Night came. Leo, Luke, and Lucian were sitting around a fire near a cave.
It was not smart to make a fire in such a dangerous forest,
but Lucian said, "Don't worry. For some reason, monsters don't come here."
Meat was cooking on the fire. Leo and Lucian were talking.
But Luke was silent. He was thinking about how to escape this problem.
First choice: Tell Leo the truth.
But Luke didn't trust Leo.
Also, Leo would not believe his story.
What would he say?
He couldn't explain his plan with Lucian without making Leo suspicious.
So, no, that wouldn't work.
Second choice: Pretend he knows nothing.
But that was also dangerous.
If someone found out about Lucian and arrested him,
they might find out how Lucian and Luke met.
Then... Luke would die.
Third choice: Kill Leo and Lucian.
But even if Luke didn't trust them,
he could never do something so cruel.
Luke believed killing was only okay when someone is in real danger.
Otherwise, it makes you no different from an animal.
"Why are you so quiet?"
Lucian noticed Luke was deep in thought.
He wanted to keep him talking, so he wouldn't get any stupid ideas.
"You talked so much before. Why are you quiet now?"
Leo, who was cooking the meat, also felt something was wrong.
"N-no reason," said Luke.
"Just... Lucian reminds me of my ex-girlfriend. Actually, she was his sister."
Lucian froze.
'Son of a b*tch…' he thought.
Leo looked at Lucian.
Lucian was very handsome—maybe even more than the young men of the ten noble families.
Leo started imagining how his sister might look. He felt jealous.
"What are you talking about? I don't have a sister," Lucian said coldly.
Acting is fine, but Lucian would not lie about something that hurts his pride.
"Haha, I'm just joking! Look at Leo's face!" Luke laughed.
"Y-you!" Leo shouted, angry.
Time passed. The boys ate all the meat and went to sleep.
There was no need for a night guard.
But Luke could not sleep.
He didn't want to kill anyone. But Lucian?
That man killed a child and fed him to wolves.
Morning came. Luke didn't sleep much, but he was okay. After all, he was a cultivator.
"How about some fight training?" he asked.
"Sure, sounds good for the morning," said Leo.
"What do you think, Lucian?"
"No problem," said Lucian.
He knew this was just an excuse to test his strength.
"Who goes first?"
"You and me, Lucian?" Luke asked.
"Fine."
Lucian stood up from the animal skin. He was starting to enjoy this.
Soon, Lucian and Luke stood a few meters apart.
"Okay, no weapons. Don't use too much qi.
Only use enough to show your fighting skills."
"You can begin," said Leo as he stepped back.
Suddenly, Lucian ran at Luke.
He threw a punch, and Luke raised his arms.
But before the punch landed, Lucian crouched down to kick.
The punch was a fake! But Luke saw it coming.
He moved his hands from his face to block the kick—
But there was no kick.
Instead, Lucian threw dirt in Luke's eyes!
Luke was blind now, but he didn't panic.
He got ready for the next attack.
Suddenly, Lucian grabbed Luke's head.
His knee hit Luke's nose hard.
'What?!'
Luke didn't even feel Lucian's hands coming until it was too late.
Then—pain in his ribs.
Lucian hit his side strongly.
Before Luke could react, another punch came to his face.
This time he blocked it.
But then—pain in his stomach!
Luke coughed and stepped back.
'What is going on?!'
Leo was shocked.
'Is Luke really that weak? Why do these normal hits work so well?'
Luke's eyes cleared.
He looked at Lucian and attacked again.
Lucian dodged easily.
He could read all of Luke's moves.
Luke was angry.
Lucian tried to punch him.
Then—Luke noticed something from the side—
But too late!
Boom!
Luke flew through the air.
"Okay, that's enough!" shouted Leo.
"This is turning into bullying."
"But I didn't lose!" shouted Luke.
"Come on, he was hitting you the whole time. You didn't even defend yourself properly."
"Those weren't normal attacks! He used a strange technique!"
"No, he didn't. He just hit you."
"Impossible!"
"Want me to explain?" Lucian said calmly.
"Yes!" Luke was still angry. He felt something was unfair.
"Okay, let me make it simple," Lucian said.
"Do you know that humans can see their nose,
but the brain chooses to ignore it?"
"Yes… but what's the point?"
**"When you focus on your enemy's qi,
you lose feeling for their body.
If there's no qi in the hit, you don't sense it."
"What I did was remove the qi from my hands and legs right before hitting you."**
Leo and Luke both understood suddenly.
That level of control… was too high.
"But… how were the hits still so strong?"
"Because you don't understand physics."
Lucian smiled.
"Power comes from momentum.
I removed the qi only right after I moved. So I didn't lose strength."
"Maybe some power was lost. But it was still enough."
Leo and Luke looked at each other.
It sounded easy, but it was almost impossible to do.
'Wait… did he throw dirt on purpose—to make Luke rely only on sensing qi?'
Leo looked at Lucian again.
This man… was no joke.