Outstanding

No one paid any attention to the steward of Yuan Wu Alley or any other trivial details.

Everyone's attention was focused on the arena. Quite a few gamblers who had placed heavy bets were waving their fists and letting out fanatical, strange cries.

Chen Yao had been tempering herself here since she was at the Subordinate Ninth Rank. By now, she had fought dozens of battles, losing only four, and even those had been narrow defeats. In the end, she had always managed to retreat unscathed.

By comparison, Lu Sheng was here for the first time.

Perhaps some calamity had befallen his household, forcing him to come to Yuan Wu Alley and wager his life and fortune. The filthy, disheveled hair on his head hinted at as much.

Thus, before the match, most of the gamblers had placed their bets on Chen Yao. But after seeing Lu Sheng's swollen, massive body and exaggerated muscles, they all grew somewhat uneasy.

"Fine. You attack first."

Lu Sheng spoke to Chen Yao in a muffled voice.

His weapon consisted of two iron bracers worn around his wrists. Clearly, he practiced boxing.

Whoosh.

As nimble as a rabbit, Chen Yao appeared at Lu Sheng's right side in an instant. The Blood Qi of an Eighth Rank martial artist surged within her body, bursting twice in succession.

The Three-Foot Green Edge in her hand swept through the air in an arc whose trajectory was almost invisible to the naked eye, cutting toward Lu Sheng's neck.

Clang!

Lu Sheng raised his hand to block. The iron bracer collided with the blade, ringing with the crisp sound of metal striking metal.

At the same time, both of their Blood Qi burst forth. The heavy, hill-like body suddenly erupted with astonishing speed, and a fist came crashing down toward Chen Yao.

The two swiftly clashed.

"Nether Fox can actually fight that huge fellow to a standstill."

Someone exclaimed in amazement.

"No. You should say that the big fellow is rather strong. Martial artists aren't judged by their size... Nether Fox has defeated more than one Eighth Rank martial artist with her sword."

The eyes of the person beside him flickered.

Below the Sixth Rank, martial artists relied on the sudden surge of strength and speed from Blood Qi Burst to decide victory or defeat. As a result, their battles were often settled extremely quickly.

Chen Yao's figure had already become a blur on the arena, almost impossible for ordinary people to see clearly. As she dashed about, the blades she swung even stirred up visible streaks of sword light.

On the other side.

Lu Sheng was forced to parry, but he was not panicked. Instead, his mind remained steady and composed.

Although he was not skilled in speed and could not even touch Chen Yao's shadow while she went all out, in a battle between martial artists, being skilled in speed did not necessarily mean one could win in the end. The crucial point was still how long one's Blood Qi Burst could last!

He did not believe Chen Yao's Blood Qi Burst could outlast his. As long as hers was shorter by a single breath, then the moment she could no longer maintain it, he would immediately catch up and settle the battle with one strike.

Four breaths,

Five breaths,

Six breaths,

Time trickled by.

To ordinary people, it was merely the blink of an eye. But to Chen Yao and Lu Sheng, every breath was a life-and-death struggle, with several exchanges of offense and defense taking place within each one.

As time passed, Lu Sheng's skin gradually became stained with red, and his breathing grew heavier. A faint blush also spread across Chen Yao's skin.

This showed that both of them were nearing their limits.

The calm and composed Lu Sheng finally found it difficult to maintain his composure. Shock appeared in his eyes, because twelve breaths had already passed, while his Blood Qi Burst could last at most fourteen breaths!

This woman can actually hold out until now!

Thirteen breaths.

Sword light crossed and crisscrossed, the crisp clang of metal striking metal resembling the rapid plucking of a pipa. Chen Yao gave Lu Sheng no chance to avoid the edge or catch his breath. Although her own skin had also become streaked with alarming patches of crimson, she still refused to retreat.

Fourteen breaths.

With a furious roar, Lu Sheng no longer dodged the sword thrusting toward him. He allowed it to stab into his shoulder while fiercely charging forward, intending to trade one sword strike for one collision.

However, halfway through the thrust, Chen Yao's sword suddenly became limp and powerless. It had been a feint. Borrowing the momentum, she shifted left, clearing the path in an instant and causing Lu Sheng's collision to strike empty air.

"The victor has been decided."

The steward of Yuan Wu Alley spoke in a low voice.

Sure enough.

In the very next instant, Lu Sheng could no longer maintain his burst state. His speed abruptly slowed, while Chen Yao spun in midair and swung her sword again.

Lu Sheng raised both arms to block, but no longer being in his burst state, he could only endure Chen Yao's sword strike head-on. Although he managed to withstand it, he could not resist the force and was sent flying backward, out of the arena.

Thud, thud, thud!

He landed directly below the arena, crushing the ground beneath his feet. He staggered backward more than a dozen steps before barely coming to a stop, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

On the arena, Chen Yao also came to a halt after swinging her final sword strike. Her face was as red as blood, and her whole body staggered. Only by bracing herself against her sword did she barely manage to remain standing.

"That was close."

Chen Yao thought this inwardly.

She too had reached her absolute limit. Compared to Lu Sheng's burst duration, hers was at most half a breath longer. As a result, she could only deliver one final sword strike and had no strength left to follow up.

Fortunately.

She had still knocked Lu Sheng out of the arena.

If Chen Mu had not adjusted her stance a few days earlier, her burst duration would have been half a breath shorter than Lu Sheng's. There was no doubt she would have lost this battle. At best, she could have relied on her speed to retreat out of the arena and admit defeat before reaching her limit, but that would have been extremely dangerous.

Watching Lu Sheng get knocked out of the arena, Chen Yao stood leaning on her sword. After a brief silence fell over the arena, wave after wave of cheers soared into the sky and resounded through the heavens!

They were mixed with cheers from those who had won their bets and wails from those who had lost.

With this.

Chen Yao had completed a total of forty battles in Yuan Wu Alley!

Among them were thirty victories, six draws, and four defeats. Moreover, she had overtaken her former standing and had not lost a single battle since the beginning of last year. She had remained on a winning streak until now. Including this battle, she had won seventeen in a row!

Among the countless martial artists who had clashed in Yuan Wu Alley, this record belonged to the upper tier!

In a certain corner.

Chen Mu quietly watched Chen Yao in the arena. Along with his surprise, a trace of admiration appeared in his eyes. He had not expected Chen Yao to possess such a firm heart devoted to martial arts, or such resolute conviction and willpower.

One had to understand that, apart from himself, no one could determine the exact duration of a Blood Qi Burst. If Lu Sheng's burst had lasted half a breath longer than Chen Yao's, then if Chen Yao had refused to retreat at fourteen breaths, not only would she have lost, she might not even have been able to retreat unscathed!

But Chen Yao had not retreated!

When martial artists fought, a single thought in an instant could determine life and death, victory and defeat!

Chen Mu felt that he might have underestimated Chen Yao somewhat. With this spirit and willpower, even if she had not been born into Xuanguo Estate but had instead been born among those martial sects of the pugilistic world where conflict was brutal, Chen Yao would still have been able to rise.

"Since that's the case, I'll help you a little more as well. Let's see how far you can go in the future."

Chen Mu smiled inwardly.

Chen Yao's spirit and willpower were worthy of praise. Naturally, he did not mind giving her a few more pushes. But how far she could go in the future would still depend on Chen Yao herself.