The Geared Immortal

Chapter 71 - The Calm Before The Storm (Phoenix Awakening) Part 4

Chapter 71

A young man in a blue robe is standing looking at a beautiful young woman not too far from him. With a clenched fist, the young man is trying to control himself from being angry. He could not believe the situation right now.

Xi Jung felt a little helpless as even Phoenix seems to agree with her master in having a spar against him, so he is having a hard time to decide on what to do. Looking at the beautiful woman who is smiling at him, his heart would always flutter.

"Hey, Xi. Don't hold back okay? My master wants to see what you can do." Phoenix said as she looks at Xi Jung.

"But, I… I might hurt you. I can't do that." Xi Jung said as reluctance can be seen in his eyes.

Actually, Xi Jung knows Phoenix's capability, but as someone he loves, he would not dare exchange blows with her.

"It's all right I promise you that you won't be able to hit me," Phoenix said as she tightens the gloves in her hands.

"Xi, here I come!" Phoenix said with a teasing smile on her face.

Whoosh!!!

Like the wind, Phoenix suddenly disappears from where she stood. And a powerful gush of wind appears in front of Xi Jung, which startled him. He crossed both his arms to protect his head from the incoming punch. Xi Jung was suddenly amazed as he was pushed back one step with that simple punch from Phoenix.

After experiencing that one blow, he didn't want to underestimate her as he already feels the strength on that punch. Though it doesn't hurt yet if it hits his face, then there is a chance that it would cause some bruise.

Although cultivators have strong spiritual Qi that would surround their bodies, they tend to neglect body strengthening techniques after the body refining realm. So that means most cultivators only have a strong physique of a late-stage body refining realm cultivator. That is unless they reach the nascent realm which would remold their physique into a powerful being.

So after some exchanges, Xi Jung found out that he is unable to hit even a hair of Phoenix. It's like she knew where his next movement will be, and this annoys him too much. Right now the spiritual Qi surrounding his body is almost at its limits. Though the spiritual Qi in his body is abundant however it was already halved when he was fighting Shin Jiao. Now it is almost exhausted as his body is constantly being hit by a barrage of attacks from Phoenix.

Right now Phoenix is wearing a new version of the headgear which is more compact and smaller. It's like Shin Jiao's goggles but with a helm to protect her head. This more advanced headgear can make her reflexes faster and can judge the weak spots of Xi Jung's Qi field. With these advantages, Xi Jung's Qi field would always blink on and off as every hit from Phoenix would always destroy it.

While the two are fighting Qian Li and the others are watching with amazement.

"Master, why is that cultivator unable to survive Phoenix's attacks." Qian Li asked with a little confusion shown in her eyes.

"Well, it's not that he can't survive her attacks. It's just that he doesn't know how to control his Qi flow. You see, the way he uses his Qi flow is just in a singular motion. This is how most cultivators in this land cultivate. They start with absorbing the spiritual Qi into their dantian and keeping it there like cores, and then when they need to use it they let it flow out." Shin Jiao explained, but his voice is not controlled making the other girls listen attentively.

It's either coincidence or deliberately as Xi Jung can actually hear his voice clearly. This is due to his cultivation level making his senses sharper than normal mortals. Upon hearing this Xi Jung's heart suddenly jumps.

"Is he trying to teach me something by doing this?" that is the question in Xi Jung's mind.

"Now, the truth is… it's not the only way to cultivate. You see, to practice perfect control in cultivation it is necessary that one should try to let Qi flow in a circular motion throughout one's body. Each part of your body should bask and be bathed in spiritual Qi, this way you can start to control the flow and direct it even without your will. Just like the mantra that I was teaching you. Do you all remember how you feel when the slight Qi current flows inside your bodies?" Shin Jiao continued.

"Yes, master it's like something is nourishing every cell inside of me. Although we can't hold to that Qi however by doing it naturally it makes our body strong enough to maximize the use of these exoskeletons." Qian Li answered with the rest of the girls nodding.

After Xi Jung heard their discussion his eyes immediately glowed in astonishment. He didn't think that the basic of cultivating Qi flow would be done like that. It's like doing a body refining over and over until it becomes natural that even while doing normal routines you are still revolving the spiritual Qi inside your body.

"Actually there is a reason why I choose the five of you. And later you will see why." Shin Jiao said with a hint of playfulness in his eyes.

He then remembers the day when he started to build the underground base. While choosing the warriors to act as defenders of the base he did some experiments on natural energies. And he discovers something that made him really excited. After that, he began to train the five women like crazy and created a mantra for them to at least feel the flow of Qi. But because of them having no spiritual roots as mortals, they are unable to wield it. But it still enhances their physique greatly, thus each of them is able to withstand the speed the exoskeleton and boots produces.

If compared to a cultivator, each of the woman's body in the Shadow Squad is comparable to a peak body refining cultivator without the exoskeleton. But of course, if they stop circulating the Qi inside their bodies it would regress back to being a mortal.

As the group continues to watch the battle between the two, they suddenly noticed that something is amiss, it's like the young man is slowly regaining an advantage. With the use of their goggles, they noticed that the flow of the Qi in his body began to change.

"This is… he is Qi is flowing differently." Serpent blurted out.

"Hmm… a genius! I was right. He really is a genius cultivator. All I did was to explain the flow and even without a mantra he devised his own path. Haha! Phoenix is really a lucky girl to have him for a husband. Well, I guess he too is lucky to have her as his wife. Hopefully, she could wake her potential sooner. In this beast wave, we can use these two." Shin Jiao thought while a smile unconsciously crept on his face.

"Master, it seems that you are feeling happy." Qian Li said as she noticed Shin Jiao's mood.

"Umm… I feel like the weather in this forest is good today." Shin Jiao said with a smile.

The two who are exchanging blows, on the other hand, is now having smiles plastered on their faces. Phoenix is happy as she can display all of her fighting technique which she painstakingly practiced without holding back. While Xi Jung is also happy to discover this new cultivation method that he just heard, he didn't really expect that this kind of low-level cultivation technique is the key in controlling the Qi inside one's body. This is like having an unlimited spiritual Qi while fighting. Right now in his mind, he can't wait to teach this to his juniors in the clan. But of course, he needed to refine the technique first for himself.

"Xi, you seem to be keeping up with me." Phoenix suddenly said with a smile.

"Yeah, But I noticed that no matter how much you attack, you seem to have unlimited stamina. You really are an extraordinary woman." Xi Jung replied trying to flatter his woman.

"Humph, you really have a glib tongue." She said with a frown but deep in her heart, she felt happy.

"I will exert some effort now. So, try to keep up!" Phoenix warned as her fighting stance suddenly changed.

This time Phoenix tried to apply some enlightenment she learned while using the beam sword that Shin Jiao gave her. Then as she channels the Qi in her body she tried to concentrate them in her hands. Then all of a sudden, her hands turn red as a fire started to form from them. Upon seeing this she smiled and began to attack Xi Jung, who was astounded with his eyes almost popping out.

"This is impossible, Phoenix is only a mortal. How come she can use spiritual Qi like that? This… this is crazy." Xi Jung said to himself in disbelief.

As Phoenix began her next wave of attacks, Xi Jung discovers that the Qi field in his body seems to break each time they are hit by those fiery hands. This made him break out in cold sweat upon feeling his skin being burned by those palms.

"This is not possible right?" the girls suddenly said at the same time as their gaze went towards Shin Jiao.

Shin Jiao this time had an astounded look in his expression. He actually didn't expect for these two love birds to improve so suddenly. He didn't even expect for Phoenix to be able to wield flames on her palms. This is really out of his expectation, and he is somewhat interested to learn why this is happening. Then the girls noticed for the first time that Shin Jiao put on his goggles, and would adjust its setting every now and then while smiling like a crazy person.

"What is happening to master, Fairy?" Serpent immediately asked Qian Li who face palmed as she watches Shin Jiao.

"It's his old habit again." Qian Li replied.

"Ugh… he's in his crazy learning mode again gosh this is troublesome." Vermilion Bird said as she once experienced Shin Jiao's learning mode when she was training.

At that time, she almost exhausted herself in a fight. She wanted to stop but it seems that her master wouldn't listen to her and urged her to continue.

Upon hearing her, the other girls also shuddered as they too experience the same thing. Now looking at the two couple they really feel sorry for them. It seems that they need to prepare something to help the two recover their vitality while their master is in his learning mode.

Qilin immediately ran towards the underground base as fast as she could to get more food and beast cores, while the other girls prepare first aid kits and some pills just in case.

While the two couples sparring is getting intense, it is clear that Xi Jung is now at the disadvantage. He now noticed the fearsomeness of Phoenix's techniques, as those blows she delivered are all fatal blows. If he didn't have the Qi field surrounding his body, he would have suffered grave wounds already.

"Damn it. She is too fast that I can't even touch her clothes. And why is her stamina too absurd, after this bout I'll… I'll make sure to punish her in bed for a day." Xi Jung said to himself as a perverted thought suddenly enters his mind.

But because of that distraction, he didn't notice an incoming palm strike. But when he noticed it, he acted on impulse and delivers a sudden strike meeting Phoenix's palm. The other one is full of spiritual Qi, while the other one is covered in fiery flames.

BOOM!!!

A loud explosion burst out as the two palms collided. Xi Jung was stunned and immediately regretted what he did. He knows that his strength is greater than Phoenix coupled with his new Qi flow which made his spiritual Qi denser. So it goes to say that Phoenix definitely loses out in terms of strength. Her figure could be seen flying backward as she sprayed a mouthful of blood.

This made everyone panicked as they saw Phoenix's figure flew out of the area. The girls suddenly cried out along with Xi Jung.

"Phoenix!"

But unknown to them, Shin Jiao suddenly had an excited look on his face. He never would have expected that something like this would happen. It's like a bright light is shining on his face as he discovered something.

When Phoenix and Xi Jung's palms collided something inside her suddenly exploded, it's like something inside her mind opens up. A large amount of information enters her mind and the things that her master taught her became clearer and there are also some new ones that she seem to have forgotten before. It's like her mind suddenly remembers everything like a movie where she can play it whenever she chooses.

"What is happening to me? This energy flowing inside my body… this is not the Qi that master taught me. This is more chaotic and tranquil at the same time… hmm… mana? I think this is called mana or the natural energy of the world." Phoenix thought as she can feel her body flying backward.

"Wait I need to stop or else I'll die on impact." She thought as she forcefully opens her eyes and turns her body.

Phoenix's body suddenly flips through the air as she somersaulted and her feet act as a shock absorber while touching a tree trunk. Then she bends to assimilate the remaining energy from that throw. After fully bending her knees, she pushed with all her might breaking the trunk and making her body shot towards Xi Jung, who is now having a dumbfounded look on his face.

Xi Jung never would have thought that Phoenix would immediately recover from that blow. He clearly saw her spew a mouthful of blood which is like a stab in his heart. But now, he couldn't think straight.

"What is going on?" Xi Jung asked himself.

But when he saw Phoenix's eyes, his heartfelt scared as her eyes actually changed color. From hazel brown to yellow, this made her look like a being from another plane. The change in her eyes coupled with the sudden change of her aura made Phoenix look like an immortal goddess.

Everyone was dumbfounded looking at this scene. Xi Jung was like a statue unmoving from his position as he was mesmerized by what he is seeing right now.

Then all of a sudden, on her stretched hand a blue circular flame started to congeal. It's like a whirlpool that sucks in air and it seems to combine something in the air which makes the blue flame grow bigger. And while this is happening Shin Jiao actually noticed that from her lips, many unknown words can be heard.

"Spell chant! That is a spell chant!" Shin Jiao's eyes are wide open as he quickly removes his goggles as if it is a hindrance on seeing something truly spectacular.