Uncle Huang walked over to look. He could sense extremely pure qi surrounding the children. Bai Fanxian didn't need to focus her concentration at all. She picked up a book about modern fashion to read and pass time.
"I'll go bring tea to serve."
Uncle Huang bowed and disappeared. Not long after, he returned with a tea tray in hand.
He'd asked Bai Fanxian about this many times already. Sometimes when at the seaside beach, the children preferred drinking fruit juice that was both sweet and refreshing. Bai Fanxian insisted she liked tea, though.
Therefore he prepared various types of tea for her instead. Though Bai Fanxian didn't show it, she was extremely pleased.
"Huang Zihuan, has your wound healed?"
Bai Fanxian, who was reading, asked without turning to look.
"Almost completely healed."
Uncle Huang answered. He was truly grateful she helped treat this chronic wound.
"Then today help me stretch and exercise a bit..."
Bai Fanxian closed the book and set it aside. She stood up and twisted to relieve the tired feeling from sitting and working for long periods. Lately she spent all day reading books. Uncle Huang, proving himself a first-class butler, separated books Bai Fanxian had read to store in another room and ordered new books every day. So Bai Fanxian could endlessly enjoy this new knowledge and stories.
"Uh... does Grandmaster Bai mean?"
Uncle Huang asked uncertainly.
"Come in. Let me see what you can do."
Bai Fanxian stood on the beach barefoot. Naturally she was still in the t-shirt and Little Bear patterned shorts she liked as usual. She turned to call, waving for Huang Zihuan to attack right away.
Uncle Huang showed a troubled expression.
"I'm afraid I won't be a match for Grandmaster Bai..."
"Mm... then how about this?"
Bai Fanxian pondered. The qi in her body burst out around her. Uncle Huang was surprised, though. He only sensed Martial Master level qi.
"I'll use equal power. You can come now."
Bai Fanxian began stretching. Uncle Huang, seeing there was no other choice, set down the tea tray and removed his outer shirt.
Huang Zihuan walked to face Bai Fanxian. They stood in the clean white beach area where waves and wind hit periodically.
The old man took his stance. Both legs—one stepped forward, two set to receive behind. It was the starting form of the Tang Clan Fist Song, ready to transfer weight and borrow power from the ground at any time.
Bai Fanxian didn't take any stance. She stood relaxed. Both hands dropped naturally by her sides. Seeing Uncle Huang didn't come in, her slender legs stepped forward first.
"Don't disappoint me, Huang Zihuan."
In a blink Bai Fanxian appeared before him. Her fist swung in—he felt air friction. This was just a bare fist without any qi imbued, still kept at Martial Master level by Bai Fanxian.
Crash!
Huang Zihuan raised both hands to block in time. When touching that small fist, however, his body floated up from the ground. His strong foundation didn't help. The old man's large body floated in a straight line to the other side nearly ten meters.
Uncle Huang was startled but recovered. He flipped in midair and used both legs to land. That impact force still created a long skid mark, though.
Uncle Huang's qi burst from his body. 5th-stage Martial Master pressure permeated throughout. He knew now his lady wanted him to go all out. Therefore he had to respond to that order as best as possible.
Whoosh!
The old man's body shot straight in like a bullet. His movement combined with his qi was so fast it appeared as a shadow. Bai Fanxian, seeing the old butler get serious, showed an interesting smile at the corner of her lips.
Before Huang Zihuan received injuries and turned to become a full-time butler, he'd been famous in the previous era as Tang Tianjie's right hand. Outsiders knew well that Huang Zihuan himself was many times stronger than Tang Tianjie in that era.
Clear evidence in this era was his Heaven Sense sharper than even 6th-stage Martial Masters. If he'd never been that strong before, there was no way his Heaven Sense could be that precise.
He was famous for power-enhancing martial arts. The techniques he practiced focused primarily on promoting movement, forms, and physical strength. This made him very skilled at close combat.
Though at Martial Master level, Huang Zihuan rarely had techniques to release qi from his body to attack like others.
That made him polish his forms to mastery.
Huang Zihuan threw a right punch grazing past Bai Fanxian's side. The young woman flipped and delivered a kick toward his neck. The old man had to bounce away again.
This time Bai Fanxian was the one surprised. Uncle Huang managed to raise his hand to block that kick in time. He remained uninjured and charged in again.
Qi from the old man's body burst out to wrap around his fist like a glove. His attack power increased.
That fist coated with qi could easily punch through thick concrete walls.
If not confident the young woman before him would definitely be safe, Uncle Huang would never use it.
Boom!
Boom!
That fist's attacks created deep holes in the sand behind. Everywhere Bai Fanxian dodged became pits.
Their fight covered area throughout the beach zone.
Both exchanged punches for many forms. The old man couldn't hit the young woman's body moving so simply even once. Bai Fanxian, on the other hand, hit Uncle Huang many times. Later he stopped bouncing away. The old man began catching the pattern. The Tang Clan's power transfer forms helped reduce much attack power to the ground. He could stand and receive firmly.
"Feel your legs more..."
While Bai Fanxian was dodging Uncle Huang's non-stop punches, she spoke. Uncle Huang was surprised. He lost balance and got kicked by Bai Fanxian to bounce again.
Uncle Huang looked at his own legs. He felt as if his connection with the ground disappeared for a moment until losing balance.
"Your forms focus on borrowing power from the earth. What do you think the earth is?"
Uncle Huang saw Bai Fanxian take a stance that looked extremely familiar. One of her legs stepped forward.
Crash!
The old man saw Bai Fanxian twist. She released one punch that looked ordinary. The person about to receive this punch, however, felt it wasn't ordinary at all.
It was violent—at least many times more than his qi-wrapped punch.
Uncle Huang gritted his teeth. He couldn't dodge it. He took a stance to transfer part of the attack power down to the ground.
When that punch arrived, however, Uncle Huang felt heaviness. The earth's stability packed tightly and filled the fist. This punch of Bai Fanxian's borrowed power from the ground more than Uncle Huang.
"Your attacks are fast and violent, true. But that is your power."
Bai Fanxian walked forward.
"Martial Masters focus on controlling qi in the body masterfully. To the point of freely releasing them as forms. But the movement forms you practice are extremely close to something."
"Feel it more. This isn't borrowing."
Bai Fanxian stopped before Huang Zihuan and narrowed her eyes.
"...When you understand this principle, that will mean achieving Grandmaster level."
Huang Zihuan trembled at Bai Fanxian's words. He closed his eyes and absorbed all the information to ponder in his head. Bai Fanxian, seeing such an attitude, showed a faint smile at the corner of her lips.
"Don't rush. You're still very far from Martial Master's peak. When you reach that point, it won't be too late to sit and ponder what I said today."
The old man sighed. He stood up, clasped hands and bowed with respect. What Bai Fanxian taught was extremely valuable in the cultivation world. It was knowledge and experience that couldn't be bought with money.
"Thank you for Grandmaster Bai's guidance."
"Mm... Consider it you helped me stretch a little."
Bai Fanxian waved her hand. She flicked her hand and tossed one pill to Uncle Huang.
"Eat it. Soon your body will be bruised just right."
The young woman walked away to pick up a book to read, ignoring the old man. Uncle Huang received that white pill in surprise. Though it was violent fighting earlier, he didn't receive that much injury, did he?
"Ack!?"
The moment Huang Zihuan stood up, he felt pain rushing through his body. Especially the torso and arm areas he'd used to receive Bai Fanxian's attacks most often gradually showed purple from internal bruising. It kept getting more severe. He swallowed that pill without hesitation.
Bai Fanxian's elixirs always created surprise for people. Just eating it, the wounds and bruises on the old man's body greatly lessened. Only minor aches remained.
Uncle Huang walked back to watch the children with Bai Fanxian. He didn't notice that in one building almost two kilometers away, someone was staring at their fight and recording everything.