Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 71 - 62: Spoken So Correctly That No One Can Refute It
When Qian Yu slowly regained consciousness, he realized that not much time had passed, probably less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
Wang Jiu’s approach was truly measured. Since it was a regulated duel without a life-or-death decision, he only used the main body of his sword, taking down his opponent with lightning speed.
After Qian Yu woke up, he felt a lingering fear in his heart. The swordsmanship cultivation of this Honored Guest Elder Wang Jiu was simply unbelievable! Purely in terms of Sword Dao Realm, Qian Yu could compare to an average mid to late-stage Cloud Surge Realm expert. To take him down relying solely on swordsmanship would require at least someone from a higher realm, a Cloud Flipping Realm master or above.
He really hit a steel plate this time. Hopefully, there won’t be any long-lasting side effects from this...
While thinking this, Qian Long shifted his attention to another battlefield, hoping that the insignificant bit of time he had just fought for could help his ex-girlfriend... well, future ex-girlfriend secure a victory.
Losing to Wang Jiu... isn’t that important, but Zhang Zhixi absolutely cannot lose to Shen Qingming!
In the next moment, when he looked closely, Qian Yu surprisingly found that the battle within the circle was indeed developing in a way that favored Zhang Zhixi! The popular girl was wielding two long swords, one Red Coral, the other Jade Green, using a somewhat unfamiliar yet undoubtedly exquisite swordsmanship to press Shen Qingming to the point of breathlessness.
This dual sword technique was clearly a high-level swordsmanship Zhang Zhixi was reluctant to reveal easily, far surpassing the standard of the Wind-Rising Realm and entering a higher level.
Although Shen Qingming’s brute force was surging and her tactical changes were very flexible, the flaw of her crude swordsmanship was fully exposed under the tactical suppression of the dual swords, and she soon fell into a desperate situation, seemingly about to be defeated in three or two moves.
——
"Wang Jiu, think of something!"
Shen Qingming urgently sought help in her heart.
This Zhang Zhixi is really disgusting, using this kind of trump card swordsmanship in a simple placement test! Is it necessary?! Is there a grudge or what, are you sick!?
And needless to say, Wang Jiu had never stopped his deductions; his attention had never left the battlefield inside the circle. Qian Yu’s duel request wasn’t even considered a pastime for him.
In his view, the situation on Shen Qingming’s side was basically hopeless.
Zhang Zhixi’s hard power was already above hers, and now by wielding this trump card-like dual sword technique, at the cost of the true essence divine sense’s overload operation, she raised her combat power to the extreme in a short time. Relying solely on a low-grade swordsmanship like Eight Gates Sword, Shen Qingming’s tactical disadvantage was just too great, and given her combat insight, it was very hard to fend it off.
The only chance of winning was actually when Zhang Zhixi had not yet determined to reveal her trump card and was still fighting with a single sword, Shen Qingming could have attacked unexpectedly and knocked one of her swords away, but her mount was just too stupid to manage that.
"Now for you, the only way to win is the Spirit Cat Swordsmanship."
"Absolutely not!"
"Then I can only wish you an early recovery from the shadow of this defeat."
"Don’t just give up on me like that! Think of another way; you’re a Celestial Sword Spirit, a matchless expert who has defeated the Great Demon God Emperor!"
Wang Jiu replied seriously, "But you’re a mildly intellectually challenged person with an IQ of only 3.3."
"You dead Ah Jiu, just wait, after I finish with Zhang Zhixi, I’ll duel you!"
——
Although Shen Qingming felt unwilling to concede in her heart, reason told her that this battle was truly difficult... Although from her previous performance, it was expected that she could be smoothly rated as Grade Plus Three even if she lost. However, the thought of losing to this busty Zhang ignited a nameless fire within her.
At this moment, Zhang Zhixi, who had already secured her advantage, couldn’t help but speak, "If you continue to fight, you’re undoubtedly going to lose. Where’s your hidden trump card? Aren’t you embarrassed to show it?"
Shen Qingming replied irritably, "I don’t have any trump card!"
"Haha, what a joke, how could someone like you, who loves self-reliance, not have a trump card?"
Shen Qingming couldn’t hold her anger: "Why are you so obsessed with big families and self-reliance? Even if I really benefit from my family and pretend to be low-key here, how does it bother you!?"
Zhang Zhixi’s face turned serious, "Yes, I just can’t stand your pretentiousness, what’s wrong with that!? Clearly a pampered young lady treasured by her family, yet pretending to be poor and miserable, I just can’t stand it!"
Saying this, she struck with both swords, Red Coral and Jade Green, emitting a burst of golden light that forced people to close their eyes. Meanwhile, the two long swords sneaked over like vipers from the dark.
However, just before the golden light could illuminate, Shen Qingming instinctively closed her eyes, simultaneously gripping the sword hilt with both hands, placing the blade horizontally, then her arms swelled with blood, doubling in size, tearing her apricot-yellow long-sleeved shirt at the seams with a ripping sound, revealing her fresh red skin.
Then, the long sword used for the spar suddenly swept horizontally like a wolf fang club or a Yanyue saber, sweeping through all obstacles! Shen Qingming’s Immovable Tyrant Body unleashed its full power, and the True Essence within her surged violently, stirring up a wind as sharp as a blade.
This unreasonable move instantly broke through Zhang Zhixi’s Golden Light Poison Dragon Sword, forcing her to temporarily avoid its edge.
After Shen Qingming’s sword sweep, forcing the opponent back, she felt like her insides were empty, panting heavily: "A treasured daughter? A wealthy young lady? How many young ladies have you seen eating coarse food and facing ridicule for their unsuccessful cultivation? How many!?"
Before she finished speaking, Zhang Zhixi interrupted angrily: "I’ve seen many! Too many! The young masters from wealthy families leaving delicacies untouched to experience life in the slums, drinking thin porridge and eating cornbread to show they are down-to-earth, who hasn’t seen this!? Besides, what’s wrong with eating coarse food? Real poor people can’t even get wild vegetables! And what if you’re ridiculed for your unsuccessful cultivation or expelled from the Inner Sect, aren’t you still from the Li Family Mansion? It’s just moving from the Inner Sect to the Outer Sect! For real grassroots people, if they don’t meet the standards, they’re immediately expelled, who talks reason with them!? Just because of this, you start showing grievance, yet you say you’re not a wealthy young lady!"
Shen Qingming was momentarily taken aback by this interruption to the point where she was speechless, making her long-standing grievance about unfair treatment seem not that big a deal, as told by Zhang Zhixi.
Zhang Zhixi continued: "Everyone in QingCyan Cloud City knows the Li Family’s most pampered, most cherished daughter is you, the half-daughter Li Qingming! The princess of the Lu Family, Lu Xin, was once so proud, only respecting Li Fengyun while ignoring everyone else. Yet now, for you, she went to the Mutual Aid Association to publish that laughable task for a hundred families, and even established an immortal cultivation fund for you, with an initial donation of ten thousand Spirit Stones, ten thousand! What more could you want? Living carefree in Shen Garden, seeing all the love as deserved, trampling on others’ kindness without regard, only to sentimentally claim you were self-made, self-reliant; I despise such hypocritical vile beings!"
This relentless scolding rendered the whole crowd silent.
Even Shen Qingming was left speechless.
She harbored dissatisfaction too, wanting to refute, like how she never claimed to be self-reliant, self-made. From the beginning, she depended on Sword Spirit Wang Jiu’s help to transform. Or how she never took others’ affection for granted. She always knew this world has too many people far less fortunate than her, compared to them, she is quite lucky.
But then what? Because of others’ misfortune, should she not strive for her deserved happiness? Because others act out of supposed kindness, should she accept it all, ignoring the clumsiness and counterproductive methods, and still feel grateful?
Why, is there such logic in the world!
Unfortunately, now is not the time to argue, and Shen Qingming did not want to quarrel with this big-breasted girl around her age.
This was a ranking test, a place where words are spoken with the long sword in hand.
Not wanting to speak, only wanting to win.
Shen Qingming exhaled lightly, slowly bending her legs, pressing her upper body against the ground, arms withdrawn, hands curled like cat paws in front of her chest, while her body started swaying side to side.
This peculiar movement caused everyone present to be taken aback, even wanting to laugh. But in the next moment, no one could.
Four seemingly real illusions appeared on her left and right as Shen Qingming’s body swayed, while the body in the center gradually disappeared...
"What kind of magic is this!?"
Everyone, including instructors at the peak level of the Cloud Surge Realm, could not help but rub their eyes, incredulously watching as four illusions appeared in the arena. This Wind-Rising Realm cultivator grading actually appeared with such high-level illusion magic?!
And in the circle, Zhang Zhixi’s hair stood on end; she repeatedly challenged the opponent to reveal their trump card, and now that it’s out, it was more terrifying than she imagined.
"Don’t be afraid, it’s just a blinding technique... Using precious True Essence on illusions, attack strength must be weak, as long as we defend steadily, we’ll be invincible..."
Just as she made up her mind, Zhang Zhixi saw Shen Qingming’s four illusions pouncing like cats, indistinguishable from the real thing. She simply closed her eyes, relying on her half-mastered Blind Swordsmanship to barely fend off. In the next moment, four crisp clashes rang out, she actually suffered four attacks, each force making her wrist numb and True Essence sluggish, four swords later, Zhang Zhixi’s Qi Blood surged, her eyes seeing stars.
Fortunately, relying on a bit of luck, she managed to fend off the first round of surprise attacks. Zhang Zhixi bit her lip, swallowed a trace of sweetness in her throat, and began to desperately channel True Essence to regain strength.
But just then, Shen Qingming mimicked a cat’s meow in an overly sweet voice.
It was like a call to youth in the warmth of spring, sweet and seductive, instantly causing everyone to be intoxicated.
Zhang Zhixi seemed to see a blooming flower bush, a few fluffy, adorable kittens running and jumping, playing and romping. Overhead was warm sunshine, underfoot the tender green grass dotted with wildflowers.
In her daze, a kitten suddenly leapt to her shoulder, poking at her earlobe with soft paws, curious.
Zhang Zhixi was completely softened by this innocent and curious little creature, wanting to reach out to pet its small head...
The next moment, a chill spread from her forehead, instantly washing over her entire body, like a basin of cold water suddenly poured over her.
The flower bush, grass, sunshine, kitten... vanished without a trace, leaving only a cold long sword facing her forehead.
And the person holding the sword... wore cat ear-shaped accessories, their hands in cat paw gloves, their face filled with shame and anger.
