Chapter 43 The Lonely Leveling Master
Linghu Chong is already very skilled in using the Huashan Sword Technique. He has learned each move since childhood and practiced it diligently until now. He can now use it with ease when facing enemies.
Huashan swordsmanship is light and agile, with remarkable skill in terms of moves and speed. However, the moves used by the man he was fighting were equally impressive.
Moreover, although the "Purple Cloud Divine Skill" he practiced was the core internal energy cultivation method of the Huashan School's Qi Sect, it was utterly ineffective in the face of Ye Guhong's Wudang mental cultivation method.
Linghu Chong's swordsmanship was already quite good for his age and circumstances, and his adaptability was not slow either. The reason he was at a disadvantage was because he suffered from insufficient internal energy.
Lu Yusheng made a plate of tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelet) by frying eggs, chopped greens, and ham together. The taste was far superior to the dry flatbread that Yue Lingshan ate for breakfast.
Yue Lingshan had already eaten breakfast, but the chicken cakes made by this small business owner were so savory and delicious that she couldn't help but eat a few more pieces.
Since she was being beholden to someone who had fed her, Yue Lingshan was even more grateful that she hadn't carelessly pulled out the tables and chairs here to fight back.
The two watched the battle while eating. Unlike Yue Lingshan, Lu Yusheng didn't have a foundation in swordsmanship. Unless one of the two was injured, she felt they were evenly matched.
Watching them fight like this, Lu Yusheng couldn't help but feel the urge to join in. He had awakened his skills for so long, but he had only used them a handful of times.
However, firstly, she was afraid of accidentally harming innocent people because she didn't know the reason behind the incident, and secondly, the wind blade couldn't automatically target enemies, so she had no way to secretly trip up the enemy and speed up the battle.
"System—" she called out in her mind, "Did you hear that, System? Do you see the consequences of not strengthening me? No chance to play!"
As expected, there was no response.
She could use the system's "expulsion" function to drive both of them out, but Lu Yusheng didn't want to go that far before actually damaging valuable electronic products or causing casualties.
Once this unnatural force is used, one should be prepared to silence all witnesses.
Now that she can't leave the house, she's just hoping that these old customers will come back to visit her often after they leave.
Meanwhile, Linghu Chong, under Ye Guhong's sword techniques, finally revealed his weaknesses and began to retreat step by step.
Linghu Chong, who was passively defending himself, was extremely unwilling. He had clearly learned the best sword technique in the world, but he was restricted in every step because he could not use it.
It's so frustrating, so incredibly frustrating.
But just then, I suddenly heard my junior sister's voice—
She was loudly encouraging him, which made Linghu Chong unable to resist glancing at her even in such a critical moment.
Next to the shopkeeper, who was eating golden pastries and staring irritably at the two people in the arena, his junior sister, dressed in a bright green jacket and skirt, was jumping up and down, cheering him on loudly.
At that moment, a tremendous sense of conviction surged into his heart, making him forget his worries and follow his heart to use another set of sword techniques that he knew by heart.
Although he was distracted, he had no opponent, so almost the instant Linghu Chong's sword momentum suddenly changed, Ye Guhong sensed the change in momentum.
The Huashan sword technique was already very agile and ingenious, but the sword he thrust out at this moment was even more agile and ingenious than before.
In this world today, only Linghu Chong and his grand-uncle Feng Qingyang know how to use the Dugu Nine Swords.
When Feng Qingyang retired, Ye Guhong had not yet been born, and Linghu Chong had only met him for the first time. Therefore, he was naturally unable to decipher such exquisite swordsmanship. On the contrary, his own swordsmanship was being deciphered move by move.
Ye Guhong felt that his swordsmanship, which he had practiced for many years and had become quite proficient, suddenly seemed to have flaws in every move. Every step of his sword was suppressed, and every attack could only miss.
The boy who had previously been defeated by him was now like a completely different person.
As blood spots gradually seeped from his body, waves of stinging pain came over him, and he knew that new injuries had been inflicted on his already unhealed wounds.
In order to resist Linghu Chong's increasingly fierce offensive, Ye Guhong's steps became chaotic and his breathing became unsteady.
He began to fight back with all his might, but in the end, he could only have his sword knocked away.
Taking advantage of the momentum, Linghu Chong charged forward, the sword tip only inches away from his body. Lu Yusheng felt that the sparring had gone too far and was about to call on the system to use its defensive function to interrupt the two of them, regardless of the consequences, when he saw that Linghu Chong had already stopped on his own.
After stopping, he smiled brightly at the front and said, "You lost."
Upon hearing this, Ye Guhong simply covered his wound with his hand, supporting himself and not collapsing.
Seeing his pained expression, Linghu Chong quickly explained to the two people in the audience, "I only struck him with the blade, I didn't actually stab his body with the tip of the blade. I suppose he was already seriously injured, and the impact of the sword on his wound caused him to bleed again."
Why didn't this happen when I fought her?
Although unwilling, Yue Lingshan could only admit that the man in white was skilled in martial arts, and that none of her previous dozen or so attacks had hit her.
Ye Guhong's expression, however, was far from relaxed. The pain on his face wasn't from physical agony; a swordsman, of course, knew that swords and blades had no eyes, and he had suffered even more severe injuries before. What he truly couldn't accept was—
Am I really... that much worse off than him?
Hearing him mutter to himself, Linghu Chong immediately replied with humility and integrity, "That's not necessarily true."
At this moment, he was also impressed by the white-robed man's swordsmanship. Furthermore, he noticed that his junior sister was still able to eat and move without any injury, so he could guess that the other party must have been holding back when attacking, just like him.
After thinking it through, Linghu Chong couldn't help but comfort him when he saw the scene again: "Brother, you are not in good condition today because of your injury. If we fight again another day, the result may be different. Don't underestimate yourself too much."
Upon hearing this, Ye Guhong's lips moved slightly, and he felt the anger he had suppressed during the competition resurface.
He wanted to expose the man's wishful thinking, but since he was indeed inferior in skill, he let the kid talk.
He would tolerate it as long as Ximen Chuixue was not mentioned again.
Seeing that the two sides, who were originally very aggressive, had gradually calmed down after the fight, Lu Yusheng put down his empty plate, wiped his hands, and walked over.
"Are you done playing? Can I say a few words?"
Upon hearing this opening, Linghu Chong sensed something was amiss for some reason, and Yue Lingshan, who had come over to check if he was injured, also fell into an eerie silence.
Ye Guhong reacted quickly; he glanced around and guessed that this was an unavoidable ordeal for all martial artists.
He wasn't one to shirk responsibility, and fortunately, he carried a money bag with him, so he made an estimate based on the extent of the damage around him.
Finally, he said calmly, "I'll sell them all."
Linghu Chong was taken aback upon hearing this, and immediately felt embarrassed: "After all, we started the fight, let me handle it."
Lu Yusheng waved his hand and shook his head, then walked to the broken pieces on the ground to examine the injuries: "First of all, it's a set of exquisite tea utensils."
She recalled the price when she bought it... it seemed to have been a free gift from Hua Manlou, so it couldn't have been cheap.
"One of the chairs is broken." After examining it carefully, she found no knife marks, so it must have been damaged by someone bumping into it.
“And this table.” Lu Yusheng said, patting it as she spoke. The four or five scratches of varying depths on the table were particularly noticeable in her hand.
"The table is still usable."
She paused, then added, "Although I've been eating at this table ever since I came here...", "It carries my longing for my hometown", "It's half the face of the catering industry", and so on.
In the end, she only estimated a number that she thought was quite large, but that both sides could actually afford.
Her original intention was to reduce Linghu Chong's share, since she had promised Yue Lingshan... but he refused to agree, so in the end the compensation was split 50/50.
——————
Linghu Chong eventually left to continue the mission assigned by his master with his junior sister.
Today's battle was won strangely; their travel expenses have been halved, and it seems unlikely they will be able to enjoy a carefree trip again.
"But Senior Brother..." As soon as he stepped outside, Yue Lingshan's voice caught Linghu Chong's attention, and he immediately chased after her to ask what was wrong.
Then she continued, "Such powerful swordsmanship, how come I've never seen you use it before? Why didn't Father teach it to me?"
"this……"
He was caught in a dilemma. His grandmaster seemed to have some kind of grudge against his master and had seriously warned him not to let Yue Buqun know about his existence. Now that his junior sister had asked him, should he tell the truth or not?
He didn't want to do either of those things: confessing would break his promise to his grandmaster, or he would have to deceive his junior sister.
Fortunately, just as he was caught in a dilemma, a voice sounded behind him.
"Shan-chan, remember to take this route on your way back too! Don't forget to eat the food I brought you!"
Yue Lingshan was indeed drawn to Lu Yusheng's voice, stopped in her tracks, turned around, and waved to her.
While waving, he nodded along with the shopkeeper's shouts of "You must come and see me!"
Seeing that she wasn't paying attention to this for the time being, Linghu Chong breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, given Yue Lingshan's trust in him, there might be a way to achieve both goals, but she was absolutely obedient to her master's orders... He could only think of a way to discuss it in detail on the way.
After seeing the two off, Lu Yusheng turned around and went back inside.
At this moment, only Ye Guhong, who had been defeated by Dugu Nine Swords and was filled with endless frustration, remained here.
He had previously mocked Linghu Chong for overestimating himself by wanting to compete with Ximen Chuixue, but now it seems that he himself is no different.
Seeing the man's silent and dejected appearance, Lu Yusheng paused in packing his things and said kindly, "Since you also invested in my new furniture, if you want to beat Linghu Chong, I know a place where you can crush him like a piece of cake in three days."
"Linghu Chong?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Guhong was taken aback at first, then realized that this was probably the name of the Huashan disciple who had fought against him.
But there are no shortcuts in Kendo; it's all about hard work and rigorous training.
Ximen Chuixue's current strength is due to his spending all his time practicing swordsmanship at the manor, except for necessary outings.
Therefore, after hearing the store manager's words, he simply shook his head and said, "No need, thank you."
Then the small business owner, unwilling to give up, persuaded him: "The place I'm talking about isn't an offline martial arts competition. Come and give it a try. This is a martial arts-style online game personally created by the top mechanic Zhu Ting. It's not grindy, doesn't require spending money, and features fair competition."
He had heard of Zhu Ting's name before, but "online games"?
He had no interest in things he'd never heard of before, and he didn't want to devote any extra attention to anything other than sword practice.
So, after being rejected again, Lu Yusheng could only reluctantly continue tidying up the messy furniture.
Damn it, when she gets powerful enough, she'll grab some famous experts to advertise for her.
Just as she was thinking about this, the scene of the previous customer's transaction suddenly flashed into her mind, and she added as if possessed: "Oh right, there's also a very famous swordsman, do you know Ximen Chuixue? He also said he would come to visit."
What was said without malice may have been taken to heart by the listener.
She went to the kitchen early in the morning, unaware that Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan had already mentioned this matter. Ye Guhong's heart stirred upon hearing this.
Now that he has acknowledged Linghu Chong's strength, and since he has such good swordsmanship, he must not be a fool, so what they said earlier might be true.
So he immediately asked for confirmation: "Is the person you're talking about really Ximen Chuixue?"
Lu Yusheng was taken aback by his sudden change in attitude and subconsciously answered honestly, "He did come before... but I don't know when he said he would come again."
How could Ximen Chuixue possibly deceive such a young girl? Then he's coming.
Ye Guhong was somewhat tempted.
Seeing him stand up, Lu Yusheng thought the other person was angry and regretted his words.
But since it was rare for her to muster the courage to promote the product, she couldn't help but say a few more words because she didn't want to give up halfway.
Unexpectedly, the cold-faced man simply stood up, looked at her, and said seriously, "Lead the way, I'll play."
Lu Yusheng was stunned: "I didn't mean now... Aren't you going to recuperate?"
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