The Same Tactic

Five days later, only two days remained until the three-school joint exam.

The second guided match arrived as scheduled.

Teacher Zhou Yun stood at the center of the arena, still wearing that well-fitted silver martial arts uniform, her gaze sharp as an eagle's.

Her eyes swept over the faces of the twenty-four students below the platform, then finally settled on Xu Wuyi.

"Xu Wuyi, you go first."

Xu Wuyi took a deep breath and walked steadily out of the line.

In this second guided match, he would be exchanging blows with Teacher Zhou Yun. She was already a true martial master, and her strength was a notch above Teacher Wang's.

"Show me everything you've got." Zhou Yun was concise. She took a standard spear from the weapon rack, but a faint smile appeared on her face. "Let me see how far you've trained your Wind-Settling Spear."

She used a spear as well, which was why she had recognized what Xu Wuyi was learning at a glance back then.

The two of them took their positions in the field.

"Begin!" Wang Wenhai served as referee, his voice falling over the arena.

Xu Wuyi did not dare slack off in the slightest. He immediately took up the [Army-Settling Stance], his spear angled diagonally, his mind calm as the Mountain Moving Method began to circulate.

He braced himself solemnly, ready to meet Teacher Zhou's stormlike assault.

However, Zhou Yun's movements made him pause, because they were not the swift advance he had imagined.

She shifted her feet and likewise settled into a firm stance. Her spear traced half an arc before her, the tip trembling slightly as it locked onto Xu Wuyi. She had actually adopted a posture of stillness overcoming motion, of defense in place of offense!

That flavor... Xu Wuyi's pupils shrank slightly.

She was clearly imitating the defensive counterattack style he was best at!

And the sense of "immovability" contained within Teacher Zhou's stance was far more rounded and seamless than his own!

"Attack," Zhou Yun said calmly.

Xu Wuyi pressed his lips together. He knew that if this stalemate continued, it would be difficult for him to win in a clash of momentum. His only chance was to strike first.

He drove strength through his feet and charged forward, launching a [Cloud-Piercing Thrust] straight at her centerline. The spear tip quivered, [Cloud-Parting Force] held back without being released.

Zhou Yun flicked her wrist, and her spear shot out like a serpent leaving its cave, accurately resting against Xu Wuyi's spear shaft. A soft yet resilient force came through; with a gentle draw, she guided that fierce thrust aside.

Xu Wuyi changed moves extremely quickly. The thrust missed, and he immediately turned it into a [Wind-Returning Sweep], his spear dancing as he tried to knock away Zhou Yun's weapon while secretly circulating [Silk-Winding Force].

The two spears clashed with a crisp clang.

Almost the instant they made contact, Xu Wuyi felt a familiar, soft, trembling force travel back along the spear shaft!

Teacher Zhou Yun had actually used [Silk-Winding Force] too!

And her control of that force was no less practiced than his!

Xu Wuyi's arm went slightly numb, and even the circulation of his qi and blood showed a trace of stagnation.

Alarmed, he hurriedly urged his own [Silk-Winding Force] to resist. Two hidden forces of the same origin but different strength clashed along the spear shaft, emitting a faint buzzing sound.

He barely dissolved that force, but his rhythm had already been disrupted.

"Silk-Winding Force?" The smile on Zhou Yun's face deepened. "Looks like your Wind-Settling Spear has reached minor mastery! You've trained pretty fast, kid. Try this next move!"

Zhou Yun's counterattack followed immediately. Her spear tip clung to him like a bone-boring maggot, stabbing toward vital spots such as his wrist and lower back.

Xu Wuyi fell into the most awkward situation he had faced since the match began.

The defense he took such pride in was suppressed at every turn before the opponent's more seasoned version of the same style.

The other party's [Silk-Winding Force] was like an invisible spiderweb, constantly interfering with his qi, blood, and exertion, leaving him with strength but nowhere to use it.

It was as if he were fighting a more perfect, more powerful version of himself.

Every block came with a silent collision between two strands of [Silk-Winding Force], consuming an enormous amount of mental energy.

He could only rely on the tenacious will brought by the Mountain Moving Method, as well as his vigorous qi and blood, to keep holding on.

They were both targeting Xu Wuyi's weaknesses. Wang Wenhai had found a specialized way to counter him, while Zhou Yun was telling Xu Wuyi through action—

He was not the only one who knew defensive counterattacks!

If he encountered an enemy of the same type but stronger, how was he supposed to break through?

The arena was completely silent. Everyone held their breath as they watched this unique guided match.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of spear shafts clashing rang on without end.

Xu Wuyi gritted his teeth and pushed [Silk-Winding Force] to its limit, never giving up.

Compared to the powerlessness of the previous guided match, this time he at least still had a sliver of a chance...

Finally, during one of Zhou Yun's seemingly ordinary straight thrusts, he caught an extremely tiny hint that her force had been fully spent.

Now!

He suddenly turned sideways, taking the sweep of the spear shaft hard on his left shoulder. With a muffled grunt, he borrowed the force and spun.

His right arm, which had been building power all along, released like a taut bowstring, and his spear thrust out ferociously!

This spear strike surpassed his previous limits. The Martial Dao True Intent "Mountain" activated in an instant, erupting with power far beyond his normal state!

"Mm?"

A trace of surprise flashed through Zhou Yun's eyes. She suddenly looked up at Xu Wuyi, as if trying to read something from his face.

She had no way to dodge this spear. All her paths of retreat had already been sealed off, so she could only take it head-on.

But she had already seen that if they were at the same life energy level, anyone who took this spear would be severely injured even if they did not die!

The next instant, her spear suddenly accelerated, drawing a perfect arc in front of her. Its tip struck the shaft of his spear with unbelievable precision.

"Ding!"

A crisp ring sounded, clear to the extreme.

Xu Wuyi only felt a surge of tremendous force come through. The spear in his hand flew from his grip and was flung away, stabbing into the ground.

He had lost, but he had also won.

Because for that final spear strike, Teacher Zhou had clearly erupted with excessive strength, no longer limiting herself to the same life energy level.

This meant that at the same energy level, she had already been out of options. She had to rely on such a method to end this sparring match while ensuring she did not hurt her student!

Zhou Yun stood with her spear withdrawn, her breathing as steady as ever. The look she gave Xu Wuyi grew deeper. "Interesting... Next."

She actually gave no further comments.

The surrounding students all found it a little strange. Only Teacher Wang Wenhai stood off to the side, the corners of his mouth unable to keep from curving up slightly.

He was also a quasi-martial artist, and he had long since comprehended Martial Dao True Intent, so how could he fail to see that Xu Wuyi's final spear strike had clearly been an eruption of Martial Dao True Intent?

However, neither he nor Zhou Yun intended to announce this matter publicly.

Because this was a trump card. In the three-school joint exam in two days, it could be used as a hidden ace to shock everyone with one brilliant move and catch his opponents off guard.

If the information was exposed in advance, it would instead put his opponents on guard.

Whether warriors learned information about their opponents in advance had a huge impact on victory or defeat. During the college entrance exam, to avoid leaks, students even had to wait until they entered the ring before finding out who their opponent was.

"Thank you for your guidance, Teacher Zhou." Xu Wuyi caught his breath, bent down to pick up his spear, and thanked her sincerely.

Although Zhou Yun had not guided him with words, imitating his own fighting style had in itself been a form of instruction.

At the very least, after today's battle, when Xu Wuyi faced opponents of the same type as himself in the future, he would have a sense of what to expect.

Experience was the most important wealth!