Ch 48: Elemental Enlightenment

The woman was none other than Su Yan, who was currently standing naked in front of Wang Feng. At first frozen by the sudden intrusion in her room before she started shaking in rage and embarrassment.

For a fleeting moment, Wang Feng stood paralyzed, caught in the surreal tension of accidental intrusion. Su Yan, having just stepped out of her bath, was equally frozen—her initial shock swiftly giving way to a violent surge of fury and humiliation.

Wang Feng's eyes briefly traced the elegant curves of her figure before his mind recoiled. He shivered involuntarily, the haze of lust instantly banished. His face twisted with horror as he shouted in panic.

"I'm sorry! Entered the wrong room!", Wang Feng yelped, slamming the door shut behind him. In a blur, he leaped away, landing in the center of the nearby Martial Arts Arena with a thud, his face pale. 'F*ck! How can I forget about this happening in the original!?'

His heart pounded like a war drum, his thoughts spiraled into chaos. The only goal now was escape.

But fate had other plans.

A cold wind howled across the arena. The temperature plummeted, frost forming along the ground as ice crystals rapidly bloomed across the tiles. Massive crystalline blocks of ice erupted like stalagmites, distorting the once-clear arena floor.

Wang Feng froze and mechanically looked up. There, floating midair, surrounded by an orbit of razor-sharp ice shards, was a flushed and furious Su Yan.

"S-Senior Sister… would you believe me if I said I didn't see anything?" Wang Feng asked, stepping back cautiously.

Su Yan's eyes narrowed to slits, her anger reached the tipping point, her voice like cracking glaciers. "You… Die!"

With a flick of her wrist, the ice around her whirled into motion, forming spears, arrows, and needles of frozen death that rained down toward him in a lethal barrage.

Wang Feng's expression turned serious. He surged his Qi, fire roaring out from his body in a protective ring. Flames ignited around him, swirling in a circular barrier of scarlet and orange that clashed with the oncoming frost.

Su Yan clicked her tongue, 'I forgot how powerful he is, compared to general cultivators of his same realm...'

With a single breath, she vanished from her position, her form blinking forward through an elegant sequence of high-speed steps. Within an instant, she was before him, her palm enveloped in Ice Qi that shimmered like jade and exuded a soul-numbing cold.

Wang Feng's eyes widened. Her speed… it made him feel sluggish by comparison.

Wang Feng barely raised his arms in time, channeling his Qi to cover them in flame. Her strike landed with immense force, sending him skidding backwards, the ground cracking beneath his feet. A silvery layer of frost etched itself across his forearms.

His flames fought back, licking away at the frost in bursts of steam, but the cold lingered, digging into his skin like invisible thorns.

Not giving him time, Su Yan was already upon him, her figure flickering through the air, palm outstretched and shimmering with icy energy. Wang Feng clenched his fist, heat surging through his veins as flames coiled around his knuckles. He struck forward just as her palm descended.

He grunted, boots dragging across the ground as he slid back dozen steps.

Su Yan looked at him in slight intrigue. She had increased the force behind that strike, but now that Wang Feng was ready, he was able to counter the extra force, thus making the attack seem that of the same strength.

Wang Feng grimaced at the frost forming on his fist. His gaze shifted between it and the fading frost on his forearm.

Wang Feng suddenly sidestepped, his brows furrowed—not in response to Su Yan's next strike, but because something else had seized his attention. His eyes flicked rapidly between the ongoing clash and the thin layer of frost thawing across his arm.

There was a pattern—something subtle, elusive. He could feel it, like a thread brushing the edge of his consciousness. It promised insight, perhaps even breakthrough. But no matter how hard he tried to grasp it, the idea slipped through his mental fingers like smoke.

Su Yan, mid-assault, noticed the change. She had been steadily increasing the speed and force of her strikes, testing the limits of his resilience, her curiosity growing with each exchange. But now, her eyes narrowed. 'What is he thinking…?'

Her tempo quickened, blurring into a dance of cold precision. But she adjusted—less force, more speed. Not to harm, but to provoke. To see what he would do.

Wang Feng, almost absentmindedly deflecting her blows, was now deep in thought.

His consciousness narrowed, focused not on his opponent but on the frost—How it spread over his skin, froze his skin. How the flames countered it, melted it. Again and again.

Each reaction, every shimmer of steam, every crackle of elemental opposition—he observed it all. And slowly, realization began to stir.

By now, the clash between them had drawn the attention of Su Mu and Elder Su Xuan Wu, both of whom had been silently observing the scene for several minutes.

Su Mu was drenched in cold sweat, his eyes wide with growing alarm as he watched Su Yan relentlessly assail Wang Feng. To his untrained gaze, it appeared as though his sister intended to freeze Wang Feng solid—but only after thoroughly punishing him for some unknown offense.

Were it not for his grandfather's calm presence and reassuring composure, Su Mu would have already cried out in panic.

In stark contrast, Elder Su stood with arms folded, his sharp gaze fixed on the confrontation. He hadn't missed a single movement. His expression was unreadable—eyes narrowed, not in judgment, but in focused scrutiny.

Within that silence stirred two conflicting emotions.

Jealous—because Wang Feng had entered a state every cultivator yearned for in their pursuit of understanding: the elusive realm of enlightenment.

Shocked—because he was witnessing something far beyond Su Mu's comprehension. His seasoned eyes tracked every movement, every shift in posture, every subtle reaction with pinpoint precision. And what he saw chilled him to the marrow.

'This… This is absurd! Where did this monster come from!?' he thought, eyes wide with disbelief.

From the moment he began observing the battle, a startling truth had slowly taken shape—one that now blazed clearly in his mind.

'Su Yan hasn't been able to strike the same spot more than two or three times... at all!'

His grip tightened around the railing, knuckles white as his thoughts spiraled into awe and incredulity.

'It's as if… his body is subconsciously adapting to her attack patterns!'

Every movement Wang Feng made wasn't just reaction—it was instinctive refinement, a physical response shaped in real time. This wasn't luck. This was evolution unfolding before his very eyes.

The reason for Elder Su's shock ran far deeper than mere admiration. It wasn't just that Wang Feng was avoiding repeated strikes—it was how he was doing it.

He had observed that Su Yan wasn't simply repeating her attacks. On the contrary, she had been deliberately increasing her speed with each exchange, targeting different areas of Wang Feng's body in seemingly random sequences. She wasn't striking the same spot two or three times in a row. In fact, if she hit a particular area, she wouldn't return to it until at least a dozen strikes later.

And yet, despite that unpredictability, she had never managed to hit the same spot more than three times total.

'Even with randomized targeting… he's still adapting!?' Elder Su's disbelief deepened.

Not consciously—no, that level of awareness in battle would be near-impossible. This was something else. Wang Feng's body, his reflexes, his instincts… they were evolving mid-combat, rewriting their response in real time.

And Su Yan had realized it, too.

What began as a burst of anger had shifted into calculated intent. Her strikes no longer came from frustration, but from a quiet, growing respect. She had started the fight to punish him—now she continued it to help him.

Because she could see it too.

He was on the verge of something extraordinary.

....

Wang Feng was completely immersed in his thoughts, unaware that his body had long surrendered control to his subconscious. His movements, his defenses, even his footwork—everything flowed on instinct alone.

For several minutes, he had been enduring Su Yan's relentless assault, taking over a hundred palm strikes laced with her chilling Ice Qi. But rather than resist blindly, he observed. Studied.

He watched how her cold energy made contact with his skin—how it clung like a living thing, spreading rapidly across the surface before seeping deeper, numbing muscle and slowing motion. He felt the sting of frostbite, the creeping rigidity that dulled his limbs.

But he also watched how his flame responded.

How it flared to life the moment the ice settled. How it fought back—not in a single burst, but in a slow, persistent burn. It chipped away at the frost, turned it to steam, and restored movement to his limbs.

Ice formed. Fire countered. Steam rose.

Again and again, the cycle repeated with every strike—like the steady rhythm of breath, like nature itself in conflict and harmony.

Then suddenly—it clicked.

A spark ignited in his mind.

....

Su Yan struck once more, her palm forcing Wang Feng back a few steps. But this time, something was different—no frost formed on his skin.

Wang Feng's dazed eyes sharpened into clarity, and a calm, knowing smile touched his lips.

Surprised, Su Yan narrowed her eyes and attacked again, pouring even more force and Qi into her strike. She flashed forward with her signature footwork—fast, fluid, relentless.

Wang Feng didn't flinch. His expression remained serene as he raised his own palm to meet hers.

Just as her palm was about to land, the blazing fire that had been surging through his meridians abruptly vanished. His fiery aura extinguished in an instant, replaced by a tranquil, almost ethereal stillness.

Their palms met.

But instead of the usual explosive clash that sent him skidding backward, his hand moved with hers—sliding fluidly along her palm, up her forearm, and toward her shoulder in a seamless motion that betrayed a shocking flexibility. His body flowed like water, bending with the strike rather than resisting it.

Then, with graceful precision, his other arm slipped around her waist. In an instant, their stances shifted—from a fierce duel to an almost intimate embrace, like a gentle, handsome man holding a stunned and beautiful woman in a light, respectful hug.

Off to the side, Su Mu's jaw dropped, panic rising in his throat. Elder Su Xuan Wu, meanwhile, stood speechless—shocked, yet undeniably impressed.

Su Yan stared up at Wang Feng, her normally composed face frozen in a rare expression of wide-eyed confusion.

"H-How...?" she muttered, bewildered by the sudden shift in his form and flow.

Wang Feng's smile deepened as a soothing, cooling aura radiated from him. Around them, water droplets began to form in the air, catching the light with an almost dreamlike glow.

"Water...?" Su Yan whispered, blinking. Then realization dawned, her eyes flashing with comprehension.

Wang Feng spoke softly, still holding her in place. "Every living being contains water. Your Ice Qi freezes opponents so effectively because it bonds with the moisture in their skin. From there, it rapidly chills that moisture to the freezing point, then penetrates deeper—into the blood, into the muscles—freezing the body from within."

His explanation was calm, almost teacher-like, his gaze steady.

"And?" Su Yan asked, her curiosity piqued. "How did you stop it?"

"I simply found a way to prevent your Qi from interacting with the water in my body," he replied lightly, leaving the deeper secret unspoken.

Su Yan slowly nodded in admiration—then froze as her brain caught up with the scene.

Her eyes dropped to their current position. Her waist. His hand. The closeness.

Her expression darkened.

A heartbeat later, an explosion of frigid Qi erupted around her as she shoved him away with a blast of force. Wang Feng went flying.

Su Mu screamed from the sidelines.

The next thing Wang Feng knew, he was encased in a massive block of ice.

'Sh*t… I did it again, didn't I?'

.....

"Haaa!"

Wang Feng's body erupted in a surge of Fire Qi, blasting apart the ice encasing him. Shards scattered in all directions as searing orange flames—tinted faintly with gold—engulfed the area, instantly evaporating the lingering frost. The steam hissed and vanished into the air.

"Phew... Su Yan's brutal," Wang Feng muttered, ruffling his damp hair with a grimace. He glanced around, shaking off the last bits of ice.

Nearby, Su Mu lounged at the edge of the arena with an amused smirk.

"So," he called out, "how was the experience of being turned into a human ice sculpture?"

Wang Feng groaned, narrowing his eyes at him.

Su Mu snorted. "What? You brought that on yourself. You know how Big Sister is. Honestly, I'm surprised she let you off that easy, considering how red her face was."

Wang Feng winced at the reminder, sighing as he channeled Fire Qi through his clothes to dry them.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

Su Mu shrugged. "Not long. Maybe two hours."

Wang Feng nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm heading back to the cabin."

"Sure. I'll walk you out," Su Mu replied, rising to his feet and falling into step beside him as they left the manor together.

....

Back in his cabin, Wang Feng sat in stillness, his thoughts churning.

'I still need to visit that old man… and the Nine Yin Foundation Dew—only seven days remained until it would form. Which meant I have, at best, two or three days to spare.'

But his mind wasn't on the Dew just yet. It kept drifting back to that moment of clarity—his brief state of enlightenment during the battle with Su Yan.

He had glimpsed something profound. Not brute control, but harmony. He had discovered how to manipulate Water Qi by aligning with its nature, rather than forcing it. By subtly regulating the water flow within his body, he had severed the very connection Su Yan's Ice Qi used to freeze him.

Now, that revelation spiraled into countless possibilities.

'If Water could expel Ice… then what about Fire? Could it purge poison from the blood? Could Earth absorb or neutralize blunt force? Could Wind dissipate poisonous mists?'

The concepts multiplied, one birthing the next like a cascade of inspiration.

This... this is only the beginning.