Immortality Starts With Generosity

Jiang Lei caught his scimitar with his hands. Chen Haoran’s whole being thrummed with the White Tyrant’s image, yet Jiang Lei caught his sword despite that. It was not a mark against the power of the Harmonization. It was Chen Haoran who was the issue. Could he even call it Harmonizing when his half made the White Tyrant’s so much less?

Even so. The White Tyrant would bite his head off if he learned he let someone just catch his sword.

His scimitar flashed bright white as if bolstered by his imagining of the White Tyrant’s anger. Jiang Lei’s eyebrows rose high, and he quickly let go of the sword. Chen Haoran could hear the metal of his weapon scream as swung to recreate an image he wasn’t worthy of. Jiang Lei’s peach-colored liquid qi split like clouds, and the cobblestone street parted beneath them as if they were making way for a royal procession. Even as a memory, the White Tyrant would accept nothing less.

Despite this, Jiang Lei was not affected. His liquid qi fell off the buildings in a large wave, swallowing Chen Haoran whole. The peach qi burned his skin, and he immediately wielded his Harmonization to cut himself out. Jiang Lei suddenly appeared at that moment and placed his hand on Chen Haoran’s chest. The next thing he knew was whiplash as Jiang Lei sped up far faster than he could perceive.

The world became streaks of grey and black until it abruptly stood still. Chen Haoran’s back slammed into the ground, and the air was knocked out of his lungs. A galaxy of stars in the night sky was put in sharp relief, and he admired them until his wits returned. He tried to roll, but Jiang Lei was there again, kicking his scimitar out of his hand so hard he could hear the bones crack.

The scimitar flew away, and Chen Haoran’s Harmonization flew with it. He completed his roll and stood up, but he might as well not have moved. He’d forcefully been turned back into himself and was left all the worse for it. His eyes flicked to where his scimitar fell and sank blade first into the earth. The thought of sprinting for it arrived quickly and was just as quickly discarded. Jiang Lei would not let him grab it again, he’d lost as soon as he let go. He quickly looked around the area for any potential escape and found none. Jiang Lei had brought him to an empty park. Even if he caused a commotion, he’d be dead before any help could arrive.

Chen Haoran’s palm glowed green as he assumed the Scattering Petal Palm’s stance. He ignored the shooting pains in his left hand. This was it then. His last stand.

Jiang Lei held up his hands. “My apologies for startling you. This isn’t how I intended for this to go.”

“Come,” Chen Haoran tersely said. He did not leave his stance.

Jiang Lei sighed. “I admire your determination, but do you really think you could change anything by fighting right now?”

“No.” He had nothing left to resist a Liquid Meridian Realm. He was dead. Even so, he would at least die standing. “There’s someone who’ll avenge me. I’ll see you in hell, bastard.”

“The Black Bone Shaman, right? Don’t you think that’s a good reason for me not to kill you?”

Chen Haoran still didn’t know what a Black Bone Shaman really was, but even if he did, it wasn’t Xie Jin’s face that appeared in his mind. He dared to say they were friends, but he couldn’t with confidence say Xie Jin would seek vengeance for him. It was Lan Fen he thought of. She would hunt Jiang Lei and kill him. He knew she would. The White Tyrant would do the same because he’d be offended that someone got the better of his Harmonization. A vicious smile crossed his face at the thought.contemporary romance

“Kill me if you dare,” he taunted.

“I feel like we’re having two different conversations here,” Jiang Lei said.

“What do you expect me to believe when you attack me at night?” Chen Haoran demanded. “Can I really expect to survive once you’ve gotten whatever it is you want from me?”

“Not with that attitude, you won’t,” Jiang Lei grumbled. He sighed in aggravation when Chen Haoran tightened his stance further. “No, I didn’t mean it like that; I-” he sighed again and sat down on the ground. “I just wanted to talk to you. We couldn’t really have a conversation with my Junior Brother staring daggers at you.”

“And so you sneak up on me?”

“My apologies. When you advance in strength, a world of advantages is opened up. When something is effortless to do, one doesn’t normally think twice about doing it.” Jiang Lei grimaced. “Even if that effortless action can negatively affect someone else.” He placed his hands on his knees and bowed his head. “I am sorry. It hasn’t been that long since I ascended to the Liquid Meridian Realm myself, and yet it seems I’ve already forgotten what it was like to be powerless.”

Chen Haoran stared at Jiang Lei. It… didn’t seem like he was lying? Bowing like that wasn’t easy for any cultivator, particularly for those in higher realms. He was reminded of Lan Fen again, this time for different reasons. His eyes flicked one more to his scimitar.

“You can pick it up if that will ease you,” Jiang Lei said. “I apologize for knocking it away so forcefully. I couldn’t manage your power nearly as well as I believed I could and wanted to avoid further destruction within the city.”

Keeping Jiang Lei in sight, he slowly backed over to his scimitar and picked it up. The blade flashed white, and Chen Haoran sheathed it before his Harmonization could do more than cut marks into the ground. Even though it would make no difference to the end result, he still felt safer in front of Jiang Lei with the sword in hand.

With his hand firmly clenched on the hilt, he gave Jiang Lei a hard look. “What do you want?”

“Would you believe me if I said I wanted to be friends?”

“Not a chance in hell.”

“Right. I’d say I’ve ruined my first impression rather thoroughly.”

Chen Haoran had to wonder what world Jiang Lei was living in if he thought his initial impression was at all good to begin with.

“How did you even notice I was behind you?” Jiang Lei asked.

Chen Haoran was wondering that himself. He couldn’t say it was anything he did or realized in the moment. Just…

“You suck.”

If Song Yuelin was a shadow on the wall and the White Tyrant a spy satellite, then Jiang Lei was the equivalent of breathing down someone’s neck. It would be stranger if Chen Haoran didn’t notice him.

Jiang Lei seemed to be slapped in the face by Chen Haoran’s words, as if he hadn’t expected that it was his lack of skill that was the issue. “Ah, I seem to have overestimated my abilities in that case.”

“If you’re going to beat around the bush and not tell me what you want, then let me go and leave me in peace,” Chen Haoran said.

“I really did want to get to know you better.” Jiang Lei nodded to his scimitar. “Even more so now. I’ve never seen anything like it, but that’s Harmonization, no?”

“What business is it to you?”

“Simple curiosity and a desire to learn. Perhaps I could improve my own Harmonization by observing yours.”

Chen Haoran remembered what Xie Jin said. Jiang Lei must have noticed something off about him before when he first fought Wang Xiao. Did that mean he would believe him? No. If Jiang Lei really wanted to compare notes, he would have offered it when they first met. It wasn’t his Harmonization that had the Liquid Meridian follow him tonight, that was for sure. He doubted he’d get a clear answer either. Still, the fact that he didn’t kill him or kidnap him meant it wasn’t something immediately detrimental to his safety.

“If you’ve observed enough, I’ll be going now.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Jiang Lei said, holding up his hand. “I don’t do one-sided transactions. Perhaps I could give you something in return?”

He frowned. “Like what?”

“A sparring partner, perhaps? And some advice.” He tapped the sky-blue scabbard of his own sword. “You don’t prefer using single-edged blades like what you’ve got now, am I right?”

“You saw that?”

Jiang Lei smiled. “I may not be the strongest swordsman in the city right now, but if I called myself second in skill, no one else could claim first.”

Chen Haoran lifted a brow. “That’s some arrogance.”

“Unlike most, I am prepared to back up my words if need be. Your Harmonization is strong, but if it weren’t for my liquid qi blunting its effects, there would have been plenty of collateral damage tonight. While I don’t know how you came to develop it, I know it shouldn’t be running out of control like that.”

Chen Haoran was torn. On the one hand, he could recognize the attempt to stick close to him for what it was. On the other hand, Jiang Lei was right. His Harmonization should have become a main part of his combat style. Instead, it was a last resort because of its destructiveness.

He observed Jiang Lei’s earnest look and sighed. If not this, then something else. “As long as you’re better at teaching than you are at stealth,” he said.

“Brilliant!” Jiang Lei said with a bright smile. “With that out of the way, we should probably run now.”

“Excuse me?”

Chen Haoran got his answer when several flares shot into the sky and turned night into day.

done.co