Chapter 17
One had recently become a 2nd realm martial artist, while the other was renowned solely for her exquisite beauty that turned heads wherever she went.
Ji Wuye's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Song Jia, who appeared outwardly calm despite the fury that had been etched across her delicate features moments earlier.
With a curl of his lip, he muttered inwardly, 'Come to think of it, what realm is she even in now? First? No... perhaps second...'
As Ji Wuye pondered, his Senior Sister raised a hand, ebony silken robes whispering around her wrists. "Begin!" she commanded, her voice cracking like a whip in the silent sect ground.
At her signal, Qin Bai burst into motion, his body wreathed in a shimmering azure aura of Qi. He closed the distance in the blink of an eye, crossing the three zhang between them in less than five breaths.
Qin Bai leapt, raising his wooden sword arm in a blur until the wooden blade was parallel to his body. A vicious grin split his features as he took in Song Jia's seeming lack of reaction.
"Hahaha, take this, you bitch!" he jeered, assuming her stillness meant she was frozen in fear or shock.
As the one who has basically stayed longer in the sect, even though Qin Bai rarely practiced, with the ease born from years of being in the sect, he still managed to draw the wooden sword down in a straight, powerful line.
In addition, confidence blazed bright within him now that he had finally overcome the barriers of the 1st realm. And from what he had gathered, this Song Jia was all beauty with no bite, just another fresh-faced newcomer with no real strength to speak of.
The wooden blade sang through the air, trailing streamers of azure Qi that stirred Qin Bai's hair into a wild dance as it arrowed down towards her unprotected head.
To his delight, she made no move to channel her own Qi in defense against his attack. His smile stretched wider, vicious satisfaction blazing in his eyes at being proven right.
The Kunlun Sword Style he practiced was famed for its elegance and swiftness. The opening stage of Meridian March focused on stimulating the flow of Qi through the body's meridians and was practiced by those below the 4th realm who had not yet formed their Three Main Dantians.
Meridian March, First Move - SINGLE WHIP!
A straightforward vertical slash tracing the path of the Taiying Lung Meridian along one side to promote Qi flow from the hand into the lungs.
Though not a tremendously powerful technique, it packed more than enough force to easily floor an untrained civilian when fueled by a 2nd realm martial artist. Yet Qin Bai missed one crucial aspect in his arrogance...
His wooden blade met an impenetrable horizontal guard as Song Jia effortlessly parried his strike!
With a resounding clank that reverberated through the courtyard, she turned the wooden sword to absorb and disperse the weight of his weapon and the intense momentum of his descending body.
Qin Bai's victorious sneer froze, transmuting into sheer panic mid-air as he absorbed the impossible scene before him.
Not only had this slender beauty remained utterly unharmed and unmoved from her position, but she had negated and deflected the full force of his offense with apparently no effort at all!
Her calm expression didn't even flicker as the impact shuddered through her slim form in a manner that should have been impossible.
For a lower realm martial artist to withstand an attack from someone of a higher realm was nearly unheard of.
The only explanations were if she had undergone intense physical conditioning to augment her body's fortitude, but surely not at her delicate size.
'Or perhaps she had superior skill and experience in the same martial style as me... or even employed a different art entirely designed to counter the Kunlun sword techniques.
'But no... that couldn't be... could it?' Those were the inward thoughts ranging in Qin Bai's mind.
In that case, Song Jia could easily exploit any openings or weaknesses left by Qin Bai's overconfident assault and capitalize on her evident advantage.
And finally, the most logical yet unthinkable conclusion - her realm was higher than him...
"You..." Qin Bai snarled, poised to rotate his waist and deliver a retaliatory kick. But before he could, a look of acute satisfaction gleamed in Song Jia's eyes as her wooden sword continued halting the progress of his own blade.
The shock and disbelief writ large across his features made enduring his crude insults absolutely worth it.
"Stupid," Song Jia retorted, a mocking smile curving her lips as she reveled in his humiliation. For a brief moment she allowed the tension to ease from her slender shoulders, savoring the sight.
Then, with a subtle adjustment of her wrists, her wooden sword shifted trajectory. The pressure abruptly released from Qin Bai's suspended weapon, sending him stumbling forward towards her in his precarious, airborne position.
THUD!
In the next instant, a stunned gasp of surprise escaped Qin Bai's lips as Song Jia's wooden blade struck the unprotected right side of his abdomen with pinpoint accuracy.
"Gah!" His body flung violently to the side, legs buckling as he crumpled into an undignified heap on the ground. The surrounding disciples squinted against the billowing clouds of dust kicked up by his impact, watching in hushed disbelief as his form convulsed.
"That's it? He didn't even realize his mistake..."
"I thought Qin Bai was supposed to be strong...how pathetic am I in comparison..."
"What a disappointment, it ended in just one move..."
The whispers and mutterings among the observing disciples filled Qin Bai's stunned mind as he coughed and struggled to push himself up on trembling arms.
He looked towards Song Jia, who smirked and mockingly stuck out her tongue at his prone form.
Fear, rather than rage, consumed him in that moment.
"She's already...in the 3rd realm..." he rasped, grasping at the only explanation that could account for his utter defeat. His obsessive pursuit of climbing through the realms at the expense of true martial skill had clearly blinded him.
Qin Bai swallowed hard, casting venomous glances around at the other disciples gathered who were all weaker than him in terms of realm alone. The bitter shame and impotent fury churned in his gut as their mocking disdain washed over him.
Meanwhile, Lian Ruogang, the senior sister who had overseen the duel, observed the scene unfolding with a discerning eye.
Though her expression remained outwardly inscrutable, inwardly she felt a sense of satisfaction at Song Jia's elegant display of martial prowess against such an arrogant, overconfident opponent.
As Qin Bai continued struggling fruitlessly to rise from the ground after the devastating blow, Lian Ruogang directed her piercing gaze towards his prone, pathetic figure.
Instead of focusing on his opponent, he seemed lost and absent-minded, eyes roving wildly around as if uncomprehending of his surroundings. It was clear he either lacked the intention or ability to stand and face her.
With a tone that demanded respect and carried a sense of finality, Lian Ruogang addressed the defeated youth, each word dripping with censure:
"Qin Bai, it is evident that your so-called prowess has finally found its match on this day. Will you yield now, preserving what little honor you might have left? Or will you continue to invite further embarrassment and humiliation upon yourself with this disgraceful display?"
...
[>>[QUICK ADAPTATION(F)]<<]
The proficiency of your passive skill has been increased by 0.01%!
[>>[QUICK ADAPTATION(F)]<<]
The proficiency of your passive skill has been increased by 0.01%!
[>>[QUICK ADAPTATION(F)]<<]
The proficiency of your passive skill has been increased by 0.01%!
[>>[QUICK ADAPTATION(F)]<<]
The proficiency of your passive skill has been increased by 0.01%!
Meanwhile, amidst the crowd of onlookers, Ji Wuye's glowing crimson eyes gradually faded.
His gaze fell upon Song Jia, whose hands now trembled with the force of her exertions as jubilant female disciples swarmed her, hugging and playfully pressing her flushed cheeks in congratulation.
'It's not the 3rd realm, but her stance...' he pondered inwardly, brow furrowing slightly.
Having witnessed arrogance and underestimation of an opponent's skills countless times before in those like Qin Bai, Ji Wuye understood that most of the other disciples present were not as oblivious to the truth as the defeated youth.
Thanks to his passive skill Quick Adaptation constantly analyzing and adapting to situations, Ji Wuye was able to not only identify critical flaws in Qin Bai's movements, but also recognize the subtle preparations and feints behind Song Jia's deceptively simple actions.
'Firstly, Qin Bai made the mistake of levitating his body off the ground by jumping, sacrificing a solid footing,' Ji Wuye mused to himself.
The initial Single Whip strike of the Kunlun Sword Style's opening Meridian March sequence relied heavily on proper stancing and grounded footwork to unleash its full potential.
Yet the overconfident youth had forgone those fundamentals.
'On the other hand, Song Jia clearly had her stance and rooting mastered.'
In her brilliant counter-attack, she seemed to have utilized the follow-up Double Slash movement to simultaneously target both flanking sides of Qin Bai's exposed torso - his key vulnerable area left unguarded by his unbalanced posture.
'Furthermore, Qin Bai has only recently broken through to the 2nd realm after wasting years on frivolous pursuits fixated solely on realm advancement, neglecting the true essence of martial arts...'
Ji Wuye nodded in satisfaction, confirming the current timeline seemed to still align with the previous one despite the subtle alterations he had introduced.
Qin Bai's lack of true skill and one-dimensional focus were glaringly evident.
But there was more to Song Jia's effortless victory. As Ji Wuye's crimson eyes studied her movements, he realized she had not merely relied on superior stancing.
Even as she appeared to make no attempt at channeling her Qi, deftly concealing it, Song Jia had been circulating and consolidating her Qi beneath her feet the entire time.
The implications gave Ji Wuye pause.
For Song Jia to already be capable of such fine Qi control, there were only two possibilities - either she had secretly become 5th realm martial artist...or she possessed a hidden, powerful martial art imparted by her Master.
'Hmm…the 5th realm… then, why would she have bothered concealing such an achievement all this time?' Ji Wuye dismissed the former option as unlikely, leaving only the latter conclusion.
'Which means...her Master's sword art is the key,' he murmured, thoughts trailing off as he pieced together the full significance.
'So basically, all this time she used her Master sword art, heh,' This was a new revelation; in the previous timeline, Ji Wuye neither possessed the Quick Adaptation skill nor had knowledge about Song Jia's secret art.
Just as he was about to take his leave and ponder this further, a sudden prickle of unease ran down Ji Wuye's spine.
Almost unconsciously, his crimson eyes scanned the surrounding area, coming to rest squarely on the burning, venomous glare aimed directly at him from none other than the humiliated Qin Bai himself.
'Ah... I almost forgot about this one,' Ji Wuye exhaled softly, lips quirking in a curled-up smile as their gazes met and locked.
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