Enhancement: Courtly Tournament (3)

As the brigadier general and the others conversed on the observation deck, the atmosphere on the first floor grew increasingly heated.

Cheers, boos, gamblers' laughter, cries, and whistles rang without end, and as the atmosphere fermented to its absolute peak, the referee swung his vertical rod sharply. "Silence, silence!"

Xia Lun casually spun his sword in a flourish, walking slowly back to his initial position.

Through the previous round of exchange, he already understood his opponent's level—the giant's swordsmanship was quite mediocre, unable to even compare with the high-ranking apprentices in the dream where he had acquired Swordsmanship Proficiency.

At this moment, accompanied by the crowd's jeers, the sturdy man opposite him turned red to the neck, his expression becoming exceedingly unsightly.

"You're strong, but this swordsmanship can't go to the battlefield at all," he choked out for a long time, then flushed and forcibly argued, "Your swordsized skills are specialized for this kind of match; no warrior would charge like you to close the distance. In a true life-or-death battle, that's simply courting death."

With his words, the crowd's laughter grew even louder. After all, defeat itself wasn't laughable, and arguing a failure wasn't laughable either, but babbling and forcibly rationalizing was quite comical...

"Perhaps."

Xia Lun casually tossed the other side an out, then raised his sword and reset his stance.

He didn't want to talk much. No matter how realistic dream-entry was, it wasn't reality. The only thing he wanted to do right now was to win and obtain the reward of Special Memory.

"What do you know?" Even though Xia Lun had already offered a graceful exit, the giant clearly didn't pick up on it, growing all the more irritated. "True battlefield swordsmanship relies on watching the opponent's shoulder rotation and footwork. Charging blindly like this completely defies reason..."

As soon as these words were out, a few more jeers mixed into the people's laughter, while the giant's emotions grew increasingly impatient, his expression even beginning to distort.

"Second round, begin!" the referee sternly interrupted, then violently swung his vertical rod, striking it against the ground.

The giant's expression turned gloomy. Suddenly, he kicked off the floor and rushed forward, a straight thrust shooting fast and fiercely toward Xia Lun's face—this was precisely Xia Lun's previous attacking pattern!

"Bang!"

The blades collided, sparking a cluster of flames. The giant's strength was immense, and amid a distant buzzing, the blades in both of their hands bent slightly.

"Die!" The giant revealed a ferocious look, retreating half a step to gather momentum, and then violently thrusting his knee at a ninety-degree angle as the short sword in his hand hacked straight at Xia Lun's face like a giant axe!

Although the tip of the sword was plugged with a safety cap, this strike carried immense force. Once hit, Xia Lun would be either dead or crippled.

Yet Xia Lun neither dodged nor evaded; he simply raised his sword straight up, slashing upward from below toward the enemy's jaw!

Amid a piercing sound of metal clashing, sparks flew in all directions!

The next instant, Xia Lun abruptly slid sideways to step past the centerline, deflecting most of the momentum while fiercely flipping his blade, using the crossguard to firmly block the heavily mitigated blade!

Glancing Strike!

The safety cap instantly poked the giant's jaw, while the giant's blade ultimately stopped less than a finger's breadth away from Xia Lun's nose—he could even smell the rubber on the safety cap, as well as the sweat and blood on the blade.

With his nose-tip itching slightly, Xia Lun slowly exhaled a breath, then withdrew his sword and stepped back.

The giant stood frozen in place, a blank look in his blue eyes. Moments later, the crowd erupted into an uproar, followed by an outbreak of heartfelt cheers.

"Good sword!"

"Master, that's a master swordsman!"

"Go on and finish off that boastful bastard, Xia Lun!"

Unlike the Force-Listening Technique from before, which required a certain foundation in swordsmanship to understand, Xia Lun's Glancing Strike this time possessed exceptional visual appeal. Even a three-year-old child could understand that this move was exceedingly pretty. The massive giant looked terrifying, but in reality, he was like a clumsy bear being played in the palm of a tamer's ring of fire.

Although Xia Lun had hit his target in one stroke, the referee was slow to announce the score, prompting Xia Lun to turn and look at the referee.

The referee narrowed his eyes slightly.

—It was precisely at this moment that out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of a swaying, tall figure, and then a gust of wind mixed with sweat and perfume struck his ears!

The giant was actually going to launch a sneak attack!

The moment the thought crossed his mind, Xia Lun stepped forward directly, twisted his hips and turned, dodging the giant's charging sneak attack.

"Thud!"

Due to using too much force, the giant tripped and fell flat on his face...

"Hahahahaha!"

In an instant, the entire hall was filled with a joyful atmosphere. Down to the crowded commoners and up to the nobles on the observation deck, everyone laughed. The people outside the hall saw this scene and laughed as well, and even Xia Lun could barely keep a straight face, letting out a laugh.

"This is just too stupid!" Geliide couldn't help complaining, picking up a green apple, tossing it casually into the air, and catching it again. "Horn is just too..."

"Mind your tongue. Do not mock a respectable warrior." The brigadier general remained unsmiling, coldly reprimanding her.

The few nobles near him immediately fell silent, but Bird, being the giant's relative, laughed happily. "I didn't see any warrior; I only saw a sneak attacker without honor."

At this moment, the laughter below grew even louder, and quite a few spectators had already begun hurling insults at the giant and the referee.

"Xia Lun scores three points! The score is now six to zero," the referee reluctantly announced. "Please compete according to the rules. Attacks not executed by the rules are invalid."

The giant stood up with a flushed face, the shadow cast by his massive body seeming to tremble. He clenched his fists fiercely, the bones in his hands cracking audibly.

Xia Lun had expected the other party to keep talking, but to his surprise, amidst the overwhelming boos and laughter, the giant remained utterly silent.

The giant grabbed the short sword from the ground, the blade hanging toward the floor, and retreated back to his initial position with his head lowered and without a word.

"Third round, begin!" The referee swung his vertical rod and announced loudly.

Before his voice faded, the giant suddenly raised his head, charging straight at Xia Lun like a limping giant bear without a single care—his movements chaotic to the extreme, resembling an attempt to ram someone rather than a sword duel.

Was he trying for a double-elimination? But if he went for a double-elimination, he would lose. Could it be that his opponent had already given up?

Xia Lun frowned slightly, while his hand unhesitantly thrust a sword straight into the other's chest. However, as the impact traveled from the tip of his sword, the corner of his eye suddenly caught a glimpse of a cold, metallic flash!

—When he didn't know, the giant had already pulled off the safety cap at the tip of the sword!

In an instant, Xia Lun's pupils sharply contracted, and he immediately understood the other's plan.

The opponent had never intended to win; he wanted to use his body to jam the sword and then kill him outright!

There was nowhere to dodge! Xia Lun felt as though he could already see the image of his throat being pierced by a sword!

At the critical moment, he violently kicked off the ground to lunge forward, his right-hand short sword pressing firmly against the opponent's chest while he extended his left hand, grabbing straight for the incoming blade!

Suddenly, an icy, stabbing pain came from his palm, accompanied by the muffled sound of metal dragging and cutting through flesh, as he gripped the opponent's cold, sharp blade with a deathly hold.

"You pulled off the safety cap!" Enduring the intense pain, Xia Lun abruptly raised his left hand, lifting the opponent's sword to a position where everyone could see.

The giant's eyes were filled with malice. He sneered, speaking with a sinister tone, "This is the price for insulting me. Spend the rest of your half-life as a cripple!"

The next moment, the giant forcefully dropped his shoulder and pulled back his sword. In an instant, the blade dragged across Xia Lun's palm, instantly bursting open a trail of blood!

Slash!

Fresh blood splattered, flesh rolling and tearing open along the wound as pain surged along with it. As warm plasma sprinkled onto the ground, a fine layer of cold sweat seeped onto Xia Lun's forehead, dripping down in beads.

Drip, drip, drip...

Blood and sweat fell onto the floor drop by drop, dampening the smooth wood and staining the yellow wood grain.

The crowd fell dead silent for a moment, immediately followed by an outburst of exclamations.

The iron-like stench of blood filled the air, accompanied by bone-deep pain and a gloomy, manic hostility that spread over Xia Lun's heart like mold multiplying after rain.

—The goal of Special Dream Entry was to "win at least one match", so directly and physically eliminating the opponent naturally counted as a victory.

Xia Lun raised his left hand expressionlessly. At this moment, his left hand was nearly shattered, the upper half of his palm hanging limply like minced meat with only a layer of skin still attached.

Yet not even half a second later, layers of white gelatinous mucus seeped out between his shattered palm bones, sticking to one another, while countless bud-like little sacs probed out from within his flesh, intertwining and slowly closing shut.

"You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit..." He whispered in Chinese, then abruptly pulled off the safety cap from the tip of his sword.

The giant received a black satin star-patterned cloak from beneath the arena, raised his eyes, and sneered, "What are you muttering about? Regretting it now?"

"Hum—"

Responding to him was a sword light cold and sharp to the absolute limit!