Sparring

With me becoming an alchemist, I began selling pills to the sect for extra income to invest in growing his business. He didn't show too much of his skills, as he limited the pills he created to 80% purity, and was slowly improving the purity to make it look like he was improving his skills as he made more pills.

Since Hope refused to leave her room and locked herself away in cultivation, and studying, Alex had more time to do his own thing when he wasn't at work, training, or cultivating...

"You improved so much within such a short amount of time," Jane said while sitting on a chair, looking at Alex who was feeding Honey and Sunny. Normally Hope should have been the one to look after them, but I took over, allowing her to spend her time improving.

"Yeah, you're not bad as well," I said softly while rubbing Honey's head. we just came from the sect and we had a spar after I broke through to the level 4 Qi Gathering realm. 

"I have been meaning to ask, do you have a unique physique?" I asked to which Jane smirked, seemingly waiting for me to ask that question all this time.

"you thought they wanted you to marry me for no reason?" She said smugly, and honestly, I didn't know her physique since I never had the chance to use [The Almighty] On her. From my understanding of her clan, the concept of love didn't exist within. Due to the current condition of the clan, those with talent had already decided to be married to others with talent, hopefully, to give birth to the most talented child. for revenge, this was a change they went through. so, even if the guy was ugly and the girl was beautiful. they would still be married together and the other way around.

Jane was one of such talents. her parents both had physiques, and she too had a physique. She was already destined to marry another genius. pretty much, she was to marry both Alex and another guy. She had already refused the marriage with the other guy, arrogantly believing her talent was enough to turn their people's dreams into reality. 

"I was born with mixed physiques thanks to my mother and father." She said with a smile, on purpose, she was taking too long to give me her physique. So, to save you the time. she was born with a mutated physique. her father had the Storm Raptor physique, while her mother had the physique called the Solar Hawk Physique.

these two physiques mixed, giving birth to a new physique which was a mix of both weather and the sun element. She called it the Solar Storm Physique. She was powerful, and within all of the time we sparred, she never showed her physique power.

"Let me guess, you never showed me your physique because the mutation has its drawbacks. I'm guessing thats why you spend so much time trying to grow stronger." I said calmly, not all mutations meant a good thing. there was a risk of having a mutation, that being that the mutation might weaken you or lead to your death.

"My body can't handle my physique power. the power of a lightning sun slowly kills me, my physique has to be far stronger than my Qi cultivation." She said softly, to which I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, causing her to blush slightly.

"My body cultivation talent is low compared to my Qi cultivation.... so, yeah. it's going to take a long time. I could have already stepped into the core formation realm, but I would risk my physique going out of control." She said in embarrassment,

"I might be able to help improve your control," I said while looking upstairs, making sure Hope wasn't out of her room. at my words, Jane's eyebrow raised.

"I have thought of many ways to help one in controlling Qi. if you can gain perfect control of that power, you wouldn't need to risk it harming you. right?" I asked, to which Jane nodded slightly. So, I had her show me the power of Solar lightning.

"You think I haven't tried to master it? but sure, I want to see what Mr perfect could do to help. but tomorrow. my power could lead to mass destruction. also, the tournament is 3 days away. so don't stress yourself out." She said while getting up to leave, to which I just shrugged

"Sure," I said calmly, So she went towards the door. and upon opening the door, she was caught off guard seeing a middle-aged man who was about to knock on the door. the young man froze, stunned by the beauty in front of him.

Jane frowned seeing this person, she couldn't help but frown. where has she seen this person? but why would she know someone so weak who wasn't even at level 7 Body transformation?

"... You're James." She said remembering the paper she had gotten on Sarah, but why was this guy here?

"You know me?" James was stunned to hear he was known by someone so beautiful. He wanted to think he was lucky, but that look of disgust in her eyes put out the fire on such thoughts.

"What are you doing here," I said with a frown seeing James. James' mode suddenly dropped upon seeing me. he looked at me and Jane, his heart being filled with jealousy. first Sarah, and now this beautiful woman? how lucky can someone be?

"I came to get Sarah and Hope. Just what did you do to my girl and daughter?" James asked with a cold look, at his words, I took a deep breath, My annoyance returning. I felt an itch, I wanted to see blood... but I just sighed.

"I hear you hit my daughter... Hope!" Alex called out, 

"What?" Hope yelled from her room, but I said nothing causing Hope to grow annoyed and open her door.

"What?" She called out once more, but again I said nothing. smacking her teeth, Hope came to the stairs and called out once more. yet again, I said nothing. this forced her to stump her feet while walking downstairs,

"You said you wanted combat training right?" I asked ignoring Hope's displeased look. at my words, Hope nodded while looking at me and at Jane at the door... she frowned deeply, why was she here?

"You want to fight James?" I asked, making Hope's eyebrow raise. but when she saw Jane step out of the way to reveal James, she understood what I met.

"what are you doing here?" She said hatefully, to which James just sneered at her.

"get that whore of a mother, and let's..." Hope suddenly disappeared, her fist hammering down. She didn't punch forward, but instead hammered her fist down. but with her being at level 10 Body transformation realm, standing before a level 1 Body transformation realm. James felt like he was hit by a truck.

James shot backward, slamming into a car that was parked across the streets. this caused the car alarms to go off. James threw up everything he had eaten, he fell off the car and onto the ground. he let out a moan of pain, but before he could do anything else, Hope grabbed him by his shirt.

"Don't call her that." She said with some tears in her eyes. She was about to hit him with her fist once more, but it was caught by Jane. seeing this, Hope glared at Jane, not understanding why she was stopping her.

"you strong, he is weak. hit him again and he would die. this would only bring you more trouble." Jane said seriously, honestly she would have just stood aside and watched her kill him. James was a small fly, his death could easily be covered by her family. but since Alex wanted her to stop Hope, she didn't mind.

"..." At her words, Hope seemed to realize her strength. blinded by rage, she had lashed out. She was a kid, how could she control her strength when enraged?

"Where is my mom?" Hope said coldly, at this Alex who was watching raised an eyebrow. normally, Hope called me and Sarah by Mommy or Daddy. The day she left with Sarah, she called me Dad. if I had been in the right state of mind back then, I would have realized something was off.

"I don't know, after you two left she never came back," James said in fear, which made Hope frown. where could her mother have disappeared to? She wanted to hit James once more, but she feared killing him. so, she just turned and returned home.

She walked past me, not saying anything, and simply went to her room, which she closed behind her. I rubbed my chin slightly... was it bad of me to have Hope do that? I didn't think so, the cultivation world was here. but maybe I should have her enter such a world step by step.

"I can kill him," Jane said calmly while looking at me, but I shook my head slightly. shrugging, Jane went to the car and drove off. this left James who slowly picked himself off the ground, and crawled towards his car. he threw a hateful glare towards me, before driving off.

"he would be a good stepping stone for Hope," I said calmly while closing the door, I looked towards Honey who was hiding, protecting Sunny.

"You need not worry, nothing will harm you," I said while walking over to pat her head. after a moment, I sent Qi into Honey's body and helped her break through, of course, using [The Almighty] to make sure I didn't make a mistake.

"Now you are strong, and can protect yourself," I said after having Honey break through to the level 3 body transformation realm. Honey was stunned, and after checking her body, she began licking my face. I didn't mind this time, as I had already brushed her teeth.

patting her head, I went upstairs to see Hope who had covered herself with her blanket. her room was filled with books and scrolls. I carefully stepped over all of the books which were laid all over the place, before sitting on her bed.

"You're worried for your mother..." I asked softly,

"I don't want to talk about it with you. if you were worried for her, you would have done something to find her. I understand you hate her, you don't need to force yourself to do something you don't want to do." She said weakly, to which I removed the blanket to see her rolled up, crying.

"Who said I didn't? no matter what, she is the mother of my daughter. I asked Jane to help me find her, but even they couldn't. The Uber driver she ordered took her to downtown, where she disappeared. they are still searching for her, and thanks to your talent they would not half as it." I said calmly, stunning Hope.

"... thanks," Hope said softly, she understood if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have done it. and she was right, yes I understood Sarah's reasoning behind it all. but that wasn't the woman I fell in love with.

"I have never seen such a weak punch being thrown. You don't know how to throw a punch." I said mockingly, making Hope blush slightly in embarrassment. 

"Books and all are important. but experience is also important, so how about I train you in some martial arts?" I asked with a smile, to which Hope looked at me with a weird look. She knew I could fight, back in school, I would fight those who would try and bully my twin sister. She being weird and all lead to her being an easy target for many. so I would always have to step up to protect her.

it was mostly females targeting her, but once those females were scared off by me, their boyfriends would come trying to act big to protect them. So, fights would break out. thanks to my good genes I was tall and had a body that allowed me to play for the school football team, adding I was smart. I knew how to fight

"I don't want to learn those street gangs fighting styles." She said making me look at her with a speechless look.

"Are you calling me a street thug? I will have you know, that I was only fighting on those streets because they started it. It was all out of self-defense. I was smart enough to leave that opening." I said with a smirk, remembering how I always escaped trouble, but after a moment I coughed.

"Alright, let's go downstairs. you and I will have a small spar. I will show you why growing up my mother called me Mr Perfect." I said with a prideful look, to which Hope rolled her eyes while following me downstairs.

So, I had her come at me. Hope did as I asked while suppressing her strength so she couldn't harm her weak perfect normal human father. So, she punched me just for me to flip her over.

"Your footing was all wrong, you put too much weight forward. this allowed me to so easily use your power against you." I said with a smirk while looking at Hope who lay on the ground with a lost look, not understanding what happened.

"so, how does it feel to be at level 10 body transformation and getting your butt beat by a mortal?" I said mockingly, which caused Hope's pride to take a blow. which caused her to grow annoyed. she stood up and came at me once more, but this time she was careful and guarded.

at the side, Honey watched this scene with a confused look. she thought the two friendly humans who took her in were trying to kill each other. this caused her to grow uneasy, who was she going to protect? the kind little girl who pleads for them to be saved, or her father who has been so nice to them? so she watched with unease and soon began to let out cries, trying to stop them. which caused them to stop fighting.

"Honey couldn't take seeing me beating you up, so let's end it today," I said with a smile, making Hope grit her teeth slightly. She had even cheated and used a bit more power to get the upper hand, yet even with the basic strength of a human, I was able to overwhelm her.

"Honey you need not worry, we're just sparring," I said while calming Honey down, who looked at me with a confused look. she could understand the human tongue, but the word sparring was a new word to her.

"I'm helping Hope get stronger, sparring is when two people fight to test their skills and grow. it's not a battle to harm each other." I explained, to which Honey nodded slightly in understanding. She didn't know why, but sometimes she felt like this human understood her.

"When did you get so skilled?" Hope asked softly, to which I thought for a moment before explaining.

"Okay, I will be honest. I have a unique physique as well." I said causing Hope's eyebrow to raise slightly. I sighed softly, there was a reason why I didn't tell her the truth... a part of me wanted to see if she would leave me one day. pretty much, I didn't trust her. I knew it was wrong. but every time I wanted to tell her the truth, I just kept having flashbacks. would she up and leave me when she is all grown and found no use for me?

"My physique is a unique one... more like a mutation than anything else. I can control QI, but I can't absorb it." I said softly, stunning Hope as she watched the Qi in the air gather at my palm.

"why didn't you just tell me?" She asked not understanding why I would keep this from her, I went quiet for a moment. searching for a reason, it had to be mixed with some truths so she wouldn't see through the lie... why must she be so smart?

"well... it has to do with why Jane wants to marry me. come, I will show you." I said while waving her over. Hope came over and felt as I put my palm on her back.

"Allow me to control your Qi," I said softly, to which Hope hesitated that this was something extremely risky. But after some thought, she bit her lips and allowed me to do so. 

"I trust you." She said softly, causing my heart to ace slightly. I knew she knew the risk of what she was doing. giving someone the power to control your Qi was pretty much allowing them to hold your cultivation in their palm. One mistake and they could lose everything

"guide me through your cultivation art. I will do the rest." I said softly, although I already knew her cultivation art and even mastered it. I didn't show that. Hope did as I asked, 

Sighing, I used [The Almighty] and controlled her Qi, and used it to help her breakthrough to level 1 QI gathering. My control of her energy was perfect, leaving Hope stunned by such a detailed level of energy control. she was even more shocked seeing herself break through to level 1 Qi Gathering realm.

"... You can't marry her," Hope said after she broke through, she looked back at me, seriousness filling her eyes.

"they would use you... just let me take care of you. i'm talented... look at me like you used to, I will not make the same mistake. I promise." She said softly, causing me to look at her in confusion

"look at you the same way I used to?" I asked to which Hope lowered her head.

"you used to be hard on me, pushing me to be the best... but you don't anymore." She said weakly, causing me to go quiet. indeed, I used to be hard on her. knowing how much of a genius she was, from the age of 1, I had already begun teaching her. I knew what she could become if I pushed her, so did just that. Of course, I balanced work out with fun. I didn't want to take away her childhood.

But I guess I didn't hold the same expectation for her, I guess without knowing, I no longer expected anything from her. Instead, I was expecting a betrayer. Hope seeing how differently I was treating her, and understanding her actions caused me to see her differently. so she had been pushing herself. she had been reading all the books she could get her hands on, cultivating, and so on

"I'm talented, I can be even more talented. So, rely on me." She said softly, to which I rubbed my forehead for a moment. but I let out a deep breath.

"Okay," I said softly, to which she happily hugged me.

"That means you're not going to marry her right? Since you don't need her, you can drag things out. once I'm strong enough you can leave her without worry" She asked, causing me to freeze slightly, why did she keep coming back to this subject?

"Did you fall for her charm? She only looks at you for your unique physique, I have found her people don't even understand love. If you're not careful, they might just seal you away and use you as a breeding bull or something." She said causing me to go speechless, where did she get this information from? I made sure all of the books she had were PG-13 

"you and your perfect memory," I said with a sigh. since she could remember everything, Hope from a young age was able to read people. She was able to tell when someone was lying, telling the truth, and so on. After seeing enough people lie to you, you would pick up on the details. so, she also knew when one is in love and not.

"I will think about it, you should be more worried at the fact you just made an enemy of the sect disciple of 4 arm sect," I said calmly, causing Hope to freeze slightly. She should have killed him, from her knowledge of cultivation novels. James will return... even more, he might even target her mother,

"... I will be back," Hope said in a shaky voice, realizing what she had to do.

"you're not killing anyone until you're at least 12 years old. next time think your actions through, i will ask Jane to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't harm your mother." I said while walking off, Hope nodded weakly... she looked at her palm. She now had already pictured all of the ways she was going to kill James, a simple death would be too good for him...

"You ready? we going to Michigan, although it isn't far, we will be there for a week." the sect master said while looking at Alex, Lily, Hope, along with a few others who were heading to Michigan for the tournament. some of them were coming to watch, like Lily and Hope. meanwhile, Blank was going to take apart... although Blank had changed his name. he was now called Zero

"Where is Zero?" A young man asked while looking at Alex, Lily, and everyone else, trying to find who among them was Zero. Zero was someone many sect disciples wanted to find, but only the supreme elders knew of this person's true face.

"Yeah... and why are these 2 good-for-nothings coming?" another young man said while sizing Alex, and Lily up and down. at their words, the sect master looked at me, but I only smiled back at him. shaking his head, the sect master had everyone shut up. we all got on a flying sword, with me getting on Hope's flying carpet. thanks to some movie she watched, she picked a flying carpet instead of a flying sword.