“ No. I refuse that I can't move you from the spot. I still have one more thing to try. ” Declared Jiao, as Gao Junjie observed the phantom above her head shrink.

When it finally settled down on its size of a very large and naked man it locked its position.

It floated slightly above the ground and behind Yu Jiao.

It had its arms crossed at the chest and its eyes oozed ‘You are beneath me, Idiot.’.

If an ordinary person could gaze upon it, they would have no choice but to admit that it was an impressive Jade Statue.

Yet no ordinary person could gaze upon it.

When Gao Junjie’s eyes gazed upon the spot the Jade apparition inhabited, it saw nothing. Yet with his Divine Sense, he could perceive the apparition.

It was only the familiar feeling of his own Heavenly Jade Qi that told him of what it could be made out of, or what it was imitating.

Such a situation stimulated Gao Junjie deeply like never before.

He trained those under him to always use Divine Sense in combat, as such combat is full of chaos and it was easy to pay the price of life if one is not careful enough and aware enough of every single thing surrounding someone in a fight.

Many died in such situations by lack of awareness, but perceiving and not seeing the enemy as he currently did was a new experience for him and Gao Junjie had fought quite a variety of people.

It was thanks to his higher cultivation and vast combat experience that he had no trouble so far.

“ I remember you saying that you had something to test. Does this mean being able to forcibly move from my position was the goal from the beginning? ” Gao Junjie asked the little girl before him.

“ Every time I tried to test myself against you, you always defended yourself in such a manner that it infuriated me. So… No, it's not part of the test but I so dearly want to do it. ” Replied Yu Jiao in a slight hurry.

Her body was trembling and no matter how Gao Junjie looked, he knew that this test she was undergoing was bound to be short. “ I see. I have asked this before but are you sure you want to continue? ”

“ Yes, don't worry, I can still go on without repercussions. ” She declared as she moved closer to her teacher/instructor.

Once she was about two meters ahead of Gao Junjie, her Jade Phantom moved with such speed that it slightly surprised Gao Junjie.

Clang.

His eyes may not have seen the Jade Phantom, but his Divine Sense alerted him fast enough that he was able to intercept the incoming right fist with his own Jade armored right hand. It was their contact that produced the sound.

And it was in that contact that a suspicion appeared in his mind.

Clang, Clang, Clang.

It was the subsequent attack and the ones that came after that confirmed it.

Every punch delivered to him and he defended against straight on produced those sounds upon impact, but it was those impacts that told him the answers.

‘ She is not taking any stance and her attacks have reached a Foundation. Is this a trade-off of having a smaller body? ’ Mussed Gao Junjie in his mind as he intercepted another punch.

As he looked upon the Jade Phantom, he decided otherwise. ‘ No, I remember her saying that size doesn't matter. All that mattered was her Intent. If so? ’

Looking away from the phantom upon whom his Divine Sense had locked on, Gao Junjie observed the little girl before him.

It was a bit weird seeing her yet having his Divine Sense say that something should be blocking his gaze otherwise.

Still, as he gazed upon her he noticed her mouth moving as if she was saying something.

Despite the fast pace of the attacks and his interceptions, he was still not overwhelmed as her attack pattern was very simple so he could still provide enough concentration to consider other things.

With his momentary concentration focused on her, he heard the sounds coming from her.

“ Mu-Da. ” She uttered once as her apparition attacked. Clang.

“ Mu-Da. ” Clang.

“ Mu-Da. ” Clang.

“ Mu-Da. ” Clang.

Every single time he heard her utter a Clang resonated from the attack he intercepted.

A few more attacks and Gao Junjie had enough of the repeated actions forced upon him.

A few attacks later he found the perfect opportunity and concentrated enough Qi from his Core that it would easily overwhelm any of the attacks displayed so far with the strength of a Foundation.

Clang… echoed again. Much stronger than before.

Only this time no follow-up came, as the right fist alongside the whole arm of the Jade Phantom exploded as it was unable to endure the force impact of both fists.

As such, it concluded another pause as it descended upon Jiao of what happened.

Retrieving her phantom behind her she looked upon the missing right hand and a slight bit of its right shoulder.

It was Gao Junjie’s voice that brought her from her contemplations.

It was steady as if everything they had done so far was a child's game and it had yet to even hinder his normal breathing rhythm.

“ Your… Battle Chant, must be impressive if its mare uttering is having each attack increase its impact to the Foundation stage. ”

“ Battle Chant? ” Seeing the stupefied look on her face, Gao Junjie was lost for words for a few seconds.

“ Is it not? Then what does Mu-Da mean to you, if its mere pronunciation increased your strength? ” Asked Gao Junjie. Now he was curious as to its true nature.

“ No… It’s, it’s a joke of sorts, that I wanted to reproduce at least once. Even if none understood it, it mattered to me. But, but… hahaha. ” With that said Jiao chuckled.

Her eyes lost focus for a few moments before refocusing on the here and now. “ Now that you have mentioned it, Yes. Yes, it is a Battle Chant. Only I will have to change it up a bit. ”

Immediately her gaze focused on the Jade Phantom and its right arm regrew within seconds and she focused back on her teacher/instructor.

Seeing that look he knew she wanted to continue yet he raised his hand to stop her. “ Jiao, wait. ”

“ Yes? ”

“ Can your phantom withstand more of the same attacks that you just witnessed? ” Gao Junjie asked her.

“ I can make it regrow its body as much as I want but if you're asking if it will blow up every time you use an attack of such strength, then, No. It can not. ” Jiao replied.

“ I see. If that is the case, then there is no point to continue as is. It would be just a waste of time. I propose that you leave your “Goal” for the future. I propose a different situation. ” He declared.

When he saw Jiao nod, he explained. “ No matter how many attacks below the Core you use, it will not increase your chances. Instead of repeating the same thing over and over, I propose that we switch from Me defending myself, to Me attacking you and make this into a proper combat scenario. Do you agree? ”

Seeing her nod, Gao Junjie switched his mindset. He called upon his Jade Skin Armor to cover his whole body and he centered his attention on Jiao and her phantom.

‘ First, let me see her reaction speed. ’

The moment he decided, Gao Junjie dashed towards Jiao.

With muscles trained over a long period of time, and Qi from being a Core Cultivator, it would take him but half a second to close the distance of 2 meters to her and initiate a straight punch at her head.

With his control he had no fear of hurting her, yet when his fist was intercepted by the phantom, he understood a certain thing.

Clang.

‘ Her physical body may not be able to move at my speed but the same can not be said for that phantom. ’ A few more punches from his side increased his suspicions. Even when he increased his speed to that of a Core Cultivator, the phantom was still able to follow him.

‘ I wonder? ’ Gao Junjie thought and executed his thought.

For the first time, he executed a Movement Art.

It was a simple one called A Simple Side Step.

Just like its name that was its purpose but when executed by Gao Junjie it became more than just a simple movement.

It included the Comprehension that he understood. When his Qi was delivered to the right channels in his legs, hips, back, shoulders, and hands, with the right rhythm he essentially vanished from Jiao’s sight.

Not completely as her bullet effect was in place and no matter how fast Gao Junjie was, he was not faster than the light that entered her eyes.

Still, the moment her realization happened, it was too late. Her physical body would never be able to react fast enough and she had no eyes on her sides or back to react properly.

Once he vanished in her line of vision, she sent her Jade Phantom behind her on a hunch, and in the same moment that it appeared there, she felt it.

A touching feeling on her left cheek. Correctly interpreted it could be said to be a pokey feeling.

Craning her head she saw the Jade encased finger that was poking her left cheek. Looking beyond it and slightly upwards she saw the frowning expression of her instructor.

“ I am not sure how you are able to react to me at all when you have a vision of me, but it seems that without Divine Sense you lose perception of anything beyond that. ” Gao Junjie reasoned. “ From what I have seen of you so far, I know you have thought of a way to amend that weakness. Can you implement it? Otherwise, I will stick with your field of vision. ”

“ I have indeed. ” Replied Jiao, as her phantom materialized and appeared in Gao Junjie’s eyes.

Seeing it with his eyes was different from perceiving it with his Divine Sense.

For one Divine Sense didn't help with perceiving colors if the thing being perceived did not contain any Qi. If it did then it usually took on the colors of the elements or blurs of colors if there were more.

The same could be said for the other senses like touch, sound, smell, and taste. If there was no Qi to pronounce those things one simply didn't notice them with Divine Sense and one had to rely on the physical body instead.

Unless you know methods to go around such problems.

The phantom finally gained the needed color he knew it had, as the feeling his Divine Sense gave him, and for the first time, his eyes recognized his opponent.

The moment he did, he went at it yet something was different this time. When the Jade Phantom attacked, its mouth moved and shouted a familiar sound to Gao Junjie.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Muda, Clang, Muda, Clang.

As if its action required the word to be said, the phantom shouted every time. And its effect showed. Every punch was marginally stronger than before.

‘ I wonder what Mu-Da means? ’ Thought Gao Junjie a second before initiating another A Simple Side Step.

In the middle of the executed movement, Gao Junjie noticed the Jade green eyes of the phantom follow him, and at the same time, it moved to follow him by floating around Jiao.

Satisfied at that, he nodded internally and after the movement was completed, as interrupting such things invented more trouble than it was worth it, he engaged the phantom behind Jiao’s back.

A few more Mu-Da’s echoed in his head, confirming to him that having no direct line of sight to her phantom, Jiao still reacted properly and not only that.

The phantom was even gaining strength.

It wasn't enough to bother him but it was there.

As the exchange happened, Gao Junjie decided to up the game a bit. He stopped connecting their fists and started deflecting and dodging.

Once he had verified what he wanted he started counterattacking for real. When he deflected a straight punch slightly to the side with his left hand, he attacked with his right.

The attack slipped through easily and he hit the phantom's chest. It pierced through the chest and arrived on the other side.

He simply did not expect that to happen and retreated the next second.

As he stared, he saw the wound close in seconds and when it was done, it was as if nothing happened at all.

Yet when he looked beyond it with his Divine Sense at Jiao, he saw a much different story.

Blood was dripping from her mouth and nose. Not much but there it was.

Seeing such a thing, all the intrigue and battle lust he had taken a nosedive and he released his Jade Skin Armor.

“ Do you need me to fetch Elder He? ” He asked her as Jiao wiped away the blood with her arm.

“ No, it's fine. It's nothing dangerous. ” She replied as dismissed her phantom. “ A little complication happened, that is all. I was going for it, but I didn't think it would happen without making it into an Ability. I guess stress tests do exist for a reason. ”

“ I see. You will have to tell me about it later, but for now, go take care of yourself first. ” Gao declared, with no room for any conversation.

“ Ok. ” Replied Jiao and made her way inside the house, showing that whatever the injury was, it did not hinder her as he had first imagined.

Gao Junjie on the other hand, after seeing her move along, waited a few minutes more and made his way into another part of the house.

In particular, a room that had two people waiting for him.

Once inside, he saw the leader of this little town, Yu Qiao, and his younger brother, the Lord of the Clan Yu Liwei, wait for him.

They were seated by the table and sipping on tea as they saw him coming.

Joining them, Gao Junjie poured himself a cup of warm tea.

“ Thanks for the warning Junjie. ” Yu Qiao said. Gao Junjie only nodded without replying.

“ Tell me, Qiao, was it weird to see me pouncing around without knowing the reason for it? ” Gao Junjie asked while chuckling a bit.

He had not felt their Divine Senses during the… examination he had just undergone.

“ I must say that nothing was interesting to observe at first. Just a lonely man stretching for his morning routine. But the longer it went on the more interesting it got. ”

Yu Qiao explained his thoughts with a smug smile, but it was gone a second later. “ Truth is I did not expect her Strength to progress so fast. ”

“ Neither have I. ” Yu Liwei commented from the side. “ Tell me what brought on today's event? ”

“ Neither have I. ” Gao Junjie added. “ I know too little of how her Power works so it is hard to reliably estimate how it progresses. As for how it all started, I can answer and the answer is simple, in my mind. ”

“ Oh. Go on, I am curious? ” Said Yu Qiao, the older of the two brothers at the table.

“As I said, it's simple. We all had that phase of the wonder of our own strength in the world. ” Gao Junjie reasoned. When that clicked in the other two’s heads, they understood it. “ In the last four months, she had regularly used an attack on me to test herself, knowing that she could not injure me. She would have probably continued like that for more, but my thought is that yesterday's fights, with the senior recruits on the stage, just increased the likelihood of it happening sooner. ”

All three of them were Cultivators who had gone through that phase so they could empathize.

“ Well… you're the one that tested the current Jiao, go on. Tell us what you think? ” Asked the girl's father.

The question stayed in the air for a few moments, as Gao Junjie considered everything he knew and tried to imagine the future as close as possible.

During his mental gymnastics, Gao Junije sipped on some tea and his two tea companions let him do so without bothering him.

It was only after the tea was spent that he spoke. “ It is hard for me to extrapolate much. I simply don't know enough about Yin or Life Essence, however, it's called. Notwithstanding that Jiao has stopped giving explanations in detail because of the incident on the road here. What I can tell you is my observations of before and what happened today. ”

Accepting the nods from his tea companions, Gao Junjie went on. “ Let's first discuss her combat ability that we witnessed a little while ago. First of all, it is a great ambush power as it's invisible to the naked eye. With it, she can always be the first to engage in any hostile actions, and you both know that if you hit hard enough on the first strike, the following fight is that much easier. ”

Both had to nod at that. There was a reason that the saying ‘Attacking is often the best defense if you can hit hard enough.’ exists.

“ If the ambush fails, she will probably have a greater advantage either way, as only Divine Sense can sense the attack, and even I have to admit that it was a novel experience. ” Gao Junjie explained. “ Combat sustainability I do not need to comment on as you both have seen it. Her phantom could keep up with me even when I used movement art at the Core stage. Her attacks are consistent and will only gain in strength with time and experience. ”

“ I see, can you estimate where her strength gain will plateau or at least slow down? ” Yu Qiao questioned.

“ That is harder to estimate, but it certainly will not be below Soul Creation. As for what stage exactly I can't tell and we will have to wait for her to grow up to witness it. ”

“ Hmm. Second, I know I shouldn't but I must admit that she could become a core part of the Clan. ” Yu Qiao said hesitantly. He didn't want to hurt his younger brother's feelings but it had to be said.

“ I know, First. I know. ” Replied Yu Liwei. “ I… just need more time than I expected. I still see her as my Jiao but it will be easier in the future as the changes that Jiao is undergoing become more visible. I had a small talk with Elder He about the changes she was undergoing and I must say that it surprised me, a bit. ”

“ Oh, what did he say? ” Yu Qiao wondered and while Gao Junjie said nothing he too was curious.

“ Nothing grand but it did make me remember our father's lesson when we were younger. ” Yu Liwei explained. “ Especially about how one's disposition will always find a way to reveal itself, it was just a matter of convenience and time. It's why he had me practice projection my presence with a natural disposition. “

“ To project strength and hide one’s weakness. ” Murmured Yu Qiao. “ I remember those. I did them but I hated them. ”

“ Of course you did. You always preferred bashing people. It's why you're here and why I am leading the Clan. ” Hearing the pleased voice of his younger brother, Yu Qiao only scowled, after all, it was true, he did like to bash people more than talk.

“ Anyway, back to the main topic. Junjie, how certain are you that she will grow beyond Soul Creation? ” Yu Qiao asked.

“ Pretty sure, if I consider that her raw energy manipulation has increased to today's standards with only 5 months of practice. ” Gao Junjie said. “ If we add that she will grow stronger by creating more Abilities, as she called them, then I can guess her versatility is bound to grow too. ”

“ Wait, you mean to tell me that she can contest with a Foundation just based on raw manipulation of this Life Essence. How? I remember her saying that she created this Ability of hers? ” A bit shocked, Yu Liwei asked.

He still remembers the first time he had seen that phantom of hers and that thing in its chest that he could not identify.

It was that memory that sparked his thoughts. “ Wait, are you saying that the core thing in that phantom's chest is the Ability and not that phantom? ”

“ Yes, that core is closer to a Cultivators Core that draws in Qi by itself. It may work on some principle that we don't understand, but that is what it does. ” Gao Junjie explained.

“ Ok, that does it. First, I am not going back to the capital without getting some answers from her. ” Yu Liwei declared. “ We will not let her smuggle her way out of this. ”

“ I don't mind giving it another go, but how will you get her to speak? ” Inquired Yu Qiao. “ We can't torture her obviously, and tempting her with the Heavenly Jade Mantra won't work. You have heard her declaration at the tournament just as I have. ”

“ She will not corrupt her moral integrity for the gains of personal strength. ” Hearing that statement surprised Gao Junjie. At that moment he was observing the recruits beating each other so he had no idea about it.

“ Sigh, you're right. ” Remembering that part, Yu Liwei became a bit dismayed. Not only has the daughter he loved vanished but this one became even more rebellious than the one before.

“ So from your words I guess she does not want to take the Oath? ” Junjie asked.

“Yea, it seems that she thinks that the Mantra can help her gain more strength, but does not want to take the Oath. ” Replied Yu Liwei but when he saw the raised left eyebrow of Gao Junjie he added on. “ She wants to be given the Mantra based on faith that she will not misuse it or blunder its secrets to others. ”

That fact Gao Junjie knew it was useless to argue about it. There was a reason their ancestor, Yu Tian, implemented the Oath to all who practice it and not just the complete Mantra.

Still, that did spark a thought in Gao Junjie’s mind.

“ If she does not want to make an Oath, and if you won't give her the Mantra without the Oath, then why don't you just give her something else. ” Gao Junjie inquired about the brothers, but in this case, he was specifically looking at Yu Liwei. “ Something that both of you have in common, at least in general. ”

“ Go on, I am listening. ” Said the father of the girl in question.

‘ Hmm, I wonder if my interpretation of her Power will work in this case. ’

“ How about this? ” He said.

***

Recovery

Echoed my command upon the internal essence construct I had made in my body.

Well… technically it's not in my body. It is more like it existed in a parallel layer of my body but eh… the distinction is barely there.

Back upon my bed, I lay, and below all the layers of cloth, my body was resting.

There was one thing that I said to Gao Junjie that was a lie, not a complete lie, but it was a lie.

My body was not as fine as I made it out to be, but it was not as bad as I imagined it would be. The stress test had truly shown me my current limits.

The test took between five minutes to ten minutes. Mentally it took much longer since it was thanks to it that I could keep up with him in any meaningful way.

The wear and tear on my body's internal organs and muscles weren't that bad and I could have gone on for at least another 10 minutes without any problems.

But

But, I completely, with all my heart, did not expect that to happen.

To suddenly experience being speared through the chest.

Simply did not expect that to happen, and it was not supposed to happen, at least not yet.

The idea was simple. Define an Ability that would establish a much closer connection between my phantom, who is not yet an Ability, to my internal construct that would be used for various things, which is also not yet an Ability, without jeopardizing my future phantom of becoming an ability bound to the physical body.

If successful, it would increase the generation and transfer of Intent between my body and the phantom to a whole other scale.

That is the plus side of it. The negative is that whatever the phantom would experience would transfer to my real body to a degree.

The closer the connection, the more I could give and the more I would receive.

There was no such thing as only gaining. I mean, I could define it like that but I would be lucky to get half the benefits if there are no losses.

‘ Sigh, let's find out what happened. ’

I had my Jade Phantom appear above me as I laid on the bed and as such, I scrutinized it from the top to the bottom and especially in the chest area where the penetration happened.

‘ Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm. There is nothing there that made a connection to my internal construct, but I did receive an injury. So if it's not there then it must be something else and there is only one thing left in there. ‘

My real Ability, The Black Hole Energy Generator.

‘ There is a chance that Gao Junjie hit it or chafed it a bit, but that Ability is not anchored to my body but my Will. So what happened? ’

‘ If I can't see the problem, let me rewatch the memory of the fight. ’

As such, I replayed the fight from my perspective. The beginning, the middle, and the end where his fist penetrated my phantom. Which is another problem that was bothering me.

‘ There is no way that fist should have penetrated, so why did it. ’

So I began rewatching and experiencing that moment.

My fist was deflected by him, his Jade-covered Fist hit my phantom in the chest and penetrated it.

Pain emerged in my chest and told me nothing. So I did it again and again and again.

Every time I went through that experience and the pain I felt, an answer crept into my mind, but it was always there, hidden.

Brute forcing the moment in memory, again and again, it came to me.

Like a bang, it showed me the truth.

“ Motherfucker. ” I yelled out.

My words were in English, so I did not worry about anybody recognizing what I said but even so they would recognize that I was mad.

Luckily I was the only one there.

“ To think, I would be susceptible to placebo effects. Me? Me? Me? ”

Taking a deep breath, I gather my thoughts and consider them for a few moments. ‘ I guess, when everything my phantom does is dependent on my Intent, if I had imagined even for a second that his fist would penetrate the chest of my phantom, it would weaken its defense. ‘

‘ Ah, that opened another bag of cans, full of worms, I did not ask for, at all. ‘

Frowning at that I considered ways to go around that, and only one way came to my mind.

It was a stupid way, but just because it was stupid did not mean it was not effective.

‘ Yeah, I am not a masochist but if my phantom is hit enough, it should still count as training my defensive Intent, I think. ’

Nodding to my intellectual contemplation, now it was easy enough to guess as to why the damage of the penetration transferred to a degree to my real body.

Weak defensive Intent failed.

Fist penetrated the chest and probably chafed the real ability.

It should have hurt my Will. Instead, I had an internal body construct on my body.

My Will in a defensive response reflected that to my internal body construct, which in return affected my real body.

Such a roundabout way for things to happen.

‘ Ha, I hate having another bag of cans, full of worms, opened without even seeking them, but better I know about it now and plan for the future, than face the mistake later and let it be my downfall. ‘

Sigh