11 The simple secret. (1/2)
Ting Miu stood over Li Yang and quietly observed his body as the attacks of the array rained down on him. She wasn't going to let him die just because of some embarrassment, she was making sure to keep a close eye on him so that she could intervene the moment things seemed like they might go wrong. But looking down at the youth who was practically getting squashed into the earth, she couldn't help but click her tongue at him.
”Tch, you'd be an amazing catch if you'd just show a bit more seriousness, that's all you need to become utterly amazing.”
Truth be told, Ting Miu used to have the same opinion as almost everyone else in the sect, Li Yang was just a lazy bastard who should just leave the sect if he had no intention of actually cultivating. She knew about, and had personally experienced, his great skills when it came to dodging around like a nimble monkey. But that alone wasn't enough to make others think much of him, so she was among those who ended up greatly shocked when Li Yang finally showed off earlier.
He had shown off that not only was he actually cultivating, but also that his strength was a fair bit greater than others of his cultivation realm. The opponent he had beat was only at the late stage of the Houtian Rune realm, only two runes above him, so she had yet to enter the Xiantian Rune realm. Some people argued that this meant that the difference in strength wasn't insurmountable, but most considered this a rather shallow and petty argument.
Li Yang could also be considered rather slow to only have carved four runes at the age of 15, of course, the fact that he had carved two sets of four runes basically negated this slowness. These two facts, especially coupled with his willingness to keep the truth hidden for so long, was sufficient to leave most people more than a bit shocked.
And now, as she was looking down at his body, she could feel that he was adapting to both her pressure and the cascade of attacks at a blistering pace. At the start, his body would twitch a little each time an attack landed on him, the force of the impact shifting the position of his body in a minute manner. But now, after only a few hours had passed, that twitching had been all but eradicated.
The attacks landed and unleashed their force, but now he seemed to be capable of shifting around the resulting force in a smooth manner that didn't impact his body. There was only one word Ting Miu could think of to describe this adaption speed, talent. Li Yang was talented, everything she had seen from him recently made that fact abundantly clear to Ting Miu.
But he had a flaw, a very glaring one at that, his personality. He was too frivolous and joking, seemingly unable to take a single thing seriously. If it wasn't for this single flaw then Li Yang could easily become one of the most respected people in the sect, with time he might even take over the position of his father and be one of the sect's leaders. But sadly, the little haunted troublemaker in front of her had never shown any signs of changing or abandoning his frivolous persona.
Slight movements from Li Yang's body broke Ting Miu out of her quiet contemplation and slight day-dreaming about what Li Yang might have ended up becoming. He was struggling to raise his arms and head under the barrage of attacks and Ting Miu's own pressure, placing his palms on the earth while trying to push himself up. He wasn't able to move much, his earnest and struggling effort slightly touching Ting Miu's heart. But then he managed to raise his head out of the dirt, raising it just enough for him to barely glance upwards while squeezing out a stifled voice.
”Fairy Sister Miu... While I prefer... White ones... I think blue... Suits you nicely...”
An alluring blush immediately spread across Ting Miu's face as she understood what Li Yang meant, every single positive idea of what he might have become instantly shattering. Her hand immediately reached down and pushed her skirt between her thighs again, her left shooting forward on instinct. Her foot made contact with Li Yang's face and sent him flying back, blood spurting from his nose while Ting Miu regained her clarity.
”Ah fuck!”
She had acted on instinct just now and put more force than intended into that kick, resulting in Li Yang flying back until he crashed into one of the craggy mountains that the array had created. The array luckily halted its attacks upon detecting the rapid movement, giving Li Yang a short moment of reprieve from the unending stream of attacks as he crashed into the mountain.
Ting Miu quickly walked over to make sure that he was still okay after getting kicked, but to her surprise, he dropped down from the side of the mountain while looking mostly unharmed. Some blood poured from his nose, but he rolled his shoulders casually while wearing a somewhat playful smile.
”Force upon force, that's the answer, huh? You bastard of a queen, I swear that I'll slap the shit out of you if we ever meet. What's the damn point in making it so cryptic?”
Ting Miu didn't understand what Li Yang's mutterings were about, heaving a stealthy sigh of relief that he hadn't been badly hurt by her instinctual retaliation. Li Yang blew out the blood that was gathering within his nostrils and then wiped his upper lip, turning his gaze onto Ting Miu.