First Exchange / Like Prey in a Trap
The "Juntian Sword Art" is a Swordsmanship cultivated by condensing sword imprints. Its sword moves are magnificent and domineering, with wide and sweeping movements, using strength to overcome technique, which is indeed very suitable for Si Ming's Cultivation Body.
To date, there are five recorded sword seals: Cauldron Armor Seal, Light Lotus Seal, Earth-Splitting Seal, Sea-Subduing Seal, and Heaven-Dominating Seal. However, the manual Yan Jinghong gave to Si Ming only records the contents of the first three seals, while the latter two seals remain missing.
But that was enough for Si Ming. That very night, he successfully condensed the Cauldron Armor Seal and the Light Lotus Seal. As for the Earth-Splitting Seal, it was impossible for him to master it with his current cultivation level. No matter how strong his talent was, it would be useless. He couldn't master it in a day, and he couldn't master it in a month either.
The next day.
Having agreed to Yan Jinghong's request, Si Ming subconsciously began to pay attention to Yu Shuying, wanting to learn more about this person he would need to protect in the future.
Presumably influenced by her declaration yesterday that she had no interest in ordinary people, her classmates subconsciously avoided her. You could say they were isolating her, or you could say they didn't want to cause trouble. After all, judging from Yu Shuying's reaction to Chen Shimi, she wasn't an easy person to talk to, and it's human nature to avoid trouble.
Once class started, she would lie down on her desk and fall asleep, completely ignoring the increasingly unpleasant look on the teacher's face. Occasionally, when she was called on, she could answer the questions with lightning speed, without any time to think. Over time, all the teachers in the grade knew that a troublemaker had joined Si Ming's class.
"Your teaching methods are based on the average efficiency of the general population. This approach can accommodate the learning abilities of the vast majority of students, which is understandable. However, it cannot cater to everyone. For example, I have already completed all the high school courses and have my own study plan. If you force me to follow the general learning pace, it will only delay my learning progress. If the teacher truly cares about me, they should give me freedom. At least I can guarantee that I will not disturb other students."
Instead of responding with silent resistance to the teachers who demanded that she pay attention in class, Yu Shuying gave a reasonable answer, thus securing her right to sleep during class.
Si Ming initially thought Yu Shuying was an eccentric person, but after a day of observation, he had to admit that she was actually within the rules, maximizing her own interests and justifying her behavior.
Others might find her unique, but that's about it; they wouldn't consider her Anomalies or reject her.
When school was over, Si Ming was about to go up and start a conversation when the other person spoke first, "You've been observing all day, haven't you? Have you found out anything?"
Si Ming wasn't flustered. He hadn't made any special effort to conceal his actions, so it was normal for him to be noticed. In fact, it would have been abnormal if he hadn't been noticed all day.
He smiled slightly and said, "There isn't much information, so I'd like to try a different approach to the investigation..."
"For martial artists, communicating heart-to-heart through fists is still the most effective way. Is that what you meant?"
Yu Shuying turned her head, her dark, calm pupils reflecting Si Ming's slightly surprised face, like a mirror.
How did she know what she wanted to say?
Before he could figure it out, he saw Yu Shuying stand up, walk outside, and say, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."
Si Ming, "Are you willing to fight me?"
"Of course, I think nothing earns more respect than genuine competence, especially since I'm looking for a loyal servant, not a half-hearted bodyguard."
"Then, can I join you?"
Murong Qing, who had been watching the situation closely, suddenly came over and spoke.
"Of course, this will be a good warm-up."
Chapter 201 As if Entering a Grain Valley
Weiyang Hall.
News of Murong Qing's fight with the transfer student spread quickly, attracting many onlookers. Not only her classmates, but even members of the martial arts team temporarily put aside their training to watch the fight from the sidelines.
"Is that Murong Qing from the first year of high school? I heard she's not only beautiful, but also incredibly skilled in martial arts... Wow, her opponent is beautiful too. Now I don't know who to support."
"So you just support whoever is pretty? What a shallow creature controlled by desire! I disdain associating with you. Murong often comes to the martial arts team to spar with us; we should support her out of friendship."
"Pah! You think I don't know? You pervert who judges people by their breasts, you only support Junior Sister Murong because her breasts are bigger."
There were informal discussions, and there were also serious discussions.
"I heard that Murong Qing's Internal Cultivation has broken through again. During her physical examination, the doctor discovered that her Internal Cultivation had reached level seven, which is the graduation standard for university students! I remember someone surveyed that even among the graduates of our Tange No. 1 Middle School High School, only 17% of them will ever break through to level seven of Internal Energy Level Seven in their lifetime, which is less than 20%."
"Yes, and besides her Internal Cultivation, Murong Qing's Swordsmanship is also extremely advanced. Even the Captain admitted that her chances of winning in a head-on confrontation are less than 60%. I doubt anyone in our school would dare say they could definitely win, and she's only a first-year high school student, with two more years of growth ahead of her!"
"This transfer student probably didn't gather any information; they're in for a disaster."
Everyone overwhelmingly favored Murong Qing, but Si Ming grew increasingly uneasy as he listened. "Mocking from passersby—that's the treatment a protagonist gets! According to the tropes of wish-fulfillment novels, the more others look down on someone, the more likely they are to explode, ultimately leaving onlookers in disbelief. Could Yu Shuying have known this and deliberately created this momentum?"
On the arena, Yu Shuying remained calm and unaffected by the crowd's opinions. She looked at Murong Qing, who was drawing a spear from the weapon rack beside her, and asked, "Don't you use a sword?"
"My marksmanship is no worse than my Swordsmanship, so you don't need to worry about me holding back."
Murong Qing adopted the starting stance of the Cambrian Spear Art.
"I'm not a martial arts fanatic, I don't care if you hold back."
Yu Shuying took out a long whip from the weapon rack, which aroused great curiosity among the onlookers. This kind of strange weapon was rarely used and was extremely difficult to master. If one's martial arts skills were not good, one might make a fool of oneself. In particular, the whip was made of iron inside and wrapped in soft leather outside, with uneven density, making it even more difficult to control.
With a slight tremor, her long whip coiled and flowed like a venomous snake, as if it were alive, displaying exquisite skill that made the onlookers no longer dare to underestimate her.
While it's certainly not easy to master weapons like swords, spears, and clubs, it's not difficult to become proficient at them; they're relatively easy to pick up. However, whip techniques are extremely difficult even to get started with, and to wield a whip as easily as one's own arm is even more challenging.
Generally speaking, primary schools only teach stick and knife techniques, junior high schools teach Swordsmanship, and senior high schools teach spear techniques. The saying goes, "Three years for a knife, ten years for a sword, and a lifetime for a spear," meaning the difficulty increases progressively. As for stick techniques, since soft sticks don't hurt people, even those who haven't started school can try them out.
Therefore, even in this world where everyone practices martial arts after the martial arts revolution, the majority of martial artists still use knives, swords, spears, and clubs. While the number of people learning whip techniques is indeed much greater than in ancient times, the proportion is actually smaller. This is because those who learned whip techniques in the past often did so not because they had a talent for it, but because they had no other choice, could not find better martial arts to practice, or it was simply a family secret that they had no choice but to learn. In modern times, with martial arts being publicly available, they have more choices and naturally have no need to force themselves to learn unfamiliar and unusual weapons.
Therefore, if someone uses a whip as a weapon, while it cannot be said that this person is necessarily a master, he is definitely not an ordinary person.
As expected, after witnessing this move, Murong Qing's attitude became serious. She realized that the other party didn't want to take advantage of her; otherwise, they could have easily pretended to be weak to lure her into being careless. Immediately, she flicked the tip of her spear, gathering her strength before releasing it, and said, "Please!"
Bang! The gong rang out!
A flash of cold light appeared, and the spear pierced through the air, its tip like a sharp arrow. Murong Qing seized the initiative and launched an attack.
Yu Shuying moved unhurriedly, wielding her long whip and swiftly extending it, like a venomous dragon emerging from its nest. The whip coiled and wrapped around the spear, pulling it to the side and causing the spearhead to lose its aim. At the same time, she lightly spun around and dodged to the side.
Murong Qing's Cambrian Spear Art was not the kind of martial art that charged forward without any return. Naturally, she wouldn't make the novice mistake of using too much force. She used seven-tenths of her strength and reserved three-tenths. Seeing that she missed, she immediately used the reserved strength to spin the spear, generating an outward repulsive spiral force that shook off the long whip wrapped around her body. Then she used a move called "Snow Swallow Returns to the Sky" to sweep to the side.