Outside the city, at night.
A cold wind blew, casting eerie shadows.
Although all was silent except for the faint sound of the wind whistling past his ears, Chu Ge still felt as if there was background noise, like the opening theme of a ghost story.
Suddenly, the shadows of the trees spread out all around him, and Chu Ge could even imagine the sound effect of "whoosh~".
Without any way to avoid it, the shadows enveloped Chu Ge in the next moment, capturing him.
Yue Ying glanced at Qiu Wuji hesitantly, as if asking, "Is he really going to fight someone so weak?"
Qiu Wuji smiled slightly, arms crossed, and remained silent.
Yue Ying thought that grabbing this black ball and throwing it in front of Qiu Wuji would be the end of it, so she reached out and her shadow moved Chu Ge in front of her.
Just as she was about to throw the black ball to Qiu Wuji, her expression suddenly changed.
The black sphere suddenly expanded, bursting forth with golden light. With a resounding "bang," the tree shadow enveloping Chu Ge shattered completely, and a golden fist slammed towards Yue Ying's chest.
Yue Ying's heart skipped a beat.
She hadn't noticed any special abilities in Chu Ge before. Although she'd heard he was invulnerable, she assumed he was just tough and hadn't taken him seriously. Unexpectedly, this punch was incredibly powerful, seemingly no less potent than the one from the fighter who had nearly killed her in the arena.
Yue Ying's combat experience was vast; with a slight twist of her waist, she dodged the punch.
At the same time, Chu Ge's own shadow suddenly grabbed his foot.
Caught off guard, Chu Ge was about to stumble forward, but his foot twisted unpredictably, not only stopping but also following Yue Ying like a shadow, turning around to deliver another punch.
Yue Ying was truly astonished this time. Was Chu Ge really that strong?
She had initially intended to hold back, but it seemed that continuing to do so might not guarantee a victory.
Yueying's expression turned blank.
She pushed and pulled with both hands, attempting to deflect Chu Ge's attack. The shadows around her, which had previously been entangled and dragging, transformed into sharp, razor-sharp blades, piercing towards Chu Ge's back.
Chu Ge's back blazed with golden light, actually using his Golden Bell Shield to withstand the shadow stab. Simultaneously, with a flick of his wrist, he deftly grasped Yueying's wrist and twisted it.
Yueying withdrew her hand and turned, but the twist wasn't secure. Yueying's left hand was already slashing towards Chu Ge's neck.
Chu Ge reached out to grab her…
"Stop!" A gust of wind swept in, and Qiu Wuji abruptly separated the two.
Both were now out of combat. Only then did Chu Ge feel the burning pain in his back; he had been pierced by the Thousand Shadows Piercing Strike. His attempt to withstand the attack and subdue his opponent had been easily neutralized; he had clearly lost the fight.
Yueying looked him up and down with a hint of amazement, then asked Qiu Wuji curiously, "Sister, he hasn't lost yet. Judging from his hand gestures, he even had a grappling move. Why did you call a stop?"
Chu Ge was also puzzled. He felt he could continue fighting... but his master's call to stop must have a reason, so he'd just listen.
Qiu Wuji wouldn't tell them it was because... if their sparring continued, their arms would inevitably be entangled, and they'd be pressed close together. It looked uncomfortable; why should he stop them while they were locked in a physical embrace?
On the surface, Sect Master Qiu maintained her air of a master, gazing at the moon with her hands behind her back, and said calmly, "Sparring is merely for honing skills; it should stop when the point is reached. Chu Ge is already injured; must we still strive for a winner? Chu Ge, do you know where you went wrong?"
Chu Ge honestly replied, "I overestimated my defense and underestimated Yueying's cunning."
Yueying's lips twitched. She thought to herself, "What's so special about me having cunning? I'm the one who underestimated your cunning!" How could someone who relies on brute force and invulnerability suddenly resort to delicate grappling? This is unbelievable! I almost fell for your tricks!
Qiu Wuji nodded: "Not bad. You're able to summarize things now, that's progress. With more battles and more experience, you'll gradually make fewer mistakes. At that point, in this world… you'll be more than capable in most situations, and I won't need to worry too much."
She paused, then said to Yueying, "Thank you for holding back, Yueying."
Yueying replied, "It was just a friendly spar, of course."
"I'm not talking about the restraining techniques you showed earlier, but that final strike… In a life-or-death battle, that wouldn't have been a palm strike to the neck, but a shadow blade slit the throat, right?"
Yueying remained silent.
This Sister Qiu's gaze is like lightning; you can't hide anything from her, she's even more formidable than your own instructor…
Qiu Wuji patted Chu Ge's shoulder: "Almost weighed, about a third of the way through. Go home and apply the medicine."
"Okay." Chu Ge hopped on the electric scooter, Qiu Wuji naturally sitting behind him, and the two of them chugged off.
A third of the way through, not bad…
Left behind in the suburbs, Yueying stood there dumbfounded, expressionless.
Did you two completely forget there was someone here?
How come I never noticed you two were so affectionate before!
Seriously, what's the relationship between these two? They look like a couple from every angle, but Sister Qiu's tone when she was scolding him didn't sound like she was talking to her husband, more like a master! If you're talking about master and apprentice, what kind of master and apprentice is this? Look at that little electric scooter with its long hair flowing behind it, so sweet even a dog wouldn't eat it!
Yueying, feeling dejected, vanished without a trace, thinking of sending a message to Sister Gu. Aside from Chu Ge's fighting skills, his supernatural ability was quite obvious – invulnerability to blades and bullets, and it was developed quite well… What potential rating should she give him?
…Over there, Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji had arrived home. Seeing the neighbor across the hall, he remembered, "Oh dear, I forgot to call Yueying to come back with me…"
Qiu Wuji was quite pleased, smiling as she entered, "Your performance was alright."
Chu Ge assumed she was referring to his fighting performance, so he followed her in, "I also think it's much better than when you first started fighting."
Qiu Wuji nodded, "Indeed quite good… You even knew how to use underhanded tactics, feigning weakness, deliberately getting bound, and then launching a sneak attack. That's a bit like what you wrote in your books." "The way the protagonist would act..." Chu Ge stroked his chin: "Is my protagonist really that cunning? No wonder he's so popular."
"Getting out of your wits, huh?" Qiu Wuji rolled his eyes at him, annoyed: "You're still so smug even though you're riddled with holes! Lie down on the sofa, I'll put some medicine on you." Chu Ge took off his clothes and lay down on the sofa, sighing: "Moon Shadow can still break my defenses, even this minor Golden Bell Shield isn't that powerful..."
Qiu Wuji applied red medicine, saying: "Be content, her Shadow Assassin didn't hold back much, after all, she knew you were using swords and spears." "Since I didn't put in much effort... so it's pretty good that I only suffered minor cuts."
"Ouch...it hurts..." Chu Ge grimaced. "Hey, I don't know why, but these past two months I've been getting injured like it's nothing. Do other beginners get injured as often as I do?"
"One reason is that you're inexperienced. Some of your injuries could have been completely avoided... Another reason is that you learned the Golden Bell Shield."
"What do you mean by the second reason? Isn't the Golden Bell Shield supposed to prevent injuries? How come I'm getting injured more often because I learned it?"
"Because you have the ability to be invulnerable to blades and spears, you naturally rely on it in battle, thinking less about dodging and more about head-on confrontation, making you more prone to injury than others. That's inevitable." Qiu Wuji earnestly instructed, "You'd better forget you have the Golden Bell Shield in the future. Dodge whenever you can. If someone manages to hit you and finds they can't break through, do you think your mentality will collapse?"
Chu Ge chuckled: "That makes sense. I like this kind of cunning."
"Is this the female protagonist you wrote?" Qiu Wuji's tone was cool.
Chu Ge: "..." Qiu Wuji continued, "Of course, today's performance of fighting tooth and nail to gain an advantage is excellent. You should do that when necessary. Knowing when and how to choose a strategy requires long-term experience to develop instinctive reactions. The battlefield changes in an instant; if you need to think before deciding, it'll be too late."
"Then should I challenge Yueying again tomorrow?"
Qiu Wuji pouted, and after a long pause, said, "Fight me instead. Yueying's fighting style is rather simple; practicing with her all the time isn't very meaningful. I can simulate various fighting styles to help you master different routines."
Chu Ge started to understand—could this be jealousy?
Jealous even about fighting? This guy's a perpetually jealous type! And this is Yueying; what if Gu Ruoyan were standing here?
Qiu Wuji actually asked Gu Ruoyan, "Your Gu Ruoyan..."
"Hey, that has nothing to do with me, don't use random words."
Qiu Wuji nodded in satisfaction, "...You said before that she collects information on people with superpowers, right? And she even edits a publication?"
"Yeah, probably."
"What do you think she'll rate you? Will she consider our past relationship..."
"I have nothing to do with her."
"...Okay, how much will she rate you?"
"How should I know..." Chu Ge said leisurely, "She should figure out what my abilities are first. I don't even understand myself, so who can rate me?"
*List of People with Superpowers*:
Name: Chu Ge.
Identity: Online writer.
Ability: Invulnerable to blades and bullets.
Gu Ruoyan paused, frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, added a question mark at the end, and continued writing.
Development Level: Medium, already able to withstand a slash from Rong Fu's dagger without injury.
Nature: Combat.
Potential Assessment: B.
Following "B," Gu Ruoyan added an even bigger question mark, three in a row.
If it's simply invulnerability to traditional weapons, "B" is already an overestimation. If it can block cold weapons, how can it block modern guns? Unless you can upgrade to indestructible armor, mere invulnerability is indeed quite ordinary in modern times.
But… is it really just invulnerability? How do you explain Rong Fu's performance after copying the ability?
Gu Ruoyan felt that even indestructible armor couldn't explain it.
However, regardless of which side's information came from, the summary was always the same four words: invulnerability to weapons… No matter how much Gu Ruoyan felt something was wrong, she could only write it that way based on the known information.
If even the type of ability is questionable, this potential assessment is better left unread.
What's even more perplexing is the woman beside Chu Ge… there's still not a single piece of information about her. What exactly is her ability?