Sparring with Si Xiu

"Nice! With this upgrade to my Qi, I would be able to increase the strength of the ghosts I summon! Although they would still be insanely weak..." Shen Ying murmured to herself.

Si Xiu, as a Spiritual Foundation cultivator who had all her senses increased, heard what Shen Ying said. Her eyes grew wide as she realised the potential of Shen Ying.

"You said that you could summon ghosts?" Si Xiu questioned Shen Ying abruptly.

"I...errrr.....know how to summon some ghosts..." Shen Ying stuttered as she spoke, as she did not expect her secret to be so easily exposed. Especially since it did not match her Unshaking Cultivation Path, people might think she had a treasure on her and plot against her. Plenty of cultivators had been killed this way in her world, according to her father.

"Interesting... perhaps this is the God of Fate's way of rewarding you by granting you an affinity to necromancy?" Si Xiu raised the idea of this possibility with Shen Ying.

"Yeah... yeah, that's probably it. Why not test out my upgraded Qi body by sparring?" Shen Ying deflected the topic on what the God of Fate had granted her and quickly changed it to one of sparring. After all, this was one of her primary quests to do.

"Hmmm... you have a lot of potential with an affinity to the undead. I will help you unlock your potential later, but first, let's go into the backyard to have a good fight." Upon saying this, Si Xiu walked down the stairs and headed for the backdoor. Shen Ying also rose from the chair and followed Si Xiu.

When the backdoor was opened by Si Xiu, a formless Qi gushed out from the backyard. As Shen Ying was blasted by the Qi, a mysterious feeling and vision came over her.

It was the feeling of being ruthless and domineering, as if one had the power to crush and alter space to their own will. She could also see some immensely bright light that flashed before her eyes, before turning into a hole that was just... nothing.

"Shen Ying, are you okay? Why are you standing there with a dazed expression on your face?" Si Xiu broke Shen Ying out of her trance.

"User has achieved minimal progress in an unnamed skill!" The system's voice rang out in Shen Ying's head.

Shen Ying raised her eyebrows in suspicion. How did some exposure to just that Qi allow her to find and make progress in a skill? Could that Qi have some uniqueness to do with it? She would ask Si Xiu about this matter after their sparring.

The backyard was a huge location that had a lot of space, and looked completely different from how the outside looked. It should be because of the formless Qi that was contained within, that allowed the space to bend and expand its boundaries.

As Si Xiu saw Shen Ying coming, she adopted a battle stance, while constraining her cultivation to a Body Building Tier-6 cultivator.

"Come. Let me gauge your strength, Shen Ying." Si Xiu motioned for Shen Ying to initiate the attack.

Shen Ying did not hesitate to take the advantage, and started to channel the Earth Qi granted by her cultivation through her blood vessels.

Earth Qi was a very brutal type of Qi that could only be cultivated through pain and hard work. It granted its user superior speed and strength, able to lift cars and gravel from the roads.

As such, Shen Ying's muscles started to swell, turning her limbs into a slightly muscular physique, with some veins that were bulging out.

The adrenaline that started to pump within Shen Ying gave her a sense of exhilaration, a feeling that she liked very much. This was what a cultivator should be like, one that is free from the burdens of the mortal world!

Shen Ying then rushed at Si Xiu with a violent charge. Her footprints left deep imprints on the ground as she stomped and absorbed the Earth Qi that she circulated through the ground.

As Shen Ying did not have any hand to hand combat skills, she planned to simply use her body weight and speed to tackle Si Xiu to the ground. Even though it was likely a foolish endeavour, it was the only idea she had right now to defeat Si Xiu and bring her down.

"Just because you're fast, you think you can defeat me? Dream on." Si Xiu decided to use a taunt in an attempt to provoke Shen Ying, as this was a tactic that an opponent would use in real life to try and make their opponent make mistakes.

However, Shen Ying was not a hot headed person, as her father had raised her to be a tactician. She did not suddenly hasten the charge and maintained a steady speed throughout.

As Shen Ying got closer, Si Xiu started to circulate her own ice cold Qi through our her body, lowering the temperature that was around her, as well as converting the Qi around her into having the essence of water.

As Shen Ying's muscles went into overdrive in the verge of hitting Si Xiu, a thick barrier of ice rose up between them. Shen Ying slammed into the wall, unable to penetrate it with the amount of strength she possessed, and flew backwards from the opposing force.

"Never underestimate your enemies. Use your environment to the best of your advantage!" Si Xiu walked closer to Shen Ying, who laid on the ground, groaning as the Earth Qi in her body merged and formed to heal the injuries she had sustained.

With ice shards surrounding her, Si Xiu walked closer to Shen Ying. The ice shards around her started to rotate to attack Shen Ying. A life and death experience was key to breaking through for the practitioners of the Unshaking Cultivation!

However, she never got to land a blow on Shen Ying, because as she moved her hand, she spat out a mouthful of blood and clutched her stomach, as someone gave off a cackling sound behind her.