Just as Tang Shaoyang thought, the young man who challenged Kairu for a fight was Lu An. As soon as he arrived at the location, near the artificial lake in the west of HZ Bay, he saw Lu An was standing three meters away from Kairu.
Despite Kairu's big frame, Lu An showed no fear in front of the Flaming Lion. Aside from that, he saw a trace of battle. The ground was in flame as a pit at the shape of a fist formed.
They had exchanged a few moves, but none of them landed. Tang Shaoyang wanted to stay on the side and watched the fight secretly. However, he decided to not do so as the two radiated fierce killing intent.
The two might kill each other if he let them fight wildly. On another side, he was surprised that the young Lu An could radiate such fierce killing intent. He still remembered that the young man was trembling in fear at the face of Stage-3 Zombie and also the Fogged Ape a while ago. Now Lu An was standing firmly and with no fear in front of a stronger monster.
'I am curious what he experienced in the fifth portal that changed him this much,' Tang Shaoyang thought to himself as he rushed between the two, "Alright, stop the fight for now."
Wei Xi was shocked that his Boss' figure suddenly vanished without any notice. He could not even see if it was teleportation or he moved too fast that his eyes failed to catch even his shadow, 'Just how strong he has become?' Wei Xi questioned himself in shock.
"What do you mean stop? We just started," as always, Kairu started to complain rudely, but Lu An took that negatively. Lu An's hand moved to the sword handle, he was about to pull the sword but Tang Shaoyang was even faster.
His palm pushed the sword back to the sheath before Lu An could pull the sword fully. Without a doubt, Lu An had grown a lot stronger than before, but he just could not match Tang Shaoyang's growth.
"Calm down, young man!" Tang Shaoyang grinned at Lu An while the latter looked at him with his shocking gaze. Lu An was surprised that Tang Shaoyang had become faster in reaction wise or even hand movement.
"I don't know what happened between you two, and I will assume that it's a personal matter that you two don't want to tell me, right?" He glanced at Lu An and the latter immediately lowered his head.
As for the Flaming Lion, he was eager with the battle and did not care about the reason. Battling was his life, he believed he was born to battle, that was what he believed.
"You two can fight, but with a condition. No killing or even intention to kill each other. You can fight, but it's a sparring match! I will watch from the side, and if I notice that one of you try to kill…" he deepened his voice and spoke in a cold tone, indicating he was serious.
Tang Shaoyang did not need to finish his words as the two immediately got the hidden message. His killing intent was also easily dominating theirs that sent a chill to their spines.
"Agree?" He looked toward Lu An, the young man nodded his head with his seriousness. The young guy seemed not to want to show his weakness in front of Kairu. He could tell that by a glance.
After that, he turned toward Kairu. The latter nodded his head with a glee in his crimson eyes. The Flaming Lion could not wait to fight.
"Alright, you can have your fight now!" Tang Shaoyang pulled his hand from the sword and moved to the distance. He called Wei Xi, Cao Yuntai, and Wen to his side.
"Are you sure about this?" Wen had heard everything with his sharp hearing. He was not sure that allowed the two to fight was the right decision.
"Just watch," Tang Shaoyang shrugged his shoulders. Wei Xi had his eyes on Tang Shaoyang, he wanted badly to ask what his Boss encountered in the fifth portal. But after some consideration, he saved the question for Cao Yuntai. Even though they looked close, but Wei Xi still regarded Tang Shaoyang as superior. He did not want to look like digging something unnecessary about his Boss.
'I will ask Cao Yuntai, he may know how strong the Boss is…' Wei Xi thought to himself as he looked toward Lu An. He was also curious how strong Lu An had become. There were so many things that made him curious after the fifth portal.
*** ***
"Kuhuhu… Your Boss does not want to protect you it seems," Kairu started to taunt Lu An as soon as Tang Shaoyang left them, "Get ready to taste this might fist of mine!"
"That's because Boss knows I don't need protection to fight you!" Lu An bent his body slightly with his hand was holding the sword, "And your fist could never hit me!"
Swoosh!
Lu An's figure blurred, he appeared again in front of Kairu. At this moment, Lu An's hand motion also blurred as he pulled the sword from the sheath. It was still the same red sword given to him by Tang Shaoyang.
Kairu was not expecting the opposite party would be this fast. As the sword a few centimeters away from his chest, the sword with a resistance. A fire burst out and blocked the sword.
Kairu immediately raised his flaming fist. He punched the flaming fist toward Lu An's chest. Of course, the fist hit the empty air. Lu An's figure had disappeared again.
The Lion Beastmen looked around, but his eyes could not follow Lu An's movement, 'Above? Back?' He was scanning the surrounding until he felt a presence from his back.
Kairu jumped out and sent a spinning kick to the back. Sure enough, Lu An was behind him with the sword. The Flaming Lion noted the surprised expression on Lu An's face, "Too early for you, boy!"
Lu An put his sword vertically and blocked the kick. As the kick touched his sword, fire burst out and rushed toward him.
"Hah, I am still too careless and have to use this earlier..." he muttered in a low voice as shadow like a black curtain fell on him. Along with the shadow, Lu An's figure vanished from the sight.
Kairu stayed still for a moment before he scanned his surroundings again. However, one could see that the excitement in his eyes never died down. The Flaming Lion was getting even more stimulated by Lu An's skill. The stronger his opponent was, the excited Kairu became.
Kairu grinned widely as he changes his stance. He bent his legs slightly and raised his hand at his chest level.
On the side, Wen noticed this and immediately told Tang Shaoyang, "Stop the fight or he may accidentally kill the young man!" He and Kairu just joined the group. In this world, aside from Tang Shaoyang, they did not have anyone. He did not want Kairu to screw his life by accidentally killing the young man. Kairu was only his friend in this world, after all.
"You are underestimating Lu An very much, Wen!" Tang Shaoyang shook his head. Even though Tang Shaoyang did not know how strong Lu An was now, but he was sure that Lu An would not lose easily against Kairu.
Right after he finished his words, eight Lu An appeared. There were eight Lu An who appeared out of the shadow, surrounding the lion beastmen, "Let's just watch the battle for now," Tang Shaoyang pointed his finger at the Kairu and Lu An.
"Illusion? Doppelganger?" Kairu muttered in a low voice. If it was an illusion, one of the eight was the real Lu An. If it was a doppelganger, Lu An might still hide in the darkness.
"There's only one way to find out, let's see what happens if your head gets bashed by my fist!" He motioned his hand to Lu An to come at him.
The eight figures blurred toward Kairu at the same time with a jet-black dagger in their left hand and a red sword in their right hand. The movement was too fast, but Kairu managed to reach in time.
Each slash of Lu An's sword was blocked by his flaming fist. Kairu also discovered that the eight Lu An was real, not just a mere illusion. The attack held a real power that might hurt him if he was careless.
Lu An was fast, but Kairu's reaction was perfect too. His reaction matched with Lu An's speed. Realizing he could not just rely on his speed, Lu An threw the dagger.
The eight daggers shot toward Kairu from eight directions. It was very hard to see at the black dagger, Kairu had to create a hurricane of flame around his body to deflect all the daggers.
The eight jet-black daggers were deflected and fell to the ground. At the same time, the seven Lu An turned into a shadow, disappeared into the remaining Lu An's shadow.
"What's wrong? Giving up this early?" Kairu grinned at Lu An, thinking he had an upper hand against Lu An.
Lu An retuned the taunt with a smirk. He did not reply as his figure disappeared. If one could see, after he disappeared a dagger replaced him at where he stood while Lu An appeared three meters away from Kairu.
Lu An swapped his position with the dagger around Kairu. The Lion Beastmen was caught off guard. This was not a fast movement but more like teleportation. With a sword coated in a black shadow, Lu An's sword easily slit open Kairu's skin.