Published: March 2, 2025
Wen Yu poured himself a cup of the tea he had grown himself, enjoying the wild fruits from the mountains, while the two sat silently at a small square table.
After not seeing each other for three years, they were momentarily at a loss for words—this was not due to emotional distance, but rather both were contemplating how to open the conversation.
There were many things they wanted to discuss, but that made it even harder to know where to start.
Eventually, Tang Haofei broke the silence: “How have you been these past few years?”
“Not bad. I went to the Demon Realm, dealt with a big problem, and helped a friend with some things. That’s about it,” Wen Yu replied simply, encapsulating the entire experience of his trip to the Demon Realm.
As for the more intricate details, he didn’t mention them and saw no need to—like the identity of the spirit of the demon lord or the events in the Demon Realm, these were things that wouldn’t help Tang Haofei understand the situation any better. In fact, Wen Yu couldn’t resolve them either; rather than adding to someone else's troubles, it was better to keep those matters close to his heart.
“By the way, after not seeing you for a few years, I notice you seem to have become much stronger.”
Indeed, the aura emanating from Tang Haofei was significantly stronger than during their last sparring match a few years ago—by about eighty percent, which was an impressive increase for his foundation.
Tang Haofei acknowledged this with a nod, then glanced at Wen Yu, a smile creeping onto his face.
“Seems like I’m still far behind you.”
He couldn’t even sense the footsteps; although the effect of the Heaven-Covering Robe contributed to this, the gap between Tang Haofei and Wen Yu continued to grow larger.
After discussing these matters, the atmosphere between them warmed considerably, with old Tang sharing amusing stories that had occurred after Wen Yu left—including the sequence ranking battles and the situation in the main battlefield. Wen Yu also selectively shared some happenings from the Demon Realm, which astonished old Tang.
They continued chatting for about half an hour until Wen Yu looked at Tang Haofei, his expression serious as he asked, “How are those two inside you doing?”
Wen Yu was quite curious about the cost of power.
At this, Tang Haofei fell silent, then smiled and shook his head: “The situation is a bit bad…”
“How bad?”
Hearing Wen Yu’s counter-question, Tang Haofei pondered for a moment, then raised his fist to strike Wen Yu.
…
The punch was swift, making no sound as it approached. From Tang Haofei’s fist, Wen Yu could see a significant improvement in his control over power, having essentially reached the pinnacle of a certain technique. However, Wen Yu merely raised his hand to block Tang Haofei’s fist, perceiving the feedback of the force and couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh.
“Weak… too weak…”
The power behind this punch was nearly the same as during the second sequence ranking battle, yet over these years, Tang Haofei’s physical fitness had nearly doubled, and his control over power had dramatically improved. Nevertheless, the destructive force he could unleash was no different from that of the second sequence ranking battle.
This could only mean one thing—he had grown weaker again.
No, more accurately, Tang Yi had grown weaker again.
“I even feel like my body doesn’t belong to me anymore.”
Tang Haofei’s expression turned bitter as he spoke in a low voice about his unfortunate situation.
“My power is constantly declining. No matter how much my physical fitness improves, the power I can control keeps weakening. Tang Er is a bit better… but just a little. The strength of this body has been increasing over the years, but the combat ability Tang Er can exert hasn’t seen much of an improvement. On the contrary, it’s Tang San…”
As he mentioned Tang San, Tang Haofei’s expression darkened. He looked up at Wen Yu as if contemplating something, and after a moment, he said to Wen Yu, “You should come and see for yourself…”