Not long after the battle, Tian Yang teleported them back to his pagoda.

“Now that you’ve seen each other’s strengths? What do you think?” He questioned the two disciples who still looked sour from having their battle interrupted.

“Hmm, I feel like Senior Sister’s elements are more focused on defense than attack.” Damien pointed out.

It was the biggest thing he got from the fight. Ruyue was able to redirect or entirely block any attack he threw at her, even molding his spatial mana to fit her needs.

It was something he wasn’t used to, the feeling of being completely powerless even though he knew she wasn’t that much stronger than him.

Even with Rose, when they first met she was much stronger than him, the only thing was that her main element was illusions. And with his eyes, he was simply a perfect counter for her.

As for Ruyue, she was feeling somewhat similar. “His base attack power is greater than mine by miles, but he doesn’t have the diversity to keep up with me.”

Throughout their fight, Damien only used spatial element and even then he only used a few moves from it. Even his Celestial Authority, while possessing the potential to be something grand, wasn’t at that level yet.

“He’s a brute. He’s too green when it comes to true complex battles. If I had to guess, he’s made it this far on raw power and absurd mana capacity.”

Although her words were harsh, they were true. Damien knew this as well, which is why he was doing his best to contain the annoyance bubbling inside of him.

He really had gotten this far on brute strength alone. His sword mastery came from savagery and his spatial comprehension was always on the basis of destruction. When it came to elegance and strategy, he was basically dumb.

“Basically, he’s dumb.”

“Oi! You didn’t have to say it out loud!”

“Hm? But I’m right arent I? You’re a dumb brute and that’s that.”

“So? What does it say about you that you couldn’t even defeat this dumb brute?”

“Nothing at all, it’s just like you said. My prowess is mainly focused on defense not offense like you.”

“Those are just excuses. Imagine if I went and told the world that my Senior Sister, the one and only little princess of the Xue clan, couldn’t even defeat an idiot in combat.”

Damien and Ruyue glared at each other with fighting intent once again blazing. Tian Yang could only watch their interaction with a wry smile plastered on his face.

‘If it keeps going like this, they might end up a little too close.’

While his purpose in organizing this spar was for the two of them to get closer, he didn’t expect it to work so well. Looking at them bickering like childhood friends, he couldn’t figure out what led to such a thing.

It was only then that he realized something he had forgotten in the past few years. Although Ruyue liked to portray herself as a cold woman who stood above all, it was only suppressing some of her other most prominent personality traits.

One of which was so important that it basically made her reputation when she was younger. Tian Yang had been her master for many years, but it had been a while since he reminisced on those old days.

The Xue clan’s little demon. With how she had grown up becoming colder and more distant, he almost forgot about how much she loved to bicker with others like this.

It was like she had a knack for causing trouble and fully embraced it. Or perhaps, she was just a bit of a sadist.

Either way, it was something that used to be a core of her personality, and it’d be more surprising if it had vanished even after all these years. Perhaps she simply didn’t have anyone she could be expressive to.

No, he knew that was the case. Considering the situations she’s been in as she grew up, there was no way it wasn’t like that.

Once more gazing at Ruyue who was now smiling triumphantly and Damien, whose veins were almost popping out of his head, Tian Yang’s smile became heartening.

‘I wonder what’s so special about this boy to get such a reaction from her.’

He wanted to continue their lesson today, allowing the two to improve on the things they learned through battle, but he decided against it.

It had been too long since Ruyue could have fun like this, and he didn’t want to be the one to ruin it.

Silently sitting back in his seat, he continued to watch the bickering duo in amusement.

Meanwhile, the duo’s argument had already gone past the previous battle and become slightly personal. And to be frank, largely childish.

“You think you’re so cool, I bet you don’t even leave the sect that much.”

“I leave all the time? For missions and…missions, but that still counts!”

“Hmph, go touch grass.”

“As if you’re any different! You probably lived in some secluded mountain all your life! Why are you talking like some expert?!”

“Because, of course, I am an expert,” Damien replied with a profound smirk, imitating a certain old man who liked to act all mysterious.

“Hmph, as if. Prove it then!”

“Proof? I don’t need any proof.”

“Of course you do, otherwise you’re just a liar and a cheat!”

“Huh?”

Both Damien and Ruyue paused at the strangeness of her words. Although they were both clearly aware of what she meant, it could be taken in a completely different way out of context.

And of course, with Damien being Damien, there was no way he wouldn’t capitalize on such a mistake

“Oho? A liar and a cheat huh? Could it be that little Senior Sister is jealous? Or maybe…” he trailed off, but his meaning was clear.

Ruyue’s face adopted a slightly red hue as she averted her gaze. It wasn’t her first time being teased like this, and usually, she’d have already blasted the perpetrator into oblivion with her lunar energy, but this time was different.

After all, she found herself enjoying it, along with the rest of the childish argument they were having.

Still, there was something she was curious about. When Damien said he had traveled more than her, it was obvious he didn’t just mean continents.

She had also gone on missions to other continents, so that wouldn’t be a solid argument. As for what he truly meant…

“During our fight, you summoned a star to counter my absolute erasure. How did you do that?” She couldn’t hold back her curiosity.

Damien smiled lightly, not minding the change of subject as he decided to brag a bit. “It’s because of my class. Not only can I summon stars, but I can also borrow their power for my own use.”

As he spoke, Damien flicked his finger, causing a blazing sunfire to manifest on top of it. The wisp of flame skyrocketed the temperatures in the room with its intense heat.

But Damien’s mana was also draining at a rapid rate. It was the reason he didn’t use sunfire often.

However, watching the sunfire dance around Damien’s palm, Ruyue went entirely silent. She stared at the flame of a celestial body as her body began to radiate an ethereal aura once again.

Her eyes became silver and the faint illusory outline of a massive moon took form behind her.

Suddenly, she lifted her hand as something began to manifest on top of it.

It was…a wisp of blueish-white flame.