Senior Sister's Secret, Defeating a Tendon-Refining Realm Expert! (Seeking Favorites and Recommendations)

"May I ask what Senior Sister Luo is looking for me about?"

Liu Chu looked at Luo Qingyue standing before him, somewhat bewildered. He had no idea why she had sought him out.

"Come with me!"

Luo Qingyue looked at Liu Chu, lightly pressing her lips together. After hesitating for a long while, she finally said those few words, then headed toward the side courtyard.

Liu Chu's eyes flickered with confusion, but he followed her anyway.

"Huh? Why is Senior Sister Luo looking for Liu Chu?"

A disciple noticed the two of them and looked just as puzzled.

"Could Senior Sister Luo have taken a liking to Liu Chu?"

One of the disciples raised his brows, wearing a lecherous expression. "How about we sneak a peek?"

"Shut up. How could Senior Sister Luo possibly take a liking to Liu Chu? I'm so handsome and graceful, and even she doesn't like me, let alone Liu Chu..."

Among the disciples were plenty who admired Luo Qingyue. One of them spoke with a hint of jealousy.

"Heh, Liu Chu's not bad-looking. But I heard he comes from a fishing family. Years of wind and sun, and soaking in river water, left his skin rough."

"Now that you mention it, ever since Liu Chu broke through into the Grade-Entry Realm and his skin underwent a transformation, it's been improving. These days, he's actually thirty percent as handsome as me!"

"Get lost, you shameless guy. Liu Chu's clearly a few shades more handsome than you!"

"Anyway, are you really not going to take a look?"

"Are you trying to get yourself killed? Senior Sister Luo has a nasty temper!"

Liu Chu followed Luo Qingyue to the small courtyard next door. It was used to store miscellaneous items, including quite a few rusty weapons and damaged training equipment such as wooden posts and stone locks.

There wasn't much clutter, though. It looked as if the place had been cleared out not long ago.

Luo Qingyue stopped. Dressed in a white martial outfit and a pair of boots, she was tall and well-built, with a full chest. She looked cool and dashing as she turned to face Liu Chu.

Liu Chu didn't speak, waiting for her to explain. Still, he had a vague idea what was going on.

"Junior Brother, I... I want to spar with you!"

Luo Qingyue lightly bit her lip and looked at Liu Chu with earnest eyes. Her gaze rippled like a pool of autumn water, utterly at odds with her cool demeanor.

It was only a spar... did she really need to look like that?

Liu Chu grumbled to himself. His eyes flickered as he seemed to understand, but he still pretended not to and asked, "Why did you bring me here to spar, Senior Sister? Couldn't we do it in the Inner Court?"

Luo Qingyue took a deep breath and shook her head. "You're good at combat, while I'm not. I don't want anyone to see me lose."

Liu Chu looked surprised, thinking, I didn't realize Senior Sister Luo cared so much about appearances. Perhaps that icy exterior is self-protection, born from the humiliation of being defeated by someone of a lower rank...

Liu Chu felt that Luo Qingyue wasn't truly cold by nature. It seemed more like an act she had deliberately put on.

She had probably been humiliated by someone of a lower rank defeating her, and kept her face cold to protect herself.

"If you're afraid of losing, why do you still want to spar with me?"

Liu Chu shook his head.

Luo Qingyue had gone out of her way to ask him for a spar, yet she was afraid of losing. Her actions and feelings seemed at odds.

"Because I want to wash away the shame of being defeated by someone of a lower rank!"

Luo Qingyue clenched her fists, her face full of resentment. "Ever since I was defeated in front of everyone by someone of a lower rank, I can feel the contempt in everyone's eyes, even if they don't say it aloud. Sometimes, it even feels like scorn!"

"I want you to help me train!"

She looked at Liu Chu with an earnest gaze. "You're skilled in combat, while I'm not. If I spar with you, I might be able to improve my combat skills!"

"Actually, you should spar with Senior Brother Lin Bei. He's also in the Eighth-Rank Tendon Refining Realm, the same level as you, so training with him would be more effective."

Liu Chu offered.

But Luo Qingyue sighed. "I've never beaten him when we sparred... I couldn't make any progress. Instead, he just kept crushing my confidence."

She gazed at Liu Chu with eyes like autumn water, hope in her expression. "But you're a lot like the person who defeated me. You're both Skin Refining Realm fighters, yet skilled in combat and able to defeat opponents of the same rank in just a few moves. If I can win a spar against you, perhaps that will mean I have the strength to wash away my shame!"

"I see."

Liu Chu understood. Having learned the reason, he no longer refused and agreed.

Truthfully, he also wanted to spar with a Tendon Refining Realm martial artist and see just how powerful his perfected Combat Technique was.

But Senior Brother Lin Bei hadn't been around, and Liu Chu had felt that asking Luo Qingyue to spar himself would be presumptuous.

After all, she had suffered the pain of being defeated by someone of a lower rank.

If he defeated her despite being of a lower rank, he might deal her another heavy blow.

Now that she had asked him herself, there was no need to worry.

"Then let's begin."

Liu Chu took his stance and looked toward Luo Qingyue.

"I'll use all my strength, so be careful!"

Seeing his stance, Luo Qingyue's expression turned serious. She gave a sharp shout, stamped her boot down, and flashed forward, leaving a blur behind her as she threw a full-power punch at Qin Gao.

In an instant, her bones and tendons rang. The punch sent the air trembling, its power surpassing that of an ordinary Skin Refining Realm martial artist as it struck straight toward Liu Chu's face.

Liu Chu felt the force rushing toward him, but his expression remained calm. He swept his left leg aside, retreated half a step to gather strength, and clenched his five fingers into a fist. His body was like a strong bow drawn to its limit as he suddenly launched a punch!

His fist tore through the air, making it give a faint explosive crack. Like a cannonball, it collided with Luo Qingyue's fist in an instant.

Bang!

They traded a hard blow and each retreated several steps.

"I really can fight a Tendon Refining Realm martial artist..."

Liu Chu felt a slight numbness in his fist. Though he had retreated several steps, his eyes were bright with excitement.

Their exchange of punches had been almost perfectly even!

If anything, Liu Chu had held a slight advantage.

"Perhaps it's the combination of my Great Accomplishment Yanglian Technique and perfected Combat Technique, producing a result greater than the sum of its parts!"

The thought flashed through Liu Chu's mind, giving him a deeper understanding of his own strength.

"Just as I thought..."

Luo Qingyue's expression turned complicated. Memories surfaced, and she felt as if the moment she had been defeated by someone of a lower rank was happening all over again, overlapping with their spar.

"Again!"

Liu Chu paid no attention to Luo Qingyue's expression. His spirits were high, and he was eager to test his strength.

His perfected Combat Technique, Great Accomplishment Yanglian Technique, and Minor Accomplishment Duanmen Saber combined to make him strong enough to overwhelm martial artists of the same rank.

It wasn't every day he got to spar with a Tendon Refining Realm martial artist. Of course he had to make the most of the chance!

His blood vitality surged. Four streams of Blood Vitality surged within him like a rushing river, giving him astonishing strength.

He threw a punch and charged straight at Luo Qingyue!

Luo Qingyue didn't dare let her guard down. She knew her own strength and had never thought she could defeat Liu Chu for certain. She had even prepared herself to lose.

Now, seeing Liu Chu charge at her, she used the Dragon-Tiger Combat Technique. Her fist surged forward like a dragon bursting from the sea, its momentum fierce as she met Liu Chu's punch.

Boom! Bang! Boom! Bang! Boom! Bang!

The two exchanged several blows in the blink of an eye.

Luo Qingyue's realm was a step higher, but her combat skills were clearly inferior. Her moves were stiff and lacked flexibility.

Liu Chu's realm was a step lower, but his Combat Technique was perfected, and his techniques were nearly flawless. Each move flowed as naturally as if it had been carved from one piece, and every technique meshed tightly with the next.

Each strike led into the next, then the one after that... with every step, he could already see three more ahead!

Even in strength, he was not inferior to Luo Qingyue in the slightest. His Stake Training had reached Great Accomplishment, and the four streams of Blood Vitality within him roared and surged as his force burst forth.

After more than a dozen moves, Liu Chu's tightly linked techniques forced Luo Qingyue back again and again.

At one point, he knocked aside Luo Qingyue's guard with a punch, changed his fist into a claw, and, with his five fingertips glinting with force, seized the fleeting opening and grabbed her snow-white throat.

"I lost again..."

Luo Qingyue's eyes widened, her lips parted slightly, her expression despondent.

"Thank you for the match!"

Liu Chu released her and smiled, clasping his hands politely.

With that, he turned and left, giving Luo Qingyue space to process her defeat on her own.

He had just returned to the Inner Court when he saw a group of fellow disciples looking at him with bright eyes.

"Junior Brother, what were you and Senior Sister Luo doing in there?"

"Junior Brother, where's Senior Sister?"

"Junior Brother..."

Some of the more familiar senior and junior brothers immediately came over, hoping to pry the story out of Liu Chu.

Liu Chu simply shook his head. "Senior Sister's still inside. You can go see for yourselves."

"This..."

The crowd fell silent. There was no way they dared. Everyone knew Senior Sister had a bad temper. Who knew whether they'd get a sound beating?

After all, though Senior Sister had been defeated by someone of a lower rank, her opponent was as capable as Liu Chu—a Skin Refining Realm martial artist who could overpower others of the same rank. They were no match for her!

After sending off the group of gossip-loving senior and junior sisters, Liu Chu was about to practice his saber technique.

Chen He, however, sidled up to him. "Junior Brother, what exactly were you and Senior Sister doing in that little courtyard? You don't have to tell them, but surely you can tell me. I've always been good at keeping secrets. I'd never let a word slip!"

"This is a secret between Senior Sister and me..."

Liu Chu shook his head, refusing to say anything.