Defeat

"Brother!" Hu Liena cried out.

Yan's eyes went wide, as if he wanted to pop them right out of their sockets.

The other spectators all looked shocked as well, watching with rapt attention.

Almost everyone's eyes followed Xie Yue, eager to see whether he would fly straight out of the ring.

That would be a disgrace!

Only Liu Suxin kept her gaze fixed on Zhou You.

He made lifting a heavy weight look effortless!

Liu Suxin showed nothing on her face, but inwardly, her thoughts churned.

Without relying on a Soul Skill or using the strength of his Martial Soul to meet force with force, he had easily seized firm control of the fight's tempo with nothing more than a simple combination of punches and kicks and flexible use of his Martial Soul.

He had even used the rules of the ring to toy with Xie Yue in the palm of his hand.

Liu Suxin had only asked Zhou You to hold out as long as he could, not defeat Xie Yue!

Yet Zhou You was trying to end the assessment in a way that would leave neither of them hurt, and it looked as though he had nearly succeeded.

That revealed more than a gap in strength; there was also a difference in awareness.

He had never regarded Xie Yue as an opponent at all!

What kind of confidence was that? The crucial thing was, he could actually pull it off.

Now Liu Suxin found herself wondering the same thing Yan had: where on earth had this child come from? Was he really just a craftsman's son?

Though her thoughts were jumbled, they flashed through Liu Suxin's mind in a mere instant.

Just then, Xie Yue finally moved.

A second before he flew out of the ring, he abruptly reversed his grip on the Moon Blades, holding them with their backs pointing down and their edges facing the webbing between his thumbs and forefingers. He stabbed them viciously into the floor, carving two deep furrows and forcing himself to a halt.

Impressive, kid! Liu Suxin noticed his move too and silently praised his quick thinking.

Seeing that, Hu Liena breathed a sigh of relief.

The others' emotions settled along with Xie Yue as he landed safely.

Yan quietly wiped away his sweat. If Xie Yue had been defeated so easily, the two of them would never have been able to hold their heads up in front of Zhou You again.

Although Yan had submitted to Zhou You for the time being, he and Xie Yue were closer, so naturally he did not want Xie Yue to lose. He was still counting on Xie Yue to stand up for the "old students" and win back some pride.

"So it really wasn't that easy." Zhou You was not very surprised. He simply planted the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella on the ground and waited for his opponent's next attack.

Seeing this, Liu Suxin sighed inwardly.

Who was this assessment supposed to be testing, anyway...?

Compared to the examiner, the one being tested was handling himself with far greater ease.

If this fight were compared to a game of chess, then Zhou You, the nominal examinee, was now playing a teaching game against Xie Yue, the examiner.

Who could accept that?

Xie Yue sensed the subtle implications too, and his expression turned ugly.

A surge of anger rose in him, directed at Zhou You but even more at himself.

"Are you looking down on me?" Xie Yue asked through gritted teeth.

Zhou You tilted his head. "This is just an assessment, isn't it?"

"It isn't anymore." Xie Yue's expression turned colder, and his Second Soul Ring quietly lit up. "I'll make you get serious!"

Honestly, all of you take things so seriously...

Zhou You noticed Xie Yue's opening move and lit up his own sole Soul Ring.

Xie Yue struck first, raising his Moon Blades once more. He swung both arms repeatedly, whipping the blades into afterimages.

A dense mass of moon blades radiated out in every direction, flying through the air!

"Xie Yue, you bastard!"

"Why did you catch us in your attack too?"

"Are you secretly settling a personal grudge, punk?"

"Damn it!"

The spectators outside the ring immediately erupted in a chorus of curses at Xie Yue's move.

That was because Xie Yue's Second Soul Skill was an indiscriminate attack. Countless crescents of blade Qi shot out like a torrential downpour, engulfing not only Zhou You but the spectators as well.

But Xie Yue had no other choice. He had to cover the entire ring with his attack so that Zhou You would have nowhere to dodge.

As for the area outside the ring, Liu Suxin was there, wasn't she?

"You brat, roping me into this too," Liu Suxin said helplessly. She raised a hand and released a single strand of Soul Power, wiping out every blade Qi flying out of the ring in one go.

"You lot, if you're going to watch, stay farther away from the ring!"

In the ring, Zhou You did not dodge the dense swarm of incoming blade Qi. He could not evade it, and there was no need to.

He calmly opened his umbrella and ducked, tucking himself completely behind its canopy and letting it bear the wind and rain.

Every crescent of blade Qi that struck the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella stirred up a ripple of energy. The scale-like blades on its canopy opened and closed rhythmically, as though breathing.

Liu Suxin clicked her tongue in wonder as she watched from below the ring. Beside her, Yan grimaced slightly, while Hu Liena's frown deepened.

As for the others, all they could do was utter meaningless exclamations.

It couldn't even scratch his defenses!

Was that really just an umbrella?

Even defensive Tool Martial Souls weren't that tough, were they?

After quite a while, Xie Yue finally stopped, his chest rising and falling as he panted slightly.

But when he looked straight ahead, a sense of helplessness came over him.

He couldn't break through. Even the airtight onslaught of his Second Soul Skill couldn't breach his defense?

Would abandoning his Soul Skill and fighting at close quarters be a better choice?

But when Xie Yue recalled how his opponent had pushed his head down to evade his close-range attack, he could not muster much confidence in fighting up close.

This guy was clearly more skilled in the art of combat.

But right now, he had no better option.

So Xie Yue gritted his teeth, steadied his breathing, and launched another attack.

Since his Soul Skill was ineffective, he would test his fundamentals against Zhou You's!

After all, he was two years older than Zhou You and a full major level above him. His physical attributes ought to be stronger.

Rather than take risks, perhaps the right tactic was to overwhelm him with sheer force.

He squeezed out his strength, darted up to Zhou You, and swung both blades in another frenzied flurry of slashes.

But Zhou You closed his umbrella and held it in one hand, pointing, lifting, thrusting, chopping, sweeping, hooking, raising, and parrying. Using his footwork to counter each move as it came, he fought while retreating, steadily warding off every one of Xie Yue's attacks.

Xie Yue's idea was sound, but as he had guessed, close combat was Zhou You's comfort zone. Moreover, while his First Soul Skill was active, he felt none of his opponent's pressure; even the force of the recoil was absorbed by the First Soul Skill.

The Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella's weight of sixty-five kilograms, combined with the tremendous speed of its swings, produced a force that shook Xie Yue's hands numb. Shocked as he was, he could only grit his teeth and bear it.

The two fought at a furious pace, shifting positions as they exchanged blows. The spectators could see only two figures moving back and forth, their Martial Souls whirling almost into afterimages.

At one point, Zhou You's rhythm changed in an instant, and alarm bells rang in Xie Yue's mind.

"It says it can go now," Zhou You said with a smile.

Before Xie Yue could figure out what he meant, Zhou You switched from defense and went on the offensive!

Xie Yue instinctively raised both blades to block, but Zhou You had already swung the Heaven- and Earth-Harmonizing Umbrella into them.

The force that had been building for so long burst forth in an instant. Like a battering ram, the tremendous impact slammed straight into the Moon Blades, driving them effortlessly into Xie Yue's chest.

Crack!

Xie Yue's face went pale. The shockwave released from the umbrella sent him flying like a tattered sack!