Ren Zu Looked on in a daze, the affection on Zhi Rui's eyes was palpable. Her smile was sincere, like a children's. It was too beautiful. For an instant, the goddess on her mind and Zhi Rui overlapped.

"T-The familiar..." Ren Zu stammered

"My first tamed beast." Zhi Rui answered "A low-level panther. It died some time ago. I didn't expect to resurrect it again so soon."

Zhi Rui looked at the soft burning kitty with a smile. She could feel the familiarity with her after transferring Blackie's mind.

"It became intelligent. At least more than before. If it was a child before, now she's a teenager.... it's a girl, so now I'll refer to you as 'she' "

Ren Zu listened quietly as Zhi Rui's gently caressed the burning familiar.

From the depths of her conscience, she unearthed everything that happened after Blackie died. And gently poured in the familiar's core.

So she wouldn' be pained by the sudden memories. Zhi Rui knocked her unconscious.

The fire dispersed and the fiery orange-core fell in Zhi Rui's hand. Even in that form, it illuminated and warmed the whole cave section they were in.

She slid it inside her robe's sleeve.

'There isn't a lot of memories from there to now. It won't take long for her to wake up again.' Zhi Rui thought.

She adjusted her robe and looked at the dazed Ren Zu, then at the fellow seating distraught by the side.

She softly threw a small thing to him. Startled he instinctively raised his hand and grabbed it. It was a small and smooth, a healing pill.

He eyed Zhi Rui with doubt.

"Fight her, until tomorrow morning, if you win, you can walk free, if you lose, well, it doesn't matter." Zh Rui said. In a tone that didn't allow for an objection.

Her eyes turned to Ren Zu. "I'll be here for training and won't be aware of my surroundings. Don't think for a second I'll save you from death at the last second. Fight for survival." Her eyes were stern.

Ren Zu stared deeply at them.

She could never have enough of those eyes.

With a sudden stomp from Zhi Rui, The ground trembled and a crack slowly opened. TThe heat rose absurdly, and ominous red flames rose through the slowly opening crack. When the fissure opened wide enough for a person to fall through, it stopped. A vermillions river of lava was exposed underneath.

Giving REn Zu a last smiling glance

Zhi Rui closed her eyes and levitated cross-legged above the fissure.

As she concentrated the old man's voice reached her mind.

(First, you'll let yourself be nearly cooked alive, you have to keep the temperature stable enough so that your healing system acts before your flesh fully cooks strengthing your skin and muscles while raising heat resistance.)

'There's no problem following his words now, The training of the shell body is mechanical and fully physical, but when the mind training comes, I'll need to study it on my own.'

Ren Zu and the fallen elder looked on with appalling faces, Zhi Rui levitated cross-legged right above the lava hole. She took down any protection on her body, so the heat was slowly but surely cooking her alive, she was sweating, but there wasn't even twitch on her face.

***

Everything happening there was due to his bad luck. The elder thought while looking at Ren Zu's changing expressions.

The plan was perfect, he would partner with the other elder, kill the third dumb guy and go back relatively safely, but he hadn't seen how narrow-minded that short bastard was. When the aura from the familiar spread without constraint, that desperate, inept, motherfucker didn't hesitate to kill to seize control of the thing.

But there's still a chance... He faked a confused and appalled expression towards Zhi Rui. While plotting Against Ren Zu.

She was so agonized by the sight of Zhi Rui, that her awareness was gone.

"Light spear" The elder muttered under his breath.

The bright rod shot from him all the way to Ren Zu's heart, piercing right through it, and sinking in the other side of the cave.

"HA! That slut Zhi Rui thought she could toy with me! She might be a talent but she's still wet behind the ea-"

A chill shook him out of his relief. The spear dispersed into light

Leaving a hole on her chest large enough that a child's arm could pass through it. Yet her eyes didn't flinch and only stared him sternly.

He couldn't see it, but instinctively he knew there was a sea of bloodlust hiding underneath that calm facade.

His heart sunk. But he smirked "So that was why, huh. Well, I guess a body immune to physical attacks can qualify to fight a senior.

From his chest, a sudden explosion of light energy came out and engulfed the cave.

Ren Zu's eyes were cold till the end, while she was a creature of the night, this weak light didn't bother her. The pressure he was so sure would shake her, did nothing.

Ren Zu merely turned her back and walked back to the cave's entrance.

"HA! giving up!?" He said.

Ren Zu ignored him and went on.

He thought of a plan and turned to the meditating Zhi Rui. But an indescribable fear crawled to his heart.

'What is this!? She's not even aware of her surroundings!'

Slowly he stepped back, he could feel his heart trying to jump through his throat.

Distancing himself enough so he was calm again, he scoffed half-heartedly. and followed the way Ren Zu went.

There weren't any traps laid on the way, which he found weird. He couldn't understand where her confidence in defeating him came from, Her body might be immune to attack, but if he destroyed her enough times until her inner energy was fully consumed, or simply crushed her head, it would kill her. That was how these kinds of abilities worked.

He decided to observe her from up close and jumped ahead. After three consecutive jumps, he was a few meters behind her and matched her rhythm. There wasn't a single trace of anxiety on her steps all the way out.

He released his aura constantly from behind. But she was indifferent to it.

He scoffed and snorted but never attacked. He was naturally, a coward from nature but still, it was different, everything pointed that he only need to attack her and everything would be over, but something was holding him back.