Who Is Stronger, You or Fellow Daoist Su?

"Did Fellow Daoist Duan move up to the roof?" Zhou You decided to go up and take a look. Leaning out the window, he gripped the eaves, pulled himself up with both arms, and reached the rooftop. Duan Yuxian held her spirit sword before her chest, standing quietly in the moonlight like a stone statue standing for a thousand years in a temple or Daoist abbey. Suddenly, she moved. Her spirit sword slashed and twirled, transforming like a fluttering butterfly. Immersed in her own world, nothing else existed—only one sword, one person. Her movements shifted in myriad ways, fierce intent lurking beneath fluid grace, reminiscent of Xiang Zhuang's sword dance from the high school literature textbook. Even an amateur like Zhou You could tell this sword technique was extraordinary. This was the True Martial Sword Technique so revered in the forum threads debating who was stronger between Duan Yuxian and Su Tingxue, though few people had ever seen Duan Yuxian demonstrate it. Zhou You felt ashamed of his own shortcomings. It was already so late, yet Duan Yuxian was still cultivating, while he only wanted to come home and browse forums. How foolish of him to have assumed Duan Yuxian had snuck into his room to turn on the air conditioning. It made sense; Duan Yuxian hailed from a prestigious sect and would never do such a thing. He had simply measured a noble heart with a petty mind. "Fellow Daoist Zhou?" Seeing Zhou You arrive, Duan Yuxian flicked her wrist into a sword flourish and tucked the spirit sword behind her back. "Still cultivating this late, Fellow Daoist Duan?" Supporting the hilt with two fingers, Duan Yuxian flicked it upward with force. The spirit sword spun twice through the air and dropped neatly into her guitar bag. "I had nothing to do, so I was just practicing casually. It's a habit I picked up at the True Martial Great Hall; hard to break," Duan Yuxian said, feigning composure. Her heart pounded thump-thump-thump—she wasn't sure whether it was from the sword dance or from lying. "No wonder you stand out so much among the younger generation, Fellow Daoist Duan. I ought to learn from you." Zhou You wasn't flattering her; it was from the bottom of his heart. Putting himself in her shoes, he couldn't bring himself to cultivate so late into the night. Duan Yuxian's cheeks flushed slightly, too embarrassed to let Zhou You keep praising her. "Did you need something, Fellow Daoist?" "I just came up to see how you're settling in." "Thank you for your concern. I've already moved all my luggage up." Even though she hadn't unpacked yet. After hauling her luggage over that afternoon, she had collapsed right into the tent to play games, and after two rounds, she had sneaked into Zhou You's bedroom. If Zhou You offered to look at the tent right now, the truth would surely come out, but Zhou You wouldn't be so impolite. "There's air conditioning in my room, so it's pretty cool. If you feel hot, Fellow Daoist Duan, would you like to hang out there for a bit?" Duan Yuxian thought Zhou You's suggestion sounded great. "Since you've extended such a warm invitation, turning it down would be downright disrespectful." She followed Zhou You right back into the room she had just vacated. The interval was so short it was as if she had only gone downstairs to take out the trash, though she naturally couldn't let Zhou You notice. "Your room is quite clean, Fellow Daoist," Duan Yuxian remarked with an approving nod, acting as though it were her very first time stepping inside. Being praised made Zhou You rather bashful—Chu Xiaoyao had said something similar before. "I'm going to spend some time on the computer. Please make yourself at home." Duan Yuxian nodded without a word and replicated her afternoon routine: lying down on Zhou You's bed all by herself to resume playing mobile games. Zhou You logged onto the Immortal Cultivation Forum as usual. He had gone straight to sleep yesterday without logging on, and during the day he had still been thinking about the forum. After two days without checking, his inbox was predictably bursting at the seams, still packed with hurtful vitriol. "With your level, you really don't deserve to know our Yuxian." "Where's Su Tingxue? Keep a tighter leash on your fans." "Where did this rogue cultivator crawl out from? Do you even know which way the gates of the True Martial Great Hall open?" "A textbook Su Tingxue simp." Zhou You scoffed and closed his messages. For some reason, the direct messages barely affected his mood today. "Probably because I've read too many of them." Zhou You sighed. Such was the price of growing up. He switched to the forum's main page, scrolled the mouse down two lines, and could still see the thread debating who was stronger between Duan Yuxian and Su Tingxue. "No wonder there are still so many messages." The thread's popularity was unexpectedly high, hovering near the top, and whenever Duan Yuxian's fans spotted his reply, they sent him private messages. "By the way, Fellow Daoist Duan, can I ask you a question?" "Ask away." Duan Yuxian's eyes remained glued to her game screen. "Who is stronger, you or Fellow Daoist Su?" With one of the parties involved sitting right here, he might as well seize the chance to ask. Zhou You wanted to know the answer too. "Hm?" Duan Yuxian set down her phone and sat up. This question was far more interesting than games. She had come to Chang'an before school started for the sole purpose of fighting Su Tingxue. It was just that apart from the two of them and her master, no fourth person knew about it. She had fought Su Tingxue a few times. During those clashes, she could vaguely sense that Su Tingxue hadn't gone all out. Even so, Duan Yuxian believed she could defeat Su Tingxue at full power—that was her confidence as the successor of True Martial. But now... "Hard to say," Duan Yuxian analyzed seriously. If anyone else asked her, she could brush it off casually, but she felt Zhou You was on fairly good terms with Su Tingxue, so she needed to take it seriously. "Before, I was certain I was stronger. But recently, I heard that her Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye underwent a change; it no longer just discerns yin and yang or perceives ghosts and monsters." "You've probably heard a bit about it, Fellow Daoist Zhou. A secondary evolution of the Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye is rare even on Mount Longhu. At the very least, it requires being a Foundation Establishment disciple, and what kind of transformation occurs depends entirely on one's personal fortune." Zhou You was surprised. This was the first time he had heard of it. The origin of Su Tingxue's Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye achieving a secondary evolution was him relaying Chu Xiaoyao's assessment of it. Seeing Su Tingxue suddenly attain enlightenment and develop her Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye toward a heart-eye, he had assumed it was quite easy. Turns out it was such a rare occurrence. As expected of the Carefree Empress. "Up until now, no one knows what Tingxue's Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye ability actually is." "By the way, Fellow Daoist Zhou, have you seen Tingxue use her Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye after its secondary evolution?" Zhou You thought back and nodded. *He actually has?* Duan Yuxian was astonished. She had only asked in passing and never expected an answer from Zhou You. "How powerful was it?" Zhou You had witnessed it on the school rooftop during Su Tingxue's second fight with Nuomi. As for the power of the Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye... "Seemed pretty average?" At any rate, with his level of insight, he hadn't seen what use the Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye had served; she had been easily subdued by Nuomi. "Average?" Duan Yuxian thought to herself, *That shouldn't be. Fellow Daoist Zhou's cultivation realm isn't high, yet even he says the power of Su Tingxue's Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye was average?* *Could it be that the ability granted by her Yin-Yang Heavenly Eye's secondary evolution isn't related to combat?* *That must be it. A secondary evolution is merely rare; it doesn't necessarily mean an increase in combat strength. It could be an enhancement in other areas, such as dealing with vengeful ghosts or boosting cultivation speed.* The red notification dot for private messages lit up, and Zhou You clicked it. Loves Yuxian Most: "Brat, I'll arrive in Chang'an the day after tomorrow. Name a time and place." Swimming This Week?: "Noon the day after tomorrow, the rooftop of the teaching building at Chang'an No. 2 High School." Zhou You planned to settle the matter during the lunch break. There was no need to observe martial chivalry with someone like this; if he couldn't beat the guy, he'd just call on the deputy sect master to step in. Loves Yuxian Most: "Fine! Just you wait!" "This... couldn't be one of my fans, could it?" Duan Yuxian's voice sounded from behind Zhou You. He whipped his head around; Duan Yuxian was standing behind him without him even realizing when she had gotten up. Her cheeks were faintly pink. Peeking at someone else's chat logs wasn't right. "I saw it by accident." Zhou You nodded helplessly and admitted it was. Agreeing to a duel with someone's fan and having that very person see it was rather awkward. "Does your arranged duel have something to do with me?" Duan Yuxian felt somewhat embarrassed. Her fan base was hard to describe—they were rather frantic, and the more radical ones even challenged people to offline one-on-one fights; her stepping forward to dissuade them had been useless. She could tell Fellow Daoist Zhou wasn't a bellicose person. He had probably put in a couple of good words for Su Tingxue and gotten targeted by her fans. "Are you skilled at combat, Fellow Daoist Zhou?" "Uh, not particularly." Zhou You recalled the situation when he fought Lishi; it had relied entirely on instinct. Still, with the Eye-blocking Ghost's ability, he could take someone by surprise, so the outcome of a fight was hard to call. Duan Yuxian fell silent for a moment. Even though the matter wasn't her doing, she still felt somewhat apologetic toward him. "How about I teach you a couple of moves, Fellow Daoist?"