity is a universal constant,' he thought with a wry, internal smile.
They arrived at the main inner sect training grounds to find a large crowd of disciples gathered around one of the central platforms. The air crackled with a palpable pressure, heavy with the clash of immense spiritual energy.
On the platform, a spectacle of deadly grace was unfolding. A disciple, his robes embroidered with the sigil of a Golden Core master, stood surrounded by sixteen blades of shimmering azure Qi. The swords moved as one, a hornet's nest of spiritual energy that darted and weaved, trying to corner their opponent.
His opponent was Kai Jin.
Kai Jin held no weapon. He moved like a phantom, a whisper of motion within the storm of blades. He didn't just dodge; he flowed between the attacks, his body tilting at impossible angles, the deadly tips of the Qi swords missing him by a hair's breadth. He was not just fast; he seemed to exist a fraction of a second ahead of the battle itself.
The sword-wielder roared, sweat beading on his brow, and commanded his blades to converge in a pincer attack. Kai Jin, finding himself with no room to evade, did something that made the onlookers gasp.
He threw a punch.
His fist shot forward, striking nothing but empty air five feet in front of his opponent. A ripple of confusion went through the crowd.
But Alex saw it. He saw it with the impossible clarity of his Immortal Eyes. He saw a vortex of pale green wind Qi coalescing around Kai Jin's knuckles, compressing into a dense, invisible shell. When he punched, that shell shot forward, a silent cannonball of pure force.
The invisible projectile slammed into the sword-wielder's stomach. A shockwave of air erupted from the point of impact, and the Golden Core expert was blasted off his feet, his Qi swords dissolving into motes of light as he crashed onto the stone, unconscious.
The crowd was stunned into silence for a heartbeat, then erupted into thunderous cheers.
Lily, a wind cultivator herself, was baffled. "What just happened? I felt the Qi, but... he didn't even touch him."
"He shot a pocket of air," Alex explained quietly, his mind reeling from the casual display of power. "He compressed the wind around his fist and fired it like a cannon."
Lily's eyes went wide. A seed of inspiration was planted. The wind wasn't just for lashing or creating distance; it could be shaped, projected, and given substance. Her understanding felt narrow and childish in comparison.
On the platform, Alex watched as Kai Jin walked over to his defeated opponent and helped him to his feet, offering a respectful nod. It wasn't just his power that was impressive. It was his character. In that moment, Alex's mind was made up.
Before his friends could even process what was happening, Alex was moving. He strode past the onlookers, stepped onto the stone platform, and walked directly toward the Nascent Soul expert.
The crowd's cheers died down, replaced by confused whispers.
"Senior Brother Kai Jin," Alex said, his voice clear and steady. He performed a deep, formal bow. "Junior Brother Alex requests a spar. We practice similar martial arts. I wish to learn from a true expert."
Kai Jin turned, his stern expression softening into one of mild, amused curiosity. His gaze swept over Alex, an expert's eye assessing every detail. Alex could feel a spiritual sense wash over him, not invasive and cold like Elder Zheng's, but calm and powerful.
"An outer disciple," Kai Jin noted, his voice a low, resonant baritone. He saw the grey cauldron pin on Alex's robes. "And an alchemist. A Foundation Establishment brawler who wishes to spar with me."
A hearty, open laugh boomed from his chest. It was not a laugh of mockery, but of genuine amusement and interest.
"Very well, Junior Brother Alex," Kai Jin said with a grin. "Stand."
Alex straightened up. "Thank you for the lesson, Senior Brother."
"The path of martial arts is long," Kai Jin dismissed with a wave of his hand. "It is good to have fellow travelers. Besides," he added, his eyes glinting, "I am curious to see this 'similar style' of yours."
From the sidelines, Alex's friends could only look on in absolute horror.
"He's going to get himself killed," Elara whispered, her hand covering her mouth.
"What is he thinking?" Jay breathed, his face pale.
Lily just stared, shaking her head. "That magnificent idiot."
Only Finne was celebrating. He cupped his hands around his mouth, his voice booming with unshakable faith. "SHOW HIM THE POWER OF A TRUE GENIUS, BROTHER!"
Alex stood across the platform from Kai Jin, the vast chasm between their cultivation realms a palpable presence in the air. The crowd of disciples held a collective breath, unsure whether they were about to witness a lesson or an execution.
Kai Jin, a relaxed smile on his face, gestured with an open palm. "You sought the lesson, Junior Brother. You have the first move."
Alex nodded, his heart hammering. This was his chance. He had seen Kai Jin's technique, the way he commanded the wind. He had to try it. He focused, his Immortal Eyes seeing the gentle green currents of wind Qi swirling around the platform. He reached out with his own Qi, trying to gather the ambient energy, guiding it under his feet just as Kai Jin had done.
For a heartbeat, he felt a thrilling lightness. Then, the gust of wind sputtered, shot out sideways, and his feet tangled in a clumsy, uncoordinated shuffle. With a pathetic yelp, he met the stone platform face-first.
A wave of second-hand embarrassment washed over the crowd.
From the sidelines, Lily's voice cut through the awkward silence like a whip crack. "This is a spar with a Nascent Soul expert, you idiot, not a time to experiment with new party tricks! Get up and fight!"
The sharp, familiar rebuke was exactly what Alex needed. It cut through his awe and embarrassment, grounding him. He pushed himself up, a red mark already forming on his forehead. He took a deep breath, and as he exhaled, his mind went blank.
The clumsy, thinking novice vanished. The instinctual fighter from the Fen returned.
Kai Jin's amused smile faltered, replaced by a flicker of genuine interest. The boy on the other side of the platform was different now. The frantic, eager energy was gone, replaced by the quiet, dangerous hum of pure, unfiltered instinct. His stance was lower, his eyes were calm, and his entire presence felt… solid.
Interesting, Kai Jin thought. Let's see what you've got.
He glided forward, his movement casual but deceptively fast, and sent a simple, probing fist toward Alex's chest. It was a test, designed to be easily blocked or dodged by any competent disciple.
But Alex didn't block. At the last possible second, his head tilted a fraction of an inch, his shoulder twisting. The fist, carrying the weight of a Nascent Soul cultivator's casual strength, passed by his ear, the displaced air from the blow whipping his hair across his face. He was inside Kai's guard. With a fluid motion that seemed to erupt from his very core, Alex drove an uppercut toward Kai Jin's jaw.
The strike connected with a dull thud.
Kai Jin didn't even flinch. But his eyes widened slightly. The blow itself was negligible, like a pebble striking a mountain. The force behind it, however, was not. It was shockingly heavy, far denser than anything a Foundation Establishment disciple should be able to generate.
'He's concealing his cultivation,' Kai Jin thought to himself, and a thrill of excitement ran through him. 'This boy is not what he seems.'
Deciding to gauge Alex's true limits, Kai Jin got a little more serious. He didn't unleash his full power, but his speed increased tenfold. He became a blur of motion, his fists and feet a relentless storm of attacks that forced Alex onto the defensive.
Up to this point, Alex had been a phantom, dodging and weaving, landing the occasional surprising counter-strike that, while doing no damage, made Kai Jin adjust his perception. But now, against this new level of speed, the gap between realms became an undeniable chasm. The Art of the Headless Body was about instinct, but instinct could not overcome a body that was physically too slow to keep up. His dodges became more frantic, more desperate.
Kai Jin, caught up in the exhilaration of sparring with such a strange and resilient opponent, let his excitement get the better of him for a split second. His next punch wasn't a probe; it was a solid, definitive blow.
The air cracked. A sound like a small thunderclap echoed across the platform as Kai Jin's fist connected squarely with Alex's face.
Alex's world went white. He was airborne before he even registered the impact, flying backward off the platform like a stone from a catapult. He sailed over the heads of the horrified front-row disciples and crashed into the crowd twenty feet back, scattering onlookers like bowling pins.
A horrified silence fell over the arena. Kai Jin's expression turned from excitement to immediate, profound regret. "I... I got carried away," he muttered, rushing off the platform towards the crater of disciples.
He pushed through the panicking crowd, expecting to find a broken, likely dead, outer disciple. Instead, he found Alex pushing himself to his feet with a pained groan, a massive purple bruise already blooming on his cheek. He was breathing heavily, but he was alive. Impossibly, he was alive.
Alex fumbled in his robes, pulled out a small, jade-green pill, and popped it into his mouth. The effect was instantaneous. The horrific swelling on his cheek visibly receded, the deep purple bruise faded to a light pink, and his ragged breaths evened out.
Kai Jin stared, utterly dumbfounded. "You're... fine?" he stammered. "And what in the heavens was that pill?"
"It... it hurt," Alex admitted, rubbing his jaw. "But I'll be okay. It's just a recovery pill I made."
Kai was shocked into silence that a Foundation Establishment disciple could survive a direct hit from him at all and that a simple "recovery pill" could heal such a heavy blow in seconds. He was now completely convinced. "Confirm your cultivation for me," he said, his voice serious. "There is no shame in revealing your true strength."
"My strength?" Alex asked, confused. "I've been slacking lately, so I'm still only at Foundation Establishment, Stage Two."
Kai Jin stared at him. Stage two? The boy was either a liar on a cosmic scale or an anomaly the likes of which he had never imagined. Either way, he was the most interesting person he had met in a decade.
Dumbfounded, he shook himself back to his senses and offered a hand to help Alex up. "Junior Brother Alex," Kai Jin said, a new, deep respect in his voice. "Your body is like tempered steel, and your alchemy is miraculous. Whenever you wish to spar, come and find me."
Just then, his friends finally pushed through the crowd, their faces a mixture of terror and fury.
"Are you okay?!" Elara cried, checking him for other injuries.
"What were you thinking, you absolute moron?!" Lily shouted, looking ready to hit him herself.
"That was amazing, but seriously, don't do that again," Jay added, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
Only Finne was over the moon, his voice booming for all to hear.
"DID YOU SEE THAT?! MY BROTHER TOOK A PUNCH FROM A NASCENT SOUL MASTER AND HEALED HIMSELF WITH A PILL HE MADE! IS THERE ANYTHING HE CANNOT DO?!"