"Aya, aren't you going to eat some?"

Sitting on a wooden chair and happily devouring food, the girl stuffed her mouth while passing a pancake from the small table to Aya.

"I'm good... I ate earlier and still feel full..." Aya tugged at the corner of her mouth, pushing the pancake she had bought for herself over to Jojo.

Despite being the daughter of a noble family, her lackluster eating habits were not convincing at all. Aya even suspected that Jojo wouldn't feel satisfied unless she had more than one serving.

"Oh! In that case, I'll help myself!"

As expected...

"Um... do you two ladies need any tea?" The scholar on the side held a teapot and stood there eagerly watching the two of them... specifically, Jojo happily eating away.

Yes, this was the scholar's home, the same one Aya knocked on at the beginning. Jojo even knocked down the other side of the door panel of the scholar's house while knocking, which made Aya at one point suspect if this person was deliberately setting up two broken door panels to extort money.

But suspicions aside, Aya still felt sorry for the scholar when she saw him getting frightened and falling on his backside the second time she met him.

As for why Jojo, as a noble lady, didn't go to a better restaurant...

"Ah, I didn't expect that guy to be so difficult to deal with. I didn't prepare much before going out, I thought I could finish dealing with him and have dinner at home," Jojo said with frustration when Aya asked her earlier.

According to Jojo, she had been scolded by her father several times for going out to do "chivalrous deeds." This time she had sneaked out, thinking that with her ability as a noble lady, it would be easy to take care of a gang leader in a couple of hours.

"But it turned out to be a disaster..." Aya tugged at the corner of her mouth and chuckled.

Afraid of being locked up at home and unable to go out again, she didn't dare to return. After searching all over her body, she only found a little silver, which amounted to about two or three dozen copper coins in Xiaochu currency, all of which she gave to the scholar as payment for staying at his house for one night and having a meal.

"Nonsense! How can doing chivalrous deeds be called a disaster? That's... that's..." Jojo hesitated for a moment, hadn't figured out what word to use, and quickly changed the subject with a forced smile, "Anyway! With your help, Aya, that old fox is done for this time!"

"Oh, the old fox? Are you talking about that ruthless martial arts hall master?"

"You know about him too?"

"Of course, I live here after all, how could I not know. Just a few days ago, the butcher next door had his legs broken because he lost all his money in the gambling den and couldn't pay his debts."

The scholar wiped a cold sweat and said with lingering fear, "Luckily, as a mere scholar with no wealth in my home except for a few boxes of books, I was not targeted and could settle peacefully."

"Well, it seems even more necessary to uphold justice!" Jojo clenched her fist and smiled at the scholar, "Rest assured, scholar, I'm here to deal with that scumbag!"

"That would be great, although I am not disturbed, I also do not wish for those evil-doers to be arrogant and domineering. However, as a bookish scholar, I am powerless and cannot help you much... as the sage said..."

Seeing the scholar about to launch into a long discourse from the classics, Jojo quickly waved her hand, "Stop, stop, stop! If you really want to help, go boil a few pots of hot water! I need to take a good bath, all that running around has left me sweaty and uncomfortable..."

"No problem, leave it to me!"

Watching the scholar roll up his sleeves and rush out to boil water, Aya didn't know what to say, "Clearly being chased and beaten up today yet still acting all righteous and heroic like a savior, you really are bold, it reminds me of a certain acquaintance."

A terrible girl with a flat chest and silver hair came to mind, causing Aya to show a disgruntled expression.

"I-I... I was just not feeling well today!" blurted Jojo, her face turning red, but still trying to save face, "My skills are unmatched. If it wasn't for that old wolf breaking the rules and challenging me with his gang of lackeys to stall for time, I would have..."

Big sis, do you expect others to fight fair when you go looking for trouble? Are you planning to fight one-on-one when you're alone and they are in a group or vice versa?

So, the inexperienced junior sister challenging the cunning and deceitful big bully and getting caught in this common and enjoyable plot... Hmm, Princess must have already imagined a whole series in her head.

"Well, the bottom line is I didn't win." Aya shrugged, "But, when you mentioned abilities... and stalling for time, what exactly do you practice? Martial arts? Ancient Chinese martial arts or something?"

Well, there were indeed rumors about all kinds of weird martial arts in the East, like having to cut something off to practice, or having to open up certain meridians first, although the meaning of such requirements remains a mystery.

"Humph, what I practice is not just ordinary kung fu, but legitimate immortal techniques. An ancestor of our Jo Clan once had the privilege of assisting a cultivator, and this technique was passed on to us as a token of gratitude."

"Immortal... techniques?"

"Yes, I can demonstrate it to you."

The girl nodded proudly, then focused her energy, "Come forth, Cafeteria Spicy Sauce!"

"What the...?"

Under Aya's dumbfounded expression, a burly man with golden bronze arm and forehead guards, purple-blue skin, and messy black hair appeared behind Jojo, his muscles quite exaggerated, momentarily reminding Aya of the Black Tiger Ah Fu she had seen at the Milt Martial Arts Festival.

"Hmph, what do you think, impressive, right? This is an external incarnation, or simply a Stand, a product created through concentrated mental power."

"Nevermind about the Stand and mental products, but why did your art style change! And, what in the world is Cafeteria Spicy Sauce?"

Originally a delicate girl with slim figure, but after summoning the Stand, the whole art style changed, with exposed arms and legs that, though not as exaggerated as the Stand's, showed more defined muscles. Most importantly, a bunch of inexplicable shadows and lines appeared on her face, making her features appear more hardcore.

"Oh, these are the effects of the Stand. Since it is immortal technique, the body needs to be hardened in this way to withstand the burden brought about by the manifestation of mental power. As for the Cafeteria Spicy Sauce, it is said to be a necessary chant, but it's a transliteration. My old man said it used to be a lost language, and he has no idea what it means."

Explaining the change in art style seriously, Jojo's voice still had that cute tone, making Aya find it hard to take it all in.

"Do you want to give it a try? My Stand's strength."

Jojo asked, crossing her arms and looking at Aya.

"Sure, let's give it a shot. It's also a good opportunity to see how far we can go as partners."

Ignoring the theatrical art style, Aya stood up and stretched her body, then looked around, "But it's not good to accidentally damage someone's property, let's keep it to one move."

"No problem." Jojo was eager, "Alright then, here it comes! Go, Cafeteria Spicy Sauce!"

"Ora!"

The purple-blue illusion almost immediately rushed forward, its speed so fast that even in Aya's eyes, only a blurry image could be seen, bringing a palpable sense of pressure.

It seems really strong. I think so in my heart, but it's not like I can't handle it. As long as I can still see...

Thud!

Aya's fist collided head-on with a punch, her purplish-blue phantom fist perfectly matched the force without falling behind. In the instant of neutralizing the impact, Aya immediately twisted her wrist, withdrew her hand, and grabbed the stand-in's wrist.

"Amazing, this level of power is not much weaker than mine, and it's even faster... Is this magic so strong... Damn!"

Before finishing the sentence, the fingers of the stand-in that had already been controlled suddenly elongated like a slime and directly hit Aya's forehead, almost knocking her backward.

"Watch out, Meteor Finger Stab!" Jojo chuckled triumphantly, a good habit to attack first and then shout out the move name.

"Didn't we agree only one move?" Aya, holding her forehead, glared at Jojo.

"No harm in being deceptive, you're so silly!" The girl laughed arrogantly, with a touch of mockery in her eyes.

...Damn, why does this guy look more and more like a certain flat-chested, white-haired otaku girl? Could she be a long-lost sister?

Ignoring the need for a smackdown on this troublemaker, this stand-in was indeed quite powerful, with strength and speed not to be underestimated. Aya even felt that its speed of movement was faster than her own.

"Alas, it's a pity our family doesn't have any follow-up cultivation methods. Otherwise, according to the ancestral teachings, reaching the realm of Earth Immortal can stop time..."

Aya became more and more alarmed as she listened, feeling like she was about to be attacked, so she quickly interrupted her, "No, with such an unbeatable stand-in, why can't you take down a small-time boss? Even if that guy is strong, he's just a retired soldier, can he really beat a cultivator?"

"Uh... because my stand-in can only remain manifested for a maximum of five minutes. After five minutes, I need to replenish my mental power. It takes an hour before I can use it again."

Aya suddenly felt a bit powerless to critique this setting.

"Never mind, let's talk about that old wolf. How many of his men can fight?"

Although Aya felt confident that even sealed off from ChiMagic, she could easily crush ordinary human thugs, she was still cautious and wanted to make sure. Being careful didn't equal being fearful.

This dragon seemed very strong but overly cautious.

"Well, it's actually quite tricky to deal with. Most of them have some martial arts training. Altogether, there are about a hundred or so, but the really formidable ones are the old wolf and his four henchmen."

"Ah, I see. A group of grunts plus five big grunts?"

What? Not just ordinary human thugs? Come on, grunts who know martial arts are still grunts, right?

...Retracting my previous statement, this dragon is not cautious at all. Being strong... getting one's power sealed is nothing unusual!