The Liu Clan had sparring grounds in name, but they were simply a pair of long rectangles made out of stone tiles. Despite their simple appearance, the sparring grounds served an important purpose. The type of stone the tiles were made out of was very durable, and they could resist blows from cultivators at Qi Refinement, or possibly even Qi Emission. Without these two sparring grounds, the Liu Clan's estate would be littered with craters and debris from the juniors fighting, increasing the cost of upkeep among other things.
Inside the larger of the two sparring grounds stood Liu Zhu and Dai He. Liu Zhu smiled as he took position at one end of the area, waiting for Dai He to get ready. "Remember to go easy on me- it'd be bullying to go all out against your best friend when he's two years your junior, right?" Dai He laughed as he replied. "Don't worry, I won't go all out- your defense may have increased now that you've entered Flesh Tempering, but I know how much damage I could cause if I went all out."
Dai He took his position after that, and Liu Zhu began counting down. "3...2...1...go!" The two immediately pushed off of the ground, dashing towards the center of the arena and preparing to engage. Dai He was prepared to hold back his full strength, but didn't reduce his speed, moving towards Liu Zhu at a rate that showed off his superior cultivation. Liu Zhu was wary upon seeing this, but it didn't change his tactic- exchanging blows until he couldn't any more. He could try something more clever in order to come out on top of the spar, but his goals were to test his improved strength, defense, and healing ability. The first two came naturally from a breakthrough to Flesh Tempering, while the last was a special ability of his. Liu Zhu wanted to take advantage of this chance to get a proper grasp on his abilities.
Dai He approached Liu Zhu from the side, aiming a straight punch towards his chest. Liu Zhu responded quickly, moving even closer to Dai He and launching his own attack. This meant that he would definitely be hit, but in exchange it achieved two things: First, it minimized the force of the blow by reducing the distance Dai He's punch had to gain force. Secondly, it gave Liu Zhu a better chance to hit. It was doubtful whether he could dodge or not, and even if he could the chance of him landing a blow in retaliation was even slimmer. It was simplest to just move towards any attacks aimed at him.
Dai He was surprised by this move, but continued with his attack. His fist landed against Liu Zhu's chest sooner than expected, but Liu Zhu didn't budge- in fact, the punch didn't even leave a bruise. Confused, Dai He wanted to move back, but Liu Zhu's punch was already fast approaching. He simply stood there and watched as Liu Zhu's punch landed against his chest.
Neither of the two expected what happened next. Dai He was sent tumbling backwards, bouncing across the sparring grounds like a ball. This was due to both the force behind Liu Zhu's blow and Dai He's lack of preparation. He was at Late Flesh Tempering while Liu Zhu had just broken through to Early Flesh Tempering, so he never expected the force behind the blow to be so monstrous. He landed against the other end of the arena after a few moments, and silently began to lift himself off the ground.
Liu Zhu stood there, confused, before he thought of a reason for this odd outcome. Dai He must be faking it. Annoyed, he yelled towards Dai He. "Take this seriously! This isn't the time to play around- a weak punch from someone almost a whole stage of cultivation below you isn't going to send you flying. You're going to be a merchant, not an actor, right?" Upon hearing this, Dai He wanted to vomit blood. A weak punch?! If that was a weak punch, what did he have- the punch of an old granny?!
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
After a few seconds Dai He managed to get up, while Liu Zhu remained annoyed, oblivious to the actual situation. Dai He stared at Liu Zhu like he was looking at a monster, before speaking. "Let's continue, but I won't be holding back." Liu Zhu frowned upon hearing this. "Come on, first you attack with a punch so weak it doesn't do anything and pretend to get sent flying. Now you want to attack me so hard that I'll actually get sent flying. Are you just trying to get out of sparring with me?"
Dai He sadly chuckled to himself upon hearing this. This brother got sent flying with one punch, and now you complain about me trying to injure you? Are we really friends or is this just an elaborate plot to make me suffer? Before Dai He could sort out his thoughts Liu Zhu rushed towards him, wanting to continue the fight. Dai He was forced to take position and focus on the fight, lest he take another blow like that again.
After that Dai He narrowly dodged several attacks from Liu Zhu, managing to land a couple of his own in the process. Sadly his full force blows only left light bruises. Even more confusing to Dai He was the fact that Liu Zhu's bruises seemed to be slowly healing as the fight continued. Was he dreaming?
Frustrated by what was going on, Liu Zhu, exasperated, complained. "You said you were using your full force, but you're back to those weak attacks again. I know I was worried, but you don't have to hold back that much." Reaching the limits of his frustrated, Dai He yelled out a retort, dodging Liu Zhu's next attack as he did so. "Holding back?! Who needs to hold back here- I'm going all out and can't injure you, while you sent me flying with one punch! Are you sure you didn't skip past Flesh Tempering and make a breakthrough to Bone and Marrow Tempering without telling me?! Maybe you're really Liu Xuan disguised as your younger brother?"
Confused, Liu Zhu stopped for a moment, finally realizing his mistake. "You weren't acting?" Dai He stopped as Liu Zhu did, continuing to explain. "No! As you said, I'm going to be a merchant, not an actor. Why would I lie to you?! Besides..." as Dai He trailed off he lifted up his clothes, revealing a massive bruise where Liu Zhu punched him. "Unless I'm an actor who could ascend the heavens, I can't make a bruise like this appear out of nowhere."
At this point, Liu Zhu finally put the pieces together- something had happened during his odd breakthrough and his strength and defenses seemed to be beyond that of the average Early Flesh Tempering cultivator. If given longer he could've figured it out by himself, but given that during a breakthrough to Flesh Tempering a cultivator's strength and defense both increased the possibility that something odd had happened hadn't even crossed his mind.
After figuring this out Liu Zhu called off the spar, realizing that he should spar with someone at Early Bone and Marrow Tempering instead. Dai He was still irritated by what happened, but after a couple apologies and a promise to treat him to a meal, he got over it. It was just a punch and a few hurtful words, so he couldn't stay angry for too long.
As the two prepared to return inside, Liu Zhu saw Zhu Chao approach from the other end of the yard. Liu Zhu and Dai He stopped what they were doing and waited for his arrival. The three exchanged greetings before Zhu Chao got to the point. "Young Master Liu, that was an... interesting spar. Still, that wasn't why I came to see you, the timing was a coincidence. Given your breakthrough, you should start training in a weapon."
Dai He took his leave, realizing that this would take a bit, and Liu Zhu stood there, excited. He'd been so overwhelmed about what happened recently that any thought of getting a weapon had slipped his mind. His older brother had begun training in the sword upon reaching Flesh Tempering, and it looked like he'd have a chance to choose a weapon of his own now. Zhu Chao stood there, waiting, while Liu Zhu thought about what type of weapon to ask for. This would be a major part of his fighting style in the future, so he needed to put ample thought into it now.