A Half-Cheer Victory

Zhang Zhiwei didn't want to be touched by the blue flames. That brief contact had made him instinctively realize that the fire's nature wasn't to burn flesh, but to directly affect the soul. He didn't want to pay the price of being hit head-on.

Liu Jin stood still, unmoved by any change in circumstances. His fists were enveloped in blue flames, and he met each of Zhang Zhiwei's sudden attacks head-on. No matter the direction of the attack, he could accurately judge its landing point at the last moment and then punch it back.

Lightning and blue flames clashed repeatedly in the forest, each collision exploding into a blinding burst of light. Zhang Zhiwei's lightning magic grew increasingly fierce, while Liu Jin's recovery accelerated. Eventually, Liu Jin abandoned precise defense altogether, allowing the lightning to strike him freely.

The Qi-transforming meridians of the Reverse Life Cycle automatically reorganized the instant they were struck by lightning, compressing the paralyzing effect of the lightning magic to its minimum. Struck, healed, struck again, healed again.

The two stopped fighting simultaneously. It wasn't that a winner had been decided, but rather that continuing the fight was pointless. Zhang Zhiwei's lightning magic couldn't harm Liu Jin's core, and Liu Jin's Qi fire would also have difficulty hitting Zhang Zhiwei head-on. Moreover, he had to hold back three-tenths of his strength; the price of his divine fire burning into his soul couldn't be used against a fellow Daoist.

Zhang Zhiwei took a step back, lowered his hands, and the lightning slowly faded from his fingertips. His breathing was rapid and forceful, and his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, but his eyes still shone like two cold stars. He looked at Liu Jin in silence for a moment, and then spoke decisively.

"I lost."

Liu Jin also withdrew his Qi fire, the blue flames on his fists slowly extinguishing. He shook his head: "You didn't lose. Your lightning magic hit me seventeen times, while my Qi fire only made direct contact six times. You were just dodging my fire, not dodging me."

"Hiding is also a loss." Zhang Zhiwei's tone was serious, not just being polite. "On the battlefield, no one counts how many times you've been hit. I can't withstand your fire, so I don't dare to trade blows with you head-on. If I don't dare to trade blows head-on, I can only hide. Hiding for too long means losing."

Zuo Ruotong chuckled softly and turned to Zhang Jingqing: "Master, your disciple's temperament is not as arrogant as you say."

"He can't be arrogant in front of your apprentice." Zhang Jingqing's tone was unreadable, but there was a very faint smile at the corner of her mouth. "There aren't many people who can make him willingly admit defeat."

Zhang Zhiwei walked up to Liu Jin and suddenly extended his hand. Not to fight again, but to shake hands. Liu Jin grasped his hand. One hand had just lost its lightning, the other its qi fire, and they clasped together in the moonlight. Zhang Zhiwei shook it forcefully twice, then released it.

"Next time we meet, I'll find a way to quell your anger."

"Then I'll think of another kind of fire," Liu Jin said.

Zhang Zhiwei paused for a moment, then threw his head back and burst into laughter. The laughter echoed through the woods, startling several roosting birds, which fluttered past the moon.

......

"Wow, that was a really good fight! Neither of them went all out, but they both showed their true skills."

"Zhang Zhiwei conceded defeat, and although it was voluntary, his logic was sound. On the battlefield, not daring to make a decisive exchange is a disadvantage."

"This is about giving each other face. Zhang Zhiwei conceding defeat is giving Liu Jin face, and Liu Jin saying 'you didn't lose' is giving Zhang Zhiwei face. When masters clash, they give each other a way out after the match; that's true class."

"But to be fair, Liu Jin was struck by lightning seventeen times and was completely unharmed. His recovery ability is just too outrageous."

"Has the title changed hands? I can't accept that!"

"Actually, it's not too bad. Liu Jin is much older than Zhang Zhiwei, almost thirty years old, and he has a cheat ability. Under these conditions, he only managed to tie with Zhang Zhiwei. I won't say who the freak is."

"Mom, there's someone here who's defying a cheat code with a mortal body!"

"I can't say who's using cheats..."

......

In the dead of night, the clearing in the woods fell silent once more.

Zhang Jingqing took her leave with Zhang Zhiwei. As Zhang Zhiwei left, he glanced back at Liu Jin, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something. But in the end, he only nodded, turned around, and followed his master's steps, his tall figure quickly disappearing into the night.

Zuo Ruotong led Liu Jin, Lu Jin, and Li Muxuan toward the mountain path. Lu Jin remained silent the whole way, but suddenly stopped when they reached the entrance of the mountain path.

"Senior brother, can I really spar with you someday?" he asked earnestly, his eyes still a little red. He had been crying his eyes out in front of Zhang Zhiwei just now, but now that he had washed his face clean, he had a proper expression again.

"Waiting for you, double."

"It's a deal." Lu Jin extended his fist. Liu Jin looked down at his fist, then reached out and bumped fists with it.

Li Muxuan clicked his tongue twice from the side: "Lu Jin, when did you, a proper person, learn to bump fists?" As soon as he finished speaking, he also stretched out his fist, "Senior brother, I want one too."

Liu Jin bumped into him expressionlessly. Zuo Ruotong walked in front, not turning around despite the noise behind her, but a slight smile played on her lips. The moonlight cast long, long shadows of the four of them, stretching from the wilderness all the way to the mountain pass.

Further away, a few red lanterns still lit up at the foot of Wu Mountain, and the water of West Lake shimmered faintly in the night.

The next morning, Zuo Ruotong led the three of them on their way back to the mountain. Old Master Lu personally saw them off at the alley entrance and stuffed a large bag of osmanthus cakes into Lu Jin's hand.

They steamed it in their own kitchen and asked Lu Jin to take it up the mountain to share with the other disciples. Lu Xuan stood behind the old man and bowed to Zuo Ruotong in farewell.

On the way back, Li Muxuan kept reviewing yesterday's competition with Lu Jin. They talked about how many slaps Lu Jin had taken, how many he had taken, and how many rounds his senior brother and Zhang Zhiwei had exchanged insults. When they got excited, their speech became faster and faster, and they almost tripped over the tree roots by the roadside several times.

He ducked around another tree root, then bumped into Liu Jin's back. Liu Jin had stopped sometime earlier and was standing on a protruding rock by the roadside, gazing into the distance.

"Senior Brother?" Li Muxuan followed his gaze. The mountain path forked before them; to the west was a shortcut back to the Sanyi Gate, while to the south lay the direction of the continuous mountains shrouded in mist. The Sanyi Gate was hidden deep in the mountains, and the outline of its green tiles and white walls could be vaguely seen among the bamboo groves.

Zuo Ruotong stopped and glanced back at Liu Jin. Morning light shone on Liu Jin's shoulders; he stood there like a bamboo stalk that had finally grown firm after being battered by the wind for a long time. A moment later, he jumped down from the rock and took a step towards the western fork in the road.

"Let's go. Back to the mountain."

After returning to the Sanyi Sect, Liu Jin went into seclusion.

It wasn't the kind of seclusion where one "cultivates a certain skill in seclusion," but rather locking himself in his room and laying out all his notes, deductions, and thoughts about the Threefold Reversal of Life and the Samadhi True Fire from the past two years on the table, going through them from beginning to end.

The energy source of the automatic cultivation device, the fundamental reason why the Samadhi True Fire could not withstand it. All the clues collided in his mind for three whole days. Late on the third night, he pushed open the door and went straight to the lecture hall.

Zuo Ruotong was reading under the lamp when Liu Jin came in. She closed the book and asked, "Have you figured it out?"

"I've figured some of it out." Liu Jin sat down opposite him, picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Master, this disciple is preparing to break through the barrier."

"When?"

"The seventh day of next month, at one o'clock in the afternoon."