Jixie Wudongyuzhong’s eyes narrowed in the face of this demon. The latter’s smiling face didn’t put him at ease in the slightest. In fact, it caused him to put his guard up even more.

This was the Iron Body Forge Sect’s number one expert Full Metal Er Jinshu.

****

“Bastard!”

“I’ll have you know that I have a mother and a father who are married.”

“Why does this always happen with you!?”

“Bastardization? I have no idea, because I’m feeling pretty legitimate.”

“I’m being serious!”

“Would you like some milk?”

“Die!”

Two figures were running across a flat plain like their lives depended on it. Their legs would hold them in malice for this for the rest of their lives, but they didn’t care. The only thing they could do was do a little bit of running, dabbled with dashing and sprinkled with a touch of sprinting.

Long story short… they were running like madmen and it was not pretty. One was a stunning violet-skinned beauty with a noble tail wrapped around her waist. Her black hair, which exuded a navy blue shine flapped in the wind.

Her normally elegant nose and dainty mouth furiously flared like the flaps of that one friend that won’t shut up as puffs and huffs worked them to death.

The other person wasn’t showing much in the way of apprehension, or anything else for that matter. Sure, the laboured breathing was there, but it was subdued through the act of not giving a damn.

Who else could they be but Long Di and Yaomu Shou?

“S-S-S-SQUEAK!!!”

A multitude of squeaks assaulted the senses as biting on the heels of the two cultivators was a gang of rabbits. More specifically, they were Overly Bombastic Brawler Rabbits!

They were a mob of fists, kicks, elbows, headbutts, and all else.

This all started a few days ago when Long Di was practising with one of the overly bombastic brawler rabbits.

Long Di had made sure to adjust his strength to match that of his sparring partner, and his proficiency rose with each passing second. Eventually, the noise spurred another overly bombastic brawler rabbit from its burrow and of course; it entered the fight.

Long Di welcomed the challenge, knowing that he would most likely be in a fight with more than one person at any one time in the future. Because of this, his rate of progress skyrocketed even though he was getting the ever-living crap beaten out of him.

It took another day of fighting, eating and beating for Long Di to acclimate to the jumping he found himself in.

Thus, Long Di could be said to understand the mechanics of jumping. Eventually, he could hang on when facing two opponents at once.

However, because of the additional overly bombastic brawler rabbit, it became harder to hide the sound, and another overly bombastic brawler rabbit came out soon after and the numbers compounded until it became what it is now.

There were no less than around eighty overly bombastic brawler rabbits, and at one point Long Di did fight them all. Days after, he was able to land a blow on each overly bombastic brawler rabbit without being touched by any one of them.

This was no easy feat as overly bombastic brawler rabbits were known to be one of if not one of the most adept hand-to-hand combat fighters on the continent. For Long Di to land a hit on over eighty overly bombastic brawler rabbits without even being hit once highlighted his proficiency as a hand-to-hand combatant.

Nevertheless, he decided here was a good time to stop fighting and start running.

“We’re almost at the jungle. Will they follow us there?” Long Di asked, seeing the new change in scenery approaching.

Yaomu Shou shook her head, “No they shouldn’t. The extremely dense foliage won’t allow such a huge number to enter uncontested. In addition, overly bombastic brawler rabbits are not known to stray too far from their homes.”

“They’ve been following us like this for the last twenty or so miles. What is too far in this context?” Long Di thought he heard wrong.

Sure, there was no statute of limitations on what is prescribed as too long, but at some point, that just starts getting ridiculous.

At one point, they even crossed paths with a skinny-looking cultivator riding something that looked like a Zoid or a discount Gundam.

Long Di couldn’t even get a look at it because of the mob behind him. They overran the cultivator in an instant. Not that Long Di saw this, as he was still running to escape their wrath.

“I don’t know. That’s all I heard about them. I wouldn’t mind killing them if you just let me-”

“No.” Long Di shook his head. “They helped me get stronger and I don’t wanna reply that kindness with maliciousness.”

“Kindness!? They were beating you up!” Yaomu Shou was seriously starting to be concerned over Long Di’s mental health.

“With love.” Long Di added.

Yaomu Shou stared slack-jawed at this response. “For the love of…”

“Exactly,” Long Di replied as they neared their goal.

Yaomu Shou rolled her eyes and went silent. She should have known better than to argue with Long Di over anything.

Long Di thought to himself how funny it was that he was getting jumped by rabbits.

[Incoming Dad Joke]

You get it? Because they’re rabbits… who jump. Yet they’re jumping someone. That’s funny.

[End of dad joke]

Shu!

Success!

They were fortunately able to enter the jungle in time, and just as Yaomu Shou said, they ceased their pursuit at the periphery, squeaking and squealing at the receding backs of their escapees.

Once they were free from the pursuit, they both collapsed to the ground. They couldn’t get the air in their lungs fast enough.

“Those stupid overly bombastic brawler rabbits have some crazy stamina!” Yaomu Shou cursed the magical beasts.

Even when she had recently broken through, they were still able to tire her to near death.

“Watch me,” Long Di only gave Yaomu Shou one command before he assumed the lotus position.

Yaomu Shou knit her brows in confusion, “What are you-”

D-D-D-D-Dum!

A series of blasts echoed through the jungle as Long Di’s cauldrons burst into existence.

They rotated behind him quietly. Their prestige was quiet and their aura as heavy as ever.

Even Yaomu Shou had to take a step back under their pressure. Her expression was complicated as she viewed them. Whatever grade these cauldrons were at was something above her realm of understanding.

Even now that they had become special-grade, she was well aware that, according to the traditional grading system, the grade Long Di had achieved was something far beyond perfect, beyond even sterling, which she wished to achieve.

Though the cauldrons rotated slowly, this was no normal cultivation session. Instead, Long Di was consolidating his learning to cement his new fighting style as something intrinsic to him.

Every single blow of the tens of thousands he suffered, he analysed closely. Each trajectory of every punch he threw he replayed in his head for a faster much more efficient path.

This new fighting style of his was something he would build upon. There was no completion for it. It would continue to evolve and adapt until he was unrivalled under the heavens.

A few hours later, Long Di was finished with his comprehension, and it just so happened that the wounds he suffered were all gone as well.

They headed deeper into the jungle. Their overall goal was to enter the deeper parts of the realm.

They could clearly feel the spiritual energy getting stronger this way. So they were certainly heading in the right direction.

After getting in a bit deeper, Long Di suddenly paused.

Seeing this, Yaomu Shou grew wary and drew her sword.

“What is it?”

Long Di knit his brows and didn’t answer. Instead, he headed in another direction.

They eventually came across a clearing in the jungle. There was a burnt patch there, as if someone had put out a fire they made.

The smoke that rose from the burnt cinder confirmed this and they entered the clearing after seeing it was completely abandoned.

They inspected the area more closely and Yaomu Shou saw what appeared to be half-burnt, bloody bandages on the ground near the fire.

“This is…” Yaomu Shou contemplated on whose these could belong to.

“Uhm… Yaomu Shou?” Long Di called out from behind.

“What is… oh sh*t…” Yaomu Shou turned to Long Di who had a blade to his neck.

The wielder of this blade was a taller-than-normal woman, strike that, a way-taller-than-normal person with light brown skin decked all over in diamond-shaped patterns.

Frog-like eyes scanned the surroundings with wariness and uneasiness.

“Mofang Dao!” Yaomu Shou spat the words out with hatred.