"Arch-Enemy" Wang Ye

After trading over a hundred moves, you had already judged Wang Ye's level of strength.

His Force Qi surpassed yours by quite a bit, but his physical strength was slightly inferior. Clearly, he had been a First-rate Martial Artist for quite some time, though he was probably still at the stage of strengthening his internal organs and lungs. Overall, his "stats" were a notch above yours, but not enough to create any obvious suppression.

Beyond those "stats," your fighting techniques were more or less equal, but in terms of Combat Techniques, you knew far more than he did. Whenever faced with some tricky sword techniques, you could always find an appropriate counter, taking them on at a smaller cost.

At this moment, the spectators in the hall let out gasps of amazement from time to time. There were also discerning masters present, explaining the brilliant points of the two men's clash.

Some who knew that you had changed your foundational martial art were secretly shocked. They had not expected that, with at least some of your Foundation still lingering at the Second-Rate level and having only just broken through to First-Rate, you could fight Wang Ye—a man who had been a First-rate Martial Artist for six or seven years—to a standstill.

Suddenly, your Hundred Refinements Steel Saber let out a faint, almost inaudible wail. Your heart cried out that something was wrong, but Wang Ye seized the chance and stabbed out three swords in succession, determined to meet you head-on.

After three strikes, his arm was indeed numbed by the recoil, but your Hundred Refinements Steel Saber could no longer withstand a clash between First-rate Martial Artists. With a crack, it shattered into several fragments!

You knew defeat was inevitable now. Your only choice was to pour everything into one final gamble. Taking advantage of the instant stiffness from Wang Ye's numbed hand and his momentary delight after smashing your saber, you violently blasted out every shred of Force Qi in your body!

Pale blue Force Qi surged forth like gunpowder propulsion, sending the broken saber fragments flying out like darts and bullets. After that strike, your meridians swelled with pain, your strength was drained dry, and your body swayed, nearly unable to remain standing before collapsing to the floor.

You decided that if he was unharmed, you would immediately concede. This was a match, not a death duel. Your own hall master was watching from the side—could Wang Ye really murder you outright?

But what you heard was a miserable scream. Wang Ye was fine everywhere else. The fragments had only pierced less than half an inch into his body; even those aimed straight at his chest could not reach his heart. Once removed, they were minor wounds that a First-rate Martial Artist could heal in a dozen or so days without even leaving scars.

But Wang Ye was clutching his crotch.

You very much wanted to say that you had not done it on purpose, but the looks everyone gave you were more or less strange.

It was not that they were afraid. It was simply that although everyone had secretly used such lowly tricks before, you had employed one so openly...

Whether intentional or not, your first First-Rate match had not earned you a good reputation.

Wang Ye conceded. He was carried away, curled up like a giant shrimp on the stretcher, glaring at you with bitter hatred.

...After the Martial Celebration Banquet ended, there was one small ceremony at the end: declaring one's title.

You gave yourself a distinctive nickname to spread your reputation, such as Wang Ye's Purple Shadow Sword. As for Tianhe Martial Hall's master, Fang Mingyue, when she had walked the Jianghu in her youth, her title had been Mysterious Jade Beauty.

You slowly announced your title to the fellow Jianghu travelers gathered there: Cloud Sky Saber.

(Picked at random.)

Yun Shou saw through it at once. "Yun from Yun Shou, sky from the Flowing River Technique, and the saber I've practiced the longest?"

"It really was pretty random... Don't blame him. I've never had much talent for naming things."

Some martial artists present offered congratulations, while others felt a little displeased, because that "Sky" character was rather arrogant.

In the year 299 of Da Qing, you heard that another martial hall was relocating to Yangxue City. As the local power, Tianhe Martial Hall naturally had to conduct a test of strength for the incoming hall; otherwise, it would not be permitted to settle in.

Among the martial artists of the newly relocated Radiant Light Martial Hall, you stared at Wang Ye in silence.

So last year's challenge was all to make it easier for your martial hall to settle here!

On the surface, Wang Ye had been targeting you, but in truth, he had wanted to disgrace Tianhe Martial Hall.

It was easy to imagine that if you had been defeated back then, word would have spread that "Tianhe Martial Hall's First-rate Experts are inferior to Radiant Light Martial Hall's First-rate Experts." Radiant Light Martial Hall would have won a round before even moving in.

But you had won. You could see through Radiant Light Martial Hall's scheme, and others were no fools either. You felt that your colleagues' goodwill and recognition toward you had increased somewhat, Reputation +10.

The two martial halls agreed on a best-of-five format: one Martial Master match, three First-Rate matches, and one Second-Rate match, starting from the weaker ranks. This was a martial hall, not a gang; what they compared was the strength of their disciples.

The first to take the stage was Bai Liguang, the final disciple of Tianhe Martial Hall's master Fang Mingyue. He was nineteen years old, yet had already begun Blood Replacement and Muscle Condensation.

"Nineteen years old, young?" Yun Shou scoffed disdainfully.

In the first match, Tianhe Martial Hall lost. Bai Liguang retreated while coughing blood.

The second match was you, who had only become a First-rate Martial Artist at forty-three and was now forty-four.

Yun Shou said, "Come to think of it... he really is quite young."

Ordinarily, among First-rate Martial Artists, the match would not have fallen to you and Wang Ye. Among those at the First-Rate level, both of you could only be considered "decent," and each martial hall had stronger fighters.

But since Wang Ye had specifically called you out, under a certain sense of "destiny," the first First-rate Martial Artist match was arranged between the two of you.

A year later—though in truth it had only been over half a year—you faced each other again. Your Foundation had reached 1.58 times, while the Flowing River Technique was still at the depth of Initiation. Fortunately, Wang Ye's Purple Sun Technique had likewise not broken through Major Accomplishment to reach Perfection.

You replaced your weapon with a Crimson Iron Saber capable of supporting combat between First-rate Experts, and engaged Wang Ye in a fierce♂ and grueling♂ battle.

This time, your battle was almost evenly matched. Wang Ye seemed to have been provoked; he kept attacking below the belt, and you did not yield to him either, your moves becoming just as vicious.

This is killing me. Even if I get beaten to death on the spot, I still have my Main Body to let me start over. You brat don't have a second chance!

With life and death treated lightly—though not that lightly—you and Wang Ye fought for three hundred exchanges. Last time, his raw strength had been slightly greater than yours. If you had not unleashed that strange move when your weapon shattered, he would most likely have won that battle in the end.

But this time, the two of you drew. Your clothes were torn to ribbons, blood flowed freely, and each of you withdrew to your own martial hall's group for treatment.

In the battles that followed, including the two just now, Radiant Light Martial Hall achieved two wins, two draws, and one loss. The loss came in the fourth First-Rate match, while the draw came in the final Martial Master match.

(You suspected those two Martial Master hall masters were only going through the motions. They had not put nearly as much effort into it as you did in the first four matches.)

Radiant Light Martial Hall settled in Yangxue City.

The "assessment" for a martial hall's settlement did not require a consecutive winning streak. It only needed to prove that it possessed a certain degree of strength and qualification.

Usually, five matches were held. A draw counted as one point and a victory as two. Most martial halls could settle in a city with three or four points, while higher scores represented greater influence.

Radiant Light Martial Hall had earned six points, faintly overshadowing Tianhe Martial Hall. Thus, quite a large number of people came to its opening ceremony.

(You attended the ceremony too and ate their rice.)

Yun Shou nodded and said leisurely, "From now on, we'll all be people living in the same city. We'll keep running into each other."

People in this world were not that bloodthirsty. They would not wipe out an entire clan over some petty verbal dispute.