Moon Cultivation [Sci-fi Xianxia]

To evaluate my new abilities, I needed a sparring session.

The obvious choice would've been Cinar — we'd sparred more than once before, and he would've gladly accepted my invitation. The problem was, Cinar was one of those who had a decent chance of beating the crap out of me — and he'd done it more than once already. I didn't want to reveal my capabilities before the tournament.

So, I called Kate.

Yes, she was no longer my mentor, but now she was my fellow disciple.

"Hi, Jake," she said. "What's up?"

"How about a little sparring session?" I suggested.

"Feeling cocky today, or is there some other reason?"

"I've made some progress upgrading my techniques — I want to go all out without tipping off my competitors."

"So, you need a nice solid punching bag?"

"Not exactly. I'd prefer if you fought back, but at half strength, of course."

"Why not. I could use a break. Might be fun."

We agreed to meet in full armour in the sand hall.

Kate looked broader in her gear than she actually was, but the pink stripes over the black base completely ruined any intimidation factor.

She knocked her fists together and took a stance, then said in an overly dramatic voice,

"Show me what you've got."

"My kung fu is stronger than yours!" I replied, even more dramatically.

"What?" Kate blinked in confusion.

I didn't bother explaining. I just lowered my head and attacked with Iron Head.

My headbutt hit nothing. She had shifted sideways, leaving behind only a trail of violet sparks. All the Qi from my Fist Technique poured into empty air like a stream of silver and detonated on contact with the sparks. The explosion's recoil rocked me, and the backlash from executing the technique froze me in place for a fraction of a second.

Just long enough for Kate to raise her index finger to my temple and fire a small projection.

It only gave me a jolt, and I took a step, shaking off the daze.

"Never," said Kate. "Never use that technique against someone who's clearly stronger than you."

"Got it," I said.

"No, you didn't get it!" she snapped back. "I could've literally met your attack with my shield and let you just smash your own head to pieces on it.

"There's more than a whole stage between us, Jake. That technique only works against someone on your level."

I took a few steps away from Kate and nodded again. Her logic made sense, but only because she had a shield — and that was something only Fist cultivators had access to. Though the third stage was inherently faster than the second, so my lunge wasn't all that fast from their point of view — plenty of time for a counterattack.

"Shall we continue?" I asked.

Kate waved me on.

This time, I opened with an attack and unleashed a flurry of Airy Chain Punches.

Kate didn't bother shielding or dodging. She just raised her fists and covered her head. The projections struck her forearms, trying to push her back a few centimetres.

"Oh, come on, at least pretend you're second stage!" I complained after the barrage.

"You wanted to go all out, remember?" she reminded me. "So go on, hit me — you're punching like my grandma."

"And what stage's she at?" I asked, winding up a fully-charged Hook.

That was the one Kate did dodge — she didn't take the risk.

"First," she replied, firing an electric bolt at me. "My gran's not a cultivator."

I let the bolt break into sparks across my chest and casually flicked the impact point with my fingers, as if her projection might've left a smudge on my armour.

I shouldn't have done that.

I should've remembered how quickly Kate could get fired up.

The next thing flying at me was a full-force fist projection laced with crackling violet sparks.

My instincts screamed, and I Monkey-stepped to the side.

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"Maybe we should give your shield another test run?" she called out, backing the threat up with a series of quick projections.

I spun and weaved like a monkey with its arse on fire, dodging them all.

The whole thing felt just like our old training sessions — and maybe that's why I was still sticking to the ground. But why bother, now that I had access to the air?

In the next moment, I launched myself off the ground, landed on a springy air platform that formed instantly beneath my foot, and kicked off again, soaring even higher.

Within moments, I was above Kate and launched into a barrage of Chain Punches — but she reacted without a hint of delay.

My projections didn't find her — only sand and sparks left behind by her movement technique.

That was progress! She hadn't used a movement technique to dodge before. She used to rely entirely on the speed granted by her cultivated body.

As for me, I only managed to hold the momentum for a second before I got tangled up — in techniques, in the direction, in how much Qi to channel where.

My next step hit nothing. The counter-current of air that was supposed to keep me aloft just wasn't there. My aim was off, but out of habit I still launched a few more projections as I dropped — now plummeting like a heavy, armoured tin can.

Thankfully, I hadn't lost complete control. In the nick of time, I remembered the old Monkey trick Rene had shown me.

I stretched out my arms and reached forward. Just before they touched the sand, I activated Monkey and pushed off. My feet hit the ground and two soft bursts launched my torso upright — I was back on my feet.

Not for long.

At that exact moment, Kate slammed her shoulder into my chest. The qi detonation sent me flying, and a jolt of electricity broke through my armour's protection, twisting my muscles into a painful spasm.

Back to the sand.

This time, I didn't have the strength to spring up immediately.

"Ouch," I said.

"Don't whine," Kate replied. "That was, like, a tenth… okay, maybe a fifth of my strength."

I got back to my feet.

"Always plan your landing," said Kate. "Those like you are vulnerable right after touchdown. And if they take you out mid-air — you're basically a punching bag. No more Chain Punches. Just the act of going airborne throws them off — use the Hook. It's even harder to track it when you are mid-air. And for the love of Qi, learn how to adjust your projection's trajectory mid-air."

"Wouldn't it be better to hide the Hook behind a Chain Punch?" I asked, brushing myself off.

"You're not nearly skilled enough for that," she said bluntly. "Chain Punches on the ground, Hook in the air, then Chain again after landing. That could actually work. Go."

Three projections shot toward Kate.

I used to struggle with aiming — not anymore. They flew one after the other with near-perfect precision, all aimed at her knee to take her cockiness down a notch.

She dodged them, no surprise there, but at least our invincible girl wasn't quite as smug now.

I leapt, forming a foothold mid-air for my leg, then another for my hand to shift my angle abruptly. The strength of the Monkey lay in unpredictability.

As soon as my left hand latched onto the hold, I fired off a Hook and kicked myself even higher, drawing Kate's attention away from the incoming projection.

Her eyes followed me — and she only just managed to slip out of its trajectory, leaving behind a cloud of crackling sparks.

I let myself fall, only barely cushioning the air near the ground — not enough to hold me, but just enough to soften the landing. And then — more Chain Punches.

One – two – three.

"Better!" Kate shouted, slamming into me with her shoulder once again.

I more or less repeated my previous crash.

The moment the muscle tension eased, I cursed under my breath.

"Sure, the power's lower — but that's third-stage speed, not second!" I snapped.

"Speed's harder to control," Kate replied. "The whole point of this technique is speed. Slowing it down goes against its nature. Besides, I've seen second-stagers move just as fast, so quit whining and learn to react."

I clenched my teeth and got back on my feet.

"But it's still better," she added. "You did well hiding the Hook behind that upward burst. Though you're still pretty slow in the air. You move faster on the ground."

"Faster, you say? I've got an idea. One more time."

I took a few steps back, inhaled deeply, and shot right, right again, then up.

Kate tracked me like an automated turret, her gaze never leaving my path.

One foothold. Another. A short leap with a spin over her head, then three diagonal bursts. I was launched farther from her and closer to the ceiling of the sand hall. I'd done this before!

I created two supports for my hands and used them to pull myself up to the ceiling. Bracing my boots against it, I unleashed the strongest blast I could muster beneath the reinforced soles.

I straightened my body and shot down like a cannonball.

Slight miscalculation — I didn't have time to rotate for a proper landing.

I crashed down on all fours, softening the impact with a controlled blast under each limb. A cloud of sand exploded around me, obscuring my silhouette.

Then — two more blasts under my palms, flinging me upright, and I fired a barrage of Chain Panches straight at her head.

The success of the entire plan hinged on how she chose to handle the incoming projections, because I was already making my next move, building speed and gathering negative qi.

Yes, she'd told me not to use Iron Head.

I didn't listen.

The projections were the first to burst out of the sand cloud, sparking faintly from micro-collisions, but holding together. I charged after them and saw Kate, all too confident, raising her arms to block with her forearms.

I was nearly catching up with my own projections!

They shattered weakly against her armour, barely making her flinch—

Then I hit her.

My helmet slammed into her left forearm — exactly where the last projection had struck.

Dang-g-g!

I froze in place, but Kate was sent flying.

Just like I'd tumbled across the sand earlier, now she was the one rolling.

It worked!

"Yep, baby!" I shouted, throwing both hands into the air.

Kate rolled once more, then sprang to her feet, gripping her left forearm with her right hand.

"Fuck!" she shouted. "I'm going to bloody kill you!"

Something in her voice made me believe she meant it.

I threw my hands up in front of me.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa! I won't tell anyone!"

"What?" she snapped, still radiating fury. "I don't care if you tell anyone! You broke my gauntlet!" she hissed. "Those cost me three hundred bloody thousand!"

She held out her crushed forearm piece.

Her arm underneath probably wasn't too happy either, but it was clearly the gauntlet she was mourning.

"How was I supposed to know?" I tried. "You said yourself that the right thing to do in that case would be to use your shield. I'd have hit it, and that'd be it."

"You knew," she hissed. "You knew I wouldn't use the shield."

"I did," I admitted. "Because you really wanted to show off your superiority — the gap between our levels. If you'd been a bit more humble, this wouldn't have happened. Think of it as payment for a lesson. Better me than another swarm of Iron Ants."

Kate froze.

I couldn't see her face under the helmet, but I'd bet anything she was grinding her teeth.

She raised her right hand and wagged a finger at me.

"I'm remembering this!" she promised.

Phew.

Looks like I wouldn't be murdered today.