Vain ideals

'F-far stronger than Zhao Ming, and slightly faster than him too,' Ying thought as he pulled back from the attack with a wide step backwards. 'But I still have the advantage in that regard.'

He reeled his blade, then stabbed once again, this time at Jiang Chu's face.

Stab!

Whoosh!

Barely dodging the attack, all the while suffering a small cut to his facial skin, Jiang Chu responded with an attack of his own.

Slash!

Of course, Ying, who had no plans of going defensive for any part of this fight, did not block the incoming blow. Instead, dodged with a swift dip downwards, followed by a precise leap out of harm's way.

Then, appearing behind Jiang Chu, he struck again, utilizing the speed a sword which was as light as an actual feather allowed him.

It seemed he was more than a little experienced with fights… But that didn't make his sword skill any less shoddy.

Whoosh!

His sword surged forward, its crude path lining all the way to Jiang Chu's seemingly open blindspot. But then, something happened...

Ying noticed something.

'What?!'

He thought as he caught a glimpse of Chu's body shivering violently, as though it was experiencing a bout of cold fever. Before abruptly stopping barely a split second later.

This time, though, it would seem that Chu had made a complete 180-degree turn in his direction, simultaneously parrying the blade.

Clang!

"Sh*t…" Ying hissed, faced with Jiang Chu's sheer strength.

"Haha, surprised, aren't you? I learned that one from my master!"

Ying, on the other hand, was indeed surprised… But not in any way appreciative.

'Damn! Was he also holding back to test the waters?' he thought, instinctively backing off. If Jiang Chu had only just gotten serious, then he needed to rethink the entire game plan.

....If he even had one to begin with.

But alas, such an opportunity proved to be nothing but a fleeting dream, as Jiang Chu fervently chased after him.

Clang!

Bang!

'Ugh!'

Ying groaned as he blocked another attack from the powerful disciple. He retreated. Forced back by the ever-growing flurry of Jiang's attacks.... Or more appropriately, he tried to retreat.

The latter was determined not to let him get away, sticking to him like super glue. Eventually, Ying just gave up.

'Fvck, he won't let me escape. I have no choice but to fight!' Ying thought and pushed forward.

But—

'What the hell? This guy...' Ying was once again filled with perplexity, as he saw….. No, he felt it. He felt it in his very bones! 'His entire aura... his fighting style... it's changed completely!

From a style which was more reliant on brute strength and force, Ying was filled with dismay as Jiang Chu's sword suddenly shifted to one with much more finesse!

Before, it felt like he was fighting against a superhuman elephant on creatine, who primarily relied on the overwhelming force of his blows to trump his opponents...

But now, everything had changed.

Now, it felt like Ying was trying to go upstream against a turbulent lake. The waves of what ch possessed five, no, ten times as much downstream force!

"Ugh.." He spat.

Clang!

Shing!

The garden, once serene and beautiful, now felt oppressive. The rustling leaves sounded like whispers of judgment, and the shadows seemed to close in around Ying as he stood over Jiang Chu, his blade trembling in his hand.

His attacks grew heavy, and slow, as time went on. In contrast, Jiang Chu's swings only got faster and more powerful.

Slash!

Shing!

"Tsk.." Ying clicked his tongue as he skid back, huffing and sweating profusely after just barely serving the brief clash.

He looked up—at Jiang Chu, and grew even more contemptuous as he saw his downcast face.

'What, I'm not strong enough for you, bastard?!' He chased, recognizing that condescending stare.

It was the same stare that had haunted him, like an overbearing apparition, during his days in the outskirts.

He utterly despised it.

'Che... Fine then, let's try something else.'

Ying made up his mind, then swiftly threw his free hand behind his back, nefarious intent gleaming within his dark pupils.

Witnessing this action, or rather, inaction... Jiang Chu mistook it for something else.

"Ha," he started. "I just released my full power, and you are so confident as to hide your hand behind your back? I just knew you had more to offer. Show me something, Brother Ying!!"

Jiang Chu cried fiercely as he also threw his free arm behind his back.

The two charged each other.

Whoosh!

Boom!

Dust rose up as both fighters clashed. The force behind their blows, and even their subsequent follow-up dwindling greatly.

Seeing and feeling the battle's tempo drop down a few notches, Ying could not help but smile.

Ying forced a grin, though his chest pulsated in exhaustion. "Come on, Jiang Chu," he taunted, his voice steady despite the tremor that ran through his entire being. "Is that all you've got?"

"Ha! Not even close!"

Thwack!

Stab!

Honestly, he hadn't expected the brown-haired Cultivator to react this way.... not that he had any problems with it.

Quite the opposite, in fact. The battle raged on, both striking and parrying one another as they duelled with single hands.

Bang!

Whoosh!

'You want to see something? Sure. I've got something for you to see right…..here!' Ying said, then all of a sudden, whipped his hidden arm forward.

Jiang Chu's eyes widened, his body instinctively halting as the metallic glint of a short silver blade flashed before his face.

It was Du's blade. Ying had summoned it when he hid the arm behind his back.

"Huh?"

The short sword was inches from Jiang Chu's face when he snapped back to reality. He reaches forward, catching the blade with his bare hand.

His face scrunched up as a bleeding cut opened up on his palm.

Ying grinned.

'Check…'

Still in turmoil, Jiang Chu attempted to utilise his strength to try and snatch Ying's blade away from him. But the force of his drag was met with no resistance as the latter had already rid himself of the impromptu weapon.

"Ahh…" Jiang Chu gasped as he realised his mistake. His own force dragged him backwards, creating an inexplicably huge opening, which—being the ultimate opportunist that he was—Ying didn't fail to exploit.

'…Mate.'

With a smile, Ying's sword soared forward—at Jiang Chu and stopped right under his jaw, in front of his masculine Adam's apple, kissing it ever so slightly.

At this point, it did not require trained personnel to infer the results of the spar.

"Checkmate," Ying said slowly, a triumphant confidence laced deep in his statement.

Ding!

[You have cleared the quest, !]

"..."

An awkward silence hung in the air as everyone just stood there staring, eyes wide as saucers, and mouths agape. The sight would undoubtedly prove tempting to more than a few unsuspecting flies.

But can you blame them?

Never in their short mortal lives had they ever witnessed a Cultivator, who was usually proud and insufferably confident, resort to such cheap, underhanded tactics during an actual duel!

Anything was fair game in a normal fight, but a duel… a duel was sacred.

It was not just a contest of strength, but also a profound conversation between two masters. It was the purest form of combat, the ultimate test of a warrior's honour.....And acts like these sullied its wholesome sanctity.

....That was why, what Ying pulled felt like a sin against the martial path.

"Ahem. Err… Master Ying wins, I guess?" Qing Lo finally said, breaking the silence as well as garnering strange looks from the staff present.

'Huh? You guess? What do you mean you guess? I won that hands down! Also, what's with those strange looks...? Is this guy's genius really that exalted? Or is there something else....'

Ying wondered.

At this time, Xian Shan—who had been silently observing everything since the start had a thought. As did everyone else in these gardens, all of which aligned with one another.

'C-could something like that… really be considered a win? Is it even allowed?'

Was this okay?

Yes, why not? After all, they never really set forth any other rule aside from the standard regulations, believing in the integrity of both warriors. Little did they know that the existence known as Ying was a foul creature who had long since abandoned such vain ideals.

'It's just like in the forests... With Zhao Ming, and his bunch. He remains indifferent no matter what happens! I can't quite tell, but there's just something.... unsettling, about his methods....'

"…"

Time passed in awkward silence.

'It's been so long, why the heck are they still AFK-ing? Is it a glitch or something? I'd expect nothing less from those dumbass game Devs....' He thought, but then an inkling washed over him, causing him to sigh.

'Haa...Don't tell me these guys are acting this way because of that little trick I pulled at the end. Did they seriously expect a battle between a borderline Fourth Realm Body Tempering Stage genius and a Second Realm Body Tempering Stage novice at practically everything to be… fair? On what grounds is that fair?! How idiotically naïve! Are these guys brain dead?!'

Ying was filled with annoyed thoughts as he finally caught on to what was going on, hissing venomously in response.

'Honour? Integrity? What a joke! Let's see how far that gets you if you had to fight for your life every single day in those accursed slums!'