The two sparred with each other for two hours straight. Though not completely overwhelmed, Rahu still had a difficult time keeping up with Vivianne.
But after just two hours, his skills miraculously(not really) improved, and he could feel every bit of it, thanks to his physique.
His stance became better; he swung his sword with remarkable precision, subtly adjusting his energy flow, and lastly, he was a sponge, a living, breathing sponge.
His eyes captured every detail of her movements, how she parried, how her footwork changed whenever he struck, even her expression—solely because that sweaty face pleased him.
And finally, after two hours,
"Monster"
Vivianne said she was shocked to her core, such a genius! It was as if the sword skills had been imprinted in his mind like a set of programs!
His top-notch instincts made up for his lack of skills, such a genius couldn’t be found even in the Divine Sword Sect!
"Say, why don’t we go all the way till morning?" Rahu showed an unusually excited expression, his violet orbs shimmering, making it harder for her to say no to such a request, not that she was going to reject it.
"I won’t settle for anything less!" she said, matching Rahu’s expression.
"That’s my girl!"
"Who’s your girl, Bastard!?"
"That stone over there–– the one that doesn’t argue"
"..."
After a bout of playful exchanges, the two clashed again, sword clangs could be heard again and again, sweat dripping from their bodies. Two eyes stared at each other, one an amethyst purple and a pair of emerald green eyes.
This continued until the sky darkened. Two exhausted bodies could be seen panting on the ground, smiles etched on their faces.
Rahu had always loved training; this session reminded him of his brutal training on Earth, how he was always bone-deep exhausted after every session.
It had always made him feel alive.
"Say Vivianne, you suppressed your realm in this fight, if you were to fight with your full cultivation, how long would it take to suppress me" Rahu asked rolling towards Vivianne’s lithe figure.
"...I’d love to say a single slap, but your strength is monstrous; it would take about 4-5 minutes to suppress you and two minutes to kill you."
Truth be told, she hadn’t suppressed much of her cultivation, only to the peak of the Body Structuring Realm.
Even then, this shameless guy was holding his own ground. She was even starting to admire him a bit—just a bit.
Rahu chuckled and sat up, leaning against the tree,
"So how does one break through the Vital Core Realm?" Even from the memories of this old body, he didn’t know shit.
Vivianne too got up and sat opposite of Rahu, leaning her hands on the ground.
"So this realm is quite important, you see, after strengthening our body in the Body Structuring Realm, our body can now handle and adapt to Mana. So now we can form a core, through which the raw, untamed Mana is filtered and circulated throughout our body," she said, waiting for the information to sink in.
"There are mainly four types of cores a cultivators can form mainly—Elemental Core which is the default main cultivators form, Beast Core–though, its not common, cultivators who form this have immense physical prowess and bestial abilities"
"Oh, now that’s something new," Rahu said, "but aren’t those too risky?"
"That’s why I said it’s uncommon, but yes, people can indeed form a Beast core," Vivianne nodded.
"The next two types are extremely rare and can only be formed by true geniuses, Soul core and Dual core—both have their own set of advantages and disadvantages."
Rahu nodded. He didn’t need an explanation; the soul core provided immense mental prowess, and in the long term, they could wield mystical abilities, while the Dual Core gave twice the strength and flexibility but also required immense Mana.
"So what is your type of core?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.
Vivianne shook her head with an amused smile," We physique-owning cultivators don’t need to form a core, our bodies are already strong enough to filter the raw Mana."
Nodding, Rahu stood up and waved his hand, and a large bear’s carcass appeared. Setting up two poles with a bar on them, he hung the bear on the bar.
Nodding his head at his work, he turned towards Vivianne, who was watching this amusingly. She then saw him walking towards her with a yawn, and in her wildest dreams, she didn’t expect him to lie down beside her and...nap.
Her eyes twitched furiously. She gripped her sword so tight that her knuckles turned white.
"What? Aren’t you some sword prodigy? Time to put those skills to use," Rahu even gestured to her to move quickly.
She was one step away from hacking this shameless bastard to death. Quickly, her chibi angel Vivianne attempted to calm her down.
Taking a deep breath, she stood up and walked towards the barbeque, muttering something along the lines of, ’kill, kill, death, kill.’
The angel Vivianne even smirked at Rahu, with a thumbs-up. Which he, being the gentleman he was, returned the kind gesture.
"Say, what do you think about The Crimson House?" Rahu asked, though lazy, his eyes were sharp.
"Hm? Oh, how unusual of you. Well, I do know that the Crimson House of the North is the strongest among all the other houses.
"And why is that?" Although he knew the outer metrics of the clan, additional information doesn’t hurt.
"It’s not because of their numbers, nor their technique, trades or anything of sort, It’s solely because of their Matriarch—Xuenyi Bloodpetal, she single-handedly in two hundred years forced her way to the top, killing all and anyone who stood against her." Taking a deep breath, she couldn’t lie—she too admired such a mighty figure.
"Then she established a house in the north, and even the Empire was forced to recognize her and grant her household title." At the end, Vivianne even had stars shining in her eyes.
"Xuenyi Bloodpetal, huh? Now this makes things a bit complicated." Rahu shook his head; it wasn’t time yet. He wasn’t strong enough, and even if he was, going directly against such a figure would be foolish