Chapter 145: Discussing Swordsmanship
No matter what Tang Thirty-Six said, Su Moyu naturally had his own judgment and choices. As the representative of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy students, he could not simply concede. Moreover, his stubborn and taciturn nature determined that even if his opponent was that mysterious and powerful wolf tribe youth, he would not lose confidence.
He bowed to the examiner presiding over the match, then walked to the stone steps outside the Dust-Washing Pavilion.
The crowd gradually parted, and Zhexiu walked over. His steps did not pause; he went straight into the Dust-Washing Pavilion.
The examinees looked at the slightly thin back of this youth with varied expressions. From dawn until now, aside from saying one sentence to the examiner, no one had heard this person's voice. People were very curious about just how strong this wolf tribe youth, known for his mystery and cold-bloodedness, actually was, and what kind of person he was. As for the outcome of this match, not many people cared, because in many eyes, the result was already decided. Su Moyu, ranked thirty-third on the Azure Cloud List, was certainly not weak, but his opponent was simply too strong.
Chen Changsheng turned his head and glanced at Luoluo, who seemed lost in thought. Recalling the spiritual impact the wolf tribe youth had given him the moment he turned back when entering the academy, he thought that Luoluo losing to Tianhai Shengxue later might actually be a good thing. At least she wouldn't have to face this youth and wouldn't be in any danger.
The wooden door of the Dust-Washing Pavilion slowly closed.
Not much time passed before it opened again.
The examinees were somewhat stunned. Although they knew there shouldn't be any surprises in this match, the fact that it ended so quickly was still shocking.
The one who walked out of the Dust-Washing Pavilion first should be the victor—the wolf tribe youth, Zhexiu.
He stood on the stone steps, looking toward the direction of the National Academy by the forest.
Throughout the Grand Examination process, this youth had always stood apart from the crowd or walked at the very front, leaving people with mostly his back. At this moment, many people were seeing his front for the first time.
He wore a thin cloth garment, tied with a cloth belt at the waist. His feet were bare, and his pant legs were three inches above his ankles—simple to the extreme.
He carried no weapons on him, but his entire being gave off an extremely dangerous feeling, like a blade that had been sharpened. No, he was the edge of the blade itself. Yes, his danger lay not in any physical form, but in that feeling—as if looking at him for even a little while would make one's eyes sting.
Many examinees instinctively averted their gaze or looked elsewhere.
After a moment, the wooden door of the Dust-Washing Pavilion slowly closed. Su Moyu did not come out.
The examinees were somewhat surprised. Someone couldn't help asking, "Wasn't it said the loser could stay?"
That Li Palace priest glanced at Zhexiu, frowned slightly, and then said to the examinees, "Su Moyu was too badly injured. He's been sent out of the academy for treatment."
Hearing this, the area outside the Dust-Washing Pavilion fell into dead silence. The examinees found it hard to suppress their complex emotions and once again turned their gazes toward that wolf tribe youth.
In the examinees' eyes was shock, but even more so, fear.
Su Moyu was the best student of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy, a genius youth ranked thirty-third on the Azure Cloud List. Even if he wasn't a match for this person, the match had been so short, and with many examiners watching closely, yet this person had still managed to injure Su Moyu so severely. This showed just how strong he was.
Inside the Zhaowen Hall, the dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy stared at the image on the light mirror, his face dark to the extreme.
The match in the Dust-Washing Pavilion had long since ended. On the light mirror, there was only a patch of yellow sand—the ground—with a few patterns of green leaves on the lower edge and several spots of bloodstains.
Su Moyu had suffered extremely severe injuries. In the Li Palace, his life should be safe, but no one knew if it would affect his future cultivation.
As the dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy, he had more than enough reason to be angry, but he didn't know how to vent that anger.
The match between Zhexiu and Su Moyu had started too quickly and ended even faster. Not to mention those Li Palace priests controlling the situation on the second floor, even if he himself had been present, there was no way to stop that tragic scene from happening—unless he had been inside the arena beforehand.
The four examinees from the National Academy had all drawn the strongest opponents in the lottery. That was a man-made result, and he was well aware of the reasons behind it. As for Su Moyu, a student the Li Palace Affiliated Academy had high hopes for, encountering a monster like Zhexiu in the second round of matches could only be blamed on bad luck in the draw.
Su Moyu was severely injured and withdrew from the competition. Even if his written exam results were outstanding, he could at most enter the top three. Going any further was impossible.
At this point in the Grand Examination, all students from the Li Palace Affiliated Academy had been eliminated. Not to mention compared to the Lishan Sword Sect or the Huaiyuan Academy, even the Star Picking Academy still had four people left. How could he face this?
The dean of the Li Palace Affiliated Academy stood up with a livid face, flicked his sleeve, and left the Zhaowen Hall, no longer interested in following the subsequent progress of the Grand Examination.
The dean of the Heavenly Academy, Mao Qiuyu, had already left because he was dissatisfied with certain influential figures secretly influencing the lottery to corner the National Academy.
At this moment, in the Zhaowen Hall, only the deans of three of the six Ivy Academies remained.
The second round of the Grand Examination matches continued. Fist winds and sword rains never ceased, true essence surged restlessly, but these were all things happening inside the Dust-Washing Pavilion, and little sound reached outside. In the next few matches, Zhuang Huanyu easily defeated his opponent. The Lishan Sword Sect's Qijian and Guan Feibai also didn't take long to advance to the third round. Next to appear was that young scholar from the Huaiyuan Academy.
The youngest among the four Huaiyuan Academy participants this year, and also the strongest, was Zhong Hui.
Standing on the stone steps before the Dust-Washing Pavilion, looking at the scene before him, his expression was somewhat unpleasant. In the Huaiyuan Academy, he had always been the center of attention. Even though the Grand Examination gathered many strong contenders, logically, when it was his turn to fight, he should have attracted the gazes of many examinees. But now, no one was looking at him, which made him very uncomfortable.
It wasn't that the examinees didn't value him. A young strong contender ranked ninth on the Azure Cloud List was certainly worthy of attention. It was just that Zhong Hui's opponent wasn't very famous, and coincidentally, the next match was the focus of everyone's attention. So at this moment, people's eyes weren't on him but on two places.
The forest edge where the National Academy group was, and the streamside where the Lishan Four were.
The next match would be Tang Thirty-Six's turn. Chen Changsheng was currently crouching on the ground, constantly saying something to him, holding a tree branch and drawing and writing on the ground. Luoluo crouched beside him, propping her chin with her hand, listening seriously. Xuanyuan Po stood above them, using his burly figure to block the gazes from the crowd.
Chen Changsheng was explaining some essential points of the Lishan Sword Art General Formula. This wasn't about last-minute cramming but rather highly targeted guidance, because he was using the essentials of the Lishan Sword Art General Formula to compare and explain several famous battle examples of Liang Banhu. The lines drawn on the ground with the branch were all sword momentum.
Liang Banhu was the opponent Tang Thirty-Six was about to face.
"Your true essence quantity and purity are definitely inferior to his."
Chen Changsheng put down the branch, looking at Tang Thirty-Six's unconcerned expression, and said seriously, "Even if you haven't been as lazy since coming to the capital as you were in Wenshui, you know how hard the Lishan disciples train with their swords. So there's no need to argue about this—you're just not as good as him."
Tang Thirty-Six spread his hands, indicating he had no other meaning.
Chen Changsheng glanced toward the streamside and continued, "Your cultivation levels are about the same. As long as you haven't crossed that threshold, the difference between upper levels of Meditation Contemplation won't have too much impact on the fight. So if you want to defeat him, you'll have to work on your techniques and make something of them."
Tang Thirty-Six's expression turned serious. "How do I write it?"
Chen Changsheng said, "Seize the initiative and attack."
Tang Thirty-Six raised an eyebrow slightly. "Isn't that the same as what you and Xuanyuan Po did in the first round?"
Chen Changsheng said, "It's different, because all aggressive attacks are feints. You need to prepare at least twenty sword moves as a continuous chain, giving Liang Banhu no chance to think, making his judgment error. Then, when the sword momentum is about to form, he will definitely think you're going to use the Wenshui Three Forms. That's when our opportunity comes."
Saying this, he picked up the branch again and wrote a few words on the ground by the forest.
"Tang Tang and your junior brother are about the same in cultivation level. After studying with Chen Changsheng at the National Academy for so long, their sword technique finesse should have improved and won't be weaker than yours or mine. But his true essence quantity and purity are definitely inferior to yours, and so is his will."
Gou Hanshi scooped some clear water from the stream, washed his face, glanced toward the National Academy group by the forest, and continued, "Tang Tang's strongest point is actually his temperament. He likes to take unconventional paths, and when he gets fierce, he's quite something. If I were Chen Changsheng, I would definitely place the only chance of victory on techniques."
Qijian listened from the side and asked with some confusion, "Senior brother, since their sword techniques are about the same, how can he win through techniques?"
"The order of sword moves, timing, choice, and using sword moves to form momentum." Gou Hanshi patiently explained to him.
Hearing this, Guan Feibai recalled the trial sword match between himself and Princess Luoluo at the Ivy Banquet and silently nodded.
Liang Banhu looked toward the forest edge, his slightly youthful face full of calm confidence. "Chen Changsheng is definitely giving him advice right now."
"Correct."
Gou Hanshi looked at him and said, "Chen Changsheng will definitely find a way to make Tang Tang use sword techniques to gather momentum, and then use an unexpected method to forcibly seek a chance of victory. As I said before, Tang Tang's most remarkable trait is that crazy fierceness. So I think the sword move he uses after gathering momentum won't be the Wenshui Three Forms, because although those three moves are powerful, they're not fierce enough."
Liang Banhu fell into thought, beginning to recall the sword scrolls he had seen in the Lishan Sword Hall.
Guan Feibai thought it over and found that if things really were as senior brother guessed, there really wasn't a good way to deal with it. If it were him facing Tang Tang, he would probably have to rely on pure true essence and fight head-on.
"Fight head-on." Gou Hanshi looked at Liang Banhu and said.
Liang Banhu was somewhat puzzled, and Guan Feibai was even more shocked, thinking, isn't that the dumbest method of all?