On the arena stage.
Lin Qingyi's voice finished echoing by Jiang Ning's ear, and he immediately turned to glance toward the stands.
There, seated in a shadowed corner of the viewing platform, was Lin Qingyi.
When Lin Qingyi saw Jiang Ning looking over, a faint trace of guilt immediately appeared in her eyes.
"Sorry!!" Her voice rang out by Jiang Ning's ear again.
All of this happened in a single instant.
Then.
Jiang Ning gave Lin Qingyi a slight smile before turning back to the black-clad, sword-wielding woman on the stage, Xie Xiaoj iu.
"I heard you excelled at the sword?" Jiang Ning asked.
"That's right!" Xie Xiaoj iu nodded slightly.
"Good! It seemed you wanted to compete with me in the art of weapons!" Jiang Ning said with a nod.
Then he turned to the man presiding nearby. "Sir, I need a saber!"
"No problem!" the man overseeing the examination said. Then he grabbed a saber from the weapon rack beside the arena and tossed it toward Jiang Ning.
"Take it! Put on a good show!"
"Thank you!" Jiang Ning caught the saber and thanked him.
The moment the long saber entered his hand, the trait of Unity of Man and Blade instantly took effect.
The saber in his hand seemed to become an extension of his arm, moving as freely as a finger.
Jiang Ning also knew the saber's weight. It weighed eighty-five jin and measured three chi seven cun in length.
"Do you know why I came onto the stage?" Xie Xiaoj iu suddenly asked.
"Did that need a reason?" Jiang Ning asked.
"Of course it did!" Xie Xiaoj iu tightened her grip on the longsword in her hand and continued, "Qingyi kept bringing you up before me again and again lately, saying that my talent was