Age was sometimes an advantage, and sometimes it was a disadvantage.
No matter how Chen Jiayuan provoked him, the Martial Monk, Tongyi, had no intention of fighting her.
He simply treated her like a child who wanted to play.
Xia Shiyao and Chen Jiayuan were actually not that young; they were already adults in this world.
However, to a much older Martial Monk like Tongyi, seeing them was like looking at children, and he didn’t see an issue with that.
He especially looked down on Yin Lin, as she was particularly small.
Any Martial Monk present could probably make her cry with a single punch.
Chen Jiayuan eventually lost her temper and started playing rough.
When sparring with the monk, she intentionally stopped dodging and began taking hits directly with her weapon or her body.
Whether it was a strike from his fists, feet, or staff, she braced herself and took them all head-on.
The sparring monk felt that this young lady’s body was very sturdy, not at all as fragile as she appeared on the surface.
“Uncle, didn’t you eat? Why do your hands and feet feel so weak?”
Yin Lin provoked from the sidelines.
Hiss… Being told that made the monk feel like he was losing face.
A staff swung down, but Chen Jiayuan parried it with her own.
She stood firmly, even flashing a smile that suggested she could still handle more.
“Can the Martial Monks of your Yinmiao Temple not even defeat a teenage girl in a head-on fight?”
Yin Lin continued her mockery.
Chen Jiayuan frowned slightly and glared at Yin Lin through gritted teeth, but she forced herself to maintain her smile.
The monk said amiably, “We are only stopping at touch. If I were to use the level of a formal duel, it wouldn’t be something you could withstand.”
“Who are you looking down on?”
Yin Lin shouted loudly.
“We didn’t come here to play house. Are you just teasing kids?”
The monk’s expression soured.
He wanted to snap back but felt it was beneath him to lose his temper with her.
He could only look at Chen Jiayuan and ask, “Then I should… be a bit more serious?”
Since things had reached this point, Chen Jiayuan could only brace herself and nod.
“Don’t go easy on her. Going easy is an insult to your opponent,” Yin Lin added, fanning the flames as if she were the one fighting.
The monk and Chen Jiayuan took their positions again.
A new round of combat was about to begin.
Both their gazes were serious now, their tempers having been flared.
The monk made the first move, sweeping forward with a heavy staff strike.
Chen Jiayuan hastily leaned back to avoid it and thrust her staff out.
The monk dodged to the side while pulling back his move.
They were playing for real now.
Their attack speeds were so fast that the eye could barely keep up, and the force was immense.
The whoosh of the staves swinging through the air was clearly audible.
After a few more exchanges, the monk took full advantage of his strength, maintaining a combat distance of about 2 meters.
Finding an opening, he pulled his staff back with a reverse grip and tripped Chen Jiayuan.
Surprisingly, she managed to launch an attack even as she was falling, thrusting her staff into the monk’s abdomen.
‘Holy crap, that was so cool. How did Chen Jiayuan do that?’
Yin Lin was momentarily stunned.
That move just now was truly impressive.
Since they weren’t following the “stop at touch” rule this time, they continued to fight even after scoring a hit.
The monk wasn’t seriously harmed by the strike and began his pursuit, raining down consecutive blows.
Chen Jiayuan rolled and crawled across the ground to retreat, standing back up mid-way and managing several decent counters.
After a few more moves, their weapons collided with almost their full strength, and the practice staves snapped.
The intensity of their battle had attracted almost everyone’s attention.
Even after their weapons broke, they continued fighting with their bare hands and feet.
This was the monk’s forte; he was expected to win.
The result was predictable, but the process was not.
Chen Jiayuan lasted less than three moves against him before the monk landed a roundhouse kick to her head.
She rolled several times on the ground and stopped responding, having been knocked unconscious.
When she opened her eyes again, 2 minutes had already passed.
She sat up and immediately took a defensive stance, her memory seemingly stuck on the fight from moments ago.
It took 5 seconds for her to realize what had happened, and she quickly clutched her aching, swollen cheek.
She was lying in a Room.
Seeing Yin Lin nearby, she suddenly remembered how the girl had instigated the fight.
She scrambled off the bed and began frantically tickling Yin Lin, poking at her armpits and waist until Yin Lin was moved to tears from laughing.
Finally, an elbow from Yin Lin managed to stop her tickling offensive.
Once the playing was over, Chen Jiayuan excitedly brought something up.
Initially, she had been no match for the Martial Monks of Yinmiao Temple and had been pummeled during the “stop at touch” sessions.
However, during the real fight, Chen Jiayuan claimed she felt something unusual.
It was as if she had faintly recovered some of the sensations she had as a Magical Girl.
In short, it was very mysterious.
Her vision had improved slightly, and her physical reaction speed had increased, allowing her to see the monk’s movements clearly and even counterattack.
“I’m not joking, I’m serious. That feeling… it was powerful.”
Chen Jiayuan looked at her swollen, calloused hands.
Yin Lin only then noticed that this girl was truly training hard on a daily basis.
She couldn’t help but feel a bit more respect for her.
Huan Hong was the weakest of the Jinyin Hong San Jiemei, and people knew it.
Her existence was typical of most ordinary Magical Girls; she had simply become one, but she usually struggled to even fight a Low-level Demon.
She wasn’t like Jin Luan, who could slay a Demonic Creature with a single Knife strike, nor was she like Yin Lin, who could blast a whole area of them away.
“You should rest here for a bit and take care of your body,” Yin Lin said, becoming rare and gentle instead of mocking her.
Chen Jiayuan didn’t notice this subtle change.
She got out of bed, ignored the advice, and went back to the Training Ground.
Xia Shiyao was still there, training with the monks.
Chen Jiayuan wasn’t allowed to participate anymore; both the monks and Xia Shiyao forbade it.
Thus, she could only watch from the side, studying the techniques of Xia Shiyao and the monks while trying to recall the feeling she had during her own fight—the one where her Magical Girl abilities seemed to merge with her current self.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t experience that sensation again.
Suddenly, the Martial Monk Tongyi walked over.
Chen Jiayuan immediately grew tense.
Even without knowing the man’s background, she felt a massive sense of pressure.
Just as she was about to speak to him, Tongyi suddenly turned toward Yin Lin.
“Aren’t you going to spar with them?” he asked.
“Don’t you call me ‘Donor’ when you see me? How rude,” Yin Lin retorted.
This was her way of taking the initiative and throwing him off balance.
Tongyi’s expression remained calm.
His left hand was pressed against his chest, holding a string of metal Buddhist beads.
He asked calmly, “Have we met at any time other than yesterday?”
Yin Lin’s heart skipped a beat.
‘Was I discovered?’
It shouldn’t be possible.
Yesterday, she had been wearing platform shoes, making her much taller than she was now.
She had also padded her clothes to change her body shape.
Her hair had been well-hidden, and her facial features were obscured.
There was no way he could recognize her.
Tongyi suddenly added, “The scent on you is quite unique. Is it the smell of some topical medicine?”