It was still that small realm with trees, flowers, grass, and a stream.
This was a place Nero often came to, to sleep, to practice, to spar, and so on.
Although he came here often, it was not his favorite place.
Nero's favorite places were those farming and ranching realms, because they were full of Yiren Jiahe.
But now, Nero and Yanqing's match would take place in this small realm.
The two genius boys stood facing each other in the open space. One followed an instinct based style, the other was a proper traditional genius.
Nero rubbed his palms, bounced in place a couple of times as a simple warm up, then made a not very impressive starting stance toward Yanqing and said, "Come on!"
Yanqing also controlled his sword and took a ready stance, but after seeing Nero's posture, he asked in confusion, "You're not using Black Cut this time?"
"Mm." Nero nodded. "Didn't you say you wanted to see my moves? This way you can see them more clearly."
Nero's words made Yanqing a little confused.
Knowing Nero's personality, he did not think this was deliberate provocation or looking down on him. It was more likely that Nero truly felt he could fight against weapons with just his fists.
Still, since Nero was so confident, Yanqing did not say anything more.
After a brief hesitation, Yanqing's body slowly floated up and he launched an attack at Nero!
At the beginning of a fight, they naturally would not go all out. Even though they had sparred many times before, they still started by testing each other.
Yanqing held a flying sword. With a movement of his mind, his whole body turned into a streak of light rushing forward. The sword edge in his hand slashed upward, aiming at Nero's throat.
Nero stood in place, calm and unhurried. Only when Yanqing reached him did he move, dodging the strike.
The two boys' figures crossed past each other. Yanqing thought he had seized an opportunity and quickly spun around to swing his sword, aiming for the opening behind Nero.
However, after the sword came down, Yanqing's eyes widened. His heart tightened, and his mind went blank for a moment.
The treasured sword in his hand had disappeared at some unknown time.
Looking up again, he saw Nero smiling at him. And what Nero was holding in his hand was not his own sword?
'When did he take it?'
Yanqing replayed the brief moment when their figures crossed, but could not find any clue.
It was as if his sword had run into the other's hand by itself.
On the other side, after Nero took Yanqing's sword, he did not waste words. He gripped the sword with both hands, spun, jumped, and came down with a jump slash, inviting Yanqing to enjoy it together.
Though it was a jump slash, it was Nero's usual style, not his Deadly Great Cleave.
Yanqing was experienced and reacted quickly. He immediately summoned other flying swords with his mind to block Nero's strike, but his whole body still slid back quite a long distance.
It was also fortunate that this time Nero was not using Black Cut, but an ordinary one handed sword. Otherwise, Yanqing would have had a hard time blocking that strike.
After the distance widened, Nero said, "This move of mine is called Showing Off in the Streets!"
Yanqing gritted his teeth, but his eyes were full of interest.
Soon the two sides clashed again, and then something that shocked Yanqing happened.
His flying swords were always taken by Nero without him noticing, and then used to attack him instead.
But that was not the worst part. The worst part was Nero's fighting style.
Jump slash...
Jump slash!
Still jump slash!
An endless stream of jump slashes.
It was clearly just the simplest move, neither tricky nor surprising, just an ordinary jump slash.
Yet every sword strike was powerful and heavy, unstoppable like a surging force.
This was the situation that made bitterness rise in Yanqing's mouth the most.
However, as the fight went on, a trace of understanding flashed in Yanqing's eyes.
Using the simplest move to deliver the most extreme attack, was that not returning to simplicity?
In the end, the battle ended with Nero's victory.
Yanqing panted heavily as he looked at Nero, who stood to the side breathing steadily and gently wiping sweat with a handkerchief. In his heart he could only call him a monster.
Actually, just dealing with jump slashes was not a big deal. The key was that the person doing the jump slashes seemed to have endless strength.
The jump slashes came one after another.
Great strength, deep stamina. To put it bluntly, like a beast.
Yanqing now deeply realized one thing. This defeat was not mostly because of sword techniques, but because his physical hardware could not keep up with Nero.
It was like an ordinary person competing with a star devouring beast in hauling cargo. There was no way to win.
When you have great strength, bricks can fly is not just a joke.
Thinking like this, Yanqing had a direction for how to train himself next.
After the match, Yanqing was not discouraged by defeat. Instead, his fighting spirit rose even higher. But now it was time to go eat first.
Yanqing and Nero left the small realm and first went to the Alchemy Commission to find Bailu.
Finding Bailu could be called smooth. The people at the Alchemy Commission did not stop them much and let the little dragon lady with the medicinal title out.
There was no way around it. Although Yanqing was young, he was already a Cloud Knight Lieutenant and also General Jing Yuan's disciple.
As for Nero, from many signs, General Jing Yuan's indulgence toward this child could almost be called doting.
At least, the people at the Alchemy Commission had never seen anyone who could casually wander into the Seat of Divine Foresight every day with nothing to do.
Of course, letting Bailu go out to play with these two, the Alchemy Commission was quite at ease. They did not even need to specially send someone to follow behind. In fact, it was hard for them to refuse Nero's request.
Still, there were unhappy people too, such as some elders of the Vidyadhara.
But they had no way to do anything about it.
Overall, most people in the Alchemy Commission were happy that Bailu could have these two friends.
After calling Bailu, the three of them went together to find Huohuo.
Huohuo was not easy to find. The Ten Lords Commission itself rarely showed up, and their work was quite busy.
Fortunately, the result was good. They ran into Xueyi. Xueyi was actually easy to talk to. After checking Huohuo's schedule for the day, she let Huohuo go play with the three of them.
Following Xueyi's directions, the three found Huohuo.
The first sentence after meeting was said by Tail, "Oh my! It's this kid again! Too bright! This is the first time I've seen a human shining like this. Every time I see him I feel shocked!"
After saying that, ignoring Huohuo's flustered expression, Tail ran down directly, flew in front of Nero, and said, "Kid, your soul is glowing, do you know that?"
Nero stared at Tail for a few seconds, then suddenly reached out and grabbed, catching Tail in his hand.
Tail was instantly shocked. Huohuo beside him also widened her eyes in disbelief.
Such a formless essence of starfire was just casually grabbed into Nero's arms like that!?
There was no corresponding artifact, no matching spell...
'Just with his physical body, a casual grab, and he caught it!?'
As the distance to Nero got closer and closer, Tail let out a miserable scream on the spot, "Ah! My eyes!"
Then, this powerful Heliobus showed the four little ones present what it meant to open the mouth and close the eyes with facial expression.
Huohuo raised her hand to cover her mouth. It was the first time she had seen Lord Tail show that kind of expression and make that kind of sound.
But what shocked Huohuo even more was what happened next. For a moment, she even thought Lord Tail was not Lord Tail anymore...