Child of Destiny

……

Professor Plum suddenly smirked a little when he saw the excited look on Shin’s face.

Due to that, he couldn’t help but want to tease Shin a little more by further mystifying his words. “Unknowingly, you actually gain a special technique which will give you an ability to stand against a Martial-Artist at the middle phase of Ethereal Opening Stage in an equal footing.”

Seeing that the old man was teasing him, Shin suddenly glared at Old Plum while saying. “Stop beating around the bush, Old Geezer. Just tell me what it is already so that I can start training it.”

Professor Plum suddenly clicked his tongue when he heard those words from Shin and said. “Tsk! I see that you are still not respecting your elders, Kiddo.”

After that, he pointed on the ground beneath Shin’s feet while saying. “What do you think about that?”

Shin knitted his eyebrows a little before looking at the ground below him and saw that he was standing at the center of a circle which had a diameter of 5 meters. But not only that, because he saw when he swept his gaze on the ground a little more, he saw another circle with an even larger size than the one that he was standing on and encircling it.

From what Shin could gauge, the larger circle seemed to have a size trice as the size of the smaller circle on the ground beneath his feat.

Standing at the center of those circles, Shin felt a strange yet familiar feeling. And because of that, he couldn’t help but knit his eyebrows even further, trying to remember what it was.

Meanwhile, Professor Plum stood silently on his spot and had no intention of saying anything. He just watched Shin figure out things that he wanted to say, on his own.

Not long after, Shin was finally able to remember what it was. “The reflex training?” Though, he was still somewhat confused with why he was getting that kind of feeling, especially when he could clearly sense everything present inside those circles.

Moreover, he was also able to clearly feel the dust floating around him when he tried using his ‘Deep Meditation’ calming technique.

Seeing Shin slightly being confused, Old Plum finally opened his mouth to explaining. “That thing is called ‘False Territory’ while that state that you are currently feeling is called the ‘Pseudo Domain State’.”

“As their names imply, those two is a pair of specialized techniques that will give you a special ability which can mimicked the real ‘Domain’ of a Martial-Artist who achieved the ‘Domain Stage’ of the ‘Ascension Realm’.”

“There are similar skills that can also achieve similar effects, but this particular pair perfectly suits my Yin-Yang Arts. And I modify these techniques so that it can further complement the skills of my ‘Black Dragon Style’.”

Hearing those words, Shin suddenly became excited as he looked at Professor Plum full of anticipation. ‘Is this Old Geezer finally going to teach me the other half of his Yin-Yang Arts?’

Old Plum shook his head a little when he saw that look on Shin’s face. After that, he nodded at his disciple while saying. “The ‘White Tiger Style’ is centered at strong and explosive attacks as it perfectly complements the ‘Sacred Qi’ nurtured by my ‘Yin-Yang Arts’. In a sense, it is considered as a form of ‘Iron Fist Style’ of Ancient Martial-Arts.”

“Meanwhile, the ‘Black Dragon Style’ is its polar opposite. This style focuses on defense and counter attacks. If the previous style that you already have learned only focuses on using your own force when you’re attacking, then this particular style uses the force and movements of your enemies against them.”

Professor Plum paused for a moment and pointed at the circles in the ground once again before continuing. “And these circles are the tools which are going to help you master such style for as soon as possible.”

Shin slightly knitted his eyebrows when he heard those words. And when Old Plum saw that look on Shin’s face, the old man immediately explained. “Just think these circles are your personal territory that has two layers – and you need to immediately repel anything that is trying to enter or invade it.”

Hearing that, Shin also nodded his head as he understood what Professor Plum meant. But there was still something that was bothering him. ‘But why are there two circles on it?’

As if the old man was able to read what was running inside Shin’s head, Old Plum immediately added. “Those circles stand for two level of defense.”

“You don’t have to overextend your senses beyond the outer circle since can fully control everything inside it. Moreover, the outer circle is also an indicator where your ‘Intuition’ is going to respond. It is also the ideal range where you can properly use such intuitive senses.”

Reaching this point, Professor Plum paused for a moment before asking. “I don’t need to tell the purpose of the inner circle, right?”

Shin immediately nodded his head when he heard that and quickly fell into a deep thought. ‘The outer circle is for my instincts while the inner circle is for my body.’

He remained silent for a few moments as he tried to digest what Old Plum had said. After that, he closed his eyes and spread his senses within the outer circle before imagining himself standing in the middle of the wooden blocks from his specialized training.

Seeing that Shin was familiarizing himself with this special state, Professor Plum couldn’t help but nod his head repeatedly as he became completely satisfied at what his disciple was doing.

Given that, the two stayed silent for a few more minutes as Old Plum waited for Shin to completely familiarize himself with the new technique that he learned. And not long after, Shin finally re-opened his eyes and nodded his head.

“So, how was it?” asked Professor Plum immediately after seeing that Shin opened his eyes.

Hearing that, Shin looked at his surroundings for another time before answering. “I still haven’t grasped it completely, but I am getting a hang of it thanks to the reflex training.”

“What to test it out?” asked Old Plum while looking at Shin with an evil look on his face.

And when Shin saw that look, an intense shiver suddenly ran though his spine as he got a very bad feeling from that question. Regardless, he still nodded his head as he really wanted to see what kind of technique he just learned.

Seeing that, Professor Plum suddenly disappeared in front of Shin before reappearing a few distances away from him. And right after distancing himself away from Shin, the old man suddenly picked up something from the ground and raised it in the air.

Shin’s eyes suddenly turned wide as he saw the thing on Old Plum’s hand. “Wait! Are you serious about that, Old Geezer!?”

Professor Plum suddenly grinned evilly when he saw the panicked look on Shin’s face before saying. “What? Having cold feet now? Unfortunately, it is already too late.”

On Old Plum’s hand was a huge beehive engulfed by his Internal Qi, preventing the bees flying out of it. One look at it and Shin already knew what was going to happen.

Gulping a mouthful of saliva, Shin tried to escape his current predicament by asking. “Can we talk this out a little?”

Unfortunately, Old Plum refused to talk and just threw a grinning look at Shin. And as if rubbing some salt on Shin’s wounds, the old man suddenly added. “And another thing, you haven’t forgotten that you are forbidden to use your Internal Qi now, right?”

And to further worsen the current situation, Professor Plum suddenly added. “And let me remind you too, this is a Martial-Art training, so you are also forbidden at using any Mentalism Techniques as well as your Mental Energy.”

Hearing that, Shin’s face suddenly turned stiff as he really didn’t know what to say right now. Furthermore, Old Plum didn’t even give him any more time to voice out his thoughts and immediately threw the beehive towards his direction.

“F*ck!” Shin couldn’t help but curse out loud when he saw the incoming beehive. And since he didn’t have enough time for his complaints, all he could do was to immediately assume a battle stance while trying to activate his newly acquired technique.

Meanwhile, Professor Plum slightly nodded his head when he saw Shin immediately readjusted himself even if he was under pressure.

After that, he suddenly made a snap with his fingers, making the flying beehive explode.

Due to the sudden destruction of their home, the bees inside the beehive suddenly flew out in chaos while trying to find their ‘assailant’. And since Shin was the one who was standing near them, he immediately became the ‘suspect’, as they quickly flew towards him for as fast as they could.

At the same time, Shin quickly took a deep breath as he tried to regulate his breathing while looking calmly at the swarm of bees. ‘Then let’s see how much this technique can help me.’

……