High-level martial arts: Long spear with black flames to suppress demons.

"Let's beat this kid up first."

Shen Chang'an glanced at Ji Lin, his tone full of helplessness.

"He's always making a fuss, and he won't behave unless he gets a beating."

As he spoke, he walked towards a secluded, advanced training room nearby, adding as he turned back, "Don't worry, I won't bully you. Since you've just reached the third realm, I'll suppress my spiritual power at the third realm level and fight you."

"You said it! Don't regret it!"

Ji Lin was immediately energized and excitedly rushed into the training room.

Inside the spacious, enclosed training room, the protective array around the room slowly lit up.

With a clang, Ji Lin drew his finely crafted longsword from his back, its blade pointing directly at the weapon rack on the wall. He said arrogantly, "Shen Chang'an, go pick a weapon! I won't take advantage of your unarmed state today!"

Shen Chang'an stood there, casually rolled up his sleeves, and nonchalantly moved his wrists and neck, making a crisp "crackling" sound.

"No need."

He didn't even glance at the weapons rack.

"I don't even need a weapon to hit you. Hurry up, I'm in a rush."

"You're too arrogant!"

Ji Lin shouted loudly, unleashing his spiritual power of the third realm without reservation. He transformed into a blur, his long sword whistling through the air as it hurtled straight toward Shen Chang'an's face!

Faced with this fierce sword strike, Shen Chang'an stood rooted to the spot, unmoving.

He casually formed a basic hand seal.

"Wind and Flame Barrier"

boom!

A burst of intense heat erupted between the two of them in an instant.

This wasn't the terrifying black flame Shen Chang'an usually used when dealing with demons; it was just ordinary orange-red fire. But with the instantaneous activation and amplification of the wind spell, the fire, propelled by the wind, instantly transformed into a raging fire tornado, like a tangible wall of fire, forcefully pushing it aside.

Ji Lin felt a scorching wave of heat rush towards him, almost scorching his eyebrows. If he continued to thrust forward, he would definitely be swallowed up by this fiery tornado.

Left with no other choice, Ji Lin could only forcibly sheathe his sword, push off the ground with both feet, and retreat backward in a disheveled manner, trying to create distance.

However, in that half-second when his vision was briefly obscured by the flame barrier...

"Bang!"

A muffled sonic boom echoed across the training room floor.

When Ji Lin landed on his feet and swung his sword to cleave through the remaining flames in front of him, he was horrified to find that Shen Chang'an in front of him had vanished into thin air!

"Oh no!" Ji Lin's scalp tingled, and a strong sense of crisis came from behind him.

By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late.

Shen Chang'an had silently appeared behind him using his explosive movement technique. He lowered his body slightly, like a cheetah poised to pounce.

Ji Lin hurriedly turned around, and as soon as he turned half his face, he saw a fist the size of a sandbag rapidly enlarging in his pupils, rushing straight toward his nose with a whistling wind.

It's completely impossible to hide now.

In utter terror, Ji Lin cowardly closed his eyes and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Wait! Don't hit my face!!!"

Upon hearing this wail, Shen Chang'an's lips curled into a mocking smile.

His fist, which was about to break Ji Lin's nose, suddenly stopped in mid-air, forcibly stopping its force. Immediately afterwards, using his upper body as an axis, he suddenly exerted force from his waist, twisting his body smoothly.

A powerful roundhouse kick landed precisely on Ji Lin's waist.

"Bang--!"

"Ouch!"

Ji Lin was like a cannonball, flying backward with a scream, crashing heavily against the protective wall at the edge of the training room with a loud thud, and then sliding down the wall like a lump of mud.

Sold out instantly.

The entire competition, from Ji Lin drawing his sword to him being kicked away, lasted less than five seconds.

Standing outside the protective glass of the training room, watching the entire match, Li Xiwan couldn't help but gasp, her beautiful eyes filled with shock: "So fast..."

Although she had witnessed Shen Chang'an kill demons before, seeing him fight against human cultivators again still shocked her.

Shen Chang'an did not use any fancy or sophisticated special techniques.

Or rather, the gap in strength between the two sides was so great that Shen Chang'an didn't even need to use those complicated techniques.

Simply use a basic combination of wind and fire spells to create blind spots and force the opponent to reposition; then follow up with a simple burst of speed to close the distance instantly.

Two smooth, fluid steps, without any unnecessary movements, ended the battle instantly. This was a complete game-changer.

"Slap, slap, slap."

A burst of crisp applause rang out.

Ji Xiaoyue, who was watching from the sidelines, was not angry at her brother being defeated so easily; instead, her eyes lit up.

"What terrifying combat instincts."

Ji Xiaoyue gave a word of praise. Then, her figure flashed and she instantly appeared at the edge of the training room.

She reached out a hand and roughly grabbed Ji Lin by the back of his collar like pulling a radish, lifting her brother, who was clutching his chest and grimacing, off the ground and tossing him over the glass wall.

"Alright, go down and sit down to observe."

Ji Xiaoyue glanced at Ji Lin sideways and cursed him mercilessly.

"If you can't even see through someone's movements, don't embarrass yourself here."

After Ji Lin was slunk out of the arena, Ji Xiaoyue slammed the protective door of the training room shut behind her.

She stretched her long neck and looked at Shen Chang'an opposite her.

"The speed and power you used just now, although deliberately suppressed, the precision of your spiritual power control is something that no one in the third realm can achieve."

Ji Xiaoyue smiled slightly, her gaze fixed intently on Shen Chang'an.

"To be honest, you should have broken through to the fifth realm by now, right?"

Shen Chang'an casually put his hands in his pockets, making no attempt to hide anything, and nodded frankly: "I just broke through not long ago, so it's not stable yet."

Although she had expected it, hearing Shen Chang'an admit it still sent a storm through Ji Xiaoyue's heart.

An eighteen-year-old at the Fifth Realm!

As a core member of the provincial department, Ji Xiaoyue knew all too well what reaching the fifth realm at this age meant. This meant that the young man before her was not only exceptionally talented, but his future potential was simply immeasurable.

"Good lad, you've been keeping it well hidden."

Ji Xiaoyue's fighting spirit grew stronger as she reached out and unzipped her combat uniform jacket.

"Since we're both at the fifth realm, I won't go easy on you in today's round!"

After saying that, Ji Xiaoyue took off her black combat jacket very neatly and threw it on the edge of the field, leaving her only wearing a tight black sports vest.

As Ji Xiaoyue removed her coat, her perfect physique, reminiscent of a female leopard, was revealed without reservation. Years of high-intensity training had given her clearly defined abs, and the muscles in her arms and thighs were taut and explosive, exuding a wild and deadly beauty when combined with her healthy tanned skin.

"Come on, Sister Ji, let me see the true value of a provincial department."

Shen Chang'an also abandoned his previous lazy demeanor, slightly bent his legs, and assumed a tight defensive stance.

Outside the training room.

Looking at the two people in the arena, who were on the verge of exchanging blows, Li Xiwan took a deep breath and pressed the "Start" button on the control panel.

"drop--!"

The moment the sharp buzzing sound rang out.

Shen Chang'an's gaze instantly became incredibly focused. This was his first formal encounter with Ji Xiaoyue. At their level, cultivators would awaken their own "manifested attributes," such as Shen Chang'an's black flames. To attack rashly without knowing the opponent's background was a grave mistake; he had to first probe and ascertain Ji Xiaoyue's attributes.

A flash of inspiration struck Shen Chang'an, and he was just about to conjure a wind-based spell to create distance and test the waters.

However, in those fractions of a second after he started,

"boom!"

A deafening clap of thunder suddenly erupted in the training room. A pungent smell of ozone followed, and a sudden gust of wind arose!

"So fast!" Shen Chang'an's heart skipped a beat.

He didn't even have time to finish casting the spell. Relying on his terrifying combat instincts, his body reacted instinctively, and he fell backward violently.

"Whoosh!"

A long, slender leg crackling with blinding blue electricity slammed down like a battle axe, almost grazing Shen Chang'an's nose. The fierce wind from the leg even severed a few strands of hair from Shen Chang'an's forehead.

After narrowly avoiding the whip kick, Shen Chang'an immediately did a backflip to create distance, and only then could he see Ji Xiaoyue's current state.

Ji Xiaoyue was enveloped in violent blue arcs of electricity. The fine lightning bolts danced and crackled wildly across her hair, fingertips, and skin. Deep within her eyes, a faint, eerie light of thunder seemed to flicker.

"So it's lightning attribute..."

Shen Chang'an felt a chill run down his spine.

Lightning is a rare and domineering attribute among all external attributes. It not only possesses terrifying destructive power, but also greatly stimulates the physical activity of cultivators, granting them abnormal burst speed.

"Not bad, take another one!"

Ji Xiaoyue gave Shen Chang'an no chance to catch his breath. Having missed her first attack, she used the explosive force of the lightning to defy the laws of physics as she veered back through the air.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Ji Xiaoyue's attacks poured down like a storm. Fists, elbows, knees, and legs—each strike was accompanied by a deafening roar, moving so fast that only a series of blue afterimages could be seen.

Shen Chang'an was instantly forced into a passive defensive posture.

Faced with the monstrous burst speed of lightning, Shen Chang'an found that although his nerve reaction speed could keep up, his physical movements were always a beat slower. He couldn't concentrate on casting spells to counterattack, so he could only mobilize all his spiritual power to form a thick layer of protective energy shield on his arms and body to withstand Ji Xiaoyue's ferocious close-quarters combat.

However, what shocked Ji Xiaoyue was that although she suppressed Shen Chang'an in speed, the two were evenly matched in terms of strength! With each punch and kick, she could feel a domineering power erupting from Shen Chang'an's body, which was in no way weaker than her, a veteran who had been in the Fifth Realm for many years.

At this moment, outside the training field.

Ji Lin, clutching his lower back where Shen Chang'an had kicked him, leaned against the glass safety wall, watching the intense hand-to-hand combat inside. He couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement, exclaiming, "This kid... he's a fucking monster!"

"What's wrong?"

Li Xiwan looked at Shen Chang'an, who was being dominated on the field, with some concern.

Ji Lin shook his head and explained, "You don't understand. Among the five realm experts in the entire Cangjiang Province, there are only a handful of people who can withstand so many of my sister's lightning-based physical techniques without changing their expression, just like him."

"My sister's cultivation level is not that of an ordinary fifth realm cultivator."

Ji Lin's tone carried a hint of awe.

"The Fifth Realm is a crucial transitional stage, primarily for opening up the 'Spiritual Sea' within the body. The larger the Spiritual Sea is opened, the wider the path will be when breaking through to the Sixth and Seventh Realms later."

"My sister broke through to the fifth realm at the age of twenty-three. Now she's twenty-eight, and she's spent five whole years honing her skills at this level! Her spiritual sea reserves and combat experience are practically at the pinnacle of the fifth realm! This kid just broke through and can already hold his own against my sister in a power struggle—he's practically a monster!"

Li Xiwan listened with a mixture of understanding and confusion, but seeing that Shen Chang'an remained calm despite being passively attacked, and his defense was impeccable, her anxiety eased slightly.

"but......"

Ji Lin stroked his chin, staring at Shen Chang'an in the arena, and muttered with some doubt, "Why is this kid just taking the beatings without fighting back? And even after all this, what exactly is his manifested attribute? I haven't even seen a trace of it?"