Testing the Waters

On his way home, Chen Yiming rode his bicycle through the alley.

His build was nothing like it used to be. He had grown sturdier all over, and even his training clothes could not hide the air of a martial artist.

His eyes stood out most of all. Perhaps he had absorbed something of the sword technique's spirit, or perhaps it was something else, but meeting his gaze felt like looking into a sharp glare.

It was early evening. Every house along the way had its front gate locked, and the sound of his tires rolling over the dirt road drew bursts of barking from behind the courtyard walls.

Dogs, those traditional helpers for guarding homes, were valued once more.

As he approached a crossroads near his home, Chen Yiming saw Zhang Youde standing in the middle of the road.

Zhang Youde had his hands in his pockets and was pacing back and forth, white puffs of breath escaping his mouth.

Standing there at this hour, blocking the road, he was clearly waiting for someone.

Chen Yiming's home lay just beyond the crossroads. There was no question whom Zhang Youde was waiting for.

Chen Yiming could not tell what Zhang Youde wanted, but with the man waiting this close to his home, there was no avoiding him.

He could only act calm and ride up to a stop a little over a meter away.

"Junior Brother Chen, spare me a few minutes."

Zhang Youde raised a hand to stop the bicycle, then stepped forward and spoke.

"Senior Brother Zhang, is something wrong?"

Chen Yiming pretended they had met by chance and that he knew nothing.

He planned to hear Zhang Youde out first. As long as their grudge had not become a matter of life and death, the old monsters of a martial arts family probably would not interfere in a dispute between juniors.

"No need to be so formal. Just call me Youde."

Zhang Youde gave a few awkward laughs, acting as if there had never been any conflict between them.

"Hu Shixin has always had a foul mouth. I've already sent him to watch over the warehouse as punishment."

Zhang Youde told him where Hu Shixin had gone.

Hearing this, Chen Yiming thought people would assume he had forced Hu Shixin out. He responded generously:

"That's all in the past. I really don't hold it against him. Besides, getting into a martial arts school and training there isn't easy. Let Hu Shixin come back."

He could not let himself be branded petty.

"Rules are rules. If you do something wrong, you have to accept the punishment. Hu Shixin left because he was too ashamed to stay at the school. He also asked me to apologize to you on his behalf. Let's put that unpleasantness behind us."

Zhang Youde flatly rejected Chen Yiming's suggestion that Hu Shixin return, while passing along an apology for him.

Whether Hu Shixin had left willingly or been driven out, no one would look too closely. His talent only qualified him to be an ordinary student.

"If that's how Hu Shixin feels, tell him when you get the chance that I never blamed him. I'll be going."

Chen Yiming had no desire to keep talking with Zhang Youde. He prepared to ride around him.

The claim that Hu Shixin had left voluntarily out of shame was obviously false.

Still, it gave Chen Yiming a new understanding of martial arts family scions. They were so focused on gain that anything could become a bargaining chip.

At his words, Zhang Youde hurriedly reached out to stop him.

"Junior Brother Chen, don't leave yet. Now that we've cleared the air, why not trade a few moves? We can get to know each other through martial arts."

Zhang Youde had yet to accomplish his purpose here. He could not let Chen Yiming leave.

"Trade a few moves?"

Questions raced through Chen Yiming's mind. What is Zhang Youde really after? Is he testing my strength, or does he have another motive?

Unable to figure it out, he stopped worrying. With the strength of three physical transformations, he had more than enough to protect himself as long as he did not go looking for trouble.

"Fine."

Chen Yiming knew avoiding the issue would solve nothing, so he parked his bicycle against the wall and drew the wooden sword from his back.

"Watch yourself."

Zhang Youde saluted with clasped hands, then drew the sword he carried.

He stood half a head taller than Chen Yiming and had a larger frame. Eating exotic beast meat since childhood had given him that foundation, allowing him to develop his physical potential more fully than students from ordinary families.

But strength was not simply a matter of who had bigger muscles.

They stood facing each other, neither moving to strike first.

Chen Yiming had been pushed into this fight and had no desire to attack. He was in no hurry to make a move; he wanted to conceal as much of his strength as possible and muddle through.

Zhang Youde believed he was one minor realm above Chen Yiming. Even if his talent with the sword was inferior, he thought he had the advantage in strength and did not want to bully him by attacking first.

Several breaths passed in a stalemate.

Neither seemed willing to start. If this continued, the match would end before it began, so Zhang Youde had no choice but to strike first.

From his very first move, he used Mantis Snake Swordsmanship and gave it everything he had.

He had no intention of probing with basic sword moves. Zhang Youde knew his swordsmanship alone was inferior, so he had to overpower Chen Yiming through his higher realm.

He believed Chen Yiming had only just completed his first physical transformation, putting himself a full minor realm above him. If Chen Yiming could not withstand his attack, Zhang Youde would suppress his strength to the level of one physical transformation for the rest of the fight.

Chen Yiming focused and easily parried the strike, shedding its force.

Their intentions were different. Chen Yiming needed to suppress his own strength and show only what someone with one physical transformation should be capable of, lest he give himself away.

After that single exchange, Chen Yiming had Zhang Youde's measure. He was probably in the early stage of his second physical transformation, having completed it not long ago.

Chen Yiming adjusted his strength slightly and counterattacked with the same Mantis Snake Swordsmanship.

Their swords clashed and tangled. All that could be seen were figures flashing through the space between them.

After their physical transformations, their speed and reactions far surpassed those of ordinary people. An ordinary person would never be able to follow the fight clearly.

Not far away, at a second-floor window of the Chen Family Restaurant, Chen Yiming's father, mother, and Chen Yingying watched the two fight with hearts in their throats.

They could not hear the conversation. And since Zhang Youde almost never wore his martial arts school uniform, preferring a shirt and jeans, they thought Chen Yiming had run into an enemy.

Chen Yiming's parents spoke quietly to each other from time to time.

They did not go outside to interrupt the fight. They knew they could not help and might only make things harder for Chen Yiming.

After dozens of exchanges, Chen Yiming decided he could not appear too strong, but he could not look weaker than Zhang Youde either. Otherwise, he would lose the initiative in the conversation to come.

The gap between one and two physical transformations was not as impossible to bridge as the gap up to three.

So he exploited Zhang Youde's shaky grasp of the swordsmanship, repeatedly attacking its weak points.

Soon Zhang Youde made a mistake under pressure and could no longer defend every opening. Chen Yiming tapped his hand with his sword. The pain made Zhang Youde's hand spring open, and his sword fell from his grip.

So he really is a genius who can fight above his realm.

His momentum carried him several steps forward before he stopped. He was now certain his earlier guess had been right.

When Chen Yiming had held his own against Wang Bowen while Wang Bowen suppressed his strength, Zhang Youde had suspected he was the kind of formidable fighter who could challenge opponents above his realm.

But Wang Bowen might have deliberately gone easy on him. Zhang Youde could only be certain after fighting Chen Yiming himself.