Seeking Opportunity in Danger

Gao Xu was by no means a man who gave up halfway; until the very last moment, he would never admit defeat.

Even though the gap between him and Lin Yueru was already glaringly obvious, and even though the webbing between his thumb and forefinger had split, blood soaking the hilt of his sword, there was not a shred of despondency or defeat in his eyes!

He was waiting, waiting for an opportunity, a fleeting moment to launch a counterattack!

A woman's stamina is ultimately not as enduring as a man's, making prolonged combat unfavorable. While Lin Yueru's internal cultivation was extraordinary, after such a fierce onslaught, she was forced to regulate her breath.

This was an extremely brief instant. To avoid being exploited by her opponent, Lin Yueru deliberately swung her sword three times to force Gao Xu back, immediately adopting a defensive stance with her blade held horizontally across her chest.

Yet, this unnatural movement exposed her intent. Gao Xu did not pause for a second; his sword momentum shifted abruptly, abandoning his nimble style for a horizontal, diagonal slash.

As Lin Yueru was catching her breath, she dared not meet the strike head-on. She twisted her waist to dodge, countering with a thrust toward Gao Xu's throat. Unexpectedly, Gao Xu moved in sync with his blade, sliding along the length of her sword to appear behind her, where he wove a flurry of sword flowers, stabbing directly at the vital acupuncture points on her back.

In a duel between experts, the situation changes in the blink of an eye. Having seized the initiative, Gao Xu gained the upper hand. Left with no choice, Lin Yueru pressed her fingers together like a blade, bent her slender waist, and swept toward Gao Xu's lower stance with a "Qi Sword Finger."

Finally, I've waited for this! As the distinct light points of his Insight skill flickered before his eyes, Gao Xu's body tensed, his focus reaching its peak. The Flying Rainbow Sword thrust out, appearing slow but moving with lethal speed, precisely grazing the weak point of Lin Yueru's Qi Sword Finger.

Lin Yueru's expression changed drastically. Her arms trembled, and the Qi Sword Finger she had already unleashed veered off course, shooting toward her own lower abdomen.

Suddenly faced with such an unprecedented turn of events, Lin Yueru finally displayed her true caliber.

In truth, the Panlong Technique within the Lin Family Swordplay was best suited for this situation—steady as a rock, agile as a dragon—a style that balanced both offense and defense. Unfortunately, Lin Yueru's nature favored aggression, and her mastery of this technique was not high. Thus, she did not choose the Panlong Technique, but instead employed the Wulang Technique.

With a delicate cry, her Yuenü Sword instantly bent. She used her profound internal energy to force the blade to curve, making the precious sword resemble a soft, winding ribbon. It was erratic and unpredictable, yet possessed peerless sharpness. How could an enemy parry such a strike?

Once the Wulang Technique was unleashed, the Yuenü Sword acted like a long whip, intercepting the sword qi that had nearly struck her abdomen at the very last second. Even so, Lin Yueru's face paled, and she suffered minor internal injuries. Bending her waist, she touched her sword to the ground, vaulted into the air, drifted several yards away, and retracted her blade to stand on the defensive.

Gao Xu sighed inwardly. His Agility attribute was too low, and he had not learned any light-footwork techniques, leaving him unable to pursue her as she moved with such ease.

Fortunately, his goal had already been achieved.

"You were actually able to instantly find the flaw in my technique and disrupt my sword qi?" Lin Yueru steadied her breathing, recalling the danger of the previous moment with lingering fear, though her expression was dominated by disbelief.

It wasn't just her; even the spectator Lin Tiannan widened his eyes, scrutinizing Gao Xu with a grave expression. If this wasn't just a lucky guess, then this boy's martial talent is truly inconceivable!

"Good! A-Mei did not misjudge you; you are a worthy opponent!" Lin Yueru nodded solemnly toward Gao Xu. While she was apologizing for her earlier skepticism, a fierce fighting spirit burned on her pretty face—her interest had been truly ignited.

Gao Xu did not show a hint of complacency, for he knew the real difficulties were yet to come. The gap in strength between them was too vast; he could only seek victory through peril!

The peril was a risk to his life. Duels were not always stopped at the point of contact; if Lin Yueru failed to pull back in time and Lin Tiannan stood by as a bystander, he could truly die here.

Of course, judging by the mission description and Lin Tiannan's character, the possibility of death was extremely slim, which was why Gao Xu chose to give it his all.

Now, it would depend on whether the Goddess of Luck favored him today...

A 30% trigger chance was not high, but if his luck held, landing it two or three more times was quite possible.

If Lin Yueru's techniques were broken again and again, even if it didn't drain much of her health, she wouldn't continue to fight shamelessly.

After all, this was a duel, not a life-or-death struggle.

The proud Miss Lin, just as Gao Xu had anticipated, stopped using basic attacks. Instead, she lowered her gaze, gathered her focus, and held her hands before her chest. Her body moved with her heart, her qi flowed with her intent, and she slowly pointed her index finger.

A blinding, dazzling light erupted from Lin Yueru's fingertip. Gao Xu squinted involuntarily as a purple-gold sword qi surged toward him like a sun rising in the world. The scorching heat scorched the soil on the ground, carving a deep trench into the earth.

What fierce sword qi, what concentrated sword qi!

This was the lethal move derived from the Lin Family's Ningqi Technique: the One Yang Finger!

Facing such a powerful sword qi capable of splitting the earth, Gao Xu had no choice but to avoid its edge. Fortunately, he was familiar with all of Lin Yueru's skills and had prepared early, allowing him to narrowly dodge the first One Yang Finger despite his low Agility.

Yes, the first one. Because Lin Yueru seemed to know in advance that Gao Xu would dodge, she didn't even look at the result before the second One Yang Finger shot from her fingertip.

The thing I hate most is the cooldown time of plot character skills. It's so short—you might as well make them instant-cast! This is just too unbalanced, ahhhhh!

Of course, not just any plot character could drastically shorten their skill cooldowns. At the very least, one had to have the deep family heritage of someone like Lin Yueru, practicing from childhood, to compress the cooldown of the One Yang Finger to within a few seconds, allowing for continuous casting.

This made things miserable for Gao Xu. After dodging only three shots, he was in a wretched state, his eyes rolling back. Compared to the close-range Qi Sword Finger, this long-range One Yang Finger had a tell, making it easier to dodge, but the possibility of an Insight counterattack was undoubtedly greatly reduced.

With Lin Yueru's internal cultivation, she could release at least four or five more, but Gao Xu knew he had reached his limit. The next One Yang Finger would force him into a dead end, and he would have no choice but to tank the skill.

This woman's combat intuition is terrifying; she can always quickly detect the enemy's weaknesses. I only have the Insight skill to rely on now. Even if I can dodge the One Yang Finger, I can't defend against her other skills. No, I must end this quickly!

In his previous life, Gao Xu had little interaction with Lin Yueru; the few times they did meet were related to the battle at the Shushan Demon Locking Tower. At that time, her family martial arts were nothing in his eyes, so he hadn't paid much attention.

But now, as a martial arts-based reincarnator dueling Miss Lin, he truly realized how astonishing her talent was. If not for the natural constraints of the plot, had she developed normally, she would never have been inferior to Li Xiaoyao.

Facing such a gifted and peerless beauty, Gao Xu's desire to win was ignited. When the fourth One Yang Finger shot toward his chest, he no longer retreated. Instead, he faced the sword qi head-on, waiting until the very last second to suddenly crouch and lean backward, executing an exquisitely precise Iron Bridge!

The Iron Bridge was a life-saving ultimate move for dodging hidden weapons. When an ordinary person used it, their body would stiffen, suddenly leaning backward while their feet remained firmly planted on the ground. After the projectile grazed their face, the body had to be able to spring back immediately, rather than collapsing to the ground and losing the initiative.

This move emphasized speed of movement and a straight posture—"feet like cast iron, body straight as a board, tilted like a bridge."

Gao Xu's combat techniques were also forged in the life-and-death struggles of his past life, and he understood the essence of this move. He kept his center of gravity extremely low and stable. Although his chest was still sliced open, leaving a bloody wound, it was merely a superficial injury from the overflowing sword qi, and his health did not drop significantly.

Seeing Gao Xu injured, Lin Yueru's next One Yang Finger slowed for a moment, clearly concerned about whether Gao Xu still had the strength to resist and not wanting to take his life.

But at the very instant the blood splattered, a dull, lusterless flying knife shot toward Lin Yueru's lower leg like a meteor!