Gao Xu was never one to give up halfway. Unless he fought to the very last moment, he would never admit defeat.
Even though the gap between him and Lin Yueru was already glaringly obvious, even though his palm had split open and blood had soaked the hilt, there was not the slightest trace of dejection or despair in his eyes!
He was waiting—for an opening, for a fleeting chance to counterattack!
A woman's stamina was ultimately not as enduring as a man's, making a prolonged fight unwise. Lin Yueru's internal cultivation was certainly impressive, but after attacking fiercely for so long, she had no choice but to pause and catch her breath.
The moment lasted only an instant. To keep her opponent from taking advantage, Lin Yueru deliberately swung her sword three times to force Gao Xu back, then immediately switched to a defensive stance, holding her sword across her chest.
But the unnatural movement gave away her intent. Gao Xu did not pause for a moment. His swordplay changed abruptly: abandoning his nimble moves, he swept his sword diagonally across.
As Lin Yueru caught her breath, she dared not meet him head-on. She twisted aside, then turned her hand and slashed toward Gao Xu's throat. But Gao Xu was already moving with his sword. He spun along its blade and slipped behind Lin Yueru, his sword tracing flower-like arcs as he thrust at several vital points in her back.
In a duel between experts, the situation could change in an instant. By seizing the opening, Gao Xu gained the upper hand. With no other choice, Lin Yueru pressed her fingers together like a sword, bent at the waist, and swept at Gao Xu's lower body with a move called Qi Sword Finger.
At last, the moment I've been waiting for! The distinctive glimmer of the Insight skill appeared before his eyes. Gao Xu tensed, focusing every bit of his concentration. The Flying Rainbow Sword thrust out, seeming slow but moving fast, and grazed Lin Yueru's wrist with uncanny precision—the weak point of Qi Sword Finger.
Lin Yueru's expression changed dramatically. Her arms trembled, and the Qi Sword Finger she had already unleashed veered off course, shooting toward her own abdomen.
Faced with this unprecedented turn of events, Lin Yueru finally revealed her true skill.
In fact, the Panlong Technique from the Lin Family Swordplay was best suited to this situation. As steady as a boulder and as agile as a swimming dragon, it offered both offense and defense. Unfortunately, Lin Yueru had always favored attacking, and her mastery of this technique was limited. She did not choose the Panlong Technique; instead, she used the Wulang Technique.
With a sharp cry, the Yuenü Sword suddenly bent. She used her powerful inner force to flex the blade, turning the treasured sword into something like a soft, flowing ribbon. It twisted unpredictably, yet retained its unmatched sharpness. Its flickering, erratic strikes left an enemy no way to defend!
Once the Wulang Technique was unleashed, the Yuenü Sword became like a long whip. At the last possible moment, it blocked the sword energy that had nearly pierced her abdomen. Even so, Lin Yueru's face turned pale from a slight internal injury. She bent at the waist, touched the ground with her sword, and sprang several yards away before sheathing it and taking up a defensive stance.
Gao Xu sighed inwardly. His Agility was too low, and he had not learned any light-footed movement techniques. He could only let Lin Yueru come and go freely, unable to pursue her.
Fortunately, he had already achieved his goal.
"You actually found the flaw in my move in an instant and threw my sword energy off course?" Lin Yueru took a moment to steady her breathing. Recalling how perilously close she had come to disaster, she still felt shaken—and, even more than that, incredulous.
It was not just her. Even Lin Tiannan, watching from the sidelines, stared wide-eyed and examined Gao Xu closely, his expression grave. If that wasn't a lucky guess, then this young man's talent for martial arts is truly incredible!
"Good! A-Mei was right about you. You're an opponent worthy of respect!" Lin Yueru nodded solemnly to Gao Xu, apologizing for her earlier doubts. At the same time, her pretty face lit up with burning battle lust. Her interest had finally been roused in earnest.
Gao Xu showed no trace of pride. He knew the real challenge still lay ahead. The gap between their strengths was simply too great. His only chance was to find victory amid danger!
The danger was real: his life was at stake. A martial arts match did not always end with both sides holding back. If Lin Yueru failed to stop in time and Lin Tiannan stood by without intervening, Gao Xu could truly die here.
Of course, judging by the mission description and Lin Tiannan's character, the chance of dying was extremely small. That was why Gao Xu had chosen to give it everything he had.
Now it all depended on whether the Goddess of Fortune would favor him today...
A 30% chance of triggering the effect was not high, but with enough luck, he might manage it two or three times.
If Lin Yueru's moves were broken again and again, then even if he barely chipped away at her health, she would not stubbornly continue fighting.
After all, this was a match, not a fight to the death.
Just as Gao Xu had expected, the proud young miss Lin stopped using ordinary attacks. She lowered her eyes and calmed her mind, clasped her hands before her chest, and let her body follow her thoughts and her energy follow her will. Slowly, she pointed with her index finger.
A dazzling light flared from Lin Yueru's fingertip. Gao Xu instinctively narrowed his eyes, and saw a streak of purple-gold sword energy rushing straight at him. It was like a blazing sun suddenly rising between heaven and earth. Its searing heat scorched the soil beneath it, leaving a deep furrow in its wake.
What fierce sword energy! What concentrated sword energy!
This was the killing move born from the Lin Family's Ningqi Technique: One Yang Finger!
Faced with such a powerful blast of sword energy that could split the earth several feet deep, Gao Xu had no choice but to avoid its full force. Fortunately, he knew Lin Yueru's various skills and had prepared in advance, allowing him to dodge the first One Yang Finger by the narrowest margin despite his low Agility.
That was right—the first one. As if she had known in advance that Gao Xu would dodge it, Lin Yueru did not even look to see what had happened. A second One Yang Finger shot from her fingertip.
I hate how short the cooldown is on story characters' skills! At that point, you might as well make them instant! It's so unfair!
Of course, not just any story character could shorten a skill's cooldown so drastically. At the very least, one needed a family steeped in martial arts like Lin Yueru's, along with years of practice from childhood, to compress One Yang Finger's cooldown to just a few seconds and fire it without pause.
That made things miserable for Gao Xu. After dodging only three shots, he was already in a wretched state, his eyes rolling back. Compared with Qi Sword Finger, which was used at close range, this long-range One Yang Finger had a tell that made it easier to dodge—but it also greatly reduced his chances of countering with Insight.
With Lin Yueru's level of inner cultivation, she could fire at least four or five more times. But Gao Xu knew he was already at his limit. The next One Yang Finger would corner him, and then he would have no choice but to take the hit head-on.
This woman's battle instincts are astonishing. She can always spot an enemy's weaknesses quickly. Right now, Insight is the only thing I can rely on. Even if I dodge One Yang Finger, I won't be able to guard against her other skills. No, I have to end this quickly!
In his previous life, Gao Xu had had little dealings with Lin Yueru. The few times they had met were related to the battle at Shushan's Demon Locking Tower. By then, her family's martial arts had seemed unremarkable to him, so he had paid them little attention.
But now, fighting Miss Lin as a Reincarnator who followed the Ancient Martial Arts system, Gao Xu finally understood just how astonishing her talent was. If not for the natural limitations imposed by the story, then given a normal course of development, she would surely have been no less formidable than Li Xiaoyao.
Facing such a gifted and beautiful woman, Gao Xu's desire to win was roused as well. When the fourth One Yang Finger shot toward his chest, he no longer retreated. He faced the sword energy head-on, then at the very last moment, suddenly ducked and arched backward in a flawless Iron Bridge!
The Iron Bridge was a life-saving technique for dodging hidden weapons. When most people used it, they kept their bodies rigid and suddenly leaned backward at an angle, while their feet remained firmly planted on the ground. After the hidden weapon skimmed past, they had to spring back upright immediately, rather than fall to the ground and leave themselves open.
The technique demanded a quick rise and fall, with the body held straight: "Feet like cast iron, body stiff as a board, rising at an angle like a bridge."
Gao Xu had honed his combat skills through life-and-death struggles in his previous life, and he had mastered the technique's essence. He lowered his center of gravity until he was stable as a rock. Although a bloody gash still opened across his chest, it was only a surface wound from the sword energy's spillover, and he lost little health.
Seeing Gao Xu injured, Lin Yueru hesitated for a moment before unleashing the One Yang Finger she had already prepared. Evidently, she was concerned that Gao Xu might no longer be able to fight back and did not want to take his life.
But at the very instant blood sprayed through the air, a dull, unreflective Flying Dagger shot toward Lin Yueru's lower leg, swift as a shooting star!
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