Spencer was startled in the first half, and also went defensive, almost ready to leave the dome using his individual token but was startled when he heard the second half.

Drith laughed when he realized why Spencer took such a stance. “Don’t worry, I am not one of them. I wouldn’t have protected you otherwise. I am just a victim who faced their tactics when I was new in the sect. In that period Vice president Fred himself ran the protection squad, it was only in recent years that he has chosen to delegate the task to Kevin.”

Spencer thanked Drith, bowing to him before asking. “But who are you? Did you really just help me because you once suffered in their hands?”

“Of course not. I am running for the position of vice president. The Martial council consists of 1 president and 4 vice presidents at the highest ladder, and I intend to compete for the position of vice president this year.

“Of course, you might think it is weird for me to compete with him when I was a newbie and he was already a vice president. But I’ve been fighting in the demon world all this time, cultivating at every moment and gathering resources to advance while he sits in his office and collects his protection fees. Who do you think is more powerful? I am also a genius who needs less resources and time to advance, it isn’t absurd for me to catch up to him.”

Spencer looked at Drith clenching his fist, rambling about himself while he thought.

I am asking why you helped me. Who cares what you went through and what kind of genius you were?

Drith abruptly realized the weird eyes with which Spencer was gazing at him and coughed deliberately. He changed the topic and explained.

“Actually, to become a vice president or president, apart from defeating the one you challenged, you also need to pick out a disciple from the latest batch who will fight against one picked by your opponent. When I asked the elders, they said it was to test insight and discernment. If you won against your opponent, then it wouldn’t matter what the results of the fight between newbies are, you’ll still get the position, but you’ll get a higher salary if your selected newbie wins.

“Clara is the finance head in the Martial council. We are friends, so she told me about this one particular newbie who might be a talent at refining meridians. When I was looking for you, I found the familiar activity of the protection squad around you, so I thought about doing a gesture of goodwill.”

Spencer seriously nodded his head after listening to all that. “I see. So you want me to fight under you? But what will I get out of it?”

He had no qualms about returning the favor, and it was given that he would have to fight at a certain point in time. It was better if he did it earlier than later, and under someone who wasn’t hostile to him. But it would be better if he got something out of it.

Drith tilted his head to the side. The notion frankly didn’t suit the man. He was a large bulky young man, standing 6’3 and had a wide neck. He had buzz cut on his black hair and tanned skin, giving him an overall look of someone from the military of Earth.

“How about I give you 100 spirit stones if you win? It’s the increase I’ll get in my salary if my selected newbie happens to win. But that is in the future, I need to first gauge if you are worthy.”

Spencer’s eyes lit up as soon as he heard the amount of money. And his thoughts soon drifted off to the Martial Council.

There is so much money in simply occupying a position of Martial Council? 100 is simply the increase he will get if I win. And that's just counting one month, he is only giving me one month’s increase. Well, I can't ask for more either.

Spencer knew about it from the novels he had read. It was similar to the student council from universities of the Earth. They had jurisdiction on the students and to some extent, professors, on how the universities need to work. The final decision lay in the hands of high ranking professors and principals but the student council had plenty of say, with legal authoritative power to give an opinion on the course of action concerning activities regarding the students. It was probably a similar case here.

Drith didn’t take a stance, but simply stood there, and instructed him. “C’mon, first I want to take a look at your skill. I’ll simply stand here to defend against your cultivation art. Then I’ll teach you the basics of combat if I am satisfied.”

Spencer nodded. He wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that his meager street fighting experience would hold up against someone who fought demons, it was a good time to learn.

He imagined the route in his head and circulated the qi in the given path. It took him about ten seconds to get it going, an immense blunder as soon as the fight began, but neither Drith nor Spencer pointed it out. Both of them knew it was his first match, and it was an issue which needed to be solved, no need to talk about it more.

As soon as he circulated the Windshadow step, a mysterious feeling emerged in him, making Spencer believe he could travel at speeds faster than before.

“A speed increasing technique? Good first choice.”

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Drith nodded in acknowledgement. Spencer wasted no time in kicking off to approach him. He could feel the already small amount of qi in his dantian being consumed at a pace he couldn’t hold on for long. He was finding it difficult to control the sudden increase in his speed, but he discovered that he could control it depending on the speed of circulation.

As soon as he was near Drith, he slowed down, and delivered a punch to his chest, careful not to smash face first into him instead. Unfortunately it didn’t even budge the humongous man. He nodded instead, as Spencer retreated to instill some gap between them.

“Put some more power behind that punch will you? None of your attacks are going to hurt me. Don’t be careful about it.”

The gears in his head turned as Spencer used the momentum brought about by his speed to punch him once again, this time using the speed to redirect his body so he didn’t crash into the person. It allowed him to use full momentum and not stop himself like before.

“More.” Drith shouted. He was secretly impressed, this was definitely not someone who has just refined more than 3 meridians.

Spencer had an indifferent look on his face as he prepared again. He could feel that this was going to be the last time, his qi was already running out. He had completely failed to anticipate this scenario.

I should have cultivated some more and filled up my dantian before leaving. This is embarrassing.

This time, Drith noticed Spencer taking a different approach. Instead of hands, he was preparing for a kick, using the momentum of the body and the technique which boosted the speed of the leg to deliver a far greater damage. A moment later though, as the kick was about to land, he sensed his body bending, allowing his hand to head towards attacking a different region.

Drith instinctively clinched his legs and grabbed the hand, taking the kick to his shoulder. He had a dark look on his face as he looked at the newbie. “Motherfucker. What nonsense are you up to? I told you to show the cultivation art you learnt, I don’t remember any such cultivation art.”

He released his hand, and made some distance himself. He was less sure about the personality of this newbie than before.

Spencer’s eyes lit up as he heard what Drith had to say. There is no such cultivation art? Are the heavens giving me a chance to make a name for myself? I should quickly make such an art. I don’t want to disappoint the heavens.

Drith waited for another attack but realized that Spencer had completely stopped. The latter had an embarrassed smile on his face as he confessed. “I ran out of qi.”

Drith was dumbfounded before a chuckle escaped his mouth. “Leaving your cave with such a small amount of qi? Really? You are asking to be beaten.”

The big man dusted off his shoulder where Spencer’s kick hit and continued. “But no worries, I already know your strength. It’s far stronger than just some 3-4 refined meridians. You might already be catching up to the latest batch of disciples who joined a month earlier. Your speed is surprising, but it’s true, your strength speaks for it.

“I believe you would have caught up to, if not overtaken the geniuses of the latest batch by the time I compete for the position of vice president. Let’s get on with a normal spar, I’ll control my power, speed and reaction to be at your level.”

Spencer had long stopped circulating his qi. He spoke up about the doubt he had in his mind as soon as Drith was done speaking. “Why don’t you choose some other disciple? I mean. The genius ones would already be far ahead and might even progress much more by the time of the match.”

“Everyone is chosen, my recent expedition took a lot more time than I expected. By the time I returned, there was already no one left who wasn’t chosen.”

Spencer didn’t feel bad about the fact that he was chosen because he was the only one left, not because Drith actively looked for him. He was getting paid for it, why worry about needless emotions? That would only destabilize his mind.

Both of them took their stances after warming up and immediately began on a count of 3.

Spencer initiated with a quick kick to Drith's face, who swiftly sidestepped and countered with a slap aimed at former’s midsection. Instructing him in the process. “Rules of fight: Distance. Proximity negates skill. I am far more skilled than you, don’t attack from a distance, I’ll have plenty of ways to kill you before you think of the next move.”

Spencer toughened his stomach, struggling to absorb the impact. The man hadn’t attacked to hurt him but it was painful enough to drill a lesson into him. He nodded to acknowledge his teachings and got back into the fight.

Drith initiated a graceful fist strike. Ducking swiftly, he narrowly avoided the strike, and responded with a low sweep kick. The man jumped to avoid the sweep and landed with a quick front kick to Spencer's chest. Spencer attempted to catch his leg mid-kick, but missed when he abruptly shifted, hitting his outstretched hand instead. “Rules of fight: Timing. Intercept, but don’t get hit. Your lack of experience is already showing.”

Drith charged at Spencer who had just stood up with a series of rapid punches. The newbie deflected the majority of punches with precise parries, impressing Drith, but was still hit occasionally, the pain accumulating on his body.

“Rules of fight: Attrition. Getting hit has consequences. Make it quick or run away.”

Spencer countered with an elbow strike to Drith’s ribs as soon as he was done with the punches. The man absorbed the hit and grabbed his arm, pulling him into a knee strike to the stomach. Spencer countered by slapping away his knee and delivering a headbutt. Drith reeled back, complimenting for the first time into the fight. “Rules of fight: Promptness. Action beats inaction. It would have been a serious injury in a real fight if you weren’t quick.”

“It’s enough for today, I’ve got other things to do. There is much to be learnt but you aren't a complete beginner in fighting fortunately. Let’s exchange numbers, I’ll text you when I am free next time.”

Spencer thanked him for his teaching. He was sincerely grateful towards Drith. Even if he was doing this for his own benefit, the man was faithfully teaching, while also making sure not to brutally injure him.

The two of them exchanged numbers, before Drith took out the common token. Not wanting to miss the phenomenon, he watched as the white dome retracted starting from the top. It wasn’t a physical mechanism, definitely not. The dome was literally disintegrating from the top, and even during its inception it was manifesting out of thin air. That couldn’t have been a physical mechanical construct.

Drith bumped him on his shoulder and subtly showed him what he was talking about.