Clang.
A crisp metallic clash rang out.
Under everyone's astonished gaze, Qin Yuan's blade had somehow appeared behind him. He slipped it through the ring and stopped Sun Chuantao's attack.
"Too crude. Your feint was poorly done," Qin Yuan remarked, then knocked the ring-bladed saber aside.
Sun Chuantao rubbed his nose. He had a feeling that as long as Qin Yuan looked into his eyes, he could read his every thought.
Even the academy's teaching directors couldn't do that, could they?
Of course, that ability came from experience forged through countless real battles. Anyone who had never licked blood from a blade's edge would find it hard to learn.
Sun Chuantao did not give up. He gripped his massive blade again and pressed the attack.
Yet Qin Yuan remained where he stood. No matter how Sun Chuantao swung his saber, Qin Yuan blocked it with ease.
Watching from the sidelines, Xie Yue said gravely, "It's a kind of artistic realm."
"What?" Hu Liena and Yan both froze.
Xie Yue explained solemnly, "With powerful weapon Martial Souls—blades, swords, spears, and the like—Soul Masters can develop an artistic realm once they've honed their skills to the extreme."
"Take Teacher Qin. His mastery of the blade is profound. Even a casual swing from him is anything but ordinary."
"Sun Chuantao's attacks are fierce. When I fought him before, I was on the defensive the entire time. But in Teacher Qin's eyes, his attacks are no threat at all. He can see right through them."
"That's the absolute difference between Blade Technique with an artistic realm and ordinary Blade Technique. If I could learn to wield a blade like that, perhaps..."
Yan exclaimed, "Xie Yue, have you lost your mind? Blade Technique is a closely guarded secret. Besides, His Holiness the Pope didn't ask