Dark Horse

Within a few breaths, Liu Qingqing and Jiang Jinshi had exchanged several moves.

With his surprisingly nimble footwork and the guards on his arms, Jiang Jinshi steadily blocked Liu Qingqing's Phantom Light Sword every time.

Liu Qingqing's movements remained elusive, but the Phantom Light Sword excelled more at deceiving the eye than dealing damage. Its strikes were no more powerful than ordinary thrusts—basic attacks, essentially.

Against Jiang Jinshi, who could keep up with her attacks, each strike landed on arms as hard as a turtle's shell. Apart from faint white marks, they accomplished nothing.

Though Liu Qingqing still had Jiang Jinshi on the defensive, her technique relied on swift shifts of position to create openings. She burned through stamina far faster than Jiang Jinshi, who could defend from one spot.

In an arena match like this, failing to break through quickly could turn the tables.

Chen Yiming stared blankly at the two fighters. Half his awareness remained in the outside world, taking in information, while the other half entered his mind.

He looked as though he had lost himself. The shouts around him faded out entirely.

Two tiny figures appeared in his mind. One imitated Jiang Jinshi, the other Liu Qingqing, their movements lagging behind the real fighters by only half a beat.

As the tiny figure mimicked Liu Qingqing's Phantom Light Sword, Chen Yiming saw through its moves, training methods, weaknesses, and more.

At first, the figures simply mirrored Jiang Jinshi and Liu Qingqing. But after repeating the same moves two or three times, Liu Qingqing's figure began refining the Phantom Light Sword on its own, correcting its mistakes.

The balance shifted at once.

Once refined, the Phantom Light Sword fully displayed the advantage of its higher-grade technique. The figure that knew only arm techniques could not defend against it at all.

Chen Yiming suddenly understood that even the most advanced technique depended on the person using it.

With his level-one Swordsmanship talent, his grasp of sword techniques was undoubtedly better than Liu Qingqing's. That was why the figure using his refined Phantom Light Sword had instantly overwhelmed the other.

As the fight settled into a stalemate, the once-deafening cheers gradually died away. Everyone grew tense.

"Could Liu Qingqing lose?"

Her supporters' hearts leapt into their throats.

Neither fighter's performance was what they had expected. Liu Qingqing had no answer for her opponent.

"Jiang Jinshi is that good?"

The supporters from No. 2 High School felt a glimmer of hope.

Jiang Jinshi was not particularly fast, nor had he mastered a technique with a striking visual effect like the Phantom Light Sword. But his combat instincts were excellent. He kept pace with Liu Qingqing move for move, and his arms' defensive strength countered her style perfectly.

Unable to break through, Liu Qingqing changed tactics first. She abandoned the Phantom Light Sword and switched to Three Illusory Bodies.

She had never used this technique in an exchange match, keeping it as her trump card.

By moving rapidly, the technique produced two afterimages. She and the afterimages attacked her opponent from the front, left, and right at the same time.

If her opponent could not react quickly enough to distinguish the afterimages, he had a two-in-three chance of defending in the wrong direction.

By then, Jiang Jinshi had adapted to Liu Qingqing's style. His sharp combat instincts let him respond immediately.

Rather than wait where he stood for her next move, he leapt toward a corner of the arena and faced her attack head-on.

In an arena match, the space to the sides and rear was limited near a corner. Liu Qingqing's light, agile style would not let her trap herself in such a cramped area, so Jiang Jinshi only needed to handle attacks from the front.

Chen Yiming's blank eyes finally regained their focus.

Splitting his awareness in two was like doing two things at once—drawing a circle with his left hand and a square with his right.

It had taken him some time to adjust, but now he could keep both halves working simultaneously. The tiny figures continued recreating the martial techniques before his eyes without affecting his own movements.

Chen Yiming glanced at the students around him.

The relaxed atmosphere from Liu Qingqing's previous match was long gone. Most of her supporters stood rigid, sweat beading on their foreheads.

The boy who had talked Liu Qingqing up as though she were the best high school fighter of all was especially pale. He bit his lip and gripped the hem of his shirt.

Chen Yiming patted the boy's arm. The boy startled and jerked.

"If Liu Qingqing doesn't use a finishing move soon, she'll lose. Her opponent's defense is too strong for her to hurt him."

Chen Yiming stated his judgment bluntly, driving a knife straight into the boy's heart.

The boy glared at him and said stubbornly, "It isn't over yet. Anything could happen."

But he sounded uncertain. As a devoted fan, he could recite every detail about his goddess. And judging by Jiang Jinshi's performance, he was a perfect counter to Liu Qingqing.

"The arena's only so big. Liu Qingqing may be faster, but if this keeps up, she'll run out of stamina soon. Then it'll be Jiang Jinshi's turn to attack, and one punch will knock her flat."

Chen Yiming showed no inclination to spare her feelings as he laid out Liu Qingqing's predicament.

Liu Qingqing had changed tactics, using another technique that exploited vision: Three Illusory Bodies.

It was not a sword technique, so Chen Yiming could not learn it by watching, but he could easily tell that it worked on principles similar to the Phantom Light Sword.

The root of Liu Qingqing's problem was her average strength and lack of damaging moves. Her opponent had nothing to fear, and switching from a sword technique to a movement technique of the same kind would not change that.

The situation in the arena soon unfolded just as Chen Yiming had predicted.

In the section packed with No. 2 High School spectators, one student began cheering for Jiang Jinshi. Others joined in, pounding their cheering sticks together and breaking the tense silence.

Once Jiang Jinshi had figured Liu Qingqing out, he grew bolder. He kept some strength in reserve for defense and put most of his power into counterattacks.

His heavy arm strikes shook the air again and again, even without his full strength behind them.

Liu Qingqing was far weaker than her opponent. She did not dare meet his arms head-on and could only rely on her agile movements to dodge.

Now she had to search for gaps in his defense while dealing with sudden counterattacks. Her stamina drained even faster.

Before long, her breathing grew ragged and sweat covered her body.

Large drops ran down her forehead and gradually soaked her collar, leaving a damp patch through which the fabric beneath faintly showed.

Liu Qingqing had always liked wearing traditional silk clothing because it gave her an ethereal air. But silk had one drawback: once wet with sweat, it grew clingy and stuck to the clothes underneath.

She had joined the Flowing Cloud Sword Hall as a Core Disciple back in middle school. Though she had later proved undeserving of the title, it had given her access to advanced techniques. She had never met a match among high school fighters.

This was the first time she had found herself in such a predicament.

Knowing she had no chance of winning, she chose not to fight to the end. She jumped from the arena and conceded, suffering her first defeat against another high school fighter.

"Jiang Jinshi!"

Someone called out his name.

The No. 2 High School section erupted. Everyone joined in, chanting the victor's name.

No. 1 High School had long enjoyed a reputation as the leader, attracting the best applicants. No. 2 and No. 3 High Schools could only pick from those it left behind.

Yet an unknown newcomer from No. 2 High School had suddenly appeared and toppled No. 1 High School's strongest martial artist. Nothing like it had happened in years.

Please bookmark this story!!!