Chapter 2696

Chapter 2696: Li Jieyu

"I’ve just entered the military, and I’m already being compared to you... constantly," said Li Jieyu. "I don’t like it."

"And? You want to spar with me and prove them wrong or something?"

"Are you kidding? I may be prideful, but I am not stupid. I know that I have no chance of defeating you in my current state. I want to see how big that disparity is so I know how much I need to improve to beat you."

"Is that so?" Yuan smiled. "Well, let me save you the time and some pain. You won’t."

"I won’t what?" Li Jieyu frowned.

"You won’t ever catch up to me."

"..."

Li Jieyu narrowed her eyes at him, looking like she’d just found her archenemy.

"They weren’t joking when they said you were arrogant. People always say my arrogance is second to none. They wouldn’t be saying that if they’d met you."

"Or maybe you’re scared? Because you heard that I’d nearly beaten all of your records during recruitment?"

Yuan shook his head and calmly replied, "I just don’t like wasting my time, especially if I gain nothing out of it."

"Sounds like an excuse. You coward."

"What a cheap provocation. Did General Gu teach you that?" Yuan asked.

"General Gu? Why are you bringing him up?" Li Jieyu raised her eyebrows, looking puzzled.

"He didn’t tell you? We have a complicated relationship. One that might get you in trouble."

"I don’t care what beef you have with the Gu Family; it has nothing to do with me wanting to spar with you."

"If not General Gu, are you here on behalf of Ember City? Did they tell you to find evidence of me being a Void Specter?" Yuan then asked.

Although Supreme General Tian had warned him that General Gu had acquired a new talent, he never expected it would be her. Of course, he knew her name was Li Jieyu, but he didn’t know her appearance until he watched the recording.

"That is none of your business," Li Jieyu responded coldly.

"Really? So you’re telling me that your decision to leave your city and join another city’s military had absolutely nothing to do with me? I find that hard to believe, especially when there are many others doing the same thing for this recruitment," Yuan said.

"Whether you believe me or not is none of my concern. I will ask you again. Will you spar with me or not?" Li Jieyu stared at him with a resolute face.

Yuan smiled and pointed at the building behind him.

"You realize that I was just discharged from the hospital, right? If you want to gauge my abilities properly, wait until I recover."

Li Jieyu fell silent, unable to dispute his logic. Even if she’d somehow managed to defeat him, it would mean nothing if he was injured.

"Then when do you want to do it?"

"Tomorrow. Meet me at the training hall tomorrow morning."

She nodded. "I will be there."

After that, Li Jieyu turned around and quickly left the scene.

News of Yuan’s return quickly spread throughout the military like wildfire.

"Looks like that monster is still alive."

"I wonder what caused his hospitalization in the first place."

"If you’re truly curious, you can go ahead and try asking him."

"I heard from someone who did ask him. Apparently, he was hospitalized because he was injured during training."

"What sort of training is he doing that resulted in several months of hospitalization?"

"The kind that prepares one to fight the Void Hunter, obviously."

The following day, Yuan made his way to the training hall. When he arrived, Li Jieyu was already waiting by the entrance, looking very eager to fight.

The atmosphere around her was so intense that others subconsciously walked around her as they passed, even if they were already far away from her.

The moment Li Jieyu noticed Yuan approaching the training center, she straightened her back and waited until he was close enough before speaking, "I wasn’t expecting you to come."

"And why would you make such an assumption?" Yuan asked.

"Because I can."

Yuan merely shrugged at her response.

Shortly afterward, they headed into the training hall together and found an empty sparring room.

"To make things fair, I’ll start by using only five percent of my strength so you can properly gauge the difference between us," Yuan said to her.

After all, if he fought her seriously from the get-go, she wouldn’t even last a second.

"Five percent? Aren’t you underestimating me a little too much?" Li Jieyu said with a frown.

"It’s you who’s underestimating me."

"Even though our cultivation is nearly the same?" Li Jieyu remarked, as she was at Second Level Sixth Ascension.

"I’m not going to waste my breath when you’ll find out in just a moment," Yuan said before beckoning her. "Whenever you’re ready."

In response, Li Jieyu retrieved her weapon—a sword.

"I hope you weren’t expecting to fight barehanded," she said.

Yuan raised an eyebrow and asked, "You already have a weapon?"

"This is my personal weapon."

"You can use your personal weapon?"

"Of course. You think I snuck my weapon in here just to spar with you or something?"

"Kinda."

"..."

"Whatever. I’m starting."

After warning Yuan, Li Jieyu immediately made her first move, instantly closing the distance with Void Control before swinging her sword at him.

Yuan saw the attack from miles away and dodged it easily.

Li Jieyu was unfazed by her missed attack and immediately launched another, followed by yet another, unleashing a relentless barrage without giving Yuan a moment to rest.

Yuan couldn’t help but smile, as her fighting style resembled Li Jinxi’s during their first exchange on Earth.

"You have extraordinary strength and stamina, but you lack technique and strategy," Yuan remarked.

"Is this a spar or a lecture? I can’t gauge anything like this! Fight back!" Li Jieyu shouted.

"As you wish..."

Now that he had a good understanding of Li Jieyu’s level, Yuan fought back accordingly.

"This is ten percent of my powers."

Yuan struck with his bare arm.

It was an ordinary attack at a glance, but the moment Li Jieyu saw it, a chill ran down her spine, prompting her to dodge it.

"You have good instincts," Yuan said afterward.

Although his arm may appear empty, it was actually covered in Sword Aura and was no different than a sword.

Li Jieyu narrowed her eyes at his arm.

’He appears to be unarmed, but something about it feels off! What did he do?’ she wondered inwardly.

Since she had no knowledge of Sword Aura, Li Jieyu couldn’t comprehend the energy surrounding Yuan’s arm. Still, she could sense something there... something dangerous.

"Here I come."

Yuan warned before charging at Li Jieyu, swinging his arm again when he got close enough.

This time, Li Jieyu didn’t avoid it. Instead, she tried to block it with her sword.

Clang!

When her sword collided with Yuan’s arm, an unexpected noise resounded.

Li Jieyu’s eyes widened at the result.

’There really is something surrounding his arm!’ she cried inwardly upon noticing that his arm wasn’t actually touching her sword. Instead, a gap as thin as a sheet of paper separated them.

While she was distracted by the Sword Aura, Yuan made his next move, kicking her right in the stomach.

"Agh!"

Li Jieyu cried out loud as she was sent flying, but she quickly stabilized herself.

Despite the abdominal pain, Li Jieyu swiftly fought back.

"Fifteen percent."

As the fight prolonged, Yuan slowly increased the difficulty.

"Twenty percent."

By the time Yuan increased his strength to twenty percent, Li Jieyu could no longer defend herself and was forced to endure one attack after another.

"About twenty percent, huh?" Yuan muttered.

In reality, Li Jieyu could hardly handle Yuan even at ten percent of his true strength, but he kept on increasing it to see her limit.

"Well? What do you think? How long do you think it’ll take you to catch up to me?" Yuan asked as Li Jieyu lay on the ground, gasping for air.

"Are you mocking me?" she growled.

Yuan replied with a smile, "If it’ll motivate you to train harder, you can think of it that way."

"Join my squad," he suddenly added.

"Excuse me?"

"If you join my squad, I’ll help with your training. Though it won’t help you surpass me."

"Are you not worried that I might be a spy sent here to keep an eye on you?" she asked, looking dumbfounded.

"Even if you are, so what? It’s not like you’re the only one sent here to spy on me."

"That doesn’t make any sense."

"Then let me put it in simpler terms—I just don’t care."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Li Jieyu responded to his offer, "I’ll think about it."

"Take your time. I’ll be taking my leave now."

Yuan left the training hall shortly later and spent the next two days studying the final part of the Limitless Cultivation Technique.

And in the blink of an eye, it was time for him to leave the city and head to the Level 2 Black Zone.

Yuan arrived at the western entrance at exactly 0800. By the time he got there, a group of soldiers was already waiting.

"Why am I not surprised to see you here?" Yuan remarked as his gaze settled on the masked woman among them.

"Do you know how many soldiers are even qualified to enter such a dangerous place?" Ironwoman responded.

"Less than a hundred," she answered before he could respond.

"That’s a lot more than I was expecting."

The Ironwoman shook her head at his response.

"Anyway, when can we leave?" Yuan then asked.

"Whenever you are ready."

"Then let’s leave right away."