In a similar fashion to when John snuck up on the Blood Tiger, he was approaching the Vice-Sect Leader in the same manner.
Such an approach would never work in true battle, but John was testing out his theory right now.
'My aura is a natural extension of myself, in the non-physical form. When I prepared to move a body part, or unleash a battle art, I subconsciously gave away hints in my aura. The aura flaring from that limb about to move would slightly increase in preparation, or traces of my battle arts would leak out before I used them.'
After coming to this conclusion, John had decided to withdraw his aura completely into himself. He approached the Vice-Sect Leader slowly, who stood there with an amused expression on her face.
However, she made no movements, and allowed John to approach.
Upon reaching within arms distance of the Vice-Sect Leader, John stopped. He stood there in calm silence, staring at the Vice-Sect Leader before him. His expressionless face gave no hints as to what he was thinking about.
The two of them stared at each other for a short while, before John instantly exploded with his full power. He forsook his battle axe for his fist, as a punch was much faster than using a heavy weapon.
His fist arced powerfully towards the Vice-Sect Leader's waist.
Bang!
A wooden stick once again slammed across John's face, knocking him backwards several yards. His calm expression instantly turned into one of agitation.
"What the hell? I concealed my aura perfectly, how did you know which way I was going to attack from?" John yelled out in consternation. "Did I leak some of my aura?"
The Vice-Sect Leader smiled at John, finding great enjoyment at his angered reactions, as well as repeatedly hitting him in the face.
"No, your aura concealment was actually incredibly impressive, and was far beyond what you should be capable of. However, aura is not the only thing I'm reading when predicting your movements,' the Vice-Sect Leader, giving her first hint to John.
John frowned upon hearing this.
'She's reading something other than aura?'
He once again sat down in a meditative position and went into a trance. His mind instantly began to replay all the fights he had been part of throughout his cultivation journey, making sure to go over every detail as much as possible.
The Vice-Sect Leader watched him once again fall into a trance. She stared at him for a moment before walking off. His last meditative session took quite some time, and so she decided to take care of some things in the meantime.
John continued to sit there for hours, replaying his fights.
'Something that's readable, that's not aura…'
Similar to the first time, by replaying all his fights in his head over and over, John slowly but surely started to understand the Vice-Sect Leader's words.
'Is..is she reading my muscle movements? Whenever I attack, I tense certain muscles in anticipation for movement. Is that what shes reading?'
John didn't know if such a thing was accurate, but it was the only other thing he could think of. It was a subconscious act of all living creatures, to tense their muscles in anticipation for exploding outwards with power.
However, if one looked carefully enough, they could see the microscopic changes in their opponents body whenever they did so. The slight vibration of a leg preparing to press off the ground, the contracting of the muscles about to be used, the slight shift in posture.
All these seemingly meaningless things added up to a point where one skillful enough could read them, and as a result, anticipate movements before they happened.
John's eyes slowly opened as he came to this realization. However, a frown appeared on his face, as realizing the problem and fixing it were two separate things. The micromovements his body made were subconscious movements, and would take a great deal of time and effort to fix.
John looked all around him, but was unable to find the Vice-Sect Leader.
"Did she just leave? Should I just leave?"
While thinking about leaving, and the potential consequences of such an action, John felt a presence approach him from behind. The presence reminded him of someone, and he quickly turned around.
"It's you! But didn't yo-"
His words cut off as he saw who it was.
"It's me? Who am I supposed to be?" The Vice-Sect Leader asked John. "Have I made you go crazy from all these head blows?"
John stared at the Vice-Sect Leader in a slightly confused manner. He shook his head at himself after a short while.
"Maybe," John relied, his voice unsure.
"Did you figure something out?" The Vice-Sect Leader asked, hoping that he would continue to progress forward. The faster he picked up on her teachings, the sooner she could go back to her personal business.
"I think so," John replied. However, he was unsure, as he was not sure if he would be able to control those micromovements of his to a level that the Vice-Sect Leader could not read.
"Oh? Then show me what you've learned," the Vice-Sect Leader replied.
John nodded his head and stood up from his seated position. He took in a deep breath, and once again withdrew his aura within himself. He once again appeared to meld into the world itself, making him appear like a mortal. If one wasn't looking directly at him, it would be incredibly easy to miss him.
John once again slowly approached the Vice-Sect Leader until he stood directly before her. He made no moves or sounds, and only focused on himself. He kept his body as relaxed as possible, with the intention of making as little movements before his actions as possible.
The Vice-Sect Leader raised her eyebrows slightly as she noticed what John was attempting. John stood there silently for quite a long time, focusing only on himself and his body.
Suddenly, and without warning, his fist arced straight towards the Vice-Sect Leader's waist. Her eyes widened slightly as she noticed it approaching, and sent her hand with the wooden stick out towards John.
Bang!