Chapter 5

Time flows like water, and nine years have passed in the blink of an eye.

In the early morning, as the sun rose, many of the younger Nie family members gathered in the square. Some sat cross-legged, absorbing the faint spiritual energy of heaven and earth, while others practiced their combat skills, their fists and feet moving swiftly.

In one corner of the spacious square, a group of Nie family children around ten years old, clenched their fists and glared resentfully at the stone path to the east.

"He's only at the third level of Qi Cultivation. I don't believe he can keep winning! Yesterday, I broke through again, and today I'm going to give him a good lesson!" After nine years, ten-year-old Nie Hong, thanks to the bead he received at the lottery ceremony, had successfully cultivated to the sixth level of Qi Cultivation. As he gritted his teeth, sparks of electricity flickered at the tips of his left fingers.

"Brother Hong, he knows you've broken through again. He probably won't come today, right?" Nie Yuan said.

"No, he will definitely come. I know him!" Nie Hong shook his head.

In the center of the square, Wu Tao, a guest of the Nie family, and the young Nie family members around fourteen or fifteen years old, occasionally glanced over while cultivating, their faces filled with interest.

"Nie Yuan, were you the one saying I wouldn't come?" At that moment, a clear and strong child's voice echoed from the narrow stone path to the east. Nie Tian, clearly much taller than his peers, slowly appeared.

"He's here!"

"Knowing that Nie Hong has just reached the sixth level of Qi Cultivation, he still dares to come. He's got some guts!"

"Interesting!"

The older Nie family youths, upon hearing the familiar voice, all became excited. Those who were cultivating slowly stood up, and those practicing their boxing techniques abruptly stopped, their gazes all focusing on Nie Tian.

In their eyes, Nie Tian was an anomaly.

For nine years, since the end of the lottery ceremony, Nie Tian had not shown any special cultivation attributes. The beast bone he received had never resonated with his spiritual energy.

Similarly, while Nie Hong, Nie Yuan, and others determined their spiritual energy attributes and cultivated specific spiritual techniques, relying on the spiritual artifacts they received at the lottery ceremony, their cultivation progressed rapidly, Nie Tian... continued to cultivate the most basic Qi Cultivation technique.

Nie Tian's cultivation progress was so slow that everyone secretly mocked him, and even the family head Nie Donghai and Nie Qian were at a loss.

However, surprisingly, Nie Tian's body grew stronger and stronger. This made him not fall behind in battles with his peers despite his lower cultivation level.

On the contrary, over the past nine years, all battles between his peers and Nie Tian ended in their defeat.

Nie Tian maintained an undefeated record.

The reason they paid attention to Nie Tian's battles was to see when his physical advantage would disappear.

Nie Hong had just reached the sixth level of Qi Cultivation yesterday, with lightning power in his body. Privately, they all believed that Nie Tian's undefeated record would end in today's battle.

So they all looked forward to this fight.

"Nie Yuan, were you the one mocking me just now? How about we warm up first?" Nie Tian stepped forward, glancing at Nie Yuan, and challenged him first.

Nie Yuan, who had cultivated to the fifth level of Qi Cultivation, clearly showed some fear under his gaze.

Nie Yuan instinctively took a small step back and said with a show of bravado, "Nie Tian, your opponent today is Brother Hong. If you can still stand after fighting with Brother Hong, I'll play with you."

"Shameless." Nie You, with her hair in a high ponytail, muttered softly.

"Fine." Nie Tian didn't care and said lightly, "I don't need to use my full strength against you."

"You!" Nie Yuan's face was full of anger.

"Everyone, step back!" Nie Hong shouted, indicating that the other children should move away. As he spoke, his right fist was already covered with threads of blue lightning.

The other Nie family children, upon hearing this, all moved back, clearing the area for him and Nie Tian.

Wu Tao in the center of the square and the older Nie family youths, seeing the battle about to start, all gathered with smiles, chatting as they came closer.

On a tall stone hall, Nie Donghai stood by the window, his hands resting on the stone wall, looking down at the square from above.

For nine years, Nie Donghai, using his authority as the head of the Nie family, had tried every means to find the man who had harmed Nie Jin.

Unfortunately, he had not received any news about the man.

The man seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and then vanished suddenly.

The only trace he left was Nie Tian, who was about to fight Nie Hong in the square.

Nie Donghai's body had deteriorated over the years, and the once tall and strong man was now emaciated. Even the most unobservant person could see that his days were numbered.

Watching Nie Tian's battles with his peers from the high platform, and seeing Nie Tian win time and again, was one of his few remaining pleasures.

But he also understood that Nie Tian, lacking in cultivation level and relying only on his physical strength, would eventually lose.

He knew that once Nie Tian started losing, it would mean the end of his physical advantage.

In the future, the gap between Nie Tian and his peers would widen as their cultivation levels rapidly advanced.

"Will it be today..." Nie Donghai muttered to himself.

"Crack!"

A strange sound came from Nie Hong's fist, which was glowing with lightning. With a loud shout, he suddenly charged at Nie Tian.

"Hmm, a bit faster than before." Nie Tian opened his mouth, facing the charging Nie Hong, and smiled, showing no intention of dodging.

Nie Tian suddenly raised his hand and took a step forward. His fist, clearly larger than Nie Hong's, struck Nie Hong's right fist forcefully.

"Bang!"

The two fists collided, and a dull sound echoed. Nie Hong's momentum immediately stopped.

Nie Tian took two steps back, gritting his teeth and shaking his fist, with threads of lightning splashing from his fist as he moved his arm.

The onlookers noticed that the back of Nie Tian's fist had clear, scorched marks.

"Reaching the sixth level of Qi Cultivation may seem only one level higher than the fifth, but it's fundamentally different. At the sixth level, spiritual energy can be released externally, and the lightning power within can penetrate the opponent's body."

Nie Xian, a fourteen-year-old Nie family member who had cultivated to the eighth level of Qi Cultivation, looked deeply at Nie Tian and continued, "With each collision of fists, Nie Hong can leave the lightning power within his spiritual energy in Nie Tian's body. The lightning will numb his flesh, making him feel sore and forcing him to use part of his energy to resist the lightning's erosion."

"If this continues, it won't be long before he loses his fighting ability and is at the mercy of Nie Hong."

"Facing a sixth-level opponent with only a third-level cultivation and insisting on a direct confrontation is extremely unwise."

Wu Tao, a guest of the Nie family, nodded lightly, looking at the promising future of Nie Xian with approval, and said, "Relying on his physical strength, Nie Tian has been used to direct confrontations in his battles over the years. He hasn't suffered much in the past. But he doesn't understand what the external release of spiritual energy at the sixth level means. He will definitely suffer today, and his undefeated record... will likely be broken in this battle."

"In short, it's because his talent is not good enough. If he were at the same sixth level as Nie Hong and his spiritual energy had unique attributes, he would easily defeat Nie Hong." Nie Xian said.

"Can you feel it?" Nie Hong, with lightning flickering on his fist again, looked coldly at Nie Tian, who was still waving his arm. "The threads of lightning I left on your hand, have they spread to your arm yet? How does it feel? Your hand should be quite sore and numb, right?"

"A little." Nie Tian grinned, clearly in some pain. "But it's not too bad. It doesn't affect me much."

"Still being stubborn?" Nie Hong's expression was excited. After being suppressed for nine years and suffering continuous defeats, he finally saw a glimmer of hope in this battle. "Not much of an effect, huh? Then let's try a few more times!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Nie Hong's fists, like cannonballs, continuously struck Nie Tian. Surprisingly, Nie Tian did not dodge and responded with the same method, forcefully.

After ten breaths, Nie Hong stopped first, breathing heavily, looking at Nie Tian with a fierce gaze.

Nie Tian's hands, however, were blackened and charred, with sparks of lightning continuously flying from his arms.

Everyone could see that Nie Tian's arm movements were clearly stiff.

But Nie Tian's eyes showed an unprecedented fighting spirit, like a young savage beast finally awakened, roaring at Nie Hong, "Keep going, why did you stop? Come on, don't stop!"

It seemed as if he was the one with the upper hand.

...

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