In the early morning sun, a young man sat in the lotus position. His breathing matched the rhythmic chirping of the birds.

In his mind, Ikasa observed his still body, as if he was a separate entity. When he focused on his ears, the sounds in his surroundings amplified.

Not only were the louder sounds like the chirping of the birds clearer, but he could also hear the more subtle noises like the footsteps of ants marching to find their food.

‘This is a new world. This is Sense Realm!’

He marveled at his newfound abilities. After indulging himself for a while, he decided to end his meditation.

Ikasa let go of a deep breath and gently opened his eyes. Feeling refreshed, he returned to Villa. The boisterous cacophony inside formed a stark contrast to the silent serenity of the grounds.

And obviously, these bustling noises were made by the Kids and their chaperone, Xin Ruo.

“What fox? Does your big brother know of this?”

Xin Ruo asked the two girls sternly. Ikasa shushed the girls as he silently sneaked to his room. Alas, their expression exposed him.

An exasperated Xin Ruo, with her hands on her waist, turned to face him.

“Would you like to explain?” She asked in an even tone.

“Well, it is not a big deal. We found the little fox that played a joke on Pei Yuan the other day and decided to adopt it since it is a little baby. Right?”

The two girls eagerly nodded their heads. Xin Ruo threw a suspicious glance at the two parties and gave in.

“As long as you are aware, I guess it is okay.” She relented.

Ever since the city had become calmer, Xin Ruo had become much busier. She was the sole person coordinating the information network. It had kept her away from the daily happenings with the kids.

Ikasa looked at her face, tired from the sleepless nights she spent organizing the reports for him. He felt a rush of sympathy.

“You have done a great job. But don’t overwork yourself, understand?” He consoled her, patting her shoulders. “If need be, share some work with Yin Ying.”

Xin Ruo nodded. But she didn’t voice her concern to the cheerfully retreating figure of Ikasa.

‘Yin Ying has been missing for the last few days.’

—–

“Hyeah!”

When Ikasa reached the Herb Garden, he saw the members of his new private force training under Feng Yan. They were practicing their Battle techniques in pairs of two under his guidance.

“Gazelle Punch!”

One punched while the other did his best to avoid or block.

“Counter with Sweeping Kick!”

Most of the defenders successfully felled their attackers.

“See? While executing the Gazelle Punch, you put your body’s weight behind that single punch for maximum impact.”

Feng Yan instructed while demonstrating with his actions.

“If you cannot regain your balance quickly enough, anyone can aim at your lower body and gain an advantage over you!”

The recruits once again paired up and tried to make changes according to what their commander said.

Ikasa saw noticeable improvement as few more people defended against the counterattack successfully.

‘Truly appointing him as my Commander and opening to him all my manuals was the best decision I could’ve made.’

He thought as he saw Feng Yan berate and correct the newbies. While he was busy observing the growth of his budding force, Mo Fan arrived with the team.

An unexpected guest accompanied them.

“City Lord Zhen! What an honor!”

Ikasa greeted the person behind the prosperity of his fields.

“Haha! No need for formalities, Brother Ikasa. I just dropped by to see how well my team is doing.”

The City Lord threw a glance at the recruits Feng Yan was training and said in an expectant tone, “Judging from their condition, your Commander is very competent. How about a sparring session?”

Hearing City Lord’s suggestion, Commander Lu proudly looked at his teammates. Then he threw a disdainful glance at the group being trained by Feng Yan.

He had accumulated a bellyful of resentment from the unorthodox methods Ikasa had used to train them. He thought of today’s match as a chance to repay the grudge.

In the past week, his men had undertaken ridiculous tasks like luring a beast out without using lethal means and sparring against kids. What hurt their pride was they failed miserably at both.

After that, he protested every idea that went against his methods of training his troops.

Ikasa may have City Lord’s word, but Commander Lu was still the person in charge of his men. If he said no, his men would refuse to cooperate.

It had created a stand-off between the two Sense Trainers.

A few days ago, Lu Shao had complained to the City Lord when asked about progress. And so, the City Lord was here to witness the progress himself.

When Ikasa looked at Feng Yan, the old man immediately nodded his assent to the suggestion. He also wanted to prove his methods were superior to the greenhorn Sense Trainer like Lu Shao.

“Let’s do a team match of 10 vs 10 with respective Sense Trainers helming the team.”

Ikasa announced before taking a seat beside City Lord.

“Wouldn’t it be unfair for Lu Shao? I have seen how strong Sense Trainer Feng is…”

City Lord whispered to Ikasa, concerned about the match-up.

“Your Commander needs a reality check, City Lord.”

Ikasa succinctly replied, his neutral tone giving away the frustrations he had with Lu Shao.

While the two engaged in small talks, the two teams were ready and faced each other in the open field.

“Sense Trainer Feng, you have better training resources. However, my training regime is superior to yours.”

Lu Shao declared, his nose pointed straight ahead while his eyes spewed fire.

Feng Yan scoffed at his boast. Not one to take it lying down, his scathing remark spared no face for City Lord or the City Guards.

“Superior Training Regime?  how? Superior in taking a beating from any dog of the Hu Clan? Or is it superior in running away from the Monstrous Flame Sect?”

Ikasa stilled as he heard the fiery retort. He could feel the City Lord glower a hole through the side of his head. Still, he maintained his composure under the glare of the City Lord.

‘Old Man, you better win this beautifully or there will be hell to pay!’

He thought while gritting his teeth.

Silence reigned in the fields for a few seconds before Lu Shao lost his cool and went on the offensive. He and his men showed off their years of coordination and attacked in a formation, encircling Feng Yan and his men.

Each person marked an opponent and executed their low-grade battle techniques, the Dancing demons.

Feng Yan and his men easily parried the first blows. But the next wave of attack caught them by surprise. The punches thrown by one hit someone else’s opponent; Kick aimed at one body part, hit somewhere else.

And the battlefield devolved into chaos. Feng Yan and his men were unilaterally defending against the hail of punches and kicks

“To force him into using the  Dancing demons; It seems Sense Trainer Feng has enraged Commander Lu Shao. These attacks are unassuming and random at first but they are meant to confuse the enemy and slowly wear him down.”

Zhen Wu explained with a self-satisfied smirk. He felt vindicated when he saw his City guards beat Ikasa’s men.

Still, he did not receive the expected flattering response from Ikasa. He saw Ikasa silently watch as his men defended without breaking a sweat.

Within a few breaths, the tables turned.

The effects of Dancing demons expired but Feng Yan and his men were standing strong. They endured the attacks without flinching thanks to the bodies enhanced by the Top-Grade Cultivation manual.

The City guards panicked as they couldn’t see any traces of wariness in their adversaries. Even after being hammered with attacks from the Dancing demons battle technique, not a single one of them groaned from the pain.

The old man grinned and motioned for his men to attack while he took on the Commander.

The new recruits of his force grinned and cracked their knuckles as if wolves unleashed on sheep.

Gazelle punch, Swift attack, Sweeping kick… They used every battle technique they learned to quickly subdue their enemies.

Not a single City Guard could defend against their coordinated attack!

While his subordinates overwhelmed the City Guards, Feng Yan thrashed Lu Shao without regard for his dignity.

He showcased his 18 years of experience as the Sense Realm expert as he anticipated and foiled each of his opponent’s moves using his reflexes.

Having had enough of this cat and mouse fight, Feng Yan incapacitated Lu Shao with a single chop to his back.

And thus the battle came to an anticlimactic end.

Ikasa turned to the occupant of the seat beside him. With a smirk, he replied to his earlier comment.

“City Lord, your Dancing demons may be useful in wearing down adversaries, but my men’s cultivation method specializes in endurance. They can go on and on and on…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep