Lydia seemed to make her way towards the already downed Hu brat, as annoying as he was I can't let a child die over a meaningless confrontation as the one we just had or my entire lesson plan for the Xu's will be pointless. I rush up to help the Hu brat up just to get knocked aside by what I can only assume to be this witch's intent. If that's how It's going to be then two can play at that game, with that in mind I draw my short sword and prepare to confront Lydia.

Reader's P.O.V

Longwei rose to his feet and drew his sword jumping between Lydia and Hu Beng.n "Oi Xu's I can handle her by myself but make sure we aren't interrupted!!", Longwei ordered as he tightened his grip around the hilt of his blade, whether or not he was a cultivator he would be able to handle her relatively well as he didn't spend 100 years as a cripple for nothing. Lydia scoffed and released her killing intent In a wave of force, The wave hit Longwei hard sending him flying but all in all, he would live.

Longwei dug his sword's blade into the ground to slow his flight but it broke and he crashed into a row of trees, He rushed once more to block Lydia path but this time she was getting annoyed and sent a qi palm strike his way to keep him down, the pressure of the strike alone made movement difficult but Longwei leapt to the side barely digging it, the impact still sent him flying but he wasn't hit directly. Longwei rolled as he landed and rushed at Lydia herself rather than just trying to block her again as it was clear despite his techniques his feeble body wasn't keeping up.

Lydia created a bright blue chain out of Qi and swung it at Longwei, Longwei dodged the direct hit but the chain coiled around him as he did. Longwei took a deep breath before disappearing as the chain tightened around the air before falling to the ground. Lydia looked down to see that Longwei had managed to land a punch square in her gut. Lydia's palm struck downwards but Longwei used the same technique to dodge once more making her strike the ground creating a massive crater with cracks all over it. Longwei appeared beside Lydia's head and sent a kick at her face just for her to catch the foot and toss him high in the air.

"Damned pest!!", She yelled as she sent a barrage of Qi punches up in the air after Longwei who began his descent at 50 feet in the air, LOngwei turned his body so he was sky diving down at Lydia, Longwei took yet another deep breath but held it for a few seconds as he gained momentum as he fell, the Qi punch assault was getting closer and he was falling faster but he still had a look of determination in his eyes. Lydia turned to face Hu Beng once more just to find him a decent distance away running. Lydia formed a Qi sword from thin air and Launched it at Hu Beng hoping to end the fight in one blow. The blade made it halfway to Hu Beng before a projectile rapidly landed above it creating a huge explosion of force that sent out shockwaves even Lydia had problems facing head-on without at least wincing.

It continued for a few seconds before leaving a massive dust cloud, thoroughly annoyed now, Lydia dispersed the dust cloud with a wave of her hand to Find longwei barely able to stand but still pointing his broken blade at her with a look of determination in his eyes. "It doesn't matter what you throw at me, I will not succumb to my wounds and I will not let you hurt my peers over something as meaningless as your awareness of an incident... Stop this nonsense now and take us to the Main sect!!", Longwei ordered with a thunderous tone, his appearance, and his voice projected to very different people, he looked to be a feeble boy at death's door but his tone implicated he was inevitably going to win should a conflict break out.

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"Now why the hell should I care about the opinion of some slave-borne Brat??", Lydia asked in a mocking tone. "Yo0u want a puppet to entertain you fine, Let Hu Beng go and I'll agree to be your disciple... otherwise, you'll have to harm him over my dead body!!", Longwei declared not quite aware that Both Xu Mo and Xu Mei had taken a fighting stance behind him to support him in this battle. Lydia first gritted her teeth in annoyance but then sighed heavily and burst out laughing heartily. "Man If I knew you were this balsy I would have insisted on it earlier, you seem like you'll entertain me for long enough so I'll let the brat off with the punishment so far... But finding out how he learned that technique is your responsibility", Lydia said before looking back at Hu Beng who had collapsed due to the accumulated pain in his body, she shook her head in disappointment and walked back towards the Carriage that was to take them to the main sect.

Seeing that she agreed Longwei dropped to his knees with a sigh and started panting, The Xu's tried to help him but he signaled them to stop. "I am tolerant to this kind of thing, a bit of rest will do for me, just tend to the wounds of the Hu...B-b-b-br--", Lonwei tried to finish but passed out as well losing consciousness. Xo Mo sighed ad picked Longwei up draping the body over his shoulder. "You're more proficient at healing than me so take care of senior Hu, I'll take this little rascal somewhere he can rest", Xu Mo said as he made his way towards one of the trees that wasn't destroyed during the scuffle. He dropped Longwei's body gently under the shade of the tree in a way that his body could rest as comfortably as one cold while sleeping under a tree. "I guess I know which side I'm on for the Troup Hunt", Xu Mo said with a smile as he picked blood away from Longwei and collapsed beside him regaining consciousness, unlike Longwei. Xu Mo lifted his shirt to reveal a slash wound and a fresh burn mark the shape of a claw slash. "Let's just hope Mei Mei doesn't have to find out about this one", Xu Mo ranted under his breath as recovered it up looking back at how he had to jump in to block an attack aimed at Longwei for Longwei to fully utilize his technique mid-air. "I guess that'll have to be my little secret, after all, what kind of friend complains when facing the consequences of protecting another friend", Xu Mo said with a chuckle as he also slowly fell asleep.

Meanwhile on the other end of the field altogether, blissfully unaware of Xu Mo's revelation was Xu Mei who was reclining Hu Beng's battered body after wrapping up his upper body and wrapping his face to let the broken nose and rib cage heal. "I...I misjudged that Zhu brat, It seems there's more to him... than the arrogant prick I assume he was", Hu Beng said with heavy pants between breaks. "That's the impression you usually get when you judge someone of face-level appearances... Something I admit I wrongfully did with you, that being said If you don't change your impulsive and boisterous Nature you won't be able to better your relationship with Longwei", Xu Mei said with an indifferent expression before turning to her brother to find them both sleeping under a tree, she chuckled lightly and shook her head as she made her way over to move them over here so she could treat all three of them, while she was hurt trying to distract officer Yue It was tolerable to the point that she didn't need much rest afterward.

Hu Beng thought back to what just happened from Longwei's signal for him to escape to the merge fact longwei did not expose his open secret to Lydia, while she was calm he doubted it would go well for either of the slave families if she found out, as such he felt genuine gratitude towards the boy. "I guess to repay this favor I'm going to need to get you allies for the Troupe hunt aren't I Zhu Brat", Hu Beng thought to himself as he let himself drift into sleep.