After the Martial Arts Hall let out the announcement, it naturally attracted the attention of the elite young masters and mistresses from the five major clans. But due to the recruitment ceremony of the Mt. Spirit Beast College, nine of the top ten prodigies of Skyplume City were training in seclusion. It was coincidental that Leng Clan's young mistress, Leng Qianqian, had exited from seclusion. She heard of the rumors and came to the Technique Practicing Room to look for Manager Yang to make some inquiries. But she was told that Lone Wolf was training in seclusion and would only be able to spare after five days.
The members of the Yi Clan kept to their words and didn't leak out any information regarding Jiang Yi. But the other young masters and mistresses, who sparred against Jiang Yi, did spread out the information regarding Jiang Yi's ability to help his sparring partners achieve Phenomenal Stage. When they heard that Jiang Yi went into seclusion to train, it didn't trim down the curiosity that others had for him—instead, their excitement intensified.
When the various clansmen reported back to their clan, it immediately roused the attention of the clan's upper echelon, but they didn't dare have any bad intentions to make sure of Jiang Yi's ability. Who would dare mess around with a member of the Martial Arts Hall? The upper echelons of the various clans sent down orders to their genius clansmen who were cultivating in the Martial Arts Hall. As long as they could ascertain that their proficiency in martial skills did increase, they shouldn't be afraid to spend money and persistently spar with Jiang Yi. It was important to increase their strength before the recruitment ceremony of the Mt. Spirit Beast College and West Garrison Army.
As such, Jiang Yi became the most popular sparring partner. He would only be exiting from seclusion five days later, but there were already over 20 people in the queue, which made Manager Yang smile crookedly in delight. He knew that with the recruitment ceremony of Mt. Spirit Beast College and West Garrison Army starting soon, the appearance of Jiang Yi would definitely rake in profits for the Martial Arts Hall, and his contribution was rather significant.
Jiang Yi knew nothing about the situation outside, but if he were to know of it, he would surely feel like dying. He was currently secluded within his small room and trying to comprehend the martial skills. Within these five days, even if he couldn't attain the Phenomenal Stage for Extreme Divine Steps and Buddha Palms, he would at least have to attain Entry Stage or Proficient Stage.
Manager Bai allowed Jiang Yi to bring these manuals back to his room—as he wasn't afraid Jiang Yi would run with them. There weren't many individuals in this world that would willingly go against the Martial Arts Hall, let alone a martial artist of Jiang Yi's level.
There was no need to mention Jiang Yi's instincts; he took two days to achieve Entry Stage for both Extreme Divine Steps and Buddha Palms. As for the Exploding Essence Palm, he didn't have sufficient time to practice it; even if he did, it would be useless in the sparring sessions. The best he could do was to forcefully memorize the contents on the manual.
What made him depressed was that there were two pages missing from this manual of Exploding Essence Palm, and these two pages were even spaced apart. In addition, there was another page that only had half of it. He could roughly grasp the meaning of the martial skill, but the missing portions were important: they contained the technique of compressing the essence force. No wonder after dozens of people trying to comprehend this martial skill, no one could succeed in mastering it.
Five days later, Jiang Yi appeared right on time. He wore a black warrior's robe which was of poor quality and a sinister and atrocious mask of a wolf. His physique looked so frail that he would be sent flying in a single punch, and he was only at the third stage of Cast Tripod Realm. After hearing all that information, Leng Qianqian of the Leng Clan was rather disappointed.
The name 'Leng Qianqian' might sound cute and reliant, but her appearance was rough and violent. Her physique looked much taller, bigger, and stronger than Jiang Yi. She wore an ordinary black robe with her long hair that was casually done. On her shoulder was a golden huge saber which didn't make her look like a young mistress of a major clan but a dauntless bandit instead.
"Who is first in the queue? Switch with this sister!"
She strode in large steps towards the front and let out a voice that sounded like a huge gong. Once the young master that was in front saw her, he quickly pulled back and made space for Leng Qianqian. The Skyplume City had two famed young mistresses: one of them was Ji Tingyu who was as beautiful as a goddess but had bewitching wisdom. The other mistress would be the Leng Clan's young mistress who was even more intrepid than most menfolk.
This young mistress had insane innate talents and was ranked no.2 in the top ten prodigies, who was second to Ji Tingyu. She had an impulsive character and was fond of battles. Numerous young masters within the Skyplume City were beaten up by her quite frequently.
"Me. It's me! Miss Leng, if you want my spot, please take it! Heh heh!" One of the Liu clansmen saw Leng Qianqian, immediately altering his expression into one of a yes-man and nodding towards her.
Leng Qianqian nodded back with satisfaction and swept her gaze at Jiang Yi. She used her long saber and pointed towards Jiang Yi. "Lone Wolf, come in and spar with this sister. I would like to see what qualifications you have to be the elite Purple Gold Sparring Partner…"
Jiang Yi's pupils shrank and cast his sights on Manager Yang. He didn't need to ask around about this intrepid young mistress; just by casually sensing her aura, he knew her strength had definitely exceeded the seventh stage of Cast Tripod Realm. Witnessing everyone look at her with fear, she might be one of the top ten prodigies. She even had a huge saber on her shoulder; she wouldn't just use the saber to cleave at him, right?
Manager Yang didn't show any special expression but just walked over to Leng Qianqian and spoke for a moment. The young lady nodded and handed over her golden battle saber to Manager Yang. She then walked into the Technique Practicing Room with only herself.
Manager Yang walked over and whispered to Jiang Yi, "Go on in, Lone Wolf. Miss Leng will suppress her strength. You don't have to worry. No one would dare to kill within the Martial Arts Hall."
Jiang Yi clenched his teeth and walked into the Technique Practicing Room. As the doors were shut, he actually witnessed that intrepid mistress… stripping!
His body withdrew from a shock as he looked at the young mistress in fear and even wanted to open the door to leave. In his heart, he was hoping this young mistress wouldn't be trying to force herself onto him. Right?
Leng Qianqian continued to remove her robes like no one was looking and revealed another body-hugging warrior's robe within. As she stretched and warmed up her muscles, those peaks on her chest began to surge like the waves. Jiang Yi couldn't help but shift his eyes away.
Tossing her long robes aside, she looked at Jiang Yi indifferently. "What are you staring blankly for? Get your ass over here quickly. I shall look on the accord of Manager Yang and only use half my true strength. If you can't even defeat me like this, I guarantee that you will be crawling your way out. My hundred taels of purple gold isn't going to be handed over that easily!"
"Huh…."
This was the first time Jiang Yi saw such an intrepid lady and wasn't able to adapt to it. But he did channel a wisp of black essence force to his eyes so he could lock his eyes onto Leng Qianqian and concentrated on her every move.
"He!"
Leng Qianqian shouted out and stamped on the flooring. A mighty figure rushed over like a ferocious tiger. Before she even got near, a presence that instilled fear could be felt. As her left fist came crashing, the air around the fist's shadow stagnated and looked awkward.
With Jiang Yi's insane vision, he didn't see any awkwardness; instead, he was shocked. He could clearly see that the stagnated air around the fist was a facade, and Leng Qianqian's fist was still swiftly approaching him. The fist took only two blinks of the eye to reach his face, but that stagnated fist shadow looked as though it was three meters away.
Extreme Divine Steps!
Circulating the movement technique on his legs, he used a peculiar maneuver and dodged to the side. This Extreme Divine Steps was merely at Proficient Stage but had an ingenious maneuver and extreme speed. It was nearly on par with his Psychedelic Step which was at Phenomenal Stage.
Extreme Divine Steps!
Extreme Divine Steps?
Leng Qianqian looked indifferently as Jiang Yi dodged and scoffed. She executed the same maneuvers as Jiang Yi and skimmed over. Her speed seemed to be even faster than Jiang Yi by a few notches.
This girl knows it, too…
Jiang Yi was speechless. Leng Qianqian's strength was much too superior to him. Even though she suppressed half of her true strength, he would never be able to escape from her if he didn't utilize the black essence force.
Buddha Palm!
That wasn't any other way to escape as Leng Qianqian's rocketed towards him. Her fist seemed to stagnate in the air again, but her real fist was already in front of his face. As he retreated, his hands made a weird posture that drew a half circle in mid-air, which drew Leng Qianqian's fist into the circle.
"Bang!"
A dull sound echoed. Jiang Yi's palm got jolted aside, and his entire body was forced to take seven or eight steps back, but he was obviously fine.
Leng Qianqian's square face, which looked even more dominant than most men, was in a daze. Her fist, which had such strength, felt as though it punched into water; it made her felt so much melancholy that she wanted to vomit blood. Soon enough, she shouted in fury, "Using softness to counter the hard? Your full-contact martial skill is also of man-tier superior grade right? Just like those Liu Clan who specialize in soft techniques. Hur hur! This sister would like to see how many fists of mine could you withstand?"
As she spoke, Leng Qianqian shot towards Jiang Yi like a cannonball. Jiang Yi swiftly retreated while his heart was grumbling. With his five days of diligent training, this Buddha Palms was only at the Entry Stage even with his astounding instincts. That previous hit might not seem to have any effect on him, but his hukou acupoints1were already in pain from the shock.
Buddha Palm!
When facing against such an opponent, what else could he do? His only way was to endure at any cost. This person was the young mistress of the Leng Clan and had such an overwhelming strength. Jiang Yi suspected that she was Leng Qianqian who was one of the top ten prodigies, which was why he didn't dare reveal Jiang Clan's martial skills.
"Bang!"
Leng Qianqian's brawny body dashed forward constantly while Jiang Yi kept on avoiding her. Every clash would push him back by ten feet. In just five minutes, he already received about a hundred punches from Leng Qianqian. Both his hands were nearly dislocated and trembling while this Leng Qianqian seemed addicted to throwing her punches and didn't stop for even a moment.
"Ss, ss…"
Jiang Yi took in a deep cold breath; his eyes revealed that he was in pain. Witnessing the fist that broke into the air and approached him, he knew clearly that his hands were about to get crippled. If he still didn't counter, he would really have to crawl his way out.
Black essence force!
He callously channeled a wisp of black essence force to his palms. While waiting for his opponent's fist to arrive, his hands drew a strange arc that guided the fist within, and he let out a ferocious push.
"Bang!"
As expected, Jiang Yi got forced to take a dozen steps back by the massive force. While Leng Qianqian's tall and sturdy body was forced back as well, taking around eight steps before she could stabilize her footing.
"Huh?"
Her huge eyes were filled with surprise, but she was soon shamed in anger and rushed at Jiang Yi. Halfway through her dash, her eyes suddenly had a flash of daze and paused. She stood still and began to mumble; after a short moment, she then closed her eyes.
"Ouch!"
Jiang Yi kneaded his swollen hands and constantly blew at it. He was rather satisfied with the Buddha Palms. It was only at Entry Stage, and he could withstand the attacks of Young Mistress Leng. If it was at the Phenomenal Stage, would he be able to easily repel her?
This Buddha Palms relied on using its softness to counter the hard-hitting forces—to use force against force. The stronger the opponent's force, the stronger the backlash. But this martial skill was hard to cultivate and required the practitioner to have an insane reaction speed. If the reaction speed wasn't sufficiently fast, both the hands might be broken from the force with the opponent.
"Hahaha!"
While Jiang Yi was muttering to himself, Leng Qianqian, who stood opposite of them, suddenly opened her eyes and laughed heartily.
As she laughed, she shot towards Jiang Yi explosively and sent out a fist. The fist actually froze completely in mid-air, it gave the feeling that it stopped a few dozen feet away. But Jiang Yi trembled in fear because he knew that his opponent's fist was already approaching at breakneck speed. The speed this time was two folds faster than her previous attacks. It was obvious young mistress Leng's martial skill had a big leap in proficiency.
Jiang Yi's hands were already injured; it was impossible for him to withstand an attack with such extreme speed. His only option was to shout: "Wait, Ms. Leng!"
"Boom!"
The reply to him was a severe fist striking on his chest, sending his body flying several feet away.