Lin Yueru's Wager

"What are you doing here, Ru'er? Hurry up and go back!" The moment Lin Tiannan saw who had arrived, his eyes bulged and his mustache bristled with fury. Lin Yueru was the apple of his eye, and he doted on her. She was also of marriageable age. What was a girl like her doing in a place like the Snake Demon's lair? If word got out, it would do terrible damage to her reputation. Just thinking about it gave him a headache!

"If I hadn't come, Father would still be outside playing hide-and-seek with those Nine-Headed Snakes! Hmph, why didn't you tell me to go back then?" Lin Yueru wasn't buying any of Lin Tiannan's arguments. She puffed out her cheeks and left him speechless with a single sentence.

Things had indeed happened just as Gao Xu had guessed. Lin Tiannan had managed to get free so quickly thanks to Lin Yueru, who shouldn't have been there in the first place.

But why Lin Yueru had abandoned the escort party and doubled back was beyond Gao Xu's ability to figure out.

"May I ask what you have in mind, Miss Lin?" Gao Xu couldn't tell what Lin Yueru was after, and could only ask despite his misgivings.

"I don't presume to instruct you!" Lin Yueru drew her long sword and pointed it at the Snake Demon. "The Demon Locking Tower is an extremely dangerous place. In his current condition, sending him there would mean certain death. So I want to make a wager with you. If you win, Father will wait until he's fully recovered before sending him into the tower. How about it?"

"What sort of wager?" Gao Xu narrowed his eyes. The Snake Demon looked extremely weak, but that was only a side effect of the Berserk Demon Art. He would recover in about fifteen minutes, so Gao Xu wasn't worried about the Snake Demon and Fox Demon's safety.

With their combined strength, the Snake Demon and Fox Demon weren't exactly formidable fighters, but they weren't weak either. Unless something unexpected happened, Li Xiaoyao would bring down the Demon Locking Tower within a year. Then Gao Xu could take Su Mei there, and complete his mission.

The Demon Locking Tower was one of the most famous story instances, and its rewards were all top-notch. In his previous life, Gao Xu had been a Reincarnator in the cultivation system. He had visited the tower several times and even taken part in Li Xiaoyao's tower-toppling campaign—cough, cough, the tower-toppling campaign... That was why he had made such a suggestion to Lin Tiannan.

"Simple. We'll fight!" Lin Yueru's brows shot up and her phoenix eyes widened. "A-Mei has praised you to high heaven. She said that after watching her sword dance once, you understood all its flaws. I want to see for myself if you're really that good!"

"Participant 1897 has triggered a B-rank side quest: Lin Yueru's Wager. Accepting this quest will initiate a one-on-one duel with story character Lin Yueru. You will be unable to return to the space until the battle ends. Victory will greatly increase Lin Yueru's favorability and award 2,500 points. Defeat will reduce Lin Yueru's favorability to 0, with no point penalty. If you decline this quest, your reputation with Lin Family Fort will be permanently locked, and you will be unable to accept any future quests related to Lin Yueru. Please choose carefully."

"So that's what it is..." Gao Xu gave a bitter laugh. He finally understood the problem. No wonder Lin Yueru had been polite to him, yet his Emblem hadn't given him any notice of a change in favorability. It turned out that deep down, the proud young lady of the Lin family wasn't convinced by him and had been waiting for her chance.

The little maid Dongmei must have praised Gao Xu so highly that she'd roused Lin Yueru's competitive spirit. It had backfired...

Now that the side quest had been triggered, Gao Xu was backed into a corner and had no choice but to accept. Even if he lost, he would only lose the influence Dongmei had on Lin Yueru, and he could still make amends later. But if he didn't even dare to fight, he'd lose face completely, and the gates of Lin Family Fort would remain closed to him forever.

"A B-rank quest with a 2,500-point reward. Heh, they really think highly of me!" Gao Xu glanced at his pitiful handful of attribute points and his completely empty skill list, and sighed to himself. Quests that greatly increased favorability with major story characters were extremely rare. It would be a shame to miss this one!

Since they were going to fight, everyone left the cramped stone chamber and returned to the spot where the earlier battle had taken place. Lin Yueru and Gao Xu walked to the center, saluted, and drew their swords!

They stood proudly facing each other from a distance, their gazes as sharp as sword edges as they sized each other up. A duel between masters was like a battle between armies: to win a hundred battles, you first had to know yourself and your opponent. So they had to scrutinize every slight movement, without missing a single detail.

Though Lin Yueru had voiced plenty of doubts about Gao Xu's abilities, she treated the duel as if facing a formidable enemy, utterly focused and without the slightest trace of underestimating him.

Even if my chances of winning are slim, I'll give it everything I've got! Gao Xu clenched his fist and took out the temporary skill point from Tang Mei'er's chest. He reluctantly spent it on the Insight skill. The skill flickered, and its attributes improved considerably.

Insight: B-rank passive skill, low tier. During combat, has a 30% chance to detect an enemy's skill weakness. If you seize the moment and attack immediately, you can break the skill's effect and inflict backlash damage equal to 40% of the skill's original power on the person who used it. Effective only against B-rank skills and below. This skill can be upgraded. Status: Active.

Even with the boost in skill rank, there was no changing the fact that his attributes lagged far behind Lin Yueru's across the board. Gao Xu figured he'd gain nothing by attacking first, so he spread his feet apart and braced himself. "After you, Miss Lin!"

Lin Yueru was used to taking the initiative and pressing the attack. Without another word, she swung her sword at him with a sharp hiss.

The treasured sword in Lin Yueru's hand was called the Yuenü Sword. Its blade was thin, its steel frosty white, and its edge razor-sharp. Its cold, mournful gleam was like moonlight, making it perfect for the Benhui Sword Art.

Gao Xu remained unruffled, holding the Flying Rainbow Sword across his chest. Its three-foot blade shimmered with a faint, flowing rainbow sheen like autumn waters. Only when Lin Yueru's sword was almost upon him did he meet it with a clang and deflect her strike.

The tremendous force surging through their swords drew a muffled grunt from Gao Xu. He stepped back half a pace with his left foot to absorb the impact. Lin Yueru's phoenix eyes lit up at the sight. She turned her blade, sweeping it through the air like swirling snow, with the force of a howling northern wind. Her attacks grew faster.

With just one probing strike, Lin Yueru had spotted that Gao Xu was weaker in arm strength. She immediately began pressing him with hard, forceful attacks. After only a few breaths, Gao Xu's grip had nearly been shaken loose and his arm had gone numb. He couldn't help groaning inwardly.

The sword art Gao Xu was using was the Soft Cloud Sword Art of the Heavenly Profound Sect. In his previous life, he had properly learned the Five Heavenly Blaze Swords. He had started as a novice in the sect, risen step by step, and eventually been taught its supreme sword-flying technique. The hardship involved was impossible to describe to outsiders, but the rewards had been immense. His wide array of sword arts was one of them.

The Soft Cloud Sword Art was intricate and disciplined, specializing in defense. Its principle was, "If the enemy does not move, neither do I." Yet it also drew its changes from clouds and mist, making its movements unpredictable and hard to read. It could often unleash a lethal strike from the most unexpected angle, deciding the victor with a single sword stroke and determining life or death.

Gao Xu had chosen this defensive sword art because he'd assumed Lin Yueru wouldn't have much combat experience and planned to wear her down. Who knew the young lady of the Lin family would be so formidable? She'd spotted the Soft Cloud Sword Art's weakness right away and, relying on her superior attributes, launched a relentless assault.

The Flying Rainbow Sword darted left and right to block her attacks. Though Gao Xu's superb swordsmanship let him make the most of every opportunity to parry, the force of her blows still made his health steadily fall. At this rate, in less than a minute, Gao Xu would have to drop his sword and admit defeat.

Lin Tiannan's brow had already relaxed as he watched from the sidelines, pride shining in his eyes. He was immensely pleased with his precious daughter. If she hadn't been born a girl, she would have been more than qualified to inherit his mantle as martial arts alliance leader.

Alas, Lin Yueru would have to marry one day. Finding a suitable husband for this little princess had given Lin Tiannan no end of worry.

Just as Lin Tiannan's thoughts had drifted ahead to the martial arts tournament to find Lin Yueru a husband, a new change came over the duel.

Gao Xu began to counterattack.