~~~

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

As soon as Liu Jin left, Xiao Fang had stormed out of the room. Neither Xiao Nan or Elder Hui had gotten the chance to say a word to him. The Young Master of the Xiao Sect had retired to one of the meditation chambers. Incense burned in one of the corners of the room, yet it did not help him focus.

There was not a single scratch on Xiao Fang’s body. Unlike Liu Jin, he had barely been sweating when their spar ended. If he was breathing hard when he started to meditate, it was only due to his emotional state. Just by looking at him, most people wouldn't be able to tell he had been in a fight.

However, Xiao Fang was the one who had lost.

Even though Xiao Fang hadn't taken a single hit. Even though his cultivation level surpassed that of his opponent's. Even though he had received the best instruction the Xiao Sect could give him since the day he was born...

The one who lost was him.

“You should not frown so much. It’ll only damage your good looks.”

“I thought I said I wanted to be alone, cousin.”

Xiao Fang forced his voice to remain calm as Xiao Nan entered the room, but deep down, he wanted to scream in rage. He wanted to lash out and break things.

How could he have lost to Liu Jin!

At that moment, there was nothing Xiao Fang wanted more than to take out his frustrations on the world around him. However, such a thing would be unseemly. He was the Xiao Sect’s Young Master.

No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t afford to act in such a childish way.

“You did say that, but the time when I have to listen to your orders is not yet here, cousin.”

Xiao Fang’s teeth gnashed against each other. Xiao Nan’s voice was completely free of worry. How typical. Worry was probably a foreign concept to Xiao Nan. Xiao Nan was someone who could do no wrong. A prodigy among prodigies.

Not like him.

“Are you really so angry over your loss?”

“Of course, I’m angry!”

Xiao Fang’s forced calm shattered in an instant. The child hit the floor with enough force for his fist to go right through it. The look on his face grew thunderous as he glared at Xiao Nan.

“I lost a fight I had no reason to lose! I was stronger, faster, and more skilled than Liu Jin!”

Xiao Fang's Qi blazed as his anger engulfed the room with all the force of a hurricane, yet Xiao Nan bore it with a serene look on his face, as though it was nothing more than a gentle breeze. A mellow hum left his mouth as he sat beside Xiao Fang.

“I guess that is not a bad reason to be angry. Of course, it must be said the conditions of the fight were not ones that favored you. Defeating someone in three moves is not as easy as it sounds. You were arrogant to accept a condition like that.”

Was he?

Xiao Fang furiously fought off that thought.

His opponent was someone who had been in the Inner Realm for more than a year and a half. When one took that into account, the conditions of the fight were ones that gave Xiao Fang an overwhelming advantage!

How could someone in the middle stages of the Nascent Realm have any trouble against someone who was barely in the Inner Realm?

“You’re probably thinking something dumb right now.”

Xiao Fang glared with fulminating intensity, yet Xiao Nan remained unmoved.

“You are, aren’t you? In that case, let your dearest cousin tell you something good. There are three reasons you lost today.”

Three reasons?!

“Number one,” Xiao Nan said, raising a finger. “You foolishly assumed your enemy would not grow stronger. ‘He’s been in the First Level of Inner Realm for a year and a half, so even if given another year and a half, he won’t grow any stronger.’ You were thinking of it like that, weren’t you?”

Xiao Fang’s silence was answer enough.

“Foolish!” Xiao Nan snapped at him, much to Xiao Fang’s surprise. “The people around you will not remain static while you live your life! A worm can become a dragon. A dragon can become a worm. Do not allow yourself to be ruled by meaningless preconceptions!”

Xiao Fang wanted to defend himself, yet the seriousness in his cousin's eyes made it hard for him to talk.

This was not his easy-going cousin speaking.

This was Xiao Nan of the Xiao Sect, a prodigy among prodigies. He was someone who had distinguished himself through numerous achievements and was one of the few people Father trusted implicitly.

“The second reason you lost is due to your poor temper.” Another finger was raised to join the first. “The moment things didn’t go the way you thought they would, you panicked.”

“I did not—”

“You panicked.” Xiao Nan repeated. His tone brooked no argument. “You lost focus and couldn’t recover, no matter how much you tried to pretend you had. You kept trying to end the fight instantly instead of wearing down your opponent using the two moves you had available to you.”

Was that… had he done that?

No. Trying to win with the second move had not been a mistake. Void Fist should have—

“You lost the fight the moment you tried to use Void Fist.” Xiao Nan’s voice cut through his thoughts. His cousin sighed. “Using Ground Contraction to catch Little Brother by surprise might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was a foolish move. You are Xiao Fang of the Xiao Sect. There is not a single person in the Xiao Sect who does not know you’re capable of using that technique.”

“So what?” Xiao Fang fired back. “Even if the enemy expects it, as long as my technique is good enough, it shouldn’t matter!”

“Then why did you lose?”

“...”

“Little Brother knew you would use Ground Contraction. However, you did not know Little Brother mastered Ground Contraction during the past year. You did not bother to research your opponent. While Little Brother anticipated your move, you were completely unprepared for his. In your panicked stated, you dared to use Void Fist.”

“My technique was perfect!”

True, he hadn’t been in the best position to use Void Fist, but he still had managed it. His blow had struck Liu Jin head-on. Even if Liu Jin was in the Seventh Level of the Inner Realm, he shouldn’t have been in such a good condition after receiving that attack.

He shouldn’t have been conscious at all!

Xiao Nan sighed again. His cousin ran a hand through his hair. “As expected, you still haven’t noticed it.”

"Huh?”

“Look at your arms.”

Though confused by the request, Xiao Fang rolled up his sleeves. The moment he did, his eyes grew wide with shock.

“What is this?!”

Green.

His forearms had green-ish marks on them. They almost looked like bruises, yet Xiao Fang felt no pain from them.

He didn’t feel anything at all.

“Finally starting to understand?” Xiao Nan asked. He placed his elbow on one of his knees and rested his head on his palm. “You were so emotional during the fight that you missed it completely. Had you been able to keep a calm head, you would have noticed the numbness in your arms much earlier.”

Even as his cousin spoke, Xiao Fang kept examining his arms. There was a strange numbness spreading through them. That meant…

“The level of strength you thought you were using, and the strength you were actually using were not the same. To be honest, that you were able to use Void Fist under those conditions is worthy of praise.”

“Cousin Nan,” Xiao Fang said with a voice that struggled to remain calm. “What... is this?”

“That would be the third reason why you lost,” Xiao Nan said, raising one last finger. “It happened during the first movement.”

It happened back then?

“When Little Brother blocked your first strike, he did not just block. He also managed to hit both your forearms.” Xiao Nan explained before shrugging his shoulders. “Well, if you had attacked with your full speed, such a thing would have been impossible.”

“Even if he managed to strike me, how could Liu Jin do something like this!” Xiao Fang yelled, holding up his arms.

“Poison. To be more accurate, when Liu Jin struck you, his Qi acquired poison-like qualities. His poison-attuned Qi infected your arms and slowly sapped them of their strength. Thus, when you used Void Strike, it was weaker than it would otherwise have been. By then, only the third movement was left. Your head-on charge was simple enough to dodge.”

Poison-attuned Qi?

Certainly, it wasn’t rare for one to be able to train their Qi to take the properties of the natural world. Qi could be as water as easily as it could be as fire. However, for Qi to acquire those properties took considerable effort. It was not something someone in the Inner Realm should be able to do.

Liu Jin...he managed to give his Qi the qualities of poison?

Xiao Fang frowned.

It wasn’t only just that. That movement technique Liu Jin used at the end. That had not been Ground Contraction. Rather than a movement technique used to cover distances, it felt more like a movement technique designed to counter the enemy. In other words, Liu Jin had probably been relying on that technique to survive the third movement from the start.

From the moment the second move didn’t work, he had lost.

No. Even before that. From the moment he didn’t notice the effect of the poison...

“Damn it!”

Once again, Xiao Fang struck the floor next to him. Splinters flew all over the room, one bounced off his cheek.

“The effects of the poison should wear off in time. The Qi Little Brother used did not feel like something lethal. Besides, you are in the Nascent Realm. Your body is not so easily brought down.”

“I am not worried about that!” Xiao Fang snapped at his cousin. Even as he did, it occurred to him that he probably should have been.

Was he truly so short-sighted?

“I lost.” Xiao Fang said, somehow seeming to sink into himself. “I lost completely.”

Xiao Nan nodded calmly.

“You certainly did, cousin. However, are you frustrated because you lost to someone weaker than you or because you lost to Little Brother?”

The answer came to Xiao Fang instantly.

“Of course, it’s both!”

To lose to someone weaker was humiliating.

To lose to Liu Jin was doubly so.

“Why is it that you dislike him so much?”

“Do you even need to ask?”

When had it started?

Even if Xiao Fang tried his hardest, remembering how it all began wasn’t easy. As far back as he could remember, he had been Xiao Fang of the Xiao Sect. People respected him because of who his father was. That was all there was to it. He was the Young Master of the Xiao Sect, blessed by the Heavens from birth.

Even though he wasn’t as talented as his cousin.

Even though he wasn’t as gifted as his sister.

People kept praising him, but it was clear to Xiao Fang that, compared to them, he was only average. How could they say he was a prodigy when the evidence to the contrary was plain to see?

The answer was simple. People only acted like that because he was Xiao Fang of the Xiao Sect. That was all there was to it. Everyone was after something. Everyone wanted to benefit from being close to him. That was fine with him. He’d take their fake kindness and use it to improve himself.

The Liu Clan shouldn’t have been any different.

They were clearly people who were only after the Xiao Sect’s influence. That was the only thing that made sense. They were the same as everyone else.

How could anything else be true?

How could a crippled man save his father?

No, such a thing could not possibly be true. It was merely a lie born out of his father’s kindness. Nothing more.

Because of that lie, Xiao Fang was forced to be in their presence time and time again. Xiao Fang was forced to be in Liu Jin's presence time and time again.

Unlike the others, Liu Jin never once tried to curry favor with him.

Liu Jin never did anything at all.

He’d just stare at him with the same damned bland look on his face. No matter how hard he tried to get a reaction out of him, Liu Jin would keep that same look. Always completely disinterested in everything and anything!

Always looking at him as though he knew Xiao Fang wasn’t much.

Yet that completely unremarkable guy ended up joining the Xiao Sect!

When that happened, it was confirmation of everything Xiao Fang had believed. The Liu family simply wanted to benefit from being associated with the Xiao Sect. That was all there was to it. There was nothing more to them.

Then an Emperor appeared.

Xiao Fang couldn’t believe it at first. Why would an Emperor associate himself with that poor family? Why would an Emperor take someone like Liu Jin under his wing? No matter how hard Xiao Fang thought about it, it didn’t make any sense. He wanted someone to tell him it was a joke.

When Liu Jin became stuck in the First Level of the Inner Realm, Xiao Fang felt vindicated and frustrated at the same time. It confirmed Liu Jin was nothing special. Yet, it annoyed him that someone that had an Emperor helping him managed to achieve nothing. It was further proof that his family’s kindness was wasted on Liu Jin.

It was something that would never bear fruit.

Yet, Liu Jin married his sister.

Xiao Fang had wanted to stop it but hadn’t been capable. He had nowhere near enough power within the Sect for such a thing. The only thing he had been able to do was challenging Liu Jin to a duel. That was all he had managed to get. A chance to vent his frustrations.

That was how useless he was.

Yet what ended up happening was...

“I am sure you have already realized Doctor Liu helping Uncle is not just a rumor. You probably realized the truth the moment an Emperor started to live with them,” Xiao Nan said. “After what happened today, I cannot imagine you do not see the benefits of keeping Little Brother as an ally.”

Certainly, what Xiao Nan said was true. Xiao Fang wasn't an idiot. He understood the benefits.

He had probably done so for a while.

Liu Jin was someone who could become useful. He had proved that much today.

However…

However…

Liu Jin was a butthead.

~~~