Extra's Strategy: Cultivate Protagonists, Become Invincible

Inside the arena, Han Xuhan stared at the gleaming silver saber in Chen Yan's hand, and shuddered dramatically.

"Senior Brother, are you sure you want to use an unsheathed sword to fight a bare-handed junior?"

"...This is a saber, not a sword," Chen Yan said, gritting his teeth.

"It's a sharp weapon either way. Look at me. I'm so poor that I can't even afford one!"

"...." Chen Yan was stunned. How shameless can someone be?

This guy didn't miss a single opportunity to brag about his wealth. How could he call himself poor while hiding those massive crates full of resources inside his house?

The stuff under his bed alone was worth thousands of spirit stones! Chen Yan had personally calculated their value!

"Junior Brother, are you trying to coerce me into dropping the saber and fight you unarmed? Surely, you know that doing so would be tantamount to crippling me. I know only this saber art."

The crowd outside the arena felt conflicted.

On one hand, Han Xuhan was too weak. Carrying no weapons or shields, he looked even more pathetic. On the other hand, forcing Chen Yan to fight without his saber would also be unfair.

Regardless of how this duel was fought, someone could find a way to call one side shameless.

Han Xuhan glanced around, observing the distant discussions and realizing that the intended effect had been achieved!

"Alright then, I, as the junior brother, can only give way to my senior's convenience, even if it's a little unfair to me."

Just as Chen Yan was about to sigh in relief, he heard him add,

"Sheathe that saber, senior brother. You can still use your saber techniques while keeping it sheathed."

"...."

It was evident that Han Xuhan had put some thought into it before bringing this matter up. Chen Yan couldn't find a way out that wouldn't invite some public criticism.

An unfavorable view from the audience would hurt his subsequent plans. So he decided to compromise.

He pulled out the sheath from his waist and put the saber back inside.

"Let it not be said that this duel was ever unfair to you, junior brother. Come!"

The moment he shouted, he sprang forward and shortened the distance between them to just eight feet. At the same time, his saber swung sideways, its tip homing towards Han Xuhan's left shoulder at a speed that left a trail of afterimages.

But Han Xuhan had already amassed enough experience of fighting someone faster than himself. Every muscle, joint, and tendon of his two legs worked together simultaneously to throw his body backwards the moment he noticed Chen Yan move.

At the same time, all ten of his toes dug into the soil and pushed out clumps of dirt and clouds of dust, hurtling towards Chen Yan's face.

Two figures at the center of the arena, one retreating, one attacking, separated by a burgeoning layer of dust.

However, Chen Yan seemed to be familiar with this tactic of his. While he simply turned his masked face sideways to avoid letting anything fall in his eyes, he flicked his wrist and extended the saber towards Han Xuhan blindly.

Sweeping Saber Style: Blade Yearns For The Moon!

At first, this looked like a desperate, but harmless move. Han Xuhan had already jumped outside the reach of his saber. What was the point of trying to extend his body and poke him with it?

However, the sheath of the saber 'accidentally' came loose because of the momentum of the flick. It cut through the dusty curtain between them and struck Han Xuhan right in the sternum.

Han Xuhan staggered back several steps, and almost knelt down from the pain. That saber sheath wasn't what it looked like!

This whole time, Chen Yan had been carrying around a harmless-looking sheath that weighed at least twenty-five pounds!

He recalled the self-report Chen Yan had provided before the battle. He had only named his ordinary saber art, and added that his saber was the standard one issued by the Sect...

So that report was a misdirection!

He intended to use this heavy sheath to carve out a victory. The saber was just for show!

Han Xuhan realized with a sinking feeling in his guts that raising a complaint about this trick would not be fruitful. Couldn't everyone already see that the sheath was heavy from how it had struck him?

The rules were strict about tools that were imbued with special attributes and magical arrays. Using an ordinary, heavier-than-usual sheath did not violate any rules specifically.

In the worst case, Chen Yan could simply defend himself by saying, "It was an accident. He was the one who forced me to fight with a sheathed saber.

How was I supposed to know that this little bit of weight had to be reported lest it should kill this weak junior?"

Did this mean Chen Yan had already calculated that Han Xuhan would find a way to force him to engage in a heavily restrictive duel of pure martial arts?

Why else would he prepare this trick?

Han Xuhan was not particularly surprised upon realizing that his tactics had been predicted by his opponent so accurately.

It was mostly a matter of calculating the worst outcomes, finding out one's own weaknesses, analyzing the past strategies of the enemy, and taking enough precautions.

Chen Yan didn't let him think for too long. As he rushed forward once more, one of his feet sneakily slammed the back of the fallen sheath, sending it flying towards Han Xuhan's chest once more.

This time, he was ready for it. Instead of trying to avoid the abrupt attack at the last moment, he grabbed the sheath and used its momentum to reposition himself, forcing Chen Yan to change his angle of approach.

Then, he casually tried to swing the sheath at Chen Yan's oncoming strike.

However, right before the sheath and the saber could connect, a subtle flick of Chen Yan's wrist shifted the saber away from its trajectory, evading it in a sweeping arc, and then slashing at Han Xuhan's outstretched hands instead.

Sweeping Saber Style: Blade Dances Beyond Blades!

However, Han Xuhan had already foreseen that Chen Yan wouldn't let the saber and the sheath destroy each other like that. He even knew what move recorded in the Sweeping Saber Style allowed one to capitalize on such a situation.

His goal was to find this fraction of a moment where Chen Yan would use that evasive but deadly move, where his opportunity lay!

Han Xuhan shifted his grip on the sheath, and instead allowed it to drag him towards Chen Yan's saber, as if he had lost his balance because of its weight.

Chen Yan saw a chance to deliver a fatal strike and couldn't help but adjust his grip for a moment to increase the power behind it.

Right then, Han Xuhan shed his helpless demeanor, and his body suddenly flashed forward without any signs of movement appearing beforehand.

Chen Yan's graceful sweeping saber failed to rise to its full momentum. Like a choked cry, it was muted halfway by a suddenly clamping down grip on Chen Yan's wrist.

Two figures, two locked hands, one shivering saber hanging between them like a curtain.

Seated outside the arena, Mu Ran, amongst many others, exclaimed, "What martial art is that move from?"

A brilliant smile bloomed on Xuanyuan Zhou's face. But she didn't give him an answer.