White, misty vapor swirled within the Dreamscape Arena, turning into two distinct figures. The first was a humanoid, wielding a steel sword and wearing the robes of an Outer Disciple of the Azure Sword Sect. It was the mysterious swordsman that Yan Mo had learnt his Ghost Step move from, now he was strengthened to be of the 7th Layer of the Mortal Honing Realm, matching Yan Mo's own level.
The other figure was the werewolf creature that Yan Mo had ever so barely escaped from on the Snow Peak. It was, in truth, a Sea Spirit Realm beast, but Yan Mo could only manifest it up to the 7th Layer of the Mortal Honing Realm. It was quite annoying, and the beast would be massively weakened in this state. Once a cultivator or beast reaches the Sea Spirit Realm, their gaseous Qi turns into liquid Qi, which can then more easily travel within the meridians. This makes the cultivator passively much stronger physically without wasting any Qi, and the potent liquid Qi can also be used more efficiently and faster, as it was always pulsing within the meridians.
Yan Mo sighed and rolled over, floating within the arena of his dreams. He watched the two figures from above, staring off blankly, waiting for their creator to give them the order to fight. Yan Mo was curious how this would end up. The swordsman almost certainly had way more technique and skill, but the werewolf beast, even if weakened to a lower realm, would still be significantly faster and stronger. He had fought and learned a lot from the mysterious swordsman, and knew instinctively he would also learn a lot from the werewolf once he fights it. So, in a way, this could be seen as Yan Mo's two teachers in battle with each other.
Yan Mo could no longer wait, and 'resumed time' in the arena. The first piece of action was the werewolf beast, immediately lunging at the swordsman. It was still fast, despite being weakened. However, the swordsman still managed to use their signature side step to dodge the beast by a hair's breadth. The beast was confused, and quickly tried to swipe with its claws. The swordsman denied the chance, using his sword to deflect the claw. The swordsman attempted at least, as the beast used its overwhelming power to strike through the deflection, sending the swordsman flying several meters back.
There was a moment of pause, before both combatants empowered themselves with their Qi. Yan Mo was surprised, and reminded of something embarrassing. The swordsman, in his own duels with Yan Mo, had almost never used Qi, while Yan Mo would often expend all his reserves by the end of the fight. He laughed and watched intently, eager to see what he had been missing out on.
The pause was there for several more moments, before the beast slashed forward. The swordsman, unnaturally, was late to react and would have died had he not put a protective layer of Qi over his body. The man shook his head and rapidly and repeatedly sent several strikes at the beast before jumping back again to create space. This was the beast's special trick! Some kind of illusory or mental trick, which is why, Yan Mo guessed, the swordsman was weirdly slow to react.
The werewolf beast leaned back, as if getting ready to leap, but stood still in wait instead. It's muscles were still tensed, and it's predatorial eyes locked on to the position of the human in front of it. It let out a few low growls, seemingly waiting for the man to do something first, instead of charging forward again. It had learned fast from it's mistakes, Yan Mo concluded, as if it charged forward again, the swordsman would just sidestep it again.
The sword twirled in the hands of the man as he slowly approached the wild Snow Peak beast. He slashed at the ground as he walked forward, while the beast stayed weirdly still. Just barely, Yan Mo could feel a slight circulation of Qi from the beast, like a mist of Qi spread out from the werewolf that soon covered the entire arena. However, the swordsman's strikes with the ground created sparks and wind powerful enough to disrupt the faint Qi, which was purposely made weak in order to not be noticed. However, somehow, after a single interaction, the swordsman had not only figured out the trick to the beast, but also how to counteract it. Yan Mo was in shock, so that is how the beast had tricked him! When he fought the beast at the Sea Spirit Realm, it's liquid Qi must've already been laid out around it's entire area, making it easier to work it's illusionary techniques! It's more powerful and denser Qi also would more likely be resistant to the harsh weather of the peak while still being unnoticeable by anybody below the Sea Spirit Realm. Yan Mo was in absolute awe, only more eager to meet the swordsman in real life, to find out who he truly was! And how such a talent as he was only an outer disciple.
The swordsman's Qi switched. Previously, it had glowed blue, the same color as Yan Mo's Qi, but the swordman's blade began to emit a white light. Yan Mo immediately recognized this to be the man's weird white Qi that he had used in the fight against the Fire Mohawk Bear that was at the Peak Layer of the Mortal Honing Realm. He rushed forward with the blade and did a very slow vertical slash against the beast. Unamused, the werewolf decided to lazily swipe the sword to the side and leave the swordsman weapon less. That was, until the sword instantly cut and burned through the hand and claws of the werewolf, and kept going, cutting the entire creature in half as if it was made of butter. The swordsman sheathed his blade and fell to a knee, and then rose again, awaiting orders from the dreamscape arena.
Yan Mo was speechless, his mouth wide open and not closing. His eyes didn't blink. This…this wasn't fair! Not at all! How and where and why did he get such an incredibly powerful Qi?! What was different between it and the normal Qi of Yan Mo's?!
Yan Mo wrecked his head, grabbing his hair and nearly ripping it out. This was outrageous. He floated in his dream, watching the same slash again and again. No matter how he looked, it just was something he couldn't figure out now, not without seeing the true, genuine thing up close! Not to menti-
"Brother Mo, you should've told me you were visiting!" Han Bao's familiar voice came through, and Yan Mo felt the solid hand shaking him awake.
Yan Mo awoke from the bench outside the hospital, his face scrunched in anger still. He greeted Han Bao with a nod and immediately put his face in his hands and his arms on his knees. Han Bao waited for a few moments and coughed, "Brother, I hadn't realized you were so severely injured. If you wish, go back to resting, and we can talk another time."
"No, no," Yan Mo waved his hand, gazing up, "I just had a…bad dream," He shook his head and properly looked at Han Bao, standing up. Before Han Bao could respond, Yan Mo spoke again, "You prodigal demon. Since when have you reached the Peak Layer of the Mortal Honing Realm?" Yan Mo still remember only a few weeks ago Han Bao had just broken through to the 7th Layer, and in that short time, he had reached the peak of the realm? Was Yan Mo surrounded by absolute monsters?! Why was everybody except him so powerful? He had thought his own innate talent was the supreme of the land, yet now it appeared as though he had only been given the spare few gifts of heaven that were left over.
"Haha! Not just that, brother, I have attained some enlightenment after our fight, and awakened a latent Fire Affinity!" Han Bao smiled and covered his closed fist in normal Qi, which burned like fire and glowed a bright red. Yan Mo wanted to jump off the walls of the fortress.
"Well, I would be evil to say I am not happy with your advancements brother! But be worried, I am on your coat tails and will catch up soon enough!" Yan Mo smiled, trying to see the positives in life and pull himself up a bit. He slapped the chest of Han Bao, "Say, since you're so strong now, what say you and I spar?"
Han Bao smiled but shook his head, "Sorry brother, but it would not be wise. I am still training to balance the new surges of Qi and the fire within my Dantian, fighting now could cause imbalances that hinder me in the future," He scratched the back of his head as he spoke.
Yan Mo sighed again, nothing was going for him today. Well, it could be worse. At the very least, he still had a day or so to go back and find new prey at the Peak-
"Revered Guard! We have finished our business and are ready to head back to the Azure Sword Sect" A merchant with a with mustache yelled out upon noticing Yan Mo, who had clenched his fists so tight that he began to bleed. He turned and started punching the walls of the hospital. He started throwing harder and harder punches, and would've been soon to punch a hole had Han Bao not stopped him and calmed him down.
"Well then, I'm not sure if you plan on coming back to the Snow Peak Fortress, but I will surely see you at the Sect Outer-Inner Disciple Event, right brother?" Han Bao smiled warmly, referring to a special day only a few weeks away, where outer disciples could challenge inner disciples for their spot within the sect.
Yan Mo forced himself to chuckle, trying to get his head out of the bad mood, "I'm sad you even had to ask," He said, though a smile still not forming on his face. He was just too mad at what happened in his dream. He waved and said goodbyes with Han Bao before heading back to the Azure Sword Sect.
…
Liu Ren was practicing in the sect training grounds, fighting using two blades at the same time. Both blades seemed to be made of simple steel. He moved fast and striked several times within only a few seconds. It had been a few weeks since coming back from his long line of task. Soon after coming back, his master told him of a new task he had to do, and told him to get rid of the Snow Peak Escort task, in any way he had to. Which he handed off to his sister's new friend! Quite a friendly guy he was.
Liu Ren smiled, after this training session, he'll go and meet his master to get the full task details and head straight over! Once he's done with it, he should be much stronger, strong enough to become an Inner Disciple using the Sect Event happening in a few days. And once he became an Inner Disciple, he will only grow stronger because-
"LIU!" A voice bellowed from the north side of the training grounds, a tired and weary outer disciple walked on. He had short black hair, and didn't look particularly special, unlike Liu Ren with his light blue hair, "REN!"
The man traveled toward Liu Ren extremely fast, covering small distances of ground nearly instantaneously. He moved like a ghost seeking redemption. The man leapt into the air and came down with a heavy blade, which Liu Ren blocked by making a cross with his two blades. "I think you owe me something!"