15 Moves

Song Huo prepared himself as his niece placed her palm against the crystal ball.

Nothing happened after a few seconds. He exhaled a breath that he was holding in, shaking his head.

When he was about to tell her to withdraw her hand, specks of light suddenly showed up. It formed roots in various colors. He felt dizzy trying to count it, already in shock that it was not only one spirit root attribute. Not only that, it showed that she was at rank 1 of Body Tempering, 7th stage. It was said that after reaching the Tempered Body 4th Stage, one begins to sense World Energy in the atmosphere. At the 7th Stage, one starts to naturally gather World Energy and absorb it into their body, allowing them to start storing Qi.

It pleased him to know that she has already achieved this even after being told that she could not cultivate anymore and was even heavily injured easily. However, seeing that there were more than two spirit roots, he felt dismayed. 'False Spirit Roots. How would she advance in her cultivation if it's like this?'

When Song Jia opened her eyes and saw the result, she felt curious, it was really the same as the ones in her lower dantian.

She contemplated how she could overcome the obstacle and cultivate well. She's aware that even if her mind remembered the skills she had in her past life, this body was still relatively weaker. It still needed to be trained to the level that she once had, or even better, to exceed it.

Son Huo sighed. "For now, you can practice your cultivation for half a day and the other half, martial arts."

"Yes, uncle." She bowed at him and received the book for the basics of cultivation. He also gave her a few scrolls on martial arts.

Song Jia found a corner and began to read the book and scrolls. She then put it on the side, sat in lotus position and envisioned everything in her mind, comprehending all the moves.

Song Huo observed the two girls' actions. While Lu Ping was still reading the book he gave her, Song Jia had already set it aside and started to meditate.

'This girl. Did she even read it?' He shook his head. He wondered if anything would come out of this training.

An hour later, Song Huo noticed movement from Song Jia's side. She has already opened her eyes. She stood up and walked towards him.

"Uncle, can I try it now?"

"You've comprehended it?"

"I think so.."

"Alright then.." Song Huo leaped and landed on the stage. Song Jia walked her way and jumped up on the stage. "Whenever you're ready."

Song Jia nodded, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she exhaled her breath, she ran towards him at top speed, surprising him.

'Looks like I can't let my guard down with her.'

He saw her almost close to him and was ready to dodge her attack. However, she suddenly disappeared and next, he felt pain on his calf as he knelt on the floor. "Kuh!"

She merely lowered down her body, sweeped his leg with her own and stood back up.

'How?' He looked at her with wonder. Although Master Teacher Zi Tai has taught her martial arts since young, he has never seen her this way. Back then, her martial arts were only good for friendly sparring. But now, she was aggressive, cunning and had tricks up her sleeve. He really shouldn't let his guard down with her.

He stood up and regained his composure. "Excellent! One more."

Song Jia nodded and went back to her place. Her uncle nodded at her, now more focused.

Once again she ran up towards him but this time, she didn't use the same move. Song Huo subconsciously guarded his legs. Song Jia suddenly disappeared in a blur, he felt pain on his back sending him a few feet away.

At this point, Song Jia wondered if she was being too hard on him. It wasn't like she had enmity towards her uncle. She was there to exchange moves and to learn from him. She didn't hold back as she expected for him to be really skilled.

"Uncle? Are you okay?" She was worried that she hurt him too much.

Song Huo felt embarrassed for getting beat down by her niece who only recovered recently. Still, he was pleased to know that she wouldn't lose against others.

"I'm okay.. I wonder about your defensive abilities." Song Huo stood up, calming his breaths.

"Okay. I'll try to defend from you this time." She readied on her position, waiting for his attack.

Song Huo nodded at her and in the next second all she saw was a blur. She closed her eyes and listened. She felt her surroundings.

At the moment he was trying to confuse her by going side to side.

Song Huo threw a punch and was about to hit her abdomen.

His fist was only inches away from her skin when she shifted her body to the side, stepping lightly around him then poked his cheek. "Got you, uncle.."

"EH?????" He was so surprised that she was able to evade his attack. He was also rather thankful that she didn't kick or punch him again.

Song Huo stepped away and stared at his niece with new eyes. "Jia'er, have you been practicing in secret? You have really improved!!! You even beat me!"

He realized that maybe he has been relying too much on his sword and spirit skills lately that his martial arts was not as strong.

"Thank you for your praise, uncle." Song Jia smiled, relieved that he was not angry for losing.

"Do you want to keep going?"

"Sure, uncle!"

"Okay. This stage has its own mechanism. When I activate this with qi, an array would appear and would envelope you inside. There will be opponents for you to fight with starting from the lowest level. There's no need for weapons or spirit skills. This stage is only for physical fighting ability." Song Huo explained as he walked around the stage and injected spiritual energy on select stones. It lit up all at once and created a dome with Song Jia inside it by herself.

Moments later, one black robed man appeared. It looked so realistic!

The man unhesitatingly ran up towards her and started his attacks. Song Jia was able to block him easily, sending him a few feet away. He would go back to her a second later, not feeling any pain. Song Jia treated him as a real person and hit him in his vital points until he fell slumped on the floor and disappeared. This time, two people appeared on the stage, both wearing black again.

Both attacked from each of her sides but she also disappeared herself and leapt up above their heads, kicking both down until they also disappeared.