Improvement: Courtly Tournament (3)

As the brigadier general and the others talked on the viewing platform, the atmosphere on the first floor grew increasingly heated.

Cheers, jeers, gamblers' laughter and sobs, and whistles rang out without end. When the excitement reached its peak, the referee suddenly brought down his staff. "Quiet! Quiet!"

Xia Lun casually flourished his sword and slowly returned to his starting position.

After that exchange, he had already gauged his opponent's level—the giant's swordsmanship was quite ordinary, not even comparable to the advanced apprentices from the dream where he had gained Swordsmanship Proficiency.

Amid the crowd's laughter, the burly man's face turned crimson, and his expression became exceedingly ugly.

"You're strong, but that kind of swordsmanship would never work on a battlefield." He held it in for a long while before forcing out an argument, his face red. "Your swordsmanship is specialized for this kind of match. No warrior would charge in and close the distance like you do. In a real fight to the death, that's practically suicide."

As soon as he spoke, the crowd laughed even louder. Losing was not laughable, nor was trying to explain away a loss, but spouting nonsense and forcing excuses certainly was...

"Perhaps."

Xia Lun casually gave him a way out, then raised his sword and resumed his stance.

He did not want to say much. No matter how realistic a dream entry was, it was not reality. The only thing he wanted now was to win and claim the reward for Special Memory.

"What do you know?" Although Xia Lun had already given him an out, the giant clearly had not caught it. He grew even angrier. "Real battlefield swordsmanship is about watching your opponent's shoulder movements and footwork. Charging around recklessly like that completely defies common sense..."

That only added a few boos to the laughter, while the giant became increasingly agitated. His face even began to twist.

"Second round begins!" the referee barked, abruptly cutting him off before slamming his staff against the ground.

The giant's face darkened. Suddenly, he kicked off the ground and charged forward, thrusting straight at Xia Lun's face with a fast, vicious stab—exactly the same attack Xia Lun had used earlier!

Bang!

The blades collided, throwing off a burst of sparks. The giant was immensely strong, and amid a distant hum, both swords bent slightly.

"Die!" The giant's face twisted savagely. He withdrew half a step to gather strength, then bent his knee sharply and lunged, bringing his shortsword down at Xia Lun's face like a battle-axe!

Though the sword tip had a safety cap, the blow carried tremendous force. If Xia Lun was hit, he would be crippled or dead.

Yet Xia Lun neither dodged nor retreated. He raised his sword straight up as well, slashing upward toward his opponent's jaw!

Amid a piercing clang of metal, sparks flew everywhere!

In the next instant, Xia Lun suddenly slid sideways, stepping off the centerline to deflect most of the impact. At the same time, he sharply twisted his blade and used the guard to firmly brace the now-weakened sword!

Glancing Strike!

The safety cap instantly struck the giant's jaw, while the giant's blade finally stopped less than a finger's width from Xia Lun's nose—he could even smell the rubber of the safety cap, along with sweat and blood on the blade.

The tip of his nose itched slightly. Xia Lun slowly exhaled, sheathed his sword, and stepped back.

The giant stood there blankly, his blue eyes full of bewilderment. A moment later, the crowd erupted, followed by sincere cheers.

"Excellent swordsmanship!"

"A master! He's a swordsmanship master!"

"Finish off that loudmouthed bastard, Xia Lun!"

Unlike the Force-Listening Technique from before, which required some foundation in swordsmanship to understand, Xia Lun's Glancing Strike was immensely entertaining. Even a three-year-old could see how beautiful that move had been. The huge giant looked intimidating, but in truth, he was like a clumsy bear being toyed with by a beast tamer's flaming hoop.

Although Xia Lun had landed a hit, the referee did not announce the score for a long time. Xia Lun could not help turning to look at him.

The referee narrowed his eyes slightly.

—At that moment, he suddenly caught sight of a swaying, towering figure from the corner of his eye. A fierce gust carrying the stench of sweat and perfume abruptly swept past his ear!

The giant was actually launching a sneak attack!

The instant the thought crossed his mind, Xia Lun kicked off the ground and charged forward, twisting his hips as he turned aside and evaded the giant's ramming ambush.

Thud!

Having used too much force, the giant fell to the ground himself...

"Hahahaha!"

In an instant, the entire hall filled with merriment. From the packed crowd below to the nobles on the viewing platform above, everyone laughed. Even those outside the hall who saw the scene started laughing, and even Xia Lun could not hold it in any longer and laughed aloud.

"That's just too stupid!" Geliide could not help commenting. She picked up a green apple, casually tossed it into the air, then caught it again. "Horn is just too..."

"Watch your words. Do not mock a respectable warrior." The brigadier general remained stern and unsmiling as he coldly rebuked them.

The nobles near him immediately fell silent, but Bird, the giant's relative, laughed happily. "I didn't see any warrior. I only saw a dishonorable sneak attacker."

The laughter below grew louder and louder. Quite a few spectators had even begun insulting the giant and the referee.

"Xia Lun, three points! The current score is six to zero." The referee announced reluctantly. "Please compete according to the rules. Attacks that violate the rules are invalid."

The giant rose with a crimson face. Even the shadow cast by his massive body seemed to tremble as he suddenly clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.

Xia Lun had thought the man would continue talking, but to his surprise, the giant said nothing amid the overwhelming jeers and laughter.

The giant picked up the shortsword from the ground, letting its blade hang toward the floor. With his head lowered, he silently returned to his starting position.

"Third round begins!" the referee announced loudly, bringing down his staff.

Before his words had even faded, the giant abruptly raised his head. Like a limping giant bear, he charged at Xia Lun without a care for anything else—his movements were chaotic to the extreme. Rather than sword fighting, it looked more like he was trying to ram someone.

Was he trying to take them both down? But if they both went down, he would lose. Had he already given up?

Xia Lun frowned slightly, but his hand showed no mercy as he stabbed the man in the chest. Yet as the impact traveled back through the sword tip, he suddenly caught a cold metallic gleam from the corner of his eye!

—At some point, the giant had removed the safety cap from his sword tip!

In an instant, Xia Lun's pupils contracted. He immediately understood his opponent's plan.

The man had never intended to win. He wanted to use his body to trap Xia Lun's sword, then kill him outright!

There was no way to evade! Xia Lun could practically see the image of his throat being pierced!

At that critical moment, he suddenly kicked off the ground and charged forward. His right-hand shortsword pressed firmly against the man's chest while he extended his left hand and grabbed directly at the incoming blade!

Suddenly, searing cold pain shot through his palm. Accompanied by the dull sound of metal tearing through flesh, he tightly gripped the opponent's cold, sharp blade.

"You removed the safety cap!" Xia Lun endured the agonizing pain and raised his left hand sharply, lifting the man's sword where everyone could see it.

The giant's eyes were filled with malice. He sneered and said sinisterly, "This is the price of humiliating me. Spend the rest of your life as a cripple!"

The next moment, the giant suddenly lowered his shoulder and yanked free his sword. In an instant, the blade dragged across Xia Lun's palm, ripping open a line of blood!

Squelch!

Blood sprayed everywhere. Flesh curled and split along the wound as pain surged through him. Warm blood splashed onto the ground, and a fine layer of cold sweat seeped across Xia Lun's forehead, dripping steadily down.

Drip, drip, drip...

Blood and sweat fell to the ground drop by drop, soaking the polished wood and staining its yellow grain red.

The crowd fell deathly silent for a moment before erupting into cries of alarm.

The rusty scent of blood spread through the air. Along with the bone-deep pain, a gloomy, frenzied violence spread through Xia Lun's heart like mold after rain.

—The goal of Special Dream Entry was "win at least one tournament." Directly eliminating his opponent physically definitely counted as a victory too.

Xia Lun expressionlessly raised his left hand. It was nearly shattered now, the upper half of his palm hanging down like mangled meat, connected only by a layer of skin.

Yet in less than half a second, layers of white gelatinous mucus seeped out from between his shattered palm bones and stuck them back together. Countless tiny bud-like sacs emerged from his flesh, entwining and slowly sealing the wound.

"Refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit..." he muttered in Chinese, then abruptly tore the safety cap from his sword tip.

The giant accepted a black satin cloak patterned with stars from beneath the arena, then looked up with a cold sneer. "What are you muttering about? Regretting it now?"

"Buzz—"

The only response was an incomparably cold flash of sword light!