The Flame Team's first hunt ended with laughter, blood, and the clink of cash in their pockets. Yet, for Luo Feng and Luo Zheng, it was only the beginning.
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Settling Down After the Hunt
The transport rumbled back through the towering gates of the southern base, leaving the wilderness behind. For a while, the brothers sat in silence, the scent of steel-furred wolf blood still clinging to their clothes. The Zhang brothers chatted animatedly about splitting profits, while Chen Gu cleaned his rifle with habitual ease.
Luo Feng, however, leaned against the window, staring at the city lights beyond the barrier. His mind wasn't on money or wolves.
Xu Xin.
Her smile lingered in his thoughts like a candle in the dark. He replayed every word, every glance, every heartbeat.
Beside him, Luo Zheng smirked faintly, his ruby-red eyes glinting in amusement. "Brother, you're lost again. Don't tell me you're still thinking about her."
Luo Feng flushed. "I'm not—"
"Yes, you are," Zheng interrupted. "You've liked her since grade school. Don't bother denying it. If destiny flows as I remember, she's going to be important in your life." He leaned back, folding his arms. "Besides, she's perfect material for a sister-in-law."
"Zheng!" Luo Feng groaned, glaring.
But deep down, warmth filled him. It was rare for his cold, composed brother to tease. It made the wilderness bloodshed feel… lighter.
When the team split the money at the dojo branch office, Luo Feng and Luo Zheng each received 29,600 Chinese dollars from their first share. To ordinary students, it was a fortune. To the twins, it was just a step on a much longer road.
As they walked back toward their new villa, Luo Zheng murmured, "Cash is good for stability. But contribution points will be the key to techniques and growth. We'll need to balance both."
Luo Feng nodded. "Agreed."
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Private Training in the Villa
Days passed in focused rhythm. The new villa—awarded by the dojo—stood tall in the wealthy district, with space wide enough for training grounds. The Evil Twins filled every corner with discipline.
At dawn, Luo Feng would be found in the courtyard, dojo-issued blade flashing like thunder in the dim light. His body dripped sweat as he pushed through the motions of the Nine Stage Thunder Blade, a technique demanding speed, strength, and precision in equal measure.
By mid-morning, Luo Zheng joined him, moving in silence. His Thunder Void Blade style was sharper, heavier, and crueler—each swing seeming to split the air with invisible edges. His aura was colder, his mastery already brushing against the first state of comprehension.
In the evenings, they sparred. Blade against blade, twin against twin. Sparks flew, footsteps cracked tiles, and the villa walls echoed with steel.
"Too soft, Feng," Luo Zheng remarked one evening after parrying his brother's slash. "The Nine Stage Thunder Blade requires explosive release. Your cuts must strike like lightning, not drizzle."
"And yours are too stiff," Luo Feng retorted, sweat streaming down his temple. "Thunder Void Blade is about void—emptiness, flow. You're cutting with force, not fluidity."
Their clashes were brutal but honest, sharpening each other's flaws.
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Spiritual Force Training: The Knives
But blades were only one part of their growth.
Each night, the brothers sat cross-legged in their training chamber. Before them floated sets of small, gleaming knives—the dojo-standard flying knives for spiritual warriors.
"Focus," Luo Zheng instructed. His dark red aura shimmered faintly as the knives quivered in the air. "Spiritual force is like an invisible hand. Control comes from precision, not brute power."
Luo Feng shut his eyes, face tense. One knife trembled, wobbling left and right like a drunken bird. Slowly, painfully, he stabilized it… only for it to clatter to the ground.
Luo Feng exhaled in frustration.
"Again," Zheng said calmly.
This cycle repeated dozens of times until, finally, Luo Feng managed to hold a single knife steady in midair for a full minute. The pride in his eyes was brighter than any victory against wolves.
The next night, he managed two. A week later, three.
Luo Zheng, meanwhile, advanced like a phantom. His first attempt stabilized three knives. His second day, five. Within two weeks, he was moving nine knives in a deadly orbit around him, like blood-red comets circling a star.
Chen Gu had once mentioned that even elite fighters struggled with such control. If the Flame Team could see this, their jaws would have dropped.
Yet Luo Zheng never boasted. He simply guided his brother, patient and steady.
"You'll get there, Feng," he said one night as Luo Feng gasped from exhaustion. "Remember—spiritual force isn't about pushing harder. It's about releasing gently, guiding. Like a river finding its course."
Luo Feng, panting, managed to keep three knives floating without trembling. He grinned. "Then I'll catch up to you someday."
Zheng smirked faintly. "I'll be waiting."
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Breakthrough and Comprehension
But even with progress, challenges came.
One evening, as Luo Feng practiced the Thunder Blade in the courtyard, his body reached a standstill. No matter how he swung, the blade lacked the explosive spark it needed. His movements grew stiffer, his frustration sharper.
Why can't I… break through?
Luo Zheng, watching from the villa steps, heard the familiar chime in his mind.
> [System Notification]
Task detected: Assist Luo Feng in surpassing his first bottleneck.
Reward: Level 2 Comprehension Card.
Without hesitation, Luo Zheng summoned the glowing Level 1 Comprehension Card he had saved. The card dissolved into motes of golden light that streamed into Luo Feng's body.
Luo Feng gasped, blade trembling in his grip. In that instant, countless scattered fragments of technique aligned in his mind. He saw the path clearly—speed into force, force into thunder, thunder into blade.
His strike split the air with a crack like lightning.
The bottleneck shattered.
Luo Feng stood there, chest heaving, eyes wide. He turned to his brother. "Zheng… what did you—"
"Consider it… guidance," Luo Zheng said smoothly, concealing the system. "You just needed the right push."
As Luo Feng processed this, Luo Zheng's own body surged with system light.
> [System Reward Unlocked]
Level 2 Comprehension Card acquired.
That night, Luo Zheng used it on himself, sitting cross-legged in the training chamber. His Thunder Void Blade surged forward, his comprehension leaping past the second level and brushing against the third stage.
By dawn, his blade was sharper than ever, its void-like arcs carrying deathly silence.
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Xu Gang's Suspicion
Meanwhile, across the city, Xu Gang leaned against the balcony of the Xu family estate. He sipped tea, but his mind replayed the scene of his sister speaking with Luo Feng at the market.
Luo Feng. Luo Zheng. The Evil Twins.
"They're too calm," he muttered. "Too strong for their age."
His contacts within the dojo had already confirmed the twins had passed the quasi-warrior test with unusually high marks. That alone was enough to warrant caution.
Xu Gang's eyes narrowed. I'll need to keep an eye on them. Especially if Feng dares to chase my sister.
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Preparing for the Next Hunt
Back in the villa, the Flame Team gathered once more. Chen Gu laid out maps of the wilderness on the dining table.
"Next mission: red-furred direwolves," he explained. "More dangerous than steel-furred, but worth twice as much. Their hides sell for 20,000 Chinese dollars each. Meat for 700 per kilo. The claws are popular for forging, 2,000 a set."
Zhang Ke grinned. "Sounds profitable."
Zhang Ze remained serious. "But dangerous. Packs number in dozens."
Chen Gu nodded. "Which is why we'll split roles. I'll cover from range. The Zhang brothers up front. Luo Feng, Luo Zheng—you'll rotate between vanguard and support. Stay sharp."
The twins both nodded, calm as ever.
Later, in their room, Luo Feng strapped the dojo-issued blade across his back. Beside it, the SS-grade twin blades shimmered faintly, their aura suppressed by the system. To outsiders, they appeared like decorative or training weapons.
"Zheng," Feng murmured, tightening the straps. "Do we use these if they ask?"
"Only in desperation," Luo Zheng replied. He adjusted his own dark purple-and-gold blade, its edge cold as starlight. "The less people know, the longer we live."
On the wall hung their shields, black-silver and dark gold, also aura-suppressed. Their final trump card.
The twins exchanged a glance. Brothers. Warriors. Partners.
The Flame Team awaited outside.
The wilderness awaited beyond.
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