Chapter Fifty-Four: Harvest and Ambush
"My lord, I really don't dare. When you stand in front of me, all the strength seems to leave my body. I can't even think of drawing my sword. I wasn't nearly this afraid when Pike Great Swordsman chose me as his opponent, but the moment I see you, I want to drop my sword and surrender. I—I don't know why..." Yingjielieke said pitifully.
Damn. I've scared the old man out of his wits. He doesn't dare fight me at all. Lorist waved a hand, his interest gone. "Forget it. You can go."
The old man bowed as though granted a pardon and hurried away.
What mattered now was dealing with Slov, the leader of the Slov Slave Catching Group, and his cousin Pike Great Swordsman when they returned in a few days. Lorist felt confident against a Gold Swordsman, but he had never fought a Great Swordsman before. The thought left him uneasy.
Before leaving Molent City, Lorist had visited Instructor Krudd. Newly advanced to Great Swordsman, Krudd had been in excellent form and high spirits. He had even declared that if they sparred again, he would never let Lorist last two hundred moves as he had the previous time.
Krudd still believed Lorist possessed only Black Iron Battle Qi, but Lorist saw no need to explain that he had been at the peak of Manifest Force during their last match and had since entered the realm of Dark Force. Defeating him would not be so easy now. Instead, Lorist asked what separated a Great Swordsman from a Gold Swordsman.
After some thought, Krudd brought out several cups to demonstrate. He set the smallest cup on the table and said awakening Battle Qi was like gaining a cup inside one's body to hold it.