"I give, I give!" I said as I held my hands up, there was no way I'm gonna beat this, and he doesn't even look serious.
"Ah, given up already," he said.
"No way I'm beating you, especially like this, I need more prep time," I said.
The sect master deflated and soon returned to his original size, leaving massive holes in the ground which were made by the sheer weight of his giant form.
I had several questions on how the heck did he just remove all that mass and weight and is now as light as a normal human, but in a world of cultivation asking about the laws of physics will only cause me more headaches, so I decided to not go down that rabbit hole.
"You could have at least tried," he said.
"I could, but do you think there was a chance for me to win?" I asked.
"No…"
"Then why waste all that energy," I replied shrugging.
"Interesting fellow," the sect master grinned. "Anyway, I don't think our power level is fair to have a proper spar, nor do I think anyone in the sect could be able to fight you, though Wei might be able to, the fact that you're able to completely neutralize domain might harm him internally before our advent soon to the Under-Void," the sect master said.
"You already realized what was that," I spoke.
"Oh, yes, your ability to completely disregard domain is rather fascinating, I don't know how you did it, but I have a hunch, correct me if I'm wrong," he said.
"Please, share," I said.
"You somehow managed to convince yourself that the laws or Domain does not affect you, as if you're not part of its world, as if you have never admitted that such things exist, it's a very interesting method. Especially since you too can use domain. You're able to reject other people's domains but apply yours. And if I were to take another guess, I would think that it's all due to the very nature of your personal domain," he said.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning, that your domain itself, the Domain of Delusions, is so powerful that you delude yourself into thinking that such an enemy's domain has no hold or power against you, and thus it breaks, am I right?"
This sect master is something else, though he is wrong, he isn't completely wrong. I could reject the notion of domains before I made my own domain so he is wrong about the Delusion part.
But the fact that I do not admit an enemy's domain to exist is something he is right about, it is because I'm not from this world, and never encountered such a notion as a domain back in my world, thus I am able to 'wake' up from it by willing myself to not exist within it.
"It's not correct, but not right either," I replied.
"No need to explain to me your secrets, each and every cultivator has a hidden card, keep yours well hidden, because it is powerful, in either case, I don't have much to teach you to be honest, besides giving you pointers on how to further improve your own battling stances," the sect master said.
He then began showing me simple fighting stances and moves and asked me to follow after.
I did as asked and replicated the sect master's moves, they were slow, comforting, and very relaxing moves, almost like a good session of Tai Chi, however, only the savant would know that Tai Chi isn't for relaxing, it is a martial art, a slowed down martial art that has been made for one single purpose. Killing.
Every move I made was also of the same nature, when they were slowed down they felt simple and normal and rather relaxing. However, in my mind, I accelerated the sequence of these moves and I was able to realize the danger within them.
The sect master finished the sequence and said, "Can you replicate the full sequence without mistakes?" he asked.
"I can, I don't forget something I've seen," I replied.
"Good, then do it at least ten thousand times, I'll be leaving back to the sect, I have matters to tend to. Once I'm done, I'll come to pick you up." The sect master said.
"Wait!" I muttered but the sect master had already taken a step back and disappeared from sight.
"How the hell do you guys do that," I frowned.
Then I went back to my practice. Slow and steady.
***
A loud whine echoed in the depth of a dark space in a location where no direction could be told.
There was nothing here but several massive pillars of brittle stone, spaced against each other by a distance too far for a normal person to jump past.
On one of these rising pillars, there were two men. One looked younger than the other, and was wearing white robes that seemed to be dyed red in blood.
The other was an older man who had a gruff and annoyed expression on his face. He seemed bored and at the same time annoyed, he had not a single drop of blood on him, however.
Around the two were piles and pools of blood and viscera that clearly didn't belong to them and was a part of something that was alive before it met them.
From the side of the platform, a large slob of putrid-smelling and burnt meat seemed to slide down and fall into the deep dark abyss between the pillars.
"That's finally dead," spoke a man who had his eyes squinted enough that a person would think they were closed.
If Shen Bao was here, he'd recognize them as Master Rain and his attendant.
"What a pain in the ass," Master Rain
"Do you know what those are, Master Rain?" asked the attendant.
"No, this damn place has been locked up for such a long time that it seemed to have grown a new species of creatures never before seen in the outer world. They're blind and deaf, but they can sense anything that moves…" Master Rain said.
"Should we take one of them with us outside?" asked the attendant.
"To what extent? I'm too old to try and experiment on something like this," Master Rain said.
"We don't need to experiment on it, we can sell it, your funds are dropping by the way. And I'm sure a few of your geezer friends would like to put their hands on something this…interesting," the attendant said, "Especially since it seems like its immortal…"
Just as the attendant finished his words, the blood pooling around the two of them surged forth down as if it had a life of its own and the slobs of burnt meat seemed to follow after.
Bits and tendrils of flesh seemed to coalesce together and create what looked like a mole rat that had the body of a serpent.
The naked hairless ugly creature hissed at the two and tightened the rest of its body around the pillar causing it to fracture.
"Don't let it break it, we need a way back," Master Rain said just as he finished his words.
The attendant pulled up a light fan, swung it thrice, and immediately after that, the mole rat looking creature was split in three finely cut pieces.
Master Rain didn't waste the opportunity and jumped forward, taking a powerful step on the flailing body of the dying creature and jumping all the way to the next pillar.
The attendant followed suit immediately and the two made it safely to the next safe spot.
"Keep moving, there are more of that thing coming our way," Master Rain said and the two of them kept moving, waiting for the creatures to come at them, and then the two used the beasts as stepping stones to move forward.
"I hate areas where I can't fly," the sect master said.
"Can't you overwrite this law?" the attendant asked.
"Not when the source of the law is in the depth of this chasm. I'm not too keen on adventuring there yet," said the sect master.