Dr. Mo glanced at his left hand with slight surprise before turning his gaze to Han Li, disdainfully saying, "Interesting. It seems you haven't been idle this past year, actually cultivating such peculiar skills. But do you really think that with these few tricks, you can be my opponent?"
"It seems I haven't had any action for quite some time. It's not a bad idea to personally make a move. I'll let you make the first move!"
Han Li ignored Dr. Mo's verbal attack and decided to take the initiative, seizing some advantage. He held the short sword in his left hand in front of him, attracting Dr. Mo's attention. Then, quietly from the sleeve on his right side, a white paper packet slipped into his right hand. With a flick of his wrist, a large amount of white powder sprinkled out of the packet, instantly turning into dense white smoke that enveloped Han Li's entire body, making his figure blurry and indistinct. The smoke quickly spread throughout the room, obscuring everything in a white haze, and Han Li mysteriously disappeared within the mist.
Dr. Mo furrowed his brows slightly, somewhat surprised by Han Li's move, but inwardly, he remained unconcerned. With his vast experience, he had plenty of methods to deal with such low-level tricks. However, as a precaution against any tampering with the smoke, he held his breath. With his profound cultivation, he could hold his breath for several minutes without issue.
"Humph, petty tricks. Dare to show off in front of me!" Dr. Mo snorted coldly and suddenly thrust out his empty palm into the smoke. The white fog churned as if stirred by a giant rod, revealing a clear hole.
Despite not seeing Han Li's figure, Dr. Mo didn't stop there. He swung his palms left and right, striking the air a dozen times, dispersing the smoke from the room's entrance, but Han Li was nowhere to be found.
"Strange, this kid does have some tricks up his sleeve. He actually managed to disappear in front of me," Dr. Mo remarked with surprise, though he remained composed. After all, he had been stationed near the doorway, and not even a fly could escape his notice.
He carefully scanned the room, observing the bookshelves, desk, and chair, but everything seemed normal, with no noticeable differences. However, Han Li, a person, had somehow vanished in such a confined space.
While Dr. Mo pondered, he suddenly heard a "clang" sound from above.
"Not good!" Dr. Mo suddenly realized that Han Li might be hiding on the roof. Without hesitation, he quickly raised his hand and executed a fierce palm strike upwards, aiming to knock out anyone who might be hiding there.
A series of rumbling sounds followed the strike, accompanied by a few crisp "ding" noises.
Dr. Mo felt perplexed. He hurriedly looked up, only to find nothing above except for a black iron bell hanging from the rafters, swaying from the force of his palm strike. The crisp sounds had come from the bell, not from Han Li.
Just as Dr. Mo looked up, a cold light suddenly flashed, darting out from under his feet at lightning speed, aimed at his lower abdomen. Its speed was so fast that Dr. Mo only noticed it as it was about to touch his clothes.
Dr. Mo's face paled with shock. In a moment of desperation, he improvised a backward bend, his body folding as if he had no spine, narrowly dodging the sword. The blade grazed his belly, slicing a thin slit in his clothes, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow.
After dodging the sword, Dr. Mo didn't dare to relax. His feet seemed to spring like a coiled spring, causing his body to slide back several meters involuntarily. Only then did he dare to straighten up, his expression a mixture of shock and anger as he stared at the spot where the sword had flown from.
Near the spot where Dr. Mo had just been standing, the ground slowly bulged, forming a humanoid shape. It continued to rise until it reached the height of a person, forming the shape of Han Li, who had combined the Soft Bone Technique, the Concealing Breath Technique, and the False Concealment Technique.
At this moment, he wore a set of earth-yellow clothes identical to the floorboards. With one hand gripping the almost successful short sword, he wore a look of regret in his eyes, clearly disappointed with the failed strike.
Meanwhile, Dr. Mo's originally yellow face now appeared somewhat greenish. He was still shaken by the perilous strike just now, his heart pounding heavily. Although he had experienced dangers as a seasoned martial artist, the closeness to death just now was a rare occurrence in his life, especially at the hands of Han Li, whom he had always underestimated.
Taking a deep breath, Dr. Mo finally regained his composure. His voice was somewhat hoarse as he said, "It seems I have underestimated you, my dear disciple! Your tactics are quite impressive and worthy of my serious consideration."
After uttering these words of intimidation, Dr. Mo slowly raised his hands and placed them gently in front of his eyes, staring at them as if admiring a lover, completely forgetting about Han Li for the moment.
Han Li raised an eyebrow and sneered. He tightened his grip on the short sword with one hand and took a small step forward, slowly approaching Dr. Mo.
