One Battle After Another!

Clang!

The two swords collided, the sound shaking the entire arena.

It was as though the curtain had risen on a grand performance—

Jiang Xueyao's gaze turned colder. She changed her sword's course and slashed at Xu Yuan again from close range.

Xu Yuan moved with his sword. He stepped back, tapped the wall several times, then climbed rapidly toward the upper floors as if pulled by steel wires.

Physical technique, movement technique!

And a movement technique powered by spiritual energy!

He really had entered the Way!

So Yang Xiaobing's faith in him was not unfounded.

Jiang Xueyao gave a soft snort and pursued him.

The swords in their hands became surging afterimages as they exchanged blow after blow.

Noisy shouts echoed from the top of the building to the bottom.

Students cried out, making sounds that barely resembled words.

The top-ranked girl at the high school had suddenly descended from the sky and started fighting a boy.

Who could have expected a battle like this?

The uproar throughout the teaching building rose wave after wave.

Because—

"Sword Qi!"

Someone cried out.

Jiang Xueyao unleashed a streak of white Sword Qi that flew toward Xu Yuan.

The sword in Xu Yuan's hand instantly burst forth with a white line just as incomparably sharp.

The unbroken streams of Sword Qi from their blades clashed in the air, rattling like torrential rain striking a river!

The entire crowd erupted.

Time seemed to stop for an instant.

Jiang Xueyao pushed off the wall and surged forward. After five swift steps, she rose into the air like an immortal maiden treading waves and raised her sword—

"One last move."

She looked at the boy opposite her and spoke softly.

Wind.

It gathered around her.

A piercing, high-pitched hum suddenly erupted from the snow-colored blade.

Xu Yuan retreated along the wall, yet his expression remained unusually calm.

The sword in his hand did not move.

But the wisps of Sword Qi winding around its edge trembled violently and gave off the same shrill cry.

In an instant.

They swung their swords together.

Eight beams of white Sword Qi burst from Jiang Xueyao's sword. They pierced the air, skimmed along the wall, and slashed toward Xu Yuan from afar.

Xu Yuan's sword shuddered, and he unleashed eight identical beams of Sword Qi!

Flying Swallow Chain!

Both dodged the other's Sword Qi, then bounded along the teaching building's outer wall in curving paths, each seeking a chance to close in for another strike.

The Sword Qi released by that swing traced a broken white arc, pursuing the other's figure from afar.

Yan Song Third Form: Whirling Dance!

Clang!

Both blocked at the same time, then struck again—

Sword Qi crisscrossed the sky, howling without pause.

"Didn't you say that was your last strike? How many has it been now?" Xu Yuan shouted.

"Hmph." Jiang Xueyao ignored him and kept swinging.

Song Huaijin had said—

"That kid hasn't even awakened his sense of qi. He sits in the back row every day, doesn't study, and only knows how to play around, yet he's got Yang Xiaobing head over heels."

"A parasite like him does nothing but eat, drink, and have fun, but he happens to know how to make girls happy."

He had also said—

"If this keeps up, Yang Xiaobing will be ruined."

Damn it.

She had only wanted to help Yang Xiaobing.

He used me!

Jiang Xueyao tightened her grip on her sword, anger suddenly rising in her heart.

The Sword Qi on her blade grew fiercer, shrieking as it cut through the air.

Xu Yuan could only keep meeting her attacks.

A heavy hum suddenly came from the teaching building.

Sensing danger, the grand array protecting the building had activated on its own.

Inside the administration building.

The principal, the grade director, and the homeroom teachers of the senior classes were drinking tea and talking with a group of university visitors.

Suddenly.

An old man who had been resting with his eyes closed opened them and said in surprise:

"Flying Swallow Chain, Sword Shakes the Eight Wastes—and from two people?"

Everyone looked toward the roof of the teaching building opposite them, excitement showing on their faces.

On the roof.

Yang Xiaobing watched the battle below nervously, fists clenched and body trembling slightly.

The two climbed and leaped along the building's walls while attacking each other.

They were almost fighting their way onto the roof!

"Xu Yuan... you won't lose so easily..."

Yang Xiaobing murmured under her breath.

But Xu Yuan did not notice her.

Jiang Xueyao's sword was fast, like a sudden storm of wind and rain, each move stronger than the last.

Only by drawing on his reflexes from his previous life, his combat instincts, even his intuition for the flow of battle—along with every bit of swordsmanship he had cultivated in this life and the fruits of his efforts in the historical branch—could he barely hold his own.

Thanks to this relentless assault, he experienced combat in this world for the first time.

One strike.

Another strike.

And another.

There was no time to catch his breath.

No sooner had one dense, impenetrable storm of Sword Qi faded than another, fiercer wave of sword attacks followed on its heels.

Xu Yuan kept responding.

His eyes grew brighter and brighter. Spiritual energy raced through his body, and his fighting condition continued to rise.

Jiang Xueyao watched him even as she struck.

Sometimes combat was like a dance for two.

If your opponent was too weak, you could not enjoy it.

If your opponent was skilled but refused to give their all, you could not enjoy it either.

Faced with her sword, people her age were either afraid or so tense they could barely move. Some were ready to lower their weapons and concede at any moment.

This person was different.

He matched her, displaying everything he had learned and striving to drive this battle to its peak, then—

When both of them were ready for one final exchange—

They would decide the victor!

The corner of the girl's mouth lifted slightly. A feeling she had not known in a long time stirred within her.

Admittedly.

Judging by their exchanges, his swordsmanship was not something he could have mastered overnight.

Song Huaijin's words truly could not be trusted.

But the situation now had nothing to do with Song Huaijin.

She had already lost the wager.

So she had to win this battle.

At least that would spare her some embarrassment.

"You're about to lose."

She spoke.

Her sword suddenly became a streak of snowy white, sweeping toward Xu Yuan in an instant.

Before Xu Yuan could react, the blade was at his neck.

So fast!

It had already surpassed the limits of his reactions!

He raised his sword hilt with all his strength—

Clang!

A crisp metallic clash rang out.

"Let go."

Jiang Xueyao smiled.

Xu Yuan's sword was knocked from his hand and sent flying into the air.

The winner was decided!

But in that instant, Xu Yuan seized the momentum and stepped forward. He clenched one hand into a fist and punched at Jiang Xueyao.

The entire motion flowed like drifting clouds and running water, as though he had thrown his sword away on purpose.

The timing of that punch was perfect!

Jiang Xueyao's sword had only just knocked Xu Yuan's sword away. Its force was spent, and she had not yet brought it back into position.

But the fist had arrived.

Once again, they faced a moment that could decide the battle.

Yet after just one move, Xu Yuan now held the initiative!

Jiang Xueyao's gaze sharpened, and she immediately stepped back.

She had clearly won that exchange.

Yet he had turned the situation around in an instant!

It was simply—

Smack.

Jiang Xueyao twisted and swung her elbow to stop his fist. Using the space gained by that backward step and block, she moved her sword again.

Something was wrong.

A faint heat lingered in the air.

She possessed a Thunder-Fire Spiritual Root and was highly sensitive to fire. Could it be—

Jiang Xueyao had been about to thrust straight ahead, but at the instant she struck, she changed to a sweeping cut. She whirled her Sword Qi around herself and blocked the attack.

Taking advantage of that moment.

She looked at his hands.

His right hand was a fist. His left—

It was forming a spell seal.

He had used two moves at once.

The speed at which he formed that seal was beyond imagination. It was nothing short of—

Monstrous hand speed!

Whoosh—

The Pill Flame had formed!

Firelight met Sword Qi, and the two canceled each other out.

Jiang Xueyao said:

"The instant I knocked your sword away, you prepared Inch Punch and Pill Flame?"

"What else? Did you think you'd already won?" Xu Yuan said.

He reached out.

The Xu Feng Sword fell from the sky, and he caught it securely in his hand.

Jiang Xueyao fell silent for a breath.

He had stayed close to her and fought to her rhythm, so she had used her divine ability, Blowing Snow.

She had thought she could win with a single move.

But his judgment and perception in battle, his understanding of tactics, and his ability to adapt had all surpassed ordinary expectations.

In his hands, a winning position could be overturned in an instant.

He had even calculated where his sword would land after being knocked away. Then he stood there, reached out without looking, and took it back.

The whole situation had been part of his calculations!

Good.

Jiang Xueyao's heart surged with excitement.

This was a fight!

This was an opponent worth fighting with everything she had!

"One last strike," she said.

"You said that before." Xu Yuan shrugged.

Jiang Xueyao raised her sword, but her gathering momentum faltered for an instant. She could not help saying, "This time, we'll settle it."

Almost at the same moment—

Xu Yuan thrust his sword forward.

As though she had read his mind, Jiang Xueyao stepped forward and swung her sword too.

Hummm—

The swords rang out, unleashing streak after streak of white Sword Qi.

Those streaming ribbons of Sword Qi crossed and collided in midair, rumbling like thunder, cracking like lightning—

Both unleashed the final move of the Swallow Song Sword Art once more—

Flying Swallow Chain, Sword Shakes the Eight Wastes!

"Enough!" Yang Xiaobing cried urgently.

Neither of them listened. As their Sword Qi canceled each other out, they charged straight at one another.

One last move.

This would decide the winner!

Xu Yuan thrust his sword straight ahead.

A smile played on Jiang Xueyao's lips as she swung her sword to meet his.

Clang!

The two blades struck, probed, and shifted against each other, scraping with a sound that set teeth on edge.

But then—

Jiang Xueyao stopped short.

She held her sword a few inches from Xu Yuan's chest, utterly still.

Xu Yuan did not move either.

He looked down at the sword in his hand.

In that last exchange, his Swift Wind had suddenly snapped. Only half the blade remained in his grip.

His sword had broken!

Naturally, the fight could not go on.

"Why is your sword so poor?" Jiang Xueyao asked with a frown.

"It isn't poor. It was a perfectly good sword." Xu Yuan stared at the broken edge, his face crumpling.

It cost me three gold coins!

I only just bought it, and it's already broken!

I'd have to kill a human trafficker to buy another sword like this.

Where am I supposed to find another human trafficker?

(End of chapter)