Hu Liena's First Hunt

Hu Liena slowly walked over towards alarmed fox. The spirit beast is at least twice as big as her. It had black and red fur and a long tail.

It didn't look any special to Xue Long. From his casual observation, he can tell that this creature is speed and strength type.

And the scouts confirmed it for him.

No fancy abilities. 

'I suppose this one will give Liena a heavy-hitting move which would mix not bad with her first ring ability.'

His blonde maid's first ring ability would be considered garbage by regular spirit masters because of how average it is.

While it gives the girl three abilities. The first one is a boost in speed by 20%. The second is the athletic flexibility of a fox and the third one is an increased sharpness of her claws.

By all means, this is quite average but in Prince's eyes, this was pure gold.

For simple reasons that the age of the rings is increasing when people are exposed to his Heaven And Earth Meditation.

As Hu Liena walked over she spin her twin short swords and her single spirit ring manifested from behind her.

'Oh… so it finally went beyond 500 years…' 

The ring was slightly more thicker and the yellow colour was deeper. This signified that the ring has passed the 500-year mark.

This was great news. It appears that the constant cultivation was paying off!

However, Xue Long sensitive spirit energy senses picked up something when Hu Liena started to fight.

Everything she did has been just the way the Prince has taught her, the blonde is a perfect example of a good student.

With her Spirit ring ability, she was fast, she dodged the claw attacks of the fox, but what he noticed was that Hu Liena recklessly abusing her Spirit energy. This means that her control over it is below average and way below what he expects of his maids.

'The rapid increase in cultivation has outgrown their control capacities.

Normally it takes over a few years to reach from rank 10 to 20 but Hu Liena did that in less than a year.

No surprise that she didn't get used to the controls of her energy, especially in such a highly intense battle.'

Eventually, he noticed that Hu Liena got the fox slightly confused and used that opportunity to stab one of her short knives into the joint of the spirit beast's front leg. 

Thi instantly got the upper hand. However, foxes are creatures known to try to run away from their fight. This is why Xue Long acted quickly on this.

"Order the men to surround this area properly. That fox is not allowed to escape." 

"Understood! Men you heard our Prince! Encircle and prepare a perimeter!"

Sure enough, the soldiers started to encircle while Hu Liena was preparing to finish the beast off, while the fox in question started to get nervous and started to look for ways to leave.

Such behaviour only made the blonde maid smirk. This was what she has been waiting for. 

Distraction is what she needs to activate her charm. A mental attack on a distraught enemy… this means her next move is gonna be a surprise one! And surprise move means it can be lethal.

This is what makes Hu Liena so lethal and this is what she likes! The more useful she is the more her Prince is going to rely on her!

After her charm was cast she moved in. What the fox saw was that Hu Liena had two short swords. In truth, she only had one. 

The way she moved it looked like she will attack with one of her short swords but… then the fox saw that the hand was empty! For a very short second, this has confused the animal.

There was no threat! So it was about to move for revenge but that moment right in the neck sword stuck it was very lethal strike as it cut vital arteries and the Spirit beast instantly collapsed to the ground. Dead.

When the girl saw it she smiled very brightly, however she was breathing heavily. The amount of spirit energy she consumed was a lot!

Though she didn't care! She killed her first spirit beast herself!

The blonde quickly turned around and looked at her Prince.

The moment she saw him give an approving nod it made her heart skip a beat! 

"Rest for a bit and then absorb the ring."

"Yes!"

Once the girl said that she dropped to the ground and started to meditate.

"You don't look too satisfied." Qian Renxue said that as she was more interested in his facial expression. Those can tell her more, and she is more relying on them to know what he was thinking.

"The rapid advance in cultivation is making my maids quite wasteful with their spirit energy." He said with a frown. Several ideas rose in his mind which can help them improve it.

The first thing in his mind comes how Qian Daoliu was invisible to him. The only reason he knew that someone was there was because of Qian Renxue's wild and unrestrained aura.

"Oh? What is you have in your mind?"

"Your grandfather's control was utterly amazing over his Spirit energy. If I didn't know better I would say that he was a simple human. What achieve in his control is simply incredible."

Hearing him praise her grandfather like this has brought a smile to her face. She slightly puffed her chest.

"Yes. Grandpa is great! But that is because he is an expert for a very long time." His fiance has said that with quite a serious face.

"Indeed. This is why we have to look up to certain people and try to surpass them. While I have never sensed his power I felt that raw purifying aura he had, I can guess his aura from that. 

In other words that is what I am aiming at. Even beyond that." He said that with quite a serious face.

Qian Renxue's eyes slightly widened this was the first time she heard what is her future husband's goal.

And honestly, she was satisfied to hear that! This was her future husband! Her grandpa was right! Someone with his talent wouldn't simply be satisfied with Spirit Saint or Spirit Douluo! No, they would aim for the apex of Titled Douluo and beyond!

Such ambition she liked very much!

"Then I suppose you have an idea how you wish to train Spirit energy control?" She asked him curiously.

"I do. I am going to make you girls spend a few months focusing on refining control over their spirit energy." 

"Hmm? What about you?" She asked with a slight pout. It's always about him teaching the girls! She never saw him joining them in training! It's always him training them!

Instead of answering the question he lifted his hand and showed his hand and spirit energy gathered into a ball. He then made it go through several different forms from rectangular to hexagon, to a star.

After quickly showing off he made the ball of spirit energy disappear.

"One of the first things I did when I awoke my Martial spirit was to have complete control over Spirit Energy."

The blonde girl slowly nodded seeing this. A small annoyed frown appeared on her face. The only advantage she has against these girls is that her cultivation base is higher! But she is two years older than these girls! So it doesn't matter!

That Hu Liena started to cultivate Lotus meditation around the same time as she did! Yet, this blonde maid already reached the second stage!

While she, Qian Renxue was still stuck at the first stage! Not only that because of her being in the first stage her comprehension barely improved while Hu Liena already started making her variation of Tai-Chi fists! Thanks to Lotus meditation. And if this kind of speed continues it's only a matter of time before Xue Long will decide to teach Arthan's Meditation which will improve the blonde maid's martial development to complete a different plateau!

"Don't look depressed."

"...I am not depressed."

"You are not the only one who pays extra attention by looking at facial expressions." He said that with an amused expression.

She released a resigned sigh. No matter how much she tries to establish control. Especially since she is the older one here. She is nine and he is seven. Yet, she feels like he is the one who is guiding her all the way! And this… feeling of not having control is making her start feeling helpless.

"... Is it that visible on my face?" She said that with slight embarrassed blush.

"You always bite your lower lip when something frustrating happens. Same time you have a certain pattern in how you move your body."

"..."

Internally she gulped down hearing that. What with this methodical explanation? Is he trying to dissect her like some sort of martial art?

Eventually, she simply crossed her arms and decided to tell him because she is sure he will find out, eventually, and then embarrass her for wasting alot of time hiding things…

Since after all, he told her about his special lion. If he is revealing such secrets then she should do the same…right? 

Well! She is swallowing her pride!!!

"I am depressed that I am stuck at Stage One while your maid is at Stage Two!" His angel girl said with a small huff. 

"That's it? You do know that is not 'cultivation'. It's a mental barrier. This meditation improves your comprehension of the world around you. This technique improves your mind.

The first stage is clearing your thoughts out, second stage is accepting who you are. And third is accepting your place in the wide world." 

As he said that, internally he thought that the third one could say is the biggest hurdle so far, as… one accepting itself that he is just an ant in massive multiversal reality is a hard pill to swallow. Especially for a cultivator.

Or at least one has to grasp that simple fact about reality.

"...So how is that I fail and she succeeded!?" She asked him with a snappy and pouty tone.

"It's a pride thing for you, and for her, it wasn't that difficult because of her harsh upbringing." He clarified more. 

When she heard his explanation she had thoughtful look. Well, she already swallowed her pride several times before. 

And hopefully, she will pass this hurdle.

'Grandpa angel was wise to bring her here at such early age. While pride is important it has to be flexible to be useful in martial arts.'

"... I see… I will try this out when find a chance." She said thaf with quite a serious nod.

"Just take your time. There is no need to rush it." 

~~~

As the pair were having their conversation Hu Liena finished with her absorption of the ring.

A small smile appeared on her face as she felt an increase in her cultivation when the ring was fully assimilated.

She was slightly baffled how it rushed forward and had breakthrough rank after rank! 

'I think… I think… I am halfway to Rank 30!' Well, it was her wild guess but she should be around that level!

'Prince's techniques truly are one of a kind! Aren't other geniuses reach this rank when they are in their twelve or thirteen?' She absentmindedly thought about this as she slowly stood up on her feet.

What made her be out of words is that she technically is just a servant and her cultivation, techniques and fighting style are leagues above anything children her age can do!

Sometimes…she wonders if Prince is doing this on purpose. 

That he is mocking all the Spirit Masters? Telling to everyone that his maids are better than you all who spend their whole lives trying to achieve something grand? 

While his maids achieve that casually with their busy schedules trying to serve their Prince…

'If this is true then my prince is a cruel man.' She thought about that with a twitchy smile as she saw him approaching her.

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