Chapter 2816: Chance Encounter

Peiluo lay on the ground in a spread-eagled position. All pretense of being a lady was gone; she was in excruciating pain everywhere.

Bubu Wang yawned. It rarely participated in combat because if it were caught by an enemy capable of fighting Su Xiao, that would be the end of it.

Sparring with Peiluo didn't require much effort for it to pin her down.

Su Xiao checked Peiluo's data through the Apostle's Eye. Her physical attributes were decent, given she was a human from the Void, had trained diligently, and had access to her father's resources.

Peiluo's swordsmanship was bizarre. It was at Swordsmanship Specialty Lv. 67. Based on Su Xiao's experience, once Swordsmanship Specialty reached Lv. 40, one would hit a bottleneck; breaking through it would promote one to Swordsmanship Master Lv. 1.

Peiluo had clearly encountered this bottleneck, but her method of breaking through was baffling. She had actually broken through the limit of the Specialty level, reaching Lv. 41.

Under such circumstances, another bottleneck should have appeared upon reaching Lv. 50, which would have been an opportunity to promote to Swordsmanship Master.

Peiluo hadn't developed in that direction. Instead, she had reached Swordsmanship Specialty Lv. 51. Even more miraculously, after reaching Lv. 60, another bottleneck appeared, but Peiluo perhaps felt that "Swordsmanship Master" was "trash," so she resolutely pushed her swordsmanship to Specialty Lv. 67.

This was theoretically impressive but practically dogshit. Even if Swordsmanship Specialty were raised to Lv. 70, it wouldn't be as strong as Swordsmanship Master Lv. 5. The two were not in the same tier of ability, let alone Swordsmanship Grandmaster, which was far beyond Peiluo's reach.

This wasn't Peiluo's fault. Being able to continuously break through bottlenecks on the wrong path showed that Peiluo had talent in swordsmanship; the person who taught her was likely someone who wasn't good at combat and only focused on studying swordsmanship.

Some experts focus on closed-door cultivation and become invincible in the world years later. This gives many people the wrong impression that as long as one is diligent and persistent, one can keep getting stronger—even if one hides away and ignores the world.

In reality, they overlook one point: those closed-door experts who shock the world have already experienced countless life-and-death battles before entering the deep mountains. Such people only need time to settle; their practical experience is already sufficient, and what remains is summation and the tempering of time.

Clearly, Peiluo's master, White Beard, was the type who rarely fought but always practiced behind closed doors; otherwise, he wouldn't have taught Peiluo this Swordsmanship Specialty Lv. 67.

"How the hell did she do this? She's a genius, this little cutie."

Baha was shocked, gaining a whole new level of understanding regarding Peiluo's swordsmanship level. It felt like it had learned something new this time.

"Heal her injuries."

Su Xiao tossed out a large bottle of potion. The maid, Tisi, who was waiting on the side, caught it and immediately went to Peiluo's side to have her drink it. Tisi's heart ached; she was ten years older than Peiluo and had practically watched her grow up.

To make Peiluo stronger, the first step was to help her promote to Swordsmanship Master. Based on Su Xiao's experience, this wasn't difficult.

Before long, Peiluo, who had been lying spread-eagled, recovered. She had been semi-conscious just moments ago, thinking she was about to bid farewell to this beautiful world.

"Get in."

Su Xiao signaled Baha to open a giant glass cylinder, five meters high and three meters in diameter, filled with distilled water almost entirely free of impurities.

Peiluo was obedient, or perhaps because the influence of the blood energy hadn't completely faded, she was currently quite compliant.

Peiluo entered the cylinder, and a stream of bubbles rose. She was quite confident in this aspect; breath-holding was part of her training.

Bang! Baha closed the metal lid of the cylinder and locked the latches.

Su Xiao tapped the glass cylinder, and a strand of Green Steel Shadow energy spread into the water.

Gurgle, gurgle~

Peiluo in the cylinder spat out several large bubbles; due to the stimulation of the Green Steel Shadow energy, she spat out almost all the air she had just inhaled.

Su Xiao took out a timer, hung it on a metal rack on the side, and set it for five minutes.

Inside the water of the glass cylinder, the fear in Peiluo's eyes basically vanished. She felt she had been underestimated; in her current state, she could definitely hold her breath underwater for half an hour.

Under Peiluo's confident gaze, time ticked away second by second. She tapped the glass wall with her finger and pointed at the timer, smiling, meaning: "It's already been 4 minutes and 53 seconds; your training is too easy."

Su Xiao didn't speak; he just gripped the timer and clicked the pause button. It was one second shy of five minutes.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle~

Peiluo seemed to want to say something, but she swallowed several large mouthfuls of water instead.

Time gradually passed. Peiluo began to feel pain. She couldn't control her urge to inhale, which caused her to swallow a large amount of distilled water.

Thump, thump.

Peiluo tapped the glass cylinder with her hand, but she soon realized she might actually drown in here. The fear of death made her think; her first thought was that she had a sword in her hand, a very sharp longsword—fortunately, it wasn't a wooden sword this time.

Peiluo drew her longsword underwater and slashed at the glass wall in front of her. With a dull thud, the sword was deflected. This wasn't glass, but "Wenkeda Crystal," a crystal with a hardness exceeding most metals.

Su Xiao glanced at it and continued meditating. He wouldn't spar or fight Peiluo; it was fundamentally unfeasible. From beginning to end, his sword wasn't used for such things; it was used to kill enemies. Either he didn't draw his sword, or once he did, he had the resolve to kill, or he would be killed by the enemy.

A few minutes later.

Zing!

A slash mark streaked across, cutting a gash into the Wenkeda Crystal layer. With a smash of the sword hilt, the entire crystal pillar shattered.

"Cough, cough, cough."

Water poured out, and Peiluo collapsed to the ground, coughing loudly. She didn't even know how she had done it; in the moment before losing consciousness, she had unleashed a slash and then smashed it with the hilt with all her might.

"Little cutie, how do you feel?"

Baha flew over with a mischievous grin.

"Drank... drank my fill."

Peiluo touched her slightly distended abdomen. Between choking and swallowing, she was now full of water.

"Uh~"

Baha was speechless for a moment, but it soon stopped caring.

"We can start the next type of training. Actually, I know how to use a sword too."

Baha flew up, grabbed the hilt on the sword rack, and drew the longsword.

Clang!

The longswords met. The sword in Baha's claw stopped right beside Peiluo's neck, the blade cutting slightly into her skin, blood trickling down her neck.

"Ah, sorry, I used too much force. Blame me for being a sand-sculpture. I'll be lighter on the next strike."

As Baha spoke, it suddenly vanished from its spot and slashed at Peiluo's spine.

"Ah? Why didn't you dodge? If it had been any deeper, it would have been a fatal wound. Be careful, I don't really know how to hold back, gaga gaga."

Baha flicked the longsword in its claw, a red glow appearing in its eyes.

Peiluo leaped backward repeatedly. She didn't feel any pain in her spine at all; compared to the overwhelming killing intent, the pain in her back was nothing. This enemy, who called itself a "sand-sculpture," really wanted to kill her—the feeling was incredibly intense, the killing intent almost suffocating her.

The hellish training began. When exhausted to the point of collapse, she would rest for an hour, then continue. As long as she was still breathing, she would continue.

On the fifth day of the grueling training, Su Xiao, who was meditating, suddenly opened his eyes. He sensed an aura; the person was ten kilometers away, but he had perceived it.

Just a few minutes later, hurried footsteps approached, and with a bang, the door to the dojo was kicked open.

"Bai Ye, retreat!"

The fat on Reide's face trembled. Behind him, Wodijia, who had packed up important items, was panting heavily, having run in such a rush.

"An unreasonable big shot is coming. Quick, let's retreat first. Wodijia is also preparing to evacuate..."

Before Reide could finish his sentence, he felt a tall figure standing behind him. He turned his head; given his own height, he didn't even reach the person's waist.

"This place... is really short."

Crash~

The building shattered as if it were made of paper. A figure draped in animal skin, wearing a black beast skull with two bull horns on it, raised a hand to tear open the wall above the door frame and stepped into the dojo. Only here could his five-meter-tall body stand upright as he stretched his neck.

No one dared to move. Wodijia, the maid Tisi, the old butler, and the others didn't dare to budge. Wodijia couldn't afford to offend the big shot who had come this time, or rather, he wasn't even qualified to meet someone of this level.

"Bai Ye, you came to the Void and didn't even visit my territory? You're not giving me any face, hahahahaha."