As he stood up from what was previously a mountain for the fourth time in under five minutes, Xiao Lee considered the possibility that perhaps he had made a bad decision. For all his talent in cultivation, he did not exactly consider himself the best fighter there was. He also never gave it nearly as much effort as he did his cultivation.

After all, what use was the ultimate fighting technique when he could simply advance a realm past his enemy. He winced internally at the thought. The Dragon Lord had spent years beating that mentality out of him. Still, he generally preferred to avoid conflict.

Even with all that though, he was by no means a pushover. His master’s standards were not exactly average. Though he could not measure up to the very best, he could largely always hold his own.

Which was why his current situation was even more embarrassing. He tried not to beat himself up about it. She was equivalent to a very important Young Mistress from a sect with far more resources than he could imagine. It would make sense for her to know techniques beyond his comprehension.

Yet when he looked at the smaller woman who loved the path of the scholar and seemed to abhor conflict, his pride remained bruised, nonetheless. Lisa beating him effortlessly, he could easily accept, but Bornie? He could not even blame it on her higher cultivation since the simulation thoroughly removed that advantage, nor on experience since he knew she was in her twenties.

“Are you okay,” came the voice of his tormentor. The genuine concern laced into it made it even worse. “We can stop if you want.”

He rose up from the mountain turned stump back into the air. As much as he despised losing, giving up would be even more embarrassing.

“I am fine. Just caught off guard. You are better than I expected.”

“Thanks. I get that a lot,” she said with a sly smile.

He was grateful that she conveniently did not point out the fact that it was not the first or second time he had been ‘caught off-guard’. This time, he held nothing back, going all out from the start.

Path of power: obliterate

Perhaps it was a bit overkill to use such a powerful technique in a friendly duel, but he was just evening the playing field. Besides, the simulation made sure there was no harm actually done.

His fist shot out with the full weight of his will, the lightning cracking around it. He felt smug satisfaction as she flew back fast enough to cause a boom.

His feelings were reversed when she somehow managed to arrest her flight before hitting the ground.

Of course she did.

She smiled at him and whispered.

“My turn.”

He was about to unleash another attack when she was suddenly found himself pinned to the floor and unable to get up. He struggled for a while before finally breaking free with a powerful burst of lightning.

They continued the game, with him trying and mostly failing to land a clean hit and getting bruised in return. By the time she took pity on him and called for a time out, he was beaten bloody and nearly out of qi.

It was made even worse by the fact that she had not used a single flashy technique throughout the duel. Though it was more of a beat down, at this point. He did not even know what her Dao was, something that irked him.

“Let’s disconnect,” she said, then disappeared immediately after, not giving him time to protest.

He shook his head and disconnected; the devastated mountains replaced by the familiar plain walls of his room. The felling of full qi reserves and a whole body was refreshing after enduring nearly half an hour of beatings.

To be fair, it was not all bad. Bornie had felt bad for him and further limited herself at some point, which give him an actual fighting chance. She still won more often than him, but at least he was not completely hopeless. It was still embarrassing for him though, at the end of the day.

“That was fun. We should do it more often.”

He resisted the urge to glare at her, knowing she was needling him on purpose. Plus, he had to admit it had been a little enjoyable, at least at the later parts when he actually stood a chance.

Truly the ability to go all out with no physical risk was something that could not be appreciated enough.

“It was enjoyable,” he accepted. “But I do not believe I am your match.”

“Don’t beat yourself about that. I was a little obsessed with fighting for a few years. Even Lisa would struggle against me at the same stage.”

“Oh. I see.”

His response must not have sounded convincing because she laughed at his reaction.

“Well, you wouldn’t be the first person to be surprised by that. My fighting obsession is mostly in the past and know-it-all Bornie doesn’t exactly feel like a hidden warrior. You should have seen the look on July’s face the first time he challenged me. He was even worse than you.”

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He was not sure if that was supposed to make him feel better. Maybe he should challenge July and see for himself. Though he could imagine how much more embarrassing it would be if he lost again.

“Still, my gratitude for your time. I am sure there are many things you could have been doing instead.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised. There’s not much to do right now, honestly. Everyone’s still waiting for what the High Senate will decide.”

“Do you have any idea what that would be?” he asked, though he did not hold much hope.

“I wish. Mum has been annoyingly tight lipped about the whole thing. Though she’s been in a foul mood, so I suspect the pro-war voices are getting louder.”

“What do you think about that,” he asked somewhat delicately.

“Honestly, I’m more conflicted than i would have thought,” she confessed. “I normally believe in diplomacy and giving even small states an equal voice but I’m not stupid. It doesn’t mean we should let ourselves be pushovers. Plus, they’re a bunch of deluded fanatics that are trying to steal one of my friends. I’m a little less inclined to going easy on them.”

He thought about her answer. So even the more peaceful voices were aware of the dangers of setting precedents. Though such a thing was to be expected.

“You know, enough about boring politics. Let me take you out somewhere. As an apology for beating you up so badly.” She interrupted him when he wanted to argue. “It's a tradition among our friend group. Winner has to take the loser out after their first fight. I’ve taken anyone out except Lisa.”

He was less opposed to her after her explanation. For all he seemed like a social ignoramus, he was not stupid. Starting a relationship was not currently in his plans. Hearing it was what everyone did dispelled any worries there.

“Where would we be going,” he asked.

“Oh, it’s always a surprise. Price of being a loser, sorry.”

Once again, her smile made him even more suspicious. A part of him wondered why no one had bothered to inform him of the tradition beforehand. Surely, she did not believe him so bad as to be hopeless even before their bout.

Oh, who was he trying to fool.

She insisted he changed, so he took a few seconds to pick something he had never worn before. It was a set that had been given to him by the Lasvanian Foreign Ministry. One that he had previously ignored. Still, he wore the full suit, complete with black coat and matching tie.

A quick look at himself showed that it was very properly fitted. He could admit that it even looked a little good, if he ignored the strangeness of wearing something so tight. And the weird tie thing.

Bornie started at her plain jacket and jeans, which of course she had not been wearing before. Either she always carried clothes in her spatial ring, which was perfectly sensible, or she was particularly prepared for their outing. Or both.

“When I said change, I didn’t mean you should dress like you were going to a fancy party. Now I feel underdressed.”

She did not ask him to change again even with her complaints, thankfully. He quite liked the way he looked. Clothes and fashion were never things he particularly cared for but perhaps something could change there. It could be a nice hobby to have.

He had a sudden flashback to a memory of accompanying one of his master’s friends on one of his many shopping trips and shuddered. The Phoenix Flame’s vanity was a rather scary thing.

Perhaps he should just stick to wearing his regular hanfu. There was nothing wrong with it, after all. He was simply making proper use of a gift. That nearly all his clothes were gifts was an insignificant detail.

“Alright, I’ll be opening a portal now,” she announced.

The portal she opened was reflective, stopping him from peeking at their destination. He had wondered how even people without a trace of spatial qi seemed rather adept at making portals in Lasvania. Lisa had revealed it was a feature of absorbers.

As if he needed another reason to want those.

Bornie took his hand in hers and they stepped out of the portal together, right into a cold dark vacuum. Completely devoid of heat or sound.

It took a second for his sacred sphere to re-anchor itself around him. Something he found strange.

“Where are we,” he turned to his companion. As with Lisa’s living room, his voice was only projected because of his qi.

“We’re in outer space,” came the jovial reply. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

He spread out his senses at the revelation and was slightly taken back by the lack of familiar qi. Though perhaps he should not have been. The space outside his home world was also full of rather exotic qi that only very few madmen dared cultivate.

He turned his attention to the massive ball of QI a few thousand kilometres from him and paused.

To think he had once thought the world of Xenus massive beyond compare. The world that stood in front of him was much larger than he could even imagine. Even from his position, far as he was, the qi it produced was a quantity he could never hope to even comprehend. He saw a massive continent that he recognised as where Lasvania was located.

The country itself, tracing it out from a map, was so much bigger than he actually thought. It felt nearly as large as his old world, honestly.

“Your world is magnificent.”

“Well of course,” Bornie answered with a smile. “I thought this would be a nice place to unwind. Bet no girl has taken you to space before.”

“Well,” he said, thinking of that time Bai Liu dragged him to see the stars up close. It had been rather fun. And deadly, considering they weren’t Great Lords yet. “Only once.”

“Guess you’re more travelled than I gave you credit for. Life will be very hectic from next week.”

“I suspected as much. Lisa implied we’ll be worked to the bone soon.”

“Yeah. Did you consider my offer. For your OCD.”

He turned to her, surprised by the unexpected turn. He had given the matter some thought. He has studied himself and what he really wanted. Despite his initial enthusiasm, he was not sure it was worth it. Bornie had perhaps underestimated just how much the process’ effects were. What he read implied a serious reduction in drive, which he did not fancy. He wanted to have time for his friends, but he also wanted to keep advancing quickly.

Perhaps he was asking for too much, but he did not think so. Besides, he had formed friendships in the past few weeks. A part of him acknowledged that he would have far less free time when he got the absorber, but he accepted that. He could deal with it as it came.

He was Xiao Lee, the youngest Ascendant in history. Why could he not eat his cake and have it too?

He gave Bornie his reply, and though she seemed rather disappointed, she did not press him. After all, he had made conscious efforts to improve. So what if he could never willingly stop cycling.

They moved on to less serious stuff. Like her shenanigans with the others and even an open relationship with July. That had been rather unexpected.

They talked a little about him too. The type of person his master and his sect mates were.

Then they ran out of conversation. So they stared world In front of them, silently admiring it’s beauty.

A rather thoughtful location she had picked, truly.

Hours passed like that, Lee making a conscious effort not to cultivate and just enjoy the moment.

He went home satisfied, more so than he had been in a while. And when he closed his eyes to meditate, it was a different set of green eyes that filled his mind.