Destroying His Spirit

At the sight of the noodles, wontons, and beef scattered across the ground, Li Ke felt his anger surging.

"You can have a problem with me. You can even have a problem with Elder Souma. After all, there are people who don't like money. But..."

Li Ke's sword began to hum. He no longer cared that it belonged to Yone. His own energy forced the sword to obey him, and he gave it a buff.

Overdrive.

"...What problem could you possibly have with food?!"

Li Ke had known hunger in this world. Ionia's winters were just as harsh, and a woodcutter's earnings were nothing special. Now, right in front of a hungry man, this person had knocked an entire table of good food onto the ground. It was only natural that Li Ke was furious.

"Oh?"

The man gave a cocky grin and planted his foot on the beef and noodles, which might still have been salvageable, grinding them into the dirt with his expensive boot.

"Sorry, but human food is for humans, not cowardly dogs. Souma's disciples deserve nothing but to go to hell and live as dogs!"

Li Ke had no interest in wasting any more words on him. The man's killing intent couldn't have been more obvious.

"I'm going to kill you, you coward! Then I'll kill Souma!"

The man roared again, but Li Ke didn't answer. The instant the other man opened his mouth, energy surged through Li Ke's body. His usually calm, balanced energy turned razor-sharp, and his movements grew faster. The man saw only a dark blur before a sharp pain struck his chest.

He was sent flying, and Li Ke's figure vanished in a flash.

He might have been no match for Yasuo using Wind Technique, and even less of a challenge for Meimu—like a child picking a fight with an adult. He was already badly injured and exhausted in body and mind.

But beating a man who didn't know the value of food was well within his abilities!

A cold gleam of swordlight flashed in the fallen man's eyes. He felt no pain, but as he rolled away in panic, he felt his topknot come undone.

No—more precisely, his hair had been cut off.

His hair fell across his vision, leaving him able to see only a blurry silhouette. He swung his sword to block, but the furious Li Ke had no intention of letting him fight back.

Energy coursed into the blade, and a faint white glow, two or three millimeters long, shone along the edge of the snow-white sword. The blade quivered more and more rapidly; as it swung, it was impossible to tell whether it was still vibrating at all.

The sword flashed too quickly for the man to imagine. The instant he swung his own blade, Li Ke's sword was already spinning around it in a blur.

Sparks flew. Li Ke's blade sliced clean through the man's sword tip, but that wasn't all he wanted. To make sure his opponent understood what was happening, he called out each cut as he made it.

"One inch! Two inches! Three!"

Feeling the sword grow lighter and lighter in his hand, the man who had started the trouble grew more and more terrified. He kept trying to retreat, kept trying to block Li Ke's sword, but the farther he fell back, the lighter his sword became.

"Four inches! Five! Six!"

The sword kept spinning, but Li Ke could no longer count as quickly as he struck. His hand blurred, and all that remained of the other man's sword was its hilt.

The broken pieces of the blade clattered to the ground in an endless stream. The sound was like a nightmare, making the troublemaking swordsman feel as if he were trapped inside one.

Li Ke stopped attacking, but the man kept retreating, wildly swinging the hilt that was all he had left. Disheveled and shrieking, he seemed to think he was still fighting Li Ke.

Looking at his footwork, Li Ke scoffed.

"Your swordsmanship is garbage, your footwork is sloppy, your character is rotten, and your judgment is awful. You've got nothing going for you! What gave you the courage to sneak up on me and try to kill me, then knock my food onto the ground? Was it your ignorant, arrogant heart?"

With that, Li Ke charged again, sword raised. There was no way he could let the man live now. And by Ionian custom, the man had insulted his teacher, threatened his life, and called him an animal. He was also a swordsman armed with a deadly weapon.

So even if Li Ke killed him, no one would blame him!

The only reason Li Ke hadn't killed him with that first strike was that he wanted to destroy the man's spirit first!

Li Ke's rebuke finally brought the man to his senses. After swinging his sword hilt blindly twice, he flushed with shame and glared at the onlookers before pointing at Li Ke in fury.

"Impossible! It can't be! You were the least talented disciple under Souma! My master said I was the most gifted swordsman around!"

Li Ke almost laughed out loud.

That was true. He was Elder Souma's least talented disciple because he had no magic and lacked the powerful physique of the people of Ionia.

But!

What the hell was this swordsman supposed to be?

Li Ke had been born with a disadvantage, but this man hadn't worked hard enough to make Li Ke rely on talent to beat him!

He had the strong, magically gifted body of an Ionian, yet his swordsmanship was so poor... He couldn't have spent even half as much time training as Li Ke had!

Yasuo was arrogant, but he practiced swordsmanship every day, training his Wind Technique beneath a dangerous waterfall. Yone might not have been as talented as Yasuo, but in other people's eyes, even without Wind Technique, he was still worthy of representing Elder Souma.

Some of the other disciples might have slacked off, putting in ninety-nine percent effort when they could have given a hundred. But before he got the simulator, Li Ke had pushed himself to give a hundred and twenty percent every day!

Some second-rate rich brat who picked up a sword and thought that made him a swordsman—did he really think he could compare to Li Ke?

Did he really think he could make Li Ke lament his lack of talent?

"Have you worked hard enough to deserve your talent? Does your character deserve your gifts?"

Li Ke raised his sword. The man before him was clearly from a wealthy, powerful family, but so what?

Li Ke vanished, then charged straight at the young master. He wanted the man to watch his own death with open eyes.

If the man hadn't blocked Li Ke's previous strike, he would be the one lying on the ground now. There was no need to show mercy to someone who had attacked him by surprise!

He wanted the young master to see his brains spill out!

"Spare him!"

Just as Li Ke's sword was about to reach the man, another sword came toward his shoulder. The attacker was clearly trying to save the young master by forcing Li Ke to defend himself.

Another person also swung at Li Ke's sword, trying to knock it aside.

Neither of them meant Li Ke any harm, and all he had to do was pull back his sword to block the attack.

But Li Ke gave a scornful snort.

His hand darted through the chopstick holder nearby. A single chopstick appeared between his fingers, and a sharp current of energy coated it.

He blocked, turned, and thrust.

He stopped the blade.

And a chopstick now protruded from the swordsman's forehead.

Who said you couldn't kill someone without a sword?