Under One Person: Starting with the Dual Cultivation of Body and Soul.

"Since I am the senior brother, I should give way to the junior brother. You should make the first move."

He knew very well that if he made the first move, Lu Lin would have no chance to make a move at all.

Seeing that Li Chang'an was standing there with his hands hanging naturally at his sides, showing no intention of making the first move, and remembering his grandfather's earlier reminder, Lu Lin decided not to refuse any longer.

With a single thought, the reverse life state is activated.

A wisp of white energy emanated from his body, his pupils glowed with a faint white light, and his black hair moved without wind, rapidly turning white from the roots.

In a short while, Lu Lin was enveloped by a layer of rolling white Qi flames.

"Oh! Well done! Lin'er's reversal of aging is getting more and more refined!"

The elders of the Lu family watching the battle nodded in agreement. Even though they had seen Lu Lin activate her reversal state many times, they still couldn't help but admire her.

The older folks love to compare their grandchildren when they get together. They've seen Lu Lin's hard work and dedication over the years, and among the younger generation, Lu Lin is definitely a top performer.

As for Li Chang'an...

The elderly men turned their gaze to the white-haired boy opposite them.

An elder from the Lu family stroked his chin and said in a low voice to the person next to him:

"To be honest, this kid doesn't go to school every day. He just likes to stay in his little corner of the world and laugh like an idiot. We really don't know what kind of progress he's made."

"What's unclear? Look at his current appearance, he must have already cultivated to the first level of the Reverse Life Technique. I just don't know how good he is in actual combat."

"It shouldn't be bad, otherwise, given my uncle's personality, he wouldn't have specially arranged this competition..."

"They're not bad, but in literature there's no first place, but in martial arts there is. Tell me, in a contest between two people at the first level of the Reverse Life Realm, who would be more powerful?"

"It must be Lin'er, after all, she has two more years of experience, there's no way to fake that."

"That's not necessarily true. The technique of reversing life becomes increasingly difficult to improve as you progress. It may take two years to create a significant gap between you. Since you were taught by the same master, I think it's possible that you won't be able to break through his technique."

Several elderly people were talking quietly.

Several other powerful elders had already vaguely discerned some of the tricks of the trade.

In terms of sheer presence, Li Chang'an was even more imposing than Lu Lin.

But they didn't say it aloud.

While the older generation was talking, Lu Lin had already started to move.

With a burst of force from his feet, the ground exploded, and using the recoil, Lu Lin transformed into a white afterimage.

In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Li Chang'an, his fist slashing straight down the middle, the force of the blow causing the white hair on Li Chang'an's forehead to flutter backward.

Chapter 56 The Allure of Numbers

"What a graceful movement, what incredible speed!" someone exclaimed from the sidelines.

But in Li Chang'an's eyes, Lu Lin's speed was really unsatisfactory, and even felt like her movements were slowed down, with flaws all over her body.

This is the benefit brought about by cultivating one's physical and mental well-being.

Simply training one's body's physical strength only increases its offensive and defensive capabilities.

Cultivating both body and mind involves a comprehensive improvement in attack, defense, speed, reaction ability, and other aspects.

With the added boost of the Reverse Qi Transformation state, Li Chang'an's numerical strength far surpasses Lu Lin's. He might not even be able to break through Lu Lin's defense if he stood still and let her attack him.

But wouldn't that put Lu Lin in an awkward position?

Let's just exchange a few moves.

Li Chang'an casually extended his right hand, spread his five fingers, and met Lu Lin's initially fierce fist.

The fists and palms collided, but there was no explosive sound as everyone had imagined.

Because at the moment of contact, Li Chang'an's palm absorbed Lu Lin's force completely, like a sponge.

A gasp of surprise rippled through the crowd.

Some less perceptive people thought that Lu Lin had held back, which was why her punch seemed weak.

But Lu Jin and those discerning elders saw through the trick at a glance!

It wasn't that Lu Lin had stopped exerting her strength; rather, her opponent had effortlessly controlled that force.

"Is this kind of effortless force-dissipation technique something that a kid of this age can master?"

They looked at Li Chang'an with expressions of shock.

Immediately afterwards, they saw Li Chang'an form his five fingers into a claw, instantly close them, and grasp Lu Lin's fist. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he twisted Lu Lin's arm in the opposite direction, intending to subdue Lu Lin on the spot with an extremely basic grappling technique.

Lu Lin felt an irresistible force strike her, and her body instantly lost its balance.

"Senior Brother Chang'an, you have such great strength!"

Lu Lin was horrified. Seeing that he was about to be captured, he couldn't care less about being shocked.

The opponent has already taken a grappling stance. At this point, to break free, one would need to be much stronger than the opponent. However, since both are in a reverse-life state, he does not have an advantage in strength, which is undoubtedly an unwise choice.

Lu Lin made a decisive move, instantly transforming the skin and flesh of her right hand into Qi.

The original physical body of flesh and blood has become a void of Qi.

Taking advantage of the instant his skin and flesh transformed into Qi, he quickly pulled his arm out of Li Chang'an's grasp and moved back to create distance.

"Good technique, quick reaction." Li Chang'an laughed.

But in fact, he could have reacted just now and grabbed Lu Lin again.

However, Lu Lin has already transformed her skin and flesh with Qi. If he were to forcefully grab her, he would definitely damage Lu Lin's bones and muscles, which are not yet capable of transforming Qi.

It's just a friendly spar; there's no need to go all out.

"What great strength! Senior Brother Chang'an, Grandfather said you were a man who had been accumulating strength for a long time, and he was right!"

Lu Lin shook her aching wrist, her eyes turning sharp.

Although he realized Li Chang'an's strength, he did not fully understand the gap between them, and he felt that he still had a chance.

Lu Lin suddenly swayed and pounced on him again like a tiger.

This time, he didn't go straight to the point, but instead used a sophisticated technique.

He moved with incredible agility, his footwork unpredictable, while his hands unleashed a barrage of attacks, a mix of real and feints that made him impossible to defend against.

"Crack!"

However, faced with Lu Lin's dazzling attacks...

As if he had foreseen the future, Li Chang'an intercepted Lu Lin's attack with perfect accuracy the instant she made it.

Immediately afterwards, he grabbed and twisted Lu Lin's arm, and pinned her down.

The movements were clean and swift, as if a lion or tiger had subdued a cow or sheep awaiting slaughter.

Feeling as if she was being held down by an immense force and unable to move, Lu Lin was shocked and tried to use her old trick to escape by transforming her Qi into flesh.

But Li Chang'an didn't give Lu Lin a chance. He used precise positioning to grab Lu Lin's elbow and shoulder joints!

Lu Lin can only transform her Qi into flesh and skin, not bones. With her joints pinned down, she is naturally unable to move.

The scene before them silenced the Lu family members watching for a moment, then erupted in uproar.

As the saying goes, laymen watch the spectacle, while experts see the details.

Everyone present was an expert; they could easily understand what this meant.

Generally speaking, grappling techniques are rarely used in competitions between peers.

If the two are evenly matched, they won't be able to keep up with each other's constantly changing moves, and will instead be easily beaten to a pulp.

Only when there is a significant difference in strength can grappling subdue the opponent without bloodshed, demonstrating absolute mastery.

"This...this is it?"

"Lin-ge'er is the top talent of the younger generation in our Lu family, and he's just gone like this?"

"The difference in strength is too great. How exactly did Chang'an train?"

"To be honest, this isn't like fighting a junior who has just broken through; it's more like an elder lecturing a junior."

The older generation discussed it in shock.

Lu Jin, standing on the sidelines, was equally surprised.

He knew that Li Chang'an's Qi transformation state was very strong, and he even had the ability to be indestructible, so Lu Lin probably couldn't beat him.

But in his mind, the two of them should first have a back-and-forth competition.

In the competition, Lu Lin had the advantage in technique, after all, she had trained for two more years.

Li Chang'an has the advantage in strength, after all, he is in better condition.

Finally, Lu Lin struck Li Chang'an, but found it difficult to break through his defenses, and was defeated by Li Chang'an, ending the match.

But he never expected it to end in such a crushing defeat.

He suddenly regretted arranging the competition.

This can't be called a friendly match at all; it's a one-sided beating. The two don't even seem like they're competing against each other.

Lu Lin, who had been subdued, was now clearly aware of the enormous gap in their abilities.

He was panting heavily, looking at Li Chang'an with a puzzled expression:

"Senior Brother Chang'an, how exactly did you train?"

"You broke through later than me, so why is your strength so much greater?"

"Even combat skills are something else. I've had practical combat lessons every day for the past two years, and my father even praised me as a skilled fighter. How come you were taken down so easily?"

Li Chang'an released his grip and said with a smile:

“While the cultivation of methods is important, the most important thing is the cultivation of life itself, especially the tempering of the ‘spirit’ within one’s nature.”

"The cultivation of life and the tempering of the gods—is this the key to your greatness, Senior Brother Chang'an?" Lu Lin asked.

“That’s right!” Li Chang’an nodded.

Upon hearing this, Lu Lin lowered her head and pondered for a moment, then suddenly raised her head, looked at Li Chang'an, and said:

“Senior Brother Chang’an, I can tell that you didn’t use your true strength just now.”

"I want to see your true strength and just how big the gap is between us?"

Li Chang'an waved his hand: "It's just a friendly spar, let's stop here when we've got a point, why take it so seriously?"

He didn't take the competition too seriously.

But Lu Lin insisted on seeing the gap, because only by seeing the gap could she have the motivation to catch up.

Just like racing, you only want to catch up when there's a car in front of you.

If you can't even see the taillights in front, it's a bit discouraging.

In addition, everyone practices the same techniques.

In the brief exchange just now, he had already keenly sensed the difference in their reverse-life states.

He also wanted to see if he could learn something from Li Chang'an.

Chapter 57 Miraculous Skill

"Chang'an, just this once, give it your all."

Lu Jin spoke up: "Grandpa also wants to see your true strength. Don't worry, with Grandpa here to support you, nothing will go wrong."

The most distinctive feature of reverse growth is its toughness, its sheer toughness.

As long as they don't go too far, there generally won't be any major problems.

Since Lu Jin had spoken, Li Chang'an no longer declined, nodded, and looked at Lu Lin:

"Then get ready!"

Lu Lin took a few steps back, creating a safe distance, took a deep breath, and said:

"Senior Brother Chang'an, I'm ready. I've been cultivating diligently, so please don't hold back."