Demonstration

Barely seven or eight minutes had passed since the battle began, but Xu Yuan already had a general understanding of Orenli and Huron's strength. First of all, there was a one-hundred-percent chance he could not beat that tin can. Though he was not clear on the other party's cultivation system, judging by what Huron had displayed just now, the knight's strength should be on par with the Origin Realm of the cultivator system, and a standout even among the Origin Realm. After all, in Xu Yuan's vision at this moment, Huron—who had been sent flying by a kick—had already risen from the puddle he had cratered. The silver plate armor was slick with water droplets that dripped down the sharply defined helmet. Somewhat battered, yet visibly unhurt. Even though Xu Changge had not used his sword just then, this alone proved that even if Xu Yuan exhausted every trick up his sleeve, he could never withstand a single blow from the man. As for Orenli... Pondering this, Xu Yuan shifted his gaze toward the blonde woman still standing where she was. The night was dead silent. The boundless flooded fields mirrored the starry sky. The night breeze fluttered the hem of her low-cut purple gown. As her blonde hair swayed, the smile lingering at the corners of her crimson lips carried a faint, eerie quality. Judging purely by their initial clash during his ambush, Xu Yuan indeed stood a chance of defeating this woman, but now he felt somewhat uncertain. Did she possess some hidden reliance that kept her from panicking even after seeing Xu Changge appear? "Changtian." Amid his contemplation, Xu Changge's calm voice drifted leisurely over. "I am speaking to you." Xu Yuan fell silent for a moment and muttered under his breath, "Is there really a need to make things so complicated?" With the opponent's strength uncertain, he felt one should know one's own limits and leave this chance to show off to the master pretender himself. After all, if things went south on his end, unnecessary complications might arise. "Complicated?" Xu Changge glanced sideways at him, slowly shaking his head. Retrieving his sword from his Sumeru ring, he looked toward the armored warrior who had already returned to the woman's side, suddenly posing an unrelated question: "Changtian, do you consider yourself a genius?" "..." Xu Yuan. After a brief silence, Xu Yuan stared at the posturing master's back, which fluttered gently in the night wind, and said, "Whether I'm a genius depends on who I'm being compared to." "Naturally, to your elder brother." "In terms of cultivation speed, I am faster than you." "Heh... and what of strength?" With a soft chuckle, Xu Changge grasped the hilt of his sword and drew the blade inch by inch from its scabbard. "When I was at Body Integration, I could slay Grandmasters; at Grandmaster, I could battle Origin Realm cultivators; at the Origin Realm, I could fight a Semi-Saint to the death. Do you think you can do the same?" With a chilly ring of steel, Xu Changge lightly tapped the tip of his three-foot blade against the water's surface, his tone mild: "In fact, your brother hesitated earlier whether to save you. I wanted to see your countermeasure when backed into a corner, yet you gave up directly simply because I was present. "That is very poor. "Father and I cannot stay by your side forever. More often than not, you must face things on your own." At this point, a touch of sternness surfaced between Xu Changge's handsome brows. "Changtian, if your brother had not been here tonight, what would you have done? Have you thought about that?" Xu Yuan drew a deep breath and exhaled, his grip on the willow ghost blade tightening slightly. "First, your premise is flawed. If you weren't here, I wouldn't have come in the first place, and thus wouldn't have fallen into a trap. "Second, against an absolute disparity in strength..." "I knew you would say that, brat." Xu Changge cut him off with a hint of resignation in his voice. Raising his sword horizontally before him, he said, "How about this: your brother will give you a demonstration." "What do you mean?" "I will use strength identical to yours to show you how I would handle this situation." "..." Hearing this, Xu Yuan instinctively had a bad premonition. He knew his eldest brother wanted to use this opportunity to teach him a lesson, but the problem was that the two on the opposite side weren't NPCs. If you want to give a lecture, can't we go home and take our time? Did he have no idea how many villains died because they talked too much and played around? Before Xu Yuan could voice his thoughts, however, Xu Changge's figure had already shot forward toward Orenli and Huron— *Damn it.* Xu Yuan cursed under his breath and hurriedly looked over. This time, Xu Changge moved slowly—slow enough that Xu Yuan could barely track the trajectory of his movements. Yet meeting Xu Changge was Huron, whose speed was completely beyond Xu Yuan's ability to track. Almost instantaneously, Xu Changge and Huron collided atop the paddy ridge. *Clang!* A thunderous crash erupted as the two swords of wildly differing designs crossed, igniting a shower of sparks in the air. Xu Changge, having suppressed his cultivation, blocked Huron's strike, the price being that his body was knocked backward through the air, while Huron's blade, encrusted with ghostly gems, plunged into the water, churning up a great spray of mud. Watching this, Xu Yuan felt Xu Changge's teaching method was somewhat redundant. Xu Changge's Origin Realm cultivation might be suppressed, but his perceptual ability remained unchanged; he could easily track Huron's attack trajectories, and his physical constitution was sturdy enough to withstand Huron's blows. Could someone genuinely at the Flesh Integration Realm parry a strike from this tin can without their hand trembling in the slightest? Even with his cultivation suppressed, Xu Changge and Xu Yuan were not playing on an equal field at all. Yet just as that thought flashed through his mind, Xu Yuan noticed something amiss. Although Xu Changge's expression remained calm, his gaze darted constantly around his surroundings. Rather than parrying Huron's moves upon arrival, his blade work looked far more like prediction. Boom after boom of clashing metal rang out, bursts of muddy water continually blooming into the air. Observing closely, Xu Yuan suddenly realized that the tin can, Huron, also looked somewhat strange. Something seemed to have gone wrong with Huron's swordsmanship; he had lost the microscopic control over his force from earlier. Unlike when Huron had fought him with movements as light and nimble as a sword dance, every clash of blades between Huron and Xu Changge smashed a massive crater into the flooded fields! *Is he redirecting the force?* Every time Huron's blade struck close, the sword in Xu Changge's hand tilted at a minuscule angle, deflecting the colossal momentum aside. Realizing this, Xu Yuan's eyes took on an involuntary gravity. He seemed to have misjudged his elder brother. The issue, however, was that even if Xu Changge could temporarily reach a stalemate with this tin can by relying on the strength of Body Integration, he had no way to break the deadlock. With only a Body Integration cultivation, he couldn't pierce Huron's defense. Furthermore, Huron had only utilized ordinary sword strikes thus far, without deploying any powerful sword techniques or secret arts... If it were Xu Yuan, he could evade with Void-Stepping Slash, but how could Xu Changge cope? "Your elder brother is truly formidable," Just as Xu Yuan was thinking this, Orenli's clear, melodious voice suddenly drifted over. "To entangle Huron for so long while suppressing his own strength." Hearing her, Xu Yuan glanced back. Orenli stood calmly where she was, her gorgeous, flawless expression unchanged, an air of keen interest even playing between her brows. Watching Xu Changge fight Huron, she murmured with admiration: "To think your imperial dynasty also possesses someone who can rival an imperial heir. It truly is an ancient and powerful empire." Xu Yuan chuckled. "You mean my elder brother?" Orenli slowly shifted her gaze back to Xu Yuan's face, a smile at her lips. "I'm not blind. The two of you resemble each other so closely; if you aren't brothers, could you be father and son?" Xu Yuan gave a noncommittal look, studying the blonde woman's unflappable demeanor. "You don't seem flustered in the slightest." Orenli lowered her azure-gold eyelids slightly, sounding a bit troubled: "Since your elder brother has the confidence to use me as your whetstone, he must also have the confidence to control the overall situation. At this stage, what use is panicking?" At that, Orenli raised her beautiful eyes, which shimmered with a deep blue light like twinkling stars. "Besides, your objective is to capture me alive. Am I right, Young Master Changtian?" Xu Yuan wasn't surprised that she had deduced his identity. After all, Xu Changge was far too recognizable. With a light laugh, he said, "You call out my identity just like that? If you hadn't, and happened to escape from me and my brother tonight, the pursuit against you might not have been too severe. But having said this, once my father finds out, he will certainly dispatch even more powerful figures to hunt you down. "Does this mean you've given up on escaping Great Yan entirely?" Orenli tilted her head, staring at Xu Yuan with a tone of helplessness: "Young Master Changtian, from where I stand, speaking these words is actually a test. As long as the test succeeds, there is still a way to survive." Xu Yuan smiled at that, pointing a finger at himself. "By capturing me alive?" Orenli nodded, smiling sweetly. "Naturally." Xu Yuan exhaled softly. "It seems the intelligence you gathered in Di'an City during this period was quite extensive. You even managed to obtain internal information about my family." As he spoke, Xu Yuan glanced down at the willow ghost blade in his hand. "I'm quite curious. Which influential figure in Di'an City did you convince to collaborate with Sien?" Orenli gave a soft laugh, her ample bosom beneath the gothic low-cut gown trembling slightly. "Capture me alive and interrogate me thoroughly, and won't you have your answer?" Xu Yuan was completely unmoved by her beauty. Staring at her chest, he smiled. "Are you trying to seduce me?" "No. Though Young Master Changtian is quite handsome as well," Orenli shook her head, looking at Xu Yuan with complete sincerity, "I admire your elder brother far more than you." "..." After a brief silence, Xu Yuan let out a scoffing laugh, his expression teasing. "Then you can certainly give it a try. I can barely be considered someone who has pity for a pretty face, but my eldest brother..." "Watch out, Your Highness!" Before his words finished, a sharp shout spoken in the Sienese tongue cut across the space between Xu Yuan and Orenli, resounding across the moonlit, boundless fields. Xu Yuan's eyes never left Orenli. Although he was conversing with the Sienese princess, his spiritual vision had kept constant track of Xu Changge's side. At the source of that shout, Xu Changge's blade clashed once more against Huron's. At the same time, a violent gale swiftly gathered around Huron's ornate sword, causing the sheer might of the strike to make the earth tremble. It appeared to be some kind of sword technique. Facing this sword strike, Xu Changge's expression remained indifferent. He still employed his redirection technique, but clearly, he could no longer disperse all of that titanic force. In an instant, the endless astral wind tore several gashes across Xu Changge's already disheveled cyan robe, the seeping blood instantly staining his lapel red. Just when Xu Yuan assumed his brother was about to release his suppressed cultivation, an unexpected turn suddenly occurred! Wisps of cyan sword qi emerged from Huron's heavy silver armor, binding him like ten thousand fine threads for a split second. And right at that exact instant, the explosive force of Huron's gale sword technique sent Xu Changge flying backward like an afterimage— After Xu Changge's minute redirection and adjustment, the trajectory of his backward flight was aimed straight toward where Orenli stood! *Buzz—* A distance of a hundred zhang was crossed in the blink of an eye. In that flash of lightning, Xu Yuan saw the three-foot steel blade in Xu Changge's hand ripple with a subtle tremor. At the same time, as though activating a spell set in advance, a deep-blue formation pattern instantly appeared before Orenli's neck. Standing where she was, Orenli also heard the commotion and slowly turned her gaze toward the figure hurtling toward her. With the strength of Body Integration, Xu Changge had, under Huron's guard, closed the distance to this Sienese princess for the first time. Ten zhang. Three zhang. One zhang. The blade slashed out. The magic ring formed. *Clang!* The sound of clashing metal rang out. The magic ring formed before Orenli's neck parried Xu Changge's strike. Looking at the Great Yan man with the indifferent expression inches away from her, a smile curled upon Orenli's alluring red lips. Unfortunately, no sooner had the smile appeared than Orenli's exquisite expression froze. She suddenly felt a chill at her throat, as though some liquid were trickling down her neck into the soft cleavage hugged by her gown. A circular laceration quietly appeared on her neck... It wasn't deep, merely a superficial wound, yet the aura of death abruptly enveloped her. Orenli lowered her gaze to look at the blade held outside the magic ring. The three-foot steel blade had not touched her skin, yet she was indeed wounded. Moreover, the eerie vibration upon that blade had not dissipated. In other words, if this Great Yan man wished it, he could claim her life at any moment with this eerie sword technique. After a moment of silence, Orenli tilted her head up to look into the eyes of the tall man standing before her. Her eyes held a trace of greed, and the small tip of her tongue lightly licked her crimson lips: "Xu Changge, come be my prince consort. My one and only..." *Slap!* A resounding slap rang out, striking Orenli square across her cheek. Carrying the immense strength that came with releasing his cultivation suppression, the blow deformed her exquisite, breathtaking face, sending her entire body flying through the air. Having done this, Xu Changge unhurriedly straightened his somewhat disheveled and torn cyan robe. Casting a glance at the foreign woman who was instantly caught by Huron, his voice was laced with cold murderous intent: "Just now, why did you not assist your knight in his attack?" As he spoke, Xu Changge saw the strange look in her eyes and gently shook his head: "Forget it. Let it end here." Sheathing his sword, Xu Changge looked back at Xu Yuan, his voice instantly softening: "Changtian, you see now. Under equal conditions, your brother can find a way to break the deadlock, rather than waiting for death as you did. "Perhaps you are not a genius, but your brother believes in you. I believe that you, at least, can defeat that woman." With those words spoken, a brief silence fell over the boundless, flat paddy ridge.