Inside the arena, two combatants were preparing to restart their duel.

Chen Yan rolled his injured wrist up and down a few times, letting Han Xuhan see the ease in his movements. But that psychological strike didn’t really land as powerfully as Chen Yan might have hoped, since his injuries were nearly healed as well, thanks to the expensive pills.

Han Xuhan grinned at him and reached into his robe, pulling out a bundle of thin ropes. He placed each half of Chen Yan’s saber sheath on the outer side of his forearms and tied the rope around them tightly.

The sheath was about three and a half inches wide, just about enough to protect his arms and fingers from being sliced off directly by a sudden slash. Now, both of his hands were partially protected, like wearing a pair of gauntlets.

There were also portions of the ’gauntlets’ reaching several inches beyond his fists, forming dagger-like extensions.

Aside from the heaviness, these split segments of the sheath were practically perfect tools for a duel like this, suitable for both offense and defense.

Judging by the dirty look Chen Yan gave him after seeing the arrangement, Han Xuhan was almost certain that he had intended to use them in a similar fashion, had some unforeseen circumstances caused the loss of the saber in the middle of the battle.

That guy had really thought out every scenario meticulously. He just hadn’t expected his opponent to be this extreme. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Ready, both of you? Shall we begin, then?" The official asked, and received a nod from both sides.

With his loud signal, thousands of intense gazes narrowed in on the center of the arena, heads leaning forward and breaths hitching in anticipation as Han Xuhan and Chen Yan strode towards each other.

When the gap between them became less than a dozen meters, Chen Yan sped up like a lightning bolt, relying on the movement art associated with the Sweeping Saber Style.

Han Xuhan immediately crouched low, torso leaning forward and arms held up in front of him like the pincers of a scorpion.

Lightfoot Swallow Martial Technique: Swallow Crouches Before Flight!

Then, his bent legs sprang up, stomping the ground and propelling his body forward like a rocket. In the blink of an eye, the two combatants made contact.

Because of Han Xuhan’s lowered body, Chen Yan couldn’t use many essential offensive moves of the Sweeping Saber Style.

Even when he performed a difficult oblique chop, aiming for Han Xuhan’s neck, his blade was struck away casually by a backhand, thanks to the sheath’s protection.

At the same time, a wild swing of Han Xuhan’s other fist grazed Chen Yan’s waist. Had he not been the faster between the two, it would have surely made him bleed.

This time, Chen Yan didn’t pause to analyze the new move, or play another psychological trick to ruin Han Xuhan’s momentum. He switched his stance and reversed his grip on the saber to strike again at Han Xuhan’s back as they passed each other.

Sweeping Saber Style: Dragon’s Tail Descends!

The saber came down like a whip, blurring in the air to throw off any possibility of premeditated defense. But it only managed to carve a shallow cut, spreading a thin line of blood on his nape, its original intent defeated by Han Xuhan’s speed.

Chen Yan was disappointed at the outcome. Considering Han Xuhan had just chugged so many healing pills, the medicinal properties in them should still be active in his body. That wound wasn’t going to last ten seconds.

’I shouldn’t have let him take the pills! I should have invoked the traditional rules, damn it!’

The distance between them increased to several meters, but shrank back instantly as they reversed their directions and clashed once more.

Lightfoot Swallow Martial Technique: Swallow Springs Forth In Six Steps!

Sweeping Saber Style: Cleaving Heaven, Cleaving Earth!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Chen Yan swung his saber with all the strength he could muster, intending to overpower Han Xuhan. His previous tactic of steady attrition couldn’t work in a limited-time scenario. No martial artist would lose their stamina in just ten minutes.

But each strike was swatted off by Han Xuhan’s ’gauntlet’ covered hands.

Chen Yan intentionally scraped his blade along the sheath segments, trying to ruin every millimeter of flesh that it could reach past the edges.

But to his horror, he discovered that the ropes that had been used to tie the sheath segments to Han Xuhan’s hands were almost indestructible! Even his heaviest strikes merely left shallow cuts on them!

Refined tools! Those ropes were either imbued with Mystic techniques or alchemic enhancements!

At this moment, Chen Yan’s biggest regret was not setting dozens of explicit rules before the duel. But then again, he was certain that Han Xuhan wouldn’t have agreed to fight under so many restrictions...

Growing somewhat desperate, he began to employ the more radical moves of the Sweeping Saber Style. And Han Xuhan seemed to have been waiting for this very opportunity.

Clang!

A vertical chop executed with a special, strength-maximizing stance, carefully aimed at a spot not covered by those refined ropes, finally helped the saber leave cracks running across one of the sheath segments.

But that stance left an opening in Chen Yan’s defenses that Han Xuhan didn’t miss.

Squelch!

The rough edges of the other sheath segment, propelled by Han Xuhan’s other hand, sank several inches deep inside Chen Yan’s thigh, raking against his bones.

Hurt and furious, Chen Yan discarded the fancy moves and attempted to stab Han Xuhan in the chest directly.

Knowing that he couldn’t defend himself with just a partially protected arm, Han Xuhan tore himself away, taking out chunks of Chen Yan’s flesh with him.

Still, he didn’t entirely manage to avoid the stab. A burning sensation filled his upper left torso as an inch-deep hole opened up. The tip of the blade had missed his heart by just a few centimeters, and not because of Chen Yan’s mercifulness!

For a couple of seconds, both combatants stopped moving to adjust their bodies and minds. Then, simultaneously taking a deep breath, they rushed forward without hesitation.

Sweeping Saber Style: Endless Ocean Waves!

Sister Zhou’s Secret Martial Technique: Vibrating Block!

While Chen Yan used a rapid flurry of strikes to make up for his temporary immobility, Han Xuhan switched to those random assortment of martial arts Xuanyuan Zhou had given to him to experiment with.

None of those manuals had a name, and he had only managed to learn one or two moves from each martial art style. So he simply preferred to categorize them all under one common attribute, collectively naming them Sister Zhou’s Secret Techniques.

The biggest advantage of these techniques was their unpredictable nature. The biggest disadvantage of these techniques was their lack of synchronization, reducing their effectiveness in real combat.

A perfect Vibrating Block only made Chen Yan lose his grip on his saber for a second.

A half-decent Fleshbiting Palm made him groan in pain.

A badly executed claw technique left three strips of mangled skin on the back of his hand.

In exchange, the cuts and bruises Han Xuhan received were nowhere near enough to lead to a defeat. So neither side relented for a single moment!

Time passed quickly, and the injuries on each combatant grew in number. But due to their powerful, durable bodies...

Neither side fell even once by the time the bell rang to signal the conclusion of the first round!

In contrast, those watching from outside were also on their feets, their coalesced clamor making the even mountains quiver faintly.

The arena official appeared between them like a ghost, pushing them away from each other.

"Excellent performance, both of you! But it is time to stop! Let the judges decide the outcome!"

At the edge of the arena, on elevated seats, a group of Elders exchanged brief looks among themselves.

Thousands of passionate eyes were now on them, and a thousand spirited voices were rising among the audience. Clearly, everyone watching the duel had their own opinions on who should be given the title of the victor.

Roars resounding, cheers and applause, excitement manifesting, the electrifying atmosphere climbed to its peak, awaiting a verdict!