In the League, but with the Taiwan Server System

Today, he was going to let everyone know that only the strong deserved respect!

"Protect your head, kid... Be careful I don't beat you to death."

Third Legion Commander Glick assumed a fighting stance.

Chen Ce, meanwhile, unhurriedly walked to the weapon rack and picked up a long spear—the spearhead was blunted as well, meant only for training and sparring.

"I should remind you too, sir. Be careful your old bones don't fall apart during the fight."

"Arrogant!" Glick roared as he charged forward with his sword.

He was incredibly fast, at least twice as fast as an ordinary soldier, and the force behind his swings was terrifying.

However... Chen Ce had no intention of meeting him head-on.

He gripped his spear tightly, turned sideways, and thrust horizontally. Using the spear's flexibility and reach, he skillfully deflected the first strike. Then he dipped low and swept the spear to neutralize the second. The entire sequence flowed smoothly and seamlessly.

His exquisite, nimble spearplay drew gasps of amazement from the onlookers.

To wield a spear even more flexibly than a sword truly meant becoming one with the weapon.

But... that alone would never be enough to defeat Glick.

After all, Glick had achieved unity with his sword many years ago—to the point of becoming one with the sword.

He had studied swordsmanship with people from Wuji Village.

Though he was nowhere near grasping the essence of Wuji Sword Style, among ordinary people, he was still one of the finest swordsmen around.

"Looks like I really underestimated you..." Glick took a deep breath and adjusted his stance once more. "I admit it. You've improved quite a bit."

"Thank you for the compliment." Chen Ce planted the spearhead against the ground and smiled calmly.

With the Taiwan Server System's boost, his originally level-one Three Talon Strike had directly risen to max level. Naturally, his improvement had been considerable.

Besides that, the earlier [Meditation] had given him a strange sensation—after his consciousness entered the Spirit Realm, he felt that many things in the material world had become "traceable."

"Again!" Glick charged once more. The blunted greatsword in his hands moved as nimbly as a flexible blade.

But Chen Ce was about to show his true strength as well.

He bent low and lunged forward, his spear shooting out fiercely with his body.

A forward thrust, a horizontal sweep, an upward strike—those three moves seemed ordinary, yet they held hidden intricacies. This was the signature technique with which Xin Zhao, the Seneschal of Demacia, had once dominated the Noxian arena.

Glick had never faced such forceful yet nimble spearplay before, and for a moment, he could not keep up with the rhythm.

After one fatal mistake, his body was launched high into the air by the spear.

Thud! He crashed heavily onto the ground, his longsword falling aside.

When he looked up again, the spear was already pressed against his throat.

He had lost.

He had lost in technique.

In truth, Glick's physical abilities were somewhat stronger than Chen Ce's—whether in strength or speed, he held the advantage.

Unfortunately, his swordsmanship was completely inferior to Chen Ce's spearplay.

"Thank you for the lesson." Chen Ce smiled faintly, declaring the outcome of the match in the politest possible words.

The spectators said nothing. The vast Training Grounds had become so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

Things had developed far beyond their imagination—Chen Ce winning was already a miracle, but he had won so thoroughly?

What the hell had just happened?

They had only seen Chen Ce and Glick clash head-on once, and then... then Glick had been sent flying?

Dead silence filled the place. No one spoke.

Even those who had been won over by Chen Ce's superb skill and wanted to cheer for him did not dare shout in front of Glick.

That would be far too humiliating for the Third Legion Commander...

"The match has been decided, Commander." Chen Ce held the spear before his chest and prepared to leave.

But Glick was unwilling to accept it.

"I didn't lose... I didn't lose...!" He swung his sword again, aiming directly at Chen Ce's knees.

As though he had long expected this shameless man to do something like that, Chen Ce leaped away from the attack and demonstrated a Returning Spear for everyone.

The blunted spearhead drove directly into Glick's shoulder.

Blood was drawn.

The onlookers finally could not hold back their cries of shock.

Glick's right hand instantly went limp, and the greatsword fell to the ground again.

Yet he still refused to give up.

In that incomparably humiliating moment, he committed an incomparably despicable act—

He grabbed a handful of sand from the ground and violently flung it into Chen Ce's face.

"All's fair in war, kid!!"

Fine sand entered his eyes, and Chen Ce could barely open them for a moment. Glick seized the opportunity to pick up his sword with his left hand.

The greatsword came down again, the sound of it tearing through the air clearly audible.

"Glick!" Irelia shouted furiously from the sidelines, but everything had happened too quickly. Even she could not stop it.

Chen Ce heard the greatsword coming down. He also heard Irelia's and everyone else's cries.

He knew he could no longer evade this strike.

But he did not despair.

[Meditation].

Buzz—!

A strange sound rang out, and a burst of green energy symbolizing harmony and nature rose from Chen Ce's body.

His mind was completely emptied, and at that moment, his consciousness entered the "Spirit Realm" that countless cultivators yearned for.

Thud—! Glick's greatsword struck his body, yet it made a dull sound like a heavy object slamming into something solid.

The chest that had taken the blow head-on showed only a faint, negligible bruise.

Even that bruise was rapidly healing.

Glick was shocked.

Unwilling to accept it, he tried to strike a second time, but Irelia's blade was already within reach.

Slash, slash, slash! The sounds of steel cutting flesh rang out, and the sandy ground of the Training Grounds was instantly stained red with blood.

Glick's entire left arm was covered in cuts. Several wounds were deep enough to expose bone; even if it was not crippled, it would need at least several months of recovery.

"Restrain him!" Chen Ce's direct superior—the Second Legion Commander—immediately ordered people to hold Glick down, lest he go mad and attack even the leader.

Irelia herself nervously vaulted over the railing and rushed to Chen Ce's side.

"Are you all right? Did it hit anything vital? Are you dizzy?"

Hearing Irelia's voice, Chen Ce voluntarily ended [Meditation].

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

"How could you possibly be fine?" Irelia thought he was putting on a brave face again and, ignoring everyone's astonished stares, directly pulled open Chen Ce's clothes.

But when she saw his spotless chest, she froze.

Not even a bruise...?

"How is that possible..."

"I told you I'm fine." Chen Ce smiled.

"Impossible!" Irelia still found it hard to believe. "If there aren't any external injuries... then it must have damaged your internal organs! Internal injuries are even more deadly than external ones!"

"I really am fine..."

"Stop being stubborn! Come get treated!"

"There really isn't anything..."

"I'm the leader! That's an order!"

"..."

With a helpless expression, Chen Ce was dragged away by Irelia.

The spectators began discussing things again.

Oh, and there were also many sounds of hearts breaking.

"If only I'd been the one who got hit..." one soldier said.

Hey, You're Blushing?

"What exactly is going on..."

Inside the small room, Irelia stared blankly at Chen Ce's clean chest.

She still could not believe that he had taken Glick's strike head-on with his body and come away completely unharmed.

But... that really did seem to be the case...?

The medical team had examined him for ages and said there was no problem. Even after personally checking him, she could not find any sign of injury...

"I told you I was fine..." Chen Ce, bare-chested and stared at for so long, was starting to feel a little embarrassed. "Didn't I tell you before that I comprehended something when I was on the verge of death? I used that move, 'Meditation,' to withstand the attack."

"Meditation... can really be that miraculous?" Irelia shook her head, still unwilling to believe it. "I often sit and meditate too, but I've never experienced anything like what you did—healing injuries and resisting damage. It's just too unbelievable."

"Maybe our 'Meditation' isn't the same thing at all..." Chen Ce shook his head helplessly, unsure how to explain it.

Fortunately, Irelia did not press the matter—she only cared whether Chen Ce was injured. Everything else was secondary.

As long as he was all right, that was enough.

"All right, I'll believe you for now." The girl sighed softly, then spoke in a slightly reproachful tone. "But next time, you can't keep forcing yourself like this—you have no idea how dangerous today's match was."

"I knew what I was doing." Chen Ce scratched his head.

"Just because you knew what you were doing doesn't mean I did. Do you know how vicious Glick is? If you'd lost today, he would have crippled you outright!"

"But I won..."

"You're still talking back!" Irelia puffed out her cheeks and pinched his arm.

Perhaps even she had not realized that the way she looked—both angry and worried—made her seem just like an adorable young girl. Of course, at her age, she should have been a carefree, lively, adorable young girl.

But war had changed her.

"All right, all right. Next time, I'll definitely listen to you." Chen Ce rubbed the arm she had pinched red, a teasing smile on his face. "But... are you worried about me?"

The moment he finished speaking, pain came from his other arm as well.

"Talking back wasn't enough, so now you're getting cheeky?" Still not satisfied after pinching him, Irelia tapped his head with her finger. "You're a soldier of my Resistance Army. How could I not worry about you?"

Chen Ce rubbed his head and smiled.

But just as he thought the girl before him was truly angry and was about to become serious, a familiar voice suddenly rang out in his mind:

[Hero [Irelia] favorability +5. Current interaction level: 36!]

Huh? Her favorability had increased?

Chen Ce instinctively stole a glance at her.

He saw... that Irelia's fair cheeks seemed to carry a strange flush of red—very faint and hard to notice. If one did not look carefully, it would be impossible to see.

Also... the interaction level had been 31 before. Now it had increased by 5 favorability points to 36. Did that mean the previous 31 interaction points had all been favorability, or some kind of "positive interaction" equivalent to favorability?

That was a little unexpected.

He had not expected his image in Irelia's heart to be this good...

Still, a significant portion of that favorability probably came from comradeship—they had the same enemy on one hand, and often sparred with each other on the other. It was only natural that some feelings would develop.