"Do you need to rest for a while?!"
Li Qingmeng asked. Her clear voice brimmed with youthful energy, yet held a hint of gentleness. The two qualities blended together beautifully.
"No. I won't recover much of my stamina or mental strength in such a short time."
Zhao Cheng replied.
After the third battle, he had stopped ending the Breathing Visualization Method on his own.
Because once he ended it, that meant the breath had dispersed. His mental strength and stamina would then plummet, and he couldn't recover them in a short time.
Now, although he couldn't keep fighting at high intensity for much longer, at least he was still at his peak!
Hearing that, Li Qingmeng said nothing more.
She wasn't a particularly warm person. Her earlier words had simply been out of respect for her opponent.
Of course, she was surprised too. She hadn't expected him to stand before her on the very first day, alone with a sword in hand.
That was beyond what the talent of a mere Sword Ghost could achieve.
From his not especially tall, even somewhat slender frame, she sensed a powerful spiritual force.
Physical strength was only temporary. Only strength of spirit lasted forever, and only that could be called true strength.
She couldn't help growing curious about what this ordinary young man, who at first glance seemed gentle and sunny, had gone through in the past to forge such a powerful will.
People said hardship made you grow. But what kind of hardship could make someone his age so strong-willed?!
For a moment, all sorts of phrases she'd heard from her classmates flashed through her mind: parents both dead, a ten-year pact, an older brother wiping out the whole family...
All kinds of things!
But her thoughts came and went quickly. When Zhao Cheng raised his sword and spoke, she cut away every distracting thought in an instant and entered the state empowered by the Breathing Visualization Method with a single breath.
Once swordsmanship reached lv7, the mastery stage, there was no longer any need to prepare before entering the empowered state.
Only at that moment, when she truly faced Zhao Cheng, did Li Qingmeng understand why the others' sword paths had seemed strange and constrained in certain places.
The sharpness at his approach was faint, but at a critical moment in battle, it could well turn the tide.
Her swordsmanship had already reached a refined and fluent level, yet she still hadn't cultivated such a sharp edge of the sword within herself.
At the same time, she was certain that if his swordsmanship were on the same level as hers, he would have no chance of winning.
As for now, his swordsmanship was a whole major tier higher. Looking through all of history, there were no records of anyone overcoming a gap that large.
And Zhao Cheng, facing the strongest opponent he'd encountered today, was trembling slightly.
Not from fear, but excitement.
That was the effect of Battle Blood: the stronger the enemy, the more it stirred the spirit, triggering positive mental feedback.
Fist Technique Masters were the exception, of course.
When an enemy stood over three meters tall, with fists as big as watermelons, you died too quickly for anything but a psychological scar.
Beneath the mind's lake, its waters were clear, while the sword hanging above it now surged with blood-red light.
Bang!
The two swords clashed. Zhao Cheng felt as though he'd struck an immovable rock. A tremendous force rebounded, numbing his arm.
From that single clash, Zhao Cheng judged that her swordsmanship was already close to lv8.
The precision and subtlety of her force circulation were beyond his.
At the same time, he had no advantage in either speed or explosive power.
The only things she lacked were an unfettered battle instinct and the sharp edge of the sword that he'd cultivated within himself.
But that alone wasn't enough to bridge the gap between them.
That was why Shi Tianyi had said that combat ability could hardly make up for a gap in basic attributes.
It was an objective fact.
But Zhao Cheng couldn't just give up because of it.
If a sword refused to fight whenever it felt outmatched, it would be far too weak.
Of course, in a genuine fight to the death, Zhao Cheng would've run long ago and come back when his swordsmanship was better.
Different situations called for different responses.
A person needed a flexible moral bottom line.
Giving up was out of the question.
He'd said he would seek life in the midst of death. If he'd never died, how could he seek life?!
Back when the Fist Art Master had nearly beaten him to death, Zhao Cheng had understood this.
So Zhao Cheng's attacks grew even more vicious. He stopped trying to score points and instead sent his sword sweeping toward her face and forehead.
If Li Qingmeng had been even a little more ruthless and let Zhao Cheng hit her face, she would've lost.
But as a girl, and a pretty one at that, how could she possibly be that cruel to herself?!
At the same time, she couldn't turn around and strike Zhao Cheng in the face. If she did, she'd be disqualified for a foul.
It was a shameless tactic, but it worked.
Li Qingmeng knew exactly where she stood. She practiced swordsmanship not to fight for dominance or become the best under heaven, but to keep fit and protect herself.
So although she wasn't injured, she felt increasingly frustrated.
If Zhao Cheng hadn't used this tactic, which came close to targeting her weak points, several times, he would've lost long ago.
After thirty-two exchanges, Zhao Cheng still hadn't found a chance to turn the tables. By then, his stamina and mental strength were both nearing their limits.
At once, his sword slowed by more than a beat.
The next moment, she had a sword at his throat.
Li Qingmeng could have knocked Zhao Cheng's sword away, but perhaps out of a desire for revenge, she deliberately used the move he was best at: a sword to the throat.
With Zhao Cheng defeated, many students breathed a sigh of relief, though they also felt a little disappointed.
They were disappointed that they hadn't witnessed the birth of a Myth.
But at the same time, Qingyuan's Kendo Class hadn't been swept through by a new student in a single night.
Of course, reaching third place in a single night was remarkable enough.
They'd thought he might sweep through the Kendo Class, so now that he hadn't, the window-theory effect kept their emotions from surging too wildly.
Only now, seeing Zhao Cheng nearly collapse from exhaustion, did everyone realize that he was human too. He got tired; he wasn't some tireless God of War.
As for Zhao Cheng, although he hadn't achieved the feat of sweeping through the Kendo Class in one night, his final defeat didn't affect his mood.
It was true that failure could leave a psychological scar. But even if this little scar came a thousand times, it probably wouldn't compare to a single punch from the Fist Technique Master, who sent people flying like handfuls of sand.
To Zhao Cheng, who had experienced that kind of scene, this defeat was no different from child's play.
If there was one thing he'd gained most from his simulations, it wasn't the improvement in his swordsmanship, but the broadening of his horizons and his mind.
Once you'd seen the ocean, no other water would ever do.
Having witnessed the grand spectacle, the Qingyuan Sword Trial now seemed more like a little game of make-believe.