A quarter of an hour later, at the martial training ground of the Seat of Divine Foresight…
In the training ground, the petite girl stood facing Yanqing, who was similarly short in stature. The former gripped a heavy sword nearly one and a half times her own height with both hands, a provocative look on her face.
The latter gripped the hilt of the azure longsword at his waist, his teeth clenched. It was hard to imagine this usually calm-tempered youth being provoked by Yunli into such a state.
Seeing that both had taken their positions and were ready for battle, General Jing Yuan of the Seat of Divine Foresight appeared on the training ground as the referee.
"Ahem. For the upcoming spar, I must emphasize two points. First, you must stop at the right moment. Do not engage in any behavior that harms your fellow disciples. Understood?"
"Yunli understands!" "Yanqing understands!"
The two bowed and responded.
"Very good." Jing Yuan nodded in satisfaction.
"Second point: defeat is common in warfare. No matter who loses in the end, do not hold any grudges against each other. Can you both achieve this?"
"I have no problem with that." Yunli planted "Old Iron" into the ground, glanced at Yanqing across from her, and answered.
"Master, I have no problem either. Rather, holding a grudge over a small spar would be a laughable act."
Yanqing naturally refused to show weakness and answered loudly as well.
"Hmm. Then I hereby declare—the spar officially begins!"
As soon as Jing Yuan's words fell, his figure flashed and disappeared from the training ground. When he reappeared, he was already beside Huaiyan and Feixiao, watching the spar between the younger generation together with them.
'Munch munch munch…'
The sound of chewing food drifted leisurely into Jing Yuan's ears, making his heart itch.
He silently turned his head. Jing Yuan's gaze was profound as he looked at Feixiao beside him. At some point, several small "Qiongshi Bird Skewers" had appeared in her hand, and she was happily eating them.
"Hm?"
Seeing Jing Yuan suddenly looking at her with such a profound gaze, Miss Feixiao paused slightly. Looking at the candied hawthorn in her hand, she seemed to understand.
"General Jing Yuan, would you like some too?" Feixiao reluctantly handed over one skewer. Jing Yuan looked at it with surprise, then smiled and accepted the small "Qiongshi Bird Skewer."
"Then thank you, General Feixiao."
Since Feixiao offered it willingly, Jing Yuan naturally accepted without politeness. Looking at the skewer that was almost identical to candied hawthorn, except it seemed coated with an extra layer of sugar, the General of the Seat of Divine Foresight took a bite.
"This flavor!"
The moment the hawthorn touched his taste buds, an explosive sweet-and-sour taste deeply stimulated Jing Yuan's senses. Even his usually listless eyes burst with brilliant light at this moment.
"General Feixiao, what is this? Compared to Qiongshi Bird Skewers, this tastes even better."
"Really? Yunli gave these to me. According to her, this thing is called candied hawthorn. A friend taught her how to make it."
Feixiao tilted her head. After answering Jing Yuan's question, she continued devouring the candied hawthorn in her hand.
"Candied hawthorn? What a nice name." Jing Yuan nodded and savored it carefully, redirecting his gaze back to the martial stage.
At this moment on the martial stage…
"Miss Yunli, I may have offended you greatly. Last time I won by luck. This time I will use my full strength. Please go all out as well, Miss Yunli."
Yanqing held his azure longsword and assumed a starting sword stance. Both his eyes and tone revealed a solemn fighting spirit.
"Hmph! Won by luck? Heh, say whatever you want. But this young lady won't hold back anymore."
Yunli placed one hand on her waist, a disdainful look on her face as she thought inwardly.
Perfect. Today I'll let you experience the brand-new power I just obtained!
"Take my sword!"
Yanqing stepped with the Seven Stars Footwork, brandishing his longsword. His figure flashed like an arrow leaving the string as he charged toward Yunli.
"Hmph!"
Facing Yanqing's assault, Yunli merely snorted lightly. She then lifted her heavy sword and, as if dancing, drew a semicircle with herself as the center, using the momentum to swing the heavy sword fiercely toward Yanqing.
Seeing this, the youth could only temporarily avoid the sharp edge. He abandoned his original offensive plan and instead attacked Yunli's side.
"Petty tricks!"
'Clang——!'
A tooth-aching metallic collision rang out. In the instant the longsword thrust forward, Yunli skillfully used soft force to redirect "Old Iron's" momentum, positioning the blade beside her body and using the force to push outward.
What a refined technique!
Yanqing was secretly shocked in his heart. Although Yunli's move looked ordinary on the surface, only those who practiced martial arts could understand how difficult it was to execute.
Controlling the sword's momentum, freely changing its direction, and achieving this at the critical moment while even using the force to counterattack—such talent was truly terrifying!
"Hey! Are you actually spacing out in the middle of a fight?"
Just as Yanqing was distracted, a slightly cold voice entered his ears. His mind trembled, and he hurriedly exploded backward.
"Hmph!" Yunli did not seize the opportunity to launch a thunderous strike. She simply watched quietly as the opponent retreated until the distance between them reached more than ten meters.
"Why didn't you pursue me just now?" Yanqing narrowed his eyes, his tone as cold as ever. At this moment, the genius youth's mood was extremely unpleasant. He even felt that Yunli was looking down on him and had not gone all out.
"You don't need to look at me like that. I simply felt that defeating you in that situation would have been too easy."
"Heh! How arrogant!"
Hearing Yunli's words, Yanqing's face instantly darkened. He had actually been looked down upon—and by a little girl dozens of years younger than him.
"Sword Like Swallows in Flight!"
Yanqing poured Path power into his longsword. Under the stimulation of Imaginary energy, the sword emitted dazzling light. Immediately after, several icy-blue sword qi shot out with the swing of the blade, flying toward Yunli like soaring falcons.
Combat Technique—Remote Strike Three Feet of Water!
"'Old Iron,' it's up to you!"
Seeing Yanqing use Path power first, Yunli no longer held back. Since Yanqing had already seen her Path power in the previous fight, she would simply counter fiercely now!
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