A Clear Victor

"Who's on the Training Field?" Meng Yuan asked while getting dressed.

"I don't know, but they look important! Hu Qian told me to come and get you, said to hurry over!" Tie Niu was flustered, even helping Meng Yuan with his clothes.

"Tie Niu." Meng Yuan pressed down on Tie Niu's hand and said seriously, "The sky hasn't fallen. Remember, no matter what you encounter, you must remain calm. Especially for us martial artists, when we face enemies or dangerous situations in the future, we must maintain a sense of calm."

Seeing Meng Yuan's seriousness, Tie Niu quickly agreed.

Meng Yuan finished dressing, tied up his hair, washed his face, and then went out with his saber.

The Training Field was right next door. Before even entering, he could hear the commotion inside.

Pushing open the large door, he saw a total of nine students on the martial arts field. Except for Hu Qian, who wasn't participating, the other eight were sparring in pairs, and they were actually using real sabers.

These people had all learned the Gale Wind Saber Technique. Although they didn't know the method of circulating True Qi, they were all people who trained daily, so they were still wielding their sabers with powerful force.

Hu Qian stood to the side, her expression quite gloomy.

There was also Ren Debiao, who had been coming to the Training Field frequently lately. He stood beside Hu Qian with his arms crossed, occasionally turning his head to talk to her, but Hu Qian completely ignored him.

Several scholars and retainers were gathered around the Young Lord Dugu Kang, pointing and gesturing from the side.

The Young Lord Dugu Kang had a large head and big ears. At this moment, dressed in scholarly attire, he had one hand behind his back and held a folding fan in front of his chest. He was pacing in front of the students, likely contemplating poetry again.

"I thought it was a big deal, turns out it's the great poet!" Meng Yuan wasn't sure if the Young Lord was here for him, so he wanted to find the familiar Scholar Wang to ask about the situation, but found that Scholar Wang wasn't there.

With no other option, Meng Yuan saw that Dugu Kang was watching intently and didn't notice him at all, so he pulled a literary assistant aside.

"Where's Scholar Wang?" Meng Yuan and Nie Yannian had given Scholar Wang silver before, so they had an old connection.

The assistant recognized Meng Yuan and replied, "Old Wang is on rotation today."

"You assistants have rotation?" Meng Yuan was enlightened.

"What?" The assistant immediately became anxious upon hearing this. "Even oxen and horses get a break, why can't we rest?"

"It was my slip of the tongue." Meng Yuan quickly apologized and asked again, "Why did the Young Lord come here? Sabers and swords have no eyes, it wouldn't be good if someone got hurt."

"The Princess Consort summoned the Young Lord for questioning. After coming out of the Tranquil Garden, the Young Lord heard shouting over here and came to take a look." The assistant stroked his beard and reassured him, "Don't worry, the Young Lord will go back after composing a couple of poems."

Meng Yuan nodded. Seeing that the Young Lord wasn't here for old scores, he felt relieved.

Meng Yuan had previously inquired with Scholar Wang. This Young Lord was indeed pure-hearted, not fond of women, not greedy for food, not fond of wine, not fond of fine clothes, and not fond of gold and silver. He only liked composing poetry and was unhappy if he didn't write a few poems every day.

He truly had no malicious intentions, a genuinely born into wealth fate.

Since that was the case, Meng Yuan decided not to bother with him and would just wait for the Young Lord to finish his poems and leave.

Over there, Hu Qian saw Meng Yuan arrive and quickly ran over, saying, "This is outrageous! We've become performers to entertain people!"

"Bear with it for a moment." Meng Yuan knew she was proud, so he comforted her.

"If the Young Lord asked us to perform martial arts, I wouldn't really mind." Hu Qian pulled Meng Yuan aside. "After all, the Young Lord is... that pure-hearted person. It's all Ren Debiao instigating from the side, constantly pushing us to spar!"

Meng Yuan looked at Ren Debiao upon hearing this. Ren Debiao also looked over and nodded proudly.

"Got it!" The Young Lord Dugu Kang suddenly exclaimed, hitting his palm with his folding fan and taking two steps forward.

Everyone looked over, and the sparring students also stopped.

Dugu Kang slowly recited, "I came to the Training Field to watch martial arts, big sabers and long swords dance back and forth. Men and women are like fierce tigers, scaring the birds into fluttering."

What in the world was this nonsense? Meng Yuan felt that even if he brought Xiang Ling over and taught her for two days, the poems she wrote would be better than this one!

However, the Young Lord had his sycophants, and those scholars and retainers were already praising him.

Meng Yuan silently memorized the retainers' flattering words, just waiting for the day Xiang Ling learned to compose poetry so he could also effortlessly flatter her.

"Oh my! My poetic inspiration is overflowing!" After being praised several times for his unparalleled poetic talent, Dugu Kang was overjoyed. He immediately waved his hand, "Quick, quick, quick! Make the sparring more lively! I want to compose a frontier poem!"

Meng Yuan glanced at the retainer from before, took out ten taels of silver and handed it over, meaning to quickly ask this great deity to leave!

Meng Yuan didn't have any ill feelings towards this Young Lord. After all, he wasn't cunning and had no malicious intentions. It would be fine to just coax him away.

That retainer was likely used to such arrangements and immediately understood Meng Yuan's meaning, about to persuade Dugu Kang.

Just then, Ren Debiao stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Then I shall make a fool of myself in front of the Young Lord!"

After speaking, he looked at Meng Yuan and said, "Meng Yuan, didn't Master Nie teach you a set of fist techniques? Come, let me see how well you've practiced!"

"Master Nie did not teach me fist techniques." Meng Yuan smiled and said, "Brother Ren, it's getting late, the Training Field should be serving lunch soon."

"No matter, then let's try the Gale Wind Saber Technique! You can kill Buddhist Demons, so your skill must be decent. Let me measure you!" Ren Debiao drew his saber from its sheath.

Meng Yuan remembered that when he came out of Peach Blossom Ridge, Master Nie had said that he had gained something while Ren Debiao hadn't, which meant he had offended Ren Debiao.

Looking at it now, Master Nie's eyes were truly sharp. This Ren Debiao was indeed still resentful about the Peach Blossom Ridge incident!

The students had never heard Meng Yuan talk about killing demons. Now that Ren Debiao mentioned it, they all looked at Meng Yuan curiously.

The Young Lord Dugu Kang was also curious and turned his head to quietly ask the retainer.

"Ren Debiao, you've already reached the Eighth Rank. He's only been learning martial arts for less than three months. What are you being so arrogant about?" Hu Qian spoke up for him.

"I am not skilled in combat, Brother Ren, please." Meng Yuan did not draw his saber.

"You don't even dare to draw your saber, are you a good man?" Ren Debiao asked.

"I captured one Black and White Goat Demon and severely injured another; I pursued and killed a Wolf Demon with all my might." Meng Yuan smiled and said, "Whether I am a good man or not, I'm afraid you are not qualified to ask."

Ren Debiao only got a tiny bit of credit from the trip to Peach Blossom Ridge. Hearing this, he was immediately enraged and stepped forward with his saber, "Then let me see your ability to kill demons!"

Meng Yuan ignored him, even turning his back and exposing it to Ren Debiao.

Ren Debiao's saber strike was extremely fast, immediately reaching Meng Yuan's back, but he didn't dare to stab down in the end.

Meng Yuan had seen through this person. His martial arts talent was indeed good, but he lacked tolerance and was fierce in appearance but timid in heart.

Seeing Meng Yuan treat him with such contempt, Ren Debiao was immediately ashamed and angry. He saw Tie Niu nearby and knew that this person was closest to Meng Yuan, so he flipped his saber and went towards Tie Niu.

Tie Niu hadn't even figured out what was going on. Seeing the saber coming, he quickly raised his saber to block, but saw the opponent's saber light was extremely fast, actually avoiding him and instead slashing his arm, immediately opening a cut.

"Are you going mad?" Hu Qian couldn't stand it anymore and immediately raised her saber to help.

"I'm going to tell Master Nie!" Wu Changsheng saw that Hu Qian had already made a move, so he also quickly made a move, raising his saber to slash at Ren Debiao's right flank.

But Ren Debiao was already Eighth Rank, with abundant True Qi. His saber was both fast and fierce. With just one turn, with two bangs, he twisted the saber out of Wu Changsheng's hand. Hu Qian managed to keep her saber, but was forced back several steps.

Ren Debiao didn't pursue Hu Qian, only slashed Wu Changsheng's left arm.

"Diligent practice and hard cultivation, entering the rank and breaking through the realm is the true meaning of the saber!" Ren Debiao defeated three people in a row. He looked at Meng Yuan, but saw that Meng Yuan still hadn't looked at him. Just as he was about to show off his footwork again, he heard Dugu Kang sigh repeatedly.

"Boring!" Dugu Kang's fat face showed impatience, "You only fight those who are weaker than you, what's the point of that?"

"Let's go, let's go!" Dugu Kang tucked his folding fan into the back of his neck and immediately walked out. As he passed by Meng Yuan, he actually grabbed Meng Yuan and said, "You come with me and tell me about killing Buddhist demons!"

Have you forgotten about me hitting your dog?

"The Training Field is not yet off duty. When the weather is nice another day, I will tell the Young Lord," Meng Yuan said with a smile.

"Are you really not coming with me?" Dugu Kang looked back at Ren Debiao and whispered, "If you don't go, he'll hit you in a bit!"

Is this Young Lord not an idiot? Meng Yuan saw that Dugu Kang wasn't bad-hearted, so he smiled, "It's fine, it's just a spar."

Dugu Kang looked Meng Yuan up and down, "Then don't forget to find me and tell me about the Buddhist demons!"

He patted his butt and left with his retainers and servants.

The Training Field returned to tranquility.

Meng Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, pressed the saber hilt at his waist, and said, "Brother Ren, we are both Princess Consort's people and have both been taught by Master Nie."

"You want to have a match?" Ren Debiao's face showed vigilance. He only felt that the current Meng Yuan seemed to have the appearance he had at Peach Blossom Ridge. At that time, this person had killed Wolf One, but the excitement and joy in his eyes had not faded, and there was a strong killing intent.

"Brother Ren, there were many outsiders just now. If we fought among ourselves, it would inevitably damage the Princess Consort's good name," Meng Yuan pressed the saber hilt and said, "You provoke me, I don't care. But Master Nie ordered me to be in charge here, and you injured my companions. Now that the outsiders are gone, you apologize to Tie Niu and Wu Changsheng, and this matter will be settled."

"What if I don't admit it?" Ren Debiao sneered.

"Then we will not only determine the victor, but also life and death," Meng Yuan drew his saber from its sheath.