Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

Su Ruobing’s expression was extremely grave as she said this.

Although she had already notified Hu Xiuyuan and reinforcements would be arriving soon, the dozen-or-so-minute window before he got here was a very serious problem they had to face.

Su Ruobing’s impression of Li Chang’an was still frozen in time from the regional tournament.

At that time, Li Chang’an was a Sixth Rank Middle Stage Martial Artist.

Although his combat prowess had been nothing short of incredible, no matter how much he defied logic, the gap between their Realms was still starkly apparent.

After all, the higher the Realm, the greater the disparity in power.

There might not be a fundamental difference between a Tier One Evolver and a Second Order Evolver, but between a Sixth Rank Evolver and a Tier Seven Cultivator, between a Tier Seven Evolutionist and an Eighth-rank Evolutionist, between an Eighth-rank Evolutionist and the legendary Ninth-level Evolver...

Each Level was a massive threshold.

For even a genius, just barely holding on against an opponent half a Realm higher was an accomplishment worthy of praise.

And now, to say nothing of the other Tier Seven Early Stage members of the Law Enforcement Team, the Eighth-rank Evolutionist and the Seventh Rank Peak Evolver alone could easily take care of the two of them.

Forget fifteen minutes.

If a real fight broke out, it was doubtful they’d even have the strength to stand after one minute.

Thus, Su Ruobing’s mood at this moment was anything but good; she was utterly grim.

But Li Chang’an wasn’t nervous or agitated as she’d expected. Instead, he smiled nonchalantly, even looking eager for a fight. ”I just broke through a major Realm, and I happen to need a few whetstones to get used to my new power,” he said. ”The Gu Family, delivering a pillow right when I’m getting sleepy!”

Fighting the training bots in the Rebirth Space cost Li Chang’an a hefty sum of Rebirth Points; it was no exaggeration to say he was paying through the nose just to buy time.

And even then, Li Chang’an often felt the fights weren’t satisfying enough.

After all, no matter how high the training bots’ Level or how skilled their combat techniques, they weren’t real opponents. The fights always felt like they were missing something.

But now, the Gu Family hadn’t just sent him a batch of opponents; they had even gone to the trouble of clearing out a space where he could fight without distraction. How considerate of them.

When she heard Li Chang’an’s reply, Su Ruobing thought she was hearing things.

After all, in a life-or-death situation like this, it wasn’t unheard of for extreme stress to cause hallucinations.

However, when she saw the smile lingering on Li Chang’an’s lips, she knew he wasn’t joking. A jolt of alarm went through her—for a moment, she couldn’t tell if he was being blindly arrogant or if he truly had an ace up his sleeve.

But soon, none of that mattered anymore.

Su Ruobing wasn’t the only one to notice Li Chang’an’s eager expression. The members of the Law Enforcement Team had been waiting to see how the pair would act in such a desperate situation, but they never expected this. They instantly felt humiliated and slighted.

The Seventh Rank Peak Evolver, his body covered in Inscriptions, was particularly incensed. Veins bulged on his forehead as he snarled, ”Insolent junior! It seems you truly have a death wish!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Inscriptions on his body erupted with light, illuminating the entire Chaotic Space like a small, rising sun.

Nearby, Su Ruobing wanted to support Li Chang’an, but she was completely surrounded by a group of Tier Seven Early Stage Evolvers. Seeing no way to break free, she could only shout a warning, ”Be careful! His Evolution Path is Secret Mage! Don’t give him time to use his Secret Techniques!”

The Secret Mage was, broadly speaking, a branch of the Mage Evolution Path.

However, compared to Mages, who were balanced in offense and defense and could cast magic quickly, the Secret Mage’s evolutionary system was far more extreme.

In pursuit of ultimate combat power, Secret Mages typically didn’t practice various Techniques like Mages. Instead, they spent enormous amounts of time researching powerful Arrays and offensive methods.

Of course, that wasn’t the most terrifying thing about Secret Mages.

The most terrifying part was that Secret Mages would temper their own bodies as if they were Weapons.

Powerful, experienced Secret Mages often had all sorts of potent Inscriptions carved on their bodies. In battle, they could transform their physical forms into engines of destruction, frantically drawing upon the power of the world around them.

Thus, every accomplished Secret Mage was a walking war machine, capable of unleashing terrifying destructive power at any time, in any place.

Of course, everything has its pros and cons.

Before they had carved a large number of powerful Inscriptions onto themselves, a Secret Mage’s combat power was actually inferior to most Evolvers of the same Realm.

Only after cultivating to Tier Five would the true power of a Secret Mage begin to emerge, making enemies turn pale at the very mention of them.

Furthermore, because of the need to inscribe Runes on their bodies, a Secret Mage’s mental state was often not particularly stable.

After all, not many sane people would do that kind of stuff to their own bodies.

They were either sadists or masochists.

...

Li Chang’an didn’t need Su Ruobing’s reminder. The very instant the Inscriptions on the Tier Seven Secret Mage’s body began to vibrate as he prepared to unleash a powerful Technique, Li Chang’an moved, lunging forward like a ferocious bolt of Lightning.