Chapter 1530: Training or beating
"Everyone rest up here, we’re going out to scout out the area."
That was what Han Ba said to the others, but really they knew that it wasn’t that simple.
It wasn’t as if they were blind to what the situation was, they knew exactly who it was that was leaving with Han Ba.
As such, they knew that this was something that was for those that had been taken into the inner circle by Han Ba. Even if they had joined the same faction, it wasn’t as if they expected to be trusted that easily.
Especially since many of them were just joining for benefits now.
Still, there wasn’t anything that was said since they knew that they weren’t qualified to create a fuss.
As such, Han Ba’s group left without a problem.
When they came to this second pavilion, they couldn’t help being caught off guard.
Han Ba had brought the three that he trusted along with him, so they learned a bit more about the real ruler of the faction.
It was already surprising enough that they had claimed one of the pavilions for themselves.
After all, they had already wandered around the Dao Sect ruins for some time and knew what these ruins meant. The fact that they were able to claim one of the pavilions was already more than enough to demonstrate the power that they possessed.
But the fact that they had two...
Not to mention that this was a pavilion that was quite famous among those that had entered the Dao Sect ruins.
Even now, there were those that were trying to break through the test of the pavilion. But it turned out that this was nothing more than a cover created by the person that had taken over the pavilion.
When they saw the training dummies appear in front of them, the four of them all raised their guards.
After all, the four of them had all tried to break through this same pavilion previously and had been knocked unconscious. If it wasn’t for Han Ba calling them away, then perhaps they would have still been trying to break through this same pavilion.
However, none of the training dummies did anything as they stood there.
It was as if they were waiting for orders before doing anything.
The one that they seemed to be looking at was the mysterious cloaked figure that had appeared with Lin Fan and Ye Qing Huan.
It wasn’t hard for the four of them to recognize Lin Fan and Ye Qing Huan since they were all disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect. But they were certain that they didn’t know this mysterious cloaked figure.
"This is an ally that we’ve made in this place." Lin Fan gave a simple explanation of who Xiao Mu was without actually giving too much information.
Once they heard this, it seemed like the four of them had an idea on their mind.
Only Lin Fan shut that down immediately by saying, "They’re not a survivor, they’re someone that came in here previously and has been trapped here this entire time. They only know a bit about this place since they didn’t dare wander too much."
Hearing this, the four of them looked at Xiao Mu with looks of pity.
After all, they could only imagine what it was like to be trapped in a place like these Dao Sect ruins. At the same time, they could guess what would have caused Xiao Mu to be trapped in this place for so long.
The first thing that they did was set up the other three with the training dummies.
Though they had already guessed that they would be facing the training dummies, there were bitter smiles on their faces when they were actually facing them. After all, they had already experienced the power of the training dummies earlier when they had tried passing this pavilion’s test.
It wasn’t surprising that they were beaten up by the dummies, but they could tell that the dummies were holding back because of the order that Xiao Mu gave.
As for Han Ba, the one that he faced was Xiao Mu.
Han Ba was surprised to find that he was facing Xiao Mu, but then he learned that it was Xiao Mu that controlled this pavilion. Which meant that Xiao Mu had been learning from this place for the longest time.
Once he realized this, Han Ba didn’t dare look down on Xiao Mu.
In fact, it looked like he was even a bit excited about sparring with Xiao Mu.
After all, Xiao Mu contained the knowledge that had been stored in this pavilion.
As for why Xiao Mu was sparring...
"This is the chance to spar with someone properly. It isn’t the same if you fight with me or him, so this is your chance to have this experience." Ye Qing Huan explaining it to Xiao Mu was the only way that it would accept this.
Though when Ye Qing Huan said it like this, Xiao Mu did seem a bit excited about this.
It was true that this was the first time that Xiao Mu was actually sparring with someone.
"So heavy."
Because it was the first time, it didn’t seem like Xiao Mu had proper control over its attacks.
There was a bitter smile on Han Ba’s face when he received that first attack from Xiao Mu. However, it didn’t seem like it was much of a problem for him to resist this attack.
This was the reason that Han Ba had been chosen as the one to spar with Xiao Mu.
His physique was strong enough that if anything were to happen, he would at least be able to resist it.
After all, Xiao Mu was technically as strong as Ye Qing Huan.
Though it was a bit ironic that it was basically the other way around.
Han Ba was being used as the training dummy for Xiao Mu, rather than Xiao Mu being the training dummy.
Still, Han Ba would benefit from this since the more that he was beaten, the stronger he would become. With Xiao Mu’s power, there was no doubt that his physique would become stronger.
It wasn’t every day that Han Ba was able to spar with someone on Xiao Mu’s level.
The stronger that Han Ba became, the better it was for their faction.
Though watching the training, Lin Fan and Ye Qing Huan both found it funny.
It was hard for them to tell if it was actual training or if they were just suffering a beating with the way that things went.
Even if they were growing, it didn’t seem like they were growing enough that they were able to face the training dummies properly. But then again, that was the setting that they had been made with.
They were supposed to overwhelm anyone that came to face them and let them slowly accustom themselves with the movements of the training dummy. Even if they had slowed down because of Ye Qing Huan’s orders, it wasn’t as if this was enough for the Heavenly Demon Sect disciples to catch up.
Once again, it really was a reminder of the difference between the disciples of the Dao Sect and the Heavenly Demon Sect.
The Dao Sect of the past really was on a completely different level.
In the end, the most interesting thing to watch was Han Ba facing off against Xiao Mu.
Han Ba’s physique could only be described as overbearing with how it healed him as he was being beaten by Xiao Mu. It seemed like it didn’t matter how much Xiao Mu threw at him, he was able to heal through everything that came at him.
In the end, it even seemed like Han Ba was going to push Xiao Mu back.
But that was only when Xiao Mu was using its lowest settings to make sure that it didn’t completely destroy Han Ba.
Once Han Ba started pushing Xiao Mu back, that was when the balance changed once more.
However before this new balance could be established...
"That was a bit too much."
Han Ba said with a bitter smile on his face as he laid there on the ground.
Xiao Mu’s punch had been too much for him, sending him right into the ground.
If it wasn’t for the reinforced floor of this place, then it would have created a crater where Han Ba was laying down.
Instead of looking proud about what it had done, Xiao Mu looked at its fist with a dissatisfied look.
After all, Xiao Mu hadn’t been able to adjust to the level that Han Ba was at, which was what this entire sparring session was about.
Ye Qing Huan came over and patted Xiao Mu on the shoulder before saying, "Don’t worry about making mistakes, he can take it. It’s why he was chosen as your sparring partner in the first place."
After saying this, she looked at Han Ba with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes that just made Han Ba reveal a bitter smile.
But Lin Fan didn’t say anything when he saw Han Ba looking over for help.
Xiao Mu gave a nod before stepping forward again to say, "I’m asking for your guidance once more."
When they all acted like this, Han Ba had no choice but to get up and take this beating again.
In the end, this was helpful to developing his physique, so there was no reason that he would reject this.
It was just a bit of pain, the gains outweighed that.