Six people sat at a table eating and drinking, and with chatty digestion, by the time they drove back to the competition venue it was already past 2 o’clock, not long before the start of the match.
Before the game started, Xiao Xian saw Zhou Ziang wearing a wrist guard on his arm, which seemed to cover the injury from the earlier collision.
After finishing his meal, Zhou Ziang checked the area where Xiao Xian’s head had hit him, which initially only showed slight swelling. After returning to the venue, he discovered that the area had turned dark blue.
Pressing it with his hand brought a stabbing pain into his muscles and bones, and he had no choice but to wear the wrist guard he had borrowed from Fang De.
The muscles around where the wrist guard wrapped still twitched with pain, worse than he had anticipated. It had been many years since he had been injured, and he’d almost forgotten what physical pain felt like.
He wondered when his body had become so vulnerable to collisions. This was the first time Zhou Ziang complained about his human body. A body protected by Golden Grade Spirit Energy, theoretically, shouldn’t be so easily injured, yet how could this painful swelling happen?
Zhou Ziang couldn’t explain it, nor did Xiao Xian realize that the impact between the two during the collision could have crushed the others in the car into pieces if they had endured it instead.
As Cultivators, in times of crisis, their bodies instinctively produce a sphere of Protective Spirit Energy, undetectable to others, which could temporarily be called Golden Grade Spirit Energy and copper-quality spiritual energy.
This spirit energy appears in critical moments and disappears immediately after the crisis ends. The whole process lasts only about five to six seconds. At that moment, Zhou Ziang, in a protective state, and Xiao Xian, in a state of shock, overlooked the special effect generated by their collision.
Had Zhou Ziang not protected Xiao Xian then, Xiao Xian’s condition wouldn’t have been much worse. With her reaction, her own spiritual energy could have dispelled the force of the collision.
Yet, strangely enough, Zhou Ziang protected Xiao Xian. Their Protective Spirit Energies collided without their knowledge, resulting in a private exchange of Spiritual Energy between them.
Logically, Xiao Xian’s space is only of copper grade, encountering the formidable Gold Grade Space should have resulted in her waving a small white flag.
But Xiao Xian’s space, known as a rare "garbage space" in Yunteng, now houses a sugarcane seedling of unknown variety and a Cultivation creature, Little White Jiao.
As the saying goes, ’three cobblers with their wits combined equals one Zhuge Liang’. That’s why Zhou Ziang felt his body was surprisingly weak, pushing him to further strengthen himself and laying an unseen foundation for his future decisions.
Xiao Xian felt somewhat guilty seeing that injury, but Qu Yang didn’t care much. He was determined to enter the court and fight to the death with the rooster guy. That, of course, hinges on whether Zhou Ziang would duel him.
The referee’s whistle blew, and the captains, Mao Yi and Fang De, were the first to engage in a fierce jump ball battle.
Looking at the stature of both, there was no apparent advantage. Both Fang De and Mao Yi were tall, playing as centers in their teams. When the referee tossed the ball high, according to the players’ reaction and jumping ability, they generally wait for the ball to reach its highest point before jumping, legally tapping the ball as it begins to fall either by one or both jumping players.
However, neither Mao Yi nor Fang De played by usual rules, and they almost jumped simultaneously right when the referee tossed the ball.
The basketball court was already surrounded by spectators, all understanding that all teams entering the quarterfinals this afternoon were the strongest. AND1 and Sacred Heart Middle School had performed notably in the morning game, naturally attracting many cheering onlookers.
With a "snap", Fang De gained the upper hand, grabbed the ball, and rapidly retreated to pass the ball to Qu Yang.
"Kid, I knew I shouldn’t have let you have the last piece of braised pork," Fang De grumbled, following closely behind Mao Yi, still in the mood to joke.
Qu Yang cut off the ball and sped up, trying to shake off Zhou Ziang. For a moment, Qu Yang had the upper hand, with the basketball hoop just a short distance away.