In the afternoon, Xue Jing observed that "Twin Lifes" on the panel flashed back with a pale golden glow and conducted further experiments, from which he drew some conclusions.
"The usage time is about 20 seconds, and after it's fully used up, it takes about six hours to cool down to 20 seconds..."
"The cooldown recovery is ongoing at all times. Suppose I use one second of 'Twin Speed', leaving 19 seconds, one-twentieth of six hours is 18 minutes, meaning I will fully recover to 20 seconds of usage time after 18 minutes."
Xue Jing derived detailed usage data from his experiments.
Unfortunately, the usage time of level 1 Twin Lifes is just too short; he had to calculate his resources carefully.
"Speaking of which, practicing the Coiling Dragon Art is also an 'action' that can be accelerated with 'Twin Speed'."
"This could directly double the efficiency... but the current duration is still too short; I'll worry about it later."
...
At three in the afternoon, Xue Jing still hadn't gone to school; he had taken the day off.
Taking the bus to Hidden Dragon Dojo, perhaps because it was the afternoon shift change, the receptionist at the front desk wasn't the same qipao-clad lady as before, but another equally beautiful receptionist dressed in a qipao.
Although she had not met Xue Jing before, she seemed to have been forewarned and seen his photo; upon seeing Xue Jing, she stood up and sweetly called out 'Lord Jing', which made Xue Jing feel a bit odd.
'This title isn't much better than the young master.'
Upon entering the dojo, Xue Jing first went to check out the training hall.
"No, no, your way of channeling energy is too rigid. We have an old saying in martial arts: 'Train to lift a thousand pounds, apply with just four ounces of effort.' You're only using your muscles, which belong to 'dead strength,' both strenuous and ineffective..."
In the center of the training hall, Zhu Shanying was instructing an ordinary disciple as many other disciples watched.
Just as Xue Jing walked into the training hall, Zhu Shanying turned her head toward the door for some reason. Her eyes, nimble as newborn animals, immediately lit up, and she waved her hand joyfully and shouted, "Hey, hey! Junior brother, over here, come here!"
Xue Jing paused slightly and, not wanting to refuse, walked toward the center of the hall.
"Is he the new direct disciple of the Old Dojo Master? Junior Brother?"
"He looks really handsome, even better looking than Senior Brother Chen..."
"I heard he defeated Zhu, and the Old Dojo Master was amazed by his talent and accepted him as a disciple right then and there?"
"Who told you that, it's all nonsense; Zhu was just caught off guard and didn't dodge..."
Many disciples who hadn't been at the dojo that day and thus had not met Xue Jing turned their curious eyes on this new junior brother.
"Junior brother, you arrived just in time. Let's have a sparring match, and show them the correct way to use power," Zhu Shanying said with a smile, taking Xue Jing's hand and leading him toward the nearby sparring ring.
The girl's hand was soft and smooth, not at all like that of someone who practiced martial arts. Men of weaker will could be ensnared by such a hand, though Xue Jing remained unyielding and stood his ground.
Zhu Shanying, unable to pull him forward, looked at Xue Jing with some confusion.
"Um... perhaps we should forget it, I am still not quite skilled, I'm afraid it won't have much of a teaching effect," Xue Jing hesitated before speaking.
Zhu Shanying gave him a reproachful look. "Didn't you defeat me before? How can you say that you are not skilled? Come on, your senior sister will be gentle, it won't hurt a bit..."
Xue Jing remained expressionless, having already sensed that Zhu Shanying still harbored the intent to recover her dignity somewhat.
After thinking for a moment, he nodded and agreed.
Zhu Shanying was instantly overjoyed and, holding Xue Jing's hand, led him up to the sparring ring, shattering the hearts of countless male disciples with their overly intimate behavior.
"Eh, who do you think will win?"
"That's no question, it was clearly because Zhu was careless last time. Junior Brother has just started learning martial arts; how could he possibly win?"
"Sigh, I hope Zhu will be gentle; don't hurt our junior brother too badly."
"Damn it, I can't be wrong this time, right? I bet fifty cents, Zhu, wins!"
The watching disciples were somewhat excited.
In the sparring ring, the two of them stood facing each other.
"Junior brother, be careful."
Zhu Shanying crouched down slightly, positioning her hands in a stance, and cautioned Xue Jing.
Xue Jing nodded, mimicking Zhu Shanying's stance, but having never practiced it, even the ordinary watching disciples could tell he was a novice in fighting skills.
However, Zhu Shanying had personally experienced this junior brother's prowess and did not underestimate him, her beautiful eyes revealing a hint of focus.
However... In the next moment, her whole body suddenly leaned and fell toward the right.
"Eh?"
Xue Jing suddenly crouched down with incredible speed, delivering a powerful low sweep with his right foot that knocked her legs off the ground, causing her whole body to topple to the side.
The incident was sudden, and Zhu Shanying, based on her past experience, initially focused her attention on the upper body since no opponent typically used a low sweep with a long wind-up at the start of a match.
...unless the opponent's speed was extremely fast, which naturally made their movements unrestricted.
Caught off guard due to insufficient intelligence, Zhu Shanying, though startled, was not thrown into disarray and was about to brace herself with her hands to regain balance.
However, just when she was momentarily suspended in mid-air without any leverage, Xue Jing had already, with speed beyond reason, grabbed her wrist...
"Bang!"
Zhu Shanying lay on the arena floor, her face showing a blank expression, not knowing what had happened.
It was another shoulder throw, with the same result.
This time, the girl had preemptively used Power for defense, which prevented her from being knocked out.
But to her, it made no difference... this was only a contest, not a fight to the death, and she had already lost.
The discussions among the surrounding disciples abruptly ceased, falling into silence.
"I yield, Senior Sister Zhu."
Xue Jing, looking at the girl lying on the ground in a daze, spoke softly.
After speaking, he turned and walked down from the arena, slowly heading toward the dojo's entrance.
Along the way, all the disciples Xue Jing passed involuntarily stepped aside as if there was an invisible wall of air around him, clearing away everything.
Not until Xue Jing had left the dojo did the disciples slowly come to their senses and looked toward Zhu Shanying, who was still lying on the arena floor.
"This... Senior Sister Zhu..." a disciple hesitatingly spoke.
The girl did not respond, just gazed blankly at the ceiling.
...
Xue Jing made his way to his training room, sat down cross-legged in the center of the wooden floor, and opened his panel to check.
The pale golden light of Twin Lifes had dimmed slightly.
The spar with Zhu Shanying had used Twin Speed for about three seconds.
It was the first application of this skill in real combat, and the effect was exactly as Xue Jing had anticipated, even surpassing his expectations.
Damn powerful!
Not to mention the sheer speed of this skill, the unexpectedness that defied logic was truly terrifying.
Zhu Shanying had sparred with him once and knew his attack speed, had mentally prepared in advance, but she had no room to react to the sudden surge in his speed.
If he could exploit the huge disparity in speed properly, the advantage it provided was indeed massive.
Anyone who has played games knows how torturous this 'Quick-Slow Blade' can be.
[You have experienced a battle, Fighting Experience Points +97]
[You have experienced a battle, Fitness Experience Points +81]
[You have experienced a battle, felt joy, Health Cultivation Experience Value +49]
[You have experienced a battle, Aiming Experience Value +26]
[You have experienced a battle, Channeling Energy Experience Value +69]
[Channeling Energy increased to Lv2 (9/500)]
"Hmm? Not considered a victory against the odds anymore?"
Xue Jing raised an eyebrow.
The previous time he had beaten Zhu Shanying, the panel indicated a victory against the odds, but not now.
It seemed the panel had decided that with the activation of Twin Speed, he was no longer considered weaker than Zhu Shanying?
...