Chapter 153 : Victory
Chapter 153: Victory
"This paltry skill of mine, how could it compare to yours, Miss? Please, let me off."
Chen Ming refused to give in no matter what.
On the path of martial arts, the higher one climbed, the steeper the ascent became. The disparity between realms only grew larger. Between the Fifth Grade and the Fourth Grade, there was a massive chasm.
Fifth Grade was the Qi Sea Realm. One would open up a Qi Sea that could contain True Qi several times—tenfold or even dozens of times—more than the Sixth Grade.
But upon reaching the Fourth Grade, it became the Gang Qi Realm. All True Qi would be transformed into Gang Qi, allowing one to attack with Qi, striking at distances over ten meters, and wielding Defensive Gang Qi as well.
Under normal circumstances, Chen Ming wouldn’t even be able to break Su Zhi Ning’s defenses. How could he fight like this?
In a match he was sure to lose, he wouldn’t participate.
Last time in Yujie County, the reason he could defeat two Fourth Grade experts was because that constable and the Demon Heir were both poisoned and injured. He had simply taken advantage of their weakness to win.
Su Zhi Ning gazed into his eyes as if trying to see through him. After a moment, she spoke. "I won’t use Gang Qi. Just a contest of sword moves."
No Gang Qi?
Chen Ming raised an eyebrow and asked seriously, "Why is Miss so intent on gauging the level of my swordsmanship?"
Su Zhi Ning responded solemnly, "Before I left this time, Master told me to temper my sword technique more. It’s just that I haven’t come across a suitable opponent until now."
Unexpectedly, the man she had been protecting all along already possessed swordsmanship close to perfection. That had been the assessment of a senior. Tonight, she wanted to confirm whether that elder had exaggerated.
Chen Ming couldn’t help but complain inwardly. With how you always hide in the shadows, afraid of being discovered, how could you even come across any worthy opponents?
Someone with her level of strength had very few qualified to face her in the world to begin with. On top of that, she barely interacted with anyone—was an opponent supposed to fall from the sky?
"Since Miss is so insistent, if I continue to decline, it would make me look petty. But let’s be clear, only a contest of sword moves. Don’t go suddenly striking me with a sword Qi mid-duel and taking my little life."
"Alright."
Su Zhi Ning said no more and turned to walk out of the room.
The room was too small, and they couldn’t fight properly inside, so naturally, they headed outside to the courtyard.
Chen Ming picked up the longsword on the desk and followed behind her.
The sword was brand new. The old one had gained over a dozen notches after today’s fight with Luo Xu and could no longer be used.
If Su Zhi Ning didn’t use Gang Qi, he still had a bit of a chance.
Since her master had instructed her to hone her swordsmanship, it meant her technique had yet to reach perfection. As long as it hadn’t, he had a shot.
This confidence came from mastering the Vermilion Bird Sword Technique.
...
Chen Ming stepped out the door and arrived outside the courtyard, where the moon hung high in the night sky, casting a layer of silver light upon Su Zhi Ning, lending her an even more ethereal and cold aura.
She slowly drew the longsword from her back. The blade shimmered with a cold light under the moon, clearly no ordinary weapon.
With the sword in hand, her entire demeanor changed. A sharp gleam flickered in her eyes as she said clearly, "Please give me your guidance."
Looking at Su Zhi Ning beneath the moonlight, like a celestial maiden, Chen Ming couldn’t help but recall the first time he had seen her.
At that time, he had just broken through to Sixth Grade and was still a nobody.
Now, he was a Fifth Grade expert. Although there was still a large gap between them, in the realm of swordsmanship, he finally had the right to stand before her and engage in a match.
Chen Ming unsheathed his sword, flicked the blade gently, and it let out a crisp hum. He suddenly said, "If I happen to win a move or two by luck, may I make a request of you?"
"You may."
Su Zhi Ning agreed readily.
"Then, Miss, be careful. Here I come."
Knowing that she would not strike first, Chen Ming didn’t hesitate and made the first move.
"Feather’s Weight Bears a Thousandfold!"
A seemingly simple thrust, yet behind it lay boundless variation, sealing off all her avenues of retreat. The moment she stepped back, she would face a storm of sword strikes.
Su Zhi Ning’s eyes lit up instantly.
With just this one strike, she knew that the elder’s words were not exaggerated. Chen Ming’s swordsmanship had already reached an extremely high level.
Even among her fellow disciples, few could match him.
Ding!
Su Zhi Ning’s sword struck with precision, meeting the tip of his blade. From the force transmitted through the point of contact, she immediately gauged the general level of Chen Ming’s True Qi.
As his thoughts flashed, Chen Ming's second sword had already struck.
She responded in an instant. In that moment, the courtyard was filled with dazzling sword light. One cold, one hot—two types of sword energy clashed and burst apart, scattering in all directions, leaving small pits in the trees and courtyard walls.
...
On the rooftop, a figure nearly merged with the darkness was watching the battle. The corner of her robe fluttered in the wind, a clear sign of her inner unrest.
"How is this possible?"
This person was none other than the mysterious Princess Hongyu, who had been following Chen Ming. She had remained hidden in the shadows. During the day, she hadn’t dared approach the World’s Number One Tower, so she hadn’t witnessed Chen Ming’s swordsmanship.
Originally, Chen Ming’s successive victories had already taken her by surprise. Logically speaking, having only recently broken through to Fifth Grade, he shouldn’t have been able to win so many matches.
She had even wondered if all the youths in Jiangzhou City of this generation were just useless.
Now, upon witnessing Chen Ming’s swordsmanship firsthand, she was so shocked her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Princess Hongyu had personally seen Uncle Shang teach Chen Ming swordsmanship—that was nearly a year ago.
Back then, under Uncle Shang’s personal instruction, the kid had taken a whole month just to grasp the basics of the technique. His comprehension was exceedingly poor.
Now, a year later, the very same Vermilion Bird Sword Technique, when used by Chen Ming, had become as natural as breathing. He had completely mastered its essence and reached the pinnacle of proficiency.
No wonder she was so shocked.
Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she would never have believed someone could train a second-tier sword technique to this level in just one year.
Princess Hongyu even started to doubt whether the Chen Ming before her was the same fool from back then—who had to ask repeatedly just to learn a single sword move, to the point of rendering Uncle Shang speechless.
After a long while.
Princess Hongyu looked at Chen Ming in the courtyard below, who had just sliced open Su Zhi Ning’s veil with a single sword strike, and muttered in her heart, “Just how many more surprises can this brat give me?”
...
After more than thirty moves, the sword light in the courtyard vanished in an instant.
The longsword in Su Zhi Ning’s hand was hovering just an inch away from Chen Ming’s brow. Her eyes were filled with shock and confusion.
A gust of night wind blew past, lifting the veil on her face and letting in a stream of cold air.
A moment later.
She sheathed her sword, lowered her eyes, and let out a quiet sigh. "I lost."
This time, Chen Ming didn’t offer any humble remarks. In such circumstances, it would have been inappropriate.
Moreover, Su Zhi Ning’s swordsmanship was indeed extremely advanced. She had brought him tremendous pressure—far greater than Luo Xu had. He couldn’t even afford to hold back, forcing him to go all out.
That was why the fight had ended in just over thirty moves.
【You defeated an LV69 opponent and gained 41,000 experience points】
Upon seeing the prompt before him, Chen Ming was elated.
Miss Su really was kind—she had just gifted him a huge pile of experience points.
In the brief moment he had been distracted, Su Zhi Ning had already vanished without a trace. Who knew where she had gone.
He glanced at the Refined Steel Sword in his hand, only to see seven or eight nicks along the blade. Another one ruined.
"No wonder that Yu Haitang likes to use treasured swords to win people over."
If Su Zhi Ning had used just a bit more force and broken his sword, he would’ve been the one to lose.
Of course, that was only because Su Zhi Ning merely wanted to spar and had no intention of taking advantage of him.
Had it been an enemy, things would’ve been very different.
Chen Ming thought to himself that he needed to find a way to get a better sword.
Then, he returned to the room. The oil lamp was still burning. He sat back in the chair, adjusted the wick, picked up the half-read Medical Book, and continued reading.
...
The next morning, at the same time as usual, Chen Ming headed out together with Feng Siyuan, heading toward the World’s Number One Tower.
"Your courtyard was pretty noisy last night. I thought someone was trying to assassinate you."
Feng Siyuan joked.
Chen Ming casually replied, "Just sparring with a friend."
"That friend of yours must be something else. I heard from my Grandpa Qi that your sword skills were almost evenly matched."
He smiled slightly and said, "That friend of mine doesn’t like to be in the spotlight."
Feng Siyuan added, "Besides your friend, another uninvited guest showed up last night. At least a Third Grade expert—most likely came for you. You’d better be careful."
"Thanks for the warning."
Before long, the two of them once again arrived outside the gates of the World’s Number One Tower. This time, there were clearly far more people calling out Chen Ming’s name.
Feng Siyuan recalled something amusing and said, "I heard all the big gambling houses shut down their betting on your victory yesterday. Seems like everyone believes your entry onto the Azure Cloud Ranking is guaranteed."
Chen Ming said, "We’ll have to see about today and tomorrow."
Starting today, he would be facing those seven seeded contestants in back-to-back matches—this was the real test.
Among those seven, at least three had strength equal to or greater than Luo Xu.
"If even Luo Xu couldn’t defeat you, the rest are nothing to worry about."
Feng Siyuan still had blind confidence in Chen Ming.
"Young Master Chen Er, you must win!"
Just then, Chen Ming heard a somewhat familiar voice. He turned his head and saw someone who looked vaguely familiar—probably a merchant from Qingfeng City he had met before.
He nodded slightly in greeting.
"So he’s Chen Ming? He truly has an extraordinary bearing."
"Who would’ve thought—after so many years of decline, Qingfeng City finally produced a true genius."
"Hmph, what genius? He only defeated some nobody. Just wait until he meets Young Master Jiang and Young Master Ji—then we’ll see his true form."
"Exactly. Who’s this Luo Xu anyway? Nobody even knows where he came from. Beating a bunch of nobodies—how is that worthy of being called an expert?"
"......"
As Chen Ming listened to the quarrels behind him, he stepped into the gates of the World’s Number One Tower. Even the old man guarding the gate gave him a nod and a smile.
He knew—he had truly made a name for himself.