"I’m ready," Hanbi replied, and without wasting another moment, she kicked off the ground, arriving in front of him.

She was incredibly fast, so Xuan had little to no time to dodge. However, by twisting his torso slightly, he managed to avoid her punch.

Then, as her hand traveled past him, he sent a low kick toward her foot. Once she reacted and tried to block it, he feinted the attack and elbowed her straight in the temple.

It all happened so fast that the nearby disciples didn’t have time to process it. But once Hanbi was sent flying a few meters back with a bloodied head, everyone realized what had just happened.

"Did he...?"

"Xue Hanbi just took a hit...? That’s impossible!"

"Yeah! He must have cheated!"

"Shut up, you whiny pricks," Xuan said with a sigh and glanced at his elbow.

Despite his attack connecting, his elbow had twisted at an odd angle, clearly broken.

Before he could snap it into place, a sharp shard of ice shot out of the ground. He jumped into the air in time, but as if Hanbi was expecting it, the shard of ice suddenly split into a thousand pieces.

Because he was in the air, Xuan had no way to block it, and out of the thousands of mini shards, several hundred connected. Some burrowed deep, while others even hit his vitals.

However, his durability was not normal. By compressing his muscles around the vitals, he managed to expel the shards and let natural healing kick in.

Noticing that, a faint smile appeared on Hanbi’s face as she wiped away the blood from her head and vanished from sight.

This time, Xuan couldn’t react. All he could hear was her shoes clacking to his right, but once he turned toward them, he was met with hundreds of monks staring at him with pitiful gazes.

And before he could realize what was happening, Hanbi delivered a full-power kick to the right side of his face.

Xuan had no way to reinforce himself with Qi, so he was sent flying past the disciples and into one of the nearby mountain peaks, eventually stopping once half his body was stuck in stone.

"Ugh..." Xuan mumbled. For such a petite figure... She hits like a truck.

With those words, he kicked off the mountain, and after a few seconds of falling, he landed in the middle of the training grounds, right in front of Hanbi, who had her arms crossed.

"I believe I win this one," Hanbi remarked confidently.

"Hmm... I did leave the arena, so yeah, you win," Xuan replied chivalrously, but it seemed like he was seeing two of her.

That attack took a lot more out of me than I thought. I might just have to visit the healers later.

"Good fight. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to get this fixed." Xuan waved his broken arm around.

Just as he was about to walk away, Hanbi suddenly grabbed his hand.

He was expecting her to try fighting him. Instead, a soothing feeling began traveling up from his hand and then extended throughout his entire body.

Within seconds, his arm that had been broken and his vision had returned to normal.

"You can heal people...?" Xuan asked, stunned.

Hanbi nodded with a slight smile, not letting go of his hand. "I practice healing techniques, and I’m known as a prodigy even in the Lower Heavens."

"Yeah, and you’re also a bragger." Xuan rolled his eyes, taking his hand away. "Thanks for the healing, but I’m going to head out now. See you later."

It wasn’t his intention to be harsh to her, but if people knew that the two of them were close, it would spell unnecessary trouble.

And I definitely don’t want people from the Lower Heavens to come after my ass. At least not yet.

So with that, Xuan ignored the murmurs of those around him and walked away.

He felt as if someone was staring daggers at him, and it was clear Hanbi was the one responsible. After all, knowing her, she had too many things to say to him.

Chuckling, Xuan finally arrived back to his room and quietly laid down on the bed.

He closed his eyes, ready to get some shut-eye, but that was when he heard a cough beside him.

Not even needing to open his eyes, Xuan spoke.

"Huizhen?"

"Foyan," the monk introduced himself. "We met earlier when Huizhen and I went out of our way to handle your scandal. You should be grateful."

Xuan chuckled at those words and sat up, meeting Foyan’s gaze.

"So what’s up? Need something from me?"

Foyan scoffed, pushing his golden hair back and narrowing his eyes.

"What do you say to seclusion training? It’s mostly reserved for monks who’ve achieved something special, but we, the Head Monks, are allowed to send in a disciple each year. I chose you because Huizhen had already picked someone."

Xuan raised a brow. "I’m flattered... But mind telling me what this seclusion training is? How is it going to be any different from what I’m already doing?"

"Well... You won’t have any contact with the other disciples for exactly one month, and in that time, you and I will be training in seclusion," Foyan explained, a smirk appearing on his face. "I know about your circumstances, as well as the deal you made with Huizhen. I want you to get stronger so you can get that treasure, and I’m planning to help you in that regard."

He stepped closer.

"So what do you say, Xuan? Are you interested in having a powerful training partner? These Spirit Warrior disciples aren’t nearly enough to temper your body, after all."

With that, Foyan’s question hung in the air as Xuan put a smile on his face.

However, inwardly he knew exactly what Foyan was playing at.

The way he talks about Huizhen and that treasure reeks of jealousy. Is he trying to use me to get to that treasure? Xuan wondered. It’s not a bad idea, but honestly? I don’t see how he can take advantage of this.

Sure, he could try overpowering Xuan once he gets the treasure, or he could try becoming friends in hopes of Xuan spilling the secrets that way.

In the end, Xuan saw this as a boon, one he was definitely not going to waste.

"Tell me more."