Chapter 128 128 – Progress [2]

Extending his hand, he helped her to stand up from her sitting position. She happily took it and stood up, facing him with the smile she had never shown to other people.

"Yes, dear husband." She said, "Now then, it's time for your training with Panlong. Unfortunately, I can't accompany you because I have some other matters to finish, just like yesterday."

The Dragon King leaned forward while still holding his hand. She gave her beloved husband a soft kiss on the lips, smiling as she backed away.

"I hope you the best."

"Thanks."

***

The ground shook as two people clashed on the training ground made from dirt in the middle of the Dragon King Castle. Dust was flying from their shockwave, hiding the image of the clashing power.

When the dust settled in, two men with different body stature could be seen locking gaze with each other in the middle of the training ground. Wide grins plastered over their faces.

A young man faced an old man with a long beard. Both of them had their shirts undone, revealing their muscles that got covered in Spirit Power. The young one, Kai, had his body covered by a pale blue Spirit Power, while the old dragon, Panlong, had his body covered by a red Spirit Power.

His training progressed fast, really fast.

The body that was previously lean and looked skinny was now filled with muscle. It was a miracle that could only be achieved with nutritious food grown in a place with abundant Nature power and Kai's natural talent, which was monstrous.

In this second training with Panlong, he managed to fix some of his bad habits, forcing the old dragon to move wilder than yesterday.

Jumping back, the two men looked at each other. Their bodies were filled with sweat from the training they had done. A few hours had passed since they began, but their breathing seemed fine.

"Hahahaha! You're really interesting, lord! To think you are able to grow stronger in just a day!"

Panlong laughed as he put his hands on his hips.

"Though you weren't able to land a solid hit on me yet, you've managed to hit me and dodged some of my attacks. Impressive!"

"It's not that impressive. I still have a long way to go."

Kai clenched his fists and thought about his newly found goals. The first one was clear. He wanted to kill the Boogeymen and hopefully bury his father's body.

And the second one. This was a bit complicated because he didn't know the details yet. But he wanted to find out the truth behind his mother's death. For that, he needed to visit the Ashiya Family once again.

'This isn't enough.'

That was why he needed to get stronger. Far stronger than anyone else, so no one would be able to beat him.

"Let's continue, Panlong." He said, raising his hands like an MMA fighter.

His fighting style changed a little after the training with Panlong. Instead of deflecting an opponent's attack as before, he was now more focused on landing a solid hit.

The reason was simple. He wasn't afraid of getting hurt. He could just heal the wound he suffered with the Phoenix regeneration. Instead of worrying about getting hit, he just needed to use his body as a way to tank his opponent's attack and land a really good hit on his enemies.

From what he experienced from his fight with the Boogeymen in the past, getting hurt only gave him pain. He could handle pain.

"You better get serious right now." His blue Spirit Power turned black, a sign that he tapped into Ibaraki Douji's power with destruction properties.

This was by far his strongest technique. It could be added to anything. And with his shackle gone, he could easily combine the destruction properties to Phoenix fire or even to new power he got from the Dragon King, the Dragon Aura and the power to control the storm.

But, what he used right now was only adding destruction properties to his Spirit Power while enhancing his body with it. The side-effect was his body would also get destroyed when he overused it, like before, but that wasn't a problem.

Once again, Phoenix's regeneration would fix his body. And his control over his Spirit Power had improved, so he could minimize the side-effects. When he mastered the control of his Spirit Power, he could even nullify the side-effect, erasing it.

"If you get hit by it, it will hurt like hell."

"Hahahaha!" A burst of laughter escaped Panlong's lips. The old dragon had come to like his lord's confidence.

He was a warrior, the one with the duty to protect the Dragon King Castle. In his lifetime, he had often protected the castle from attack when his King was absent.

Although he was already at the end of his year and didn't know when he would die, he was still as energetic as when he was in his prime. Many warriors died under him; some he resented but some he respected.

The one he respected was mostly old warriors who were confident in their abilities. Not many young men had the tenacity to face him like this.

Panlong really liked his lord. Not only was he progressing fast, but he also didn't give up and was confident in his ability. It was clear that Panlong was more skilled than Kai, but he still believed that he could win.

"If you are not afraid of getting injured, then come at me!"

So he answered that determination with a serious attitude. The training was over, and now it was time for the warriors to fight each other.

Panlong's red Spirit Power flared. It danced wildly like a flame being fed with gasoline, whipping around as the aura around his body grew in size.

Kai looked at Panlong with a wide, excited grin. This was what he wanted. To get stronger at a fast pace, he needed battle experience. He was still too young and inexperienced compared to other people. So he was glad he could fight an experienced fighter like Panlong like this.

The old dragon's presence grew as his Spirit Power got compressed around his skin. His red eyes glowed as he looked at Kai.

Then at the same time, they moved, and their punches clashed, creating a big shockwave that shook the Dragon King Castle. And Kai got blown away.

Boom! Crash!

His body flew at a fast speed toward the wall, logged in as it cracked. However, he quickly recovered and pulled himself from the wall. The bones that got cracked and fractured from the impact began to heal at a rapid pace as Phoenix fire appeared outside his body, healing the visible wound.

Then when he got into the training ground where Panlong stood again, he laughed.

"Hahahaha!"

He noticed something when they clashed earlier, and he wanted to try it.

"Hahaha!"

Panlong also laughed at Kai's tenacity. Then without saying anything more, both of them clashed once again, just like before. This time, though, Panlong was the one who got blown away.

Boom!

Looking at Panlong's body that got buried in the wall, Kai cracked his neck and said, "I finally found your trick. You just compressed your Spirit Power in one single point to increase its destructive power."

"Correct!" Panlong replied as if nothing was wrong. Clawing the wall, he pulled himself out and stretched his arms as if nothing was wrong.

There was no wound on his body, just a bruise on his hand which clashed with Kai's earlier.

"As expected from you, my lord!"

"It's nothing." Kai shrugged his shoulders. "More importantly, let's do it again. I need to get used to it fast while I can still remember how to use it."

"Alright." Panlong nodded as he readied himself. "Anytime."