"Not bad." Standing to the side, Instructor Jiang clapped softly.
Strictly speaking, Chen Chuan and Trainee Guo had only exchanged a single move, but the sequence had been brilliant. Both had fully demonstrated their power, speed, and technique.
He could tell that Chen Chuan had capitalized on his opponent's caution to create an opening.
Guo Xingzhi had initially intended only a probing thrust, never expecting a single spear strike to decide the bout. Yet seeing Chen Chuan stand motionless, doubt had crept into his mind. Pulling back had felt wrong, so in the end he decided to thrust forward. However, hesitant thoughts inevitably led to sluggish force delivery, and the momentum lacked the swiftness and power he had envisioned.
And in that fleeting instant, Chen Chuan had seized the opportunity, minuscule as it was.
Yet seizing it did not mean the match was over. Trainee Guo's follow-up maneuver carried significant threat; without an apt response, Chen Chuan could still have been turned upon and struck down.
Yet Chen Chuan's subsequent handling had been clean and decisive, denying his opponent any chance.
The assistant instructor also viewed Chen Chuan in a new light; he, too, was someone present who understood the craft.
Only Student Liang among them felt terrible. He had gone up and lasted one move; Chen Chuan had gone up and lasted one move as well. Yet the outcomes were polar opposites, leaving him utterly dejected.
At this point, Instructor Jiang asked, "Trainee Chen, did you learn your techniques from Old Zheng?"
Chen Chuan nodded. "Instructor Zheng taught me."
Instructor Jiang said, "I can tell your jin delivery looks like his teaching—offense and defense distinct, yet continuous and unbroken. But he has taught so many students, and aside from his daughter, I haven't seen many at your age thoroughly master his methods. Hmm, based on your performance, I ought to award you a high score. However..."
He smiled. "Would you like to raise your score even higher?"
Chen Chuan looked at him.
Instructor Jiang said with keen interest, "Trainee, how about we have a bout?"
The assistant instructor looked up at him. What was this about? Instructor versus student? Could they even be compared?
Trainee Guo and Student Liang were equally astonished. There was nothing to compare between a student and an instructor; a clear line divided them.
Anyone qualified to teach at Wuyi was bound to be a third-limit fighter. Against trainees below that limit, they could end a fight in an instant. The outcome would be without any suspense.
Instructor Jiang, however, spoke unhurriedly: "Trainee Chen, I just glanced over your file. You can enhance your physique and strength through medicine, and you even have a record of slaying a third-limit fighter..."
The moment he said this, Guo and Liang both looked shocked. Slaying a third-limit fighter? Their eyes widened involuntarily as they stared at Chen Chuan.
The assistant instructor was also startled, gazing at Chen Chuan in wonder. Such precedents were not unheard of in the past, but he hadn't expected the student before him to have accomplished such a feat. If so, the earlier display truly was not enough to test his full potential.
Instructor Jiang spoke again: "Trainee Chen, if you wish to improve your score, I permit you to take medicine. The longer you hold out against me, the higher the score I can give you—right up to the ceiling of what I am allowed to award."
Chen Chuan pondered for a moment. Raising his evaluation score would indeed bring immense benefits. First, various resources provided by the academy could be purchased with priority, and he could access plenty of materials he couldn't view before.
Those were just the visible perks; there were far more unseen advantages. For instance, the attitudes of government departments and major corporations toward graduates of Wuyi Academy differed drastically between high evaluation scores and low evaluation scores.
He raised his head and said, "Since you consider it acceptable, Instructor, then I would like to try."
Both Trainee Guo and Student Liang felt their breathing involuntarily quicken, yet at the same time, intense anticipation welled up within them.
Instructor Jiang hummed in acknowledgment and walked over to the weapon rack at the side. He casually picked up a long sword, though it was exceptionally narrow and slender—a rapier. He flicked it once, and a sharp whistle immediately tore through the air.
Taking hold of the sword's tip, he applied a light press with his fingers, bending the entire blade. But the moment he released it, it snapped back with a swoosh, instantly straight again.
The assistant instructor said solemnly, "Trainee Chen, raising an evaluation score falls within the lead examiner's authority, but let me remind you: this type of rapier possesses immense flexibility. In Instructor Jiang's hands, it can shift between rigid and soft through different applications of jin. It is fast and devastatingly destructive. Be careful."
Instructor Jiang gestured to the side. "Trainee Chen, whatever medicine you need to take is right here. I don't know if they suit your tastes—I'm ignorant of that sort of thing, never having taken any myself..."
The assistant instructor looked at him speechlessly. This wasn't ordering off a menu; what did taste have to do with it?
Chen Chuan walked over and looked inside. The medicine chest contained burst-enhancement drugs produced by nearly every company on the market, along with emergency first-aid drugs. After a few glances, he selected several, brought them over, and swallowed them with practiced ease.
He waited a moment. Over the span of several breaths, he gradually loosened the suppression on his physical state, returning to his true bodily condition.
At that moment, Instructor Jiang raised an eyebrow. He could sense that while nothing on Chen Chuan seemed to have changed, something about him felt different nonetheless, giving off a faint sense of threat.
The assistant instructor likewise sensed the change in Chen Chuan. His expression grew graver, and he began, "Trainee Chen..." Then, sharpening his tone: "Instructor Jiang, this is merely an assessment."
Instructor Jiang said casually, "I know, of course I know." As he spoke, he stepped forward. "Trainee Chen, although today's assessment tests only technique, without power and speed as a foundation, any technique is useless."
Even as he spoke, with a sudden swish, he whipped the slender blade forward.
His movement did not look fast, yet it gave an inescapable sensation. Chen Chuan held his blade horizontally. Wary of the flexible sword bending around his guard, he blocked it at the very tip, only to feel an immense force crash into him. Even with his strength, he felt barely able to hold his ground, and his entire body slid backward several meters.
He could tell that although Instructor Jiang's swing had seemed effortless, all the force had converged onto that single point of contact. His efficiency in applying strength was astonishingly high.
Instructor Jiang remarked approvingly, "Good strength. Even if you've taken medicine, without sufficiently tough sinew and bone, you wouldn't be able to support your current state.
"Hmm, fighting like this feels rather dull..." He called out, "Hongfu, switch the scene for us. Let's go with... Field No. 5. Deduct the required simulation resources from my account."
In the very next moment, everyone present found themselves suddenly standing in a forest of stone pillars, surrounded by tall pillars of varying thickness and stone walls.
Like an orchestral conductor, Instructor Jiang flicked the rapier toward the stone pillars on either side. A moment later, two clean cut marks appeared on the slender pillars to his left and right. They slowly slid forward and toppled to the ground together with a booming crash, smashing into fractured segments amidst billowing dust.
Chen Chuan glanced at the stone pillar beside him and reached out to press against it. To his surprise, it felt solid. He could not tell whether what he saw was real or illusory, or simply a sensory illusion. Yet since these objects behaved this way, everything in the arena could clearly be utilized as real.
Instructor Jiang strode forward at a leisurely pace.
Chen Chuan did not back down. Saber in hand, he likewise walked forward. The instructor's earlier words said that the longer he held out, the higher the score he would receive.
Yet if he accepted that premise, he would be placing himself in an inferior position. Perhaps as a trainee he was expected to do so, but he didn't think that way.
He stared fixedly at Instructor Jiang, his senses reading the rhythm of the man's breathing and physical movements. The instructor was likely doing the same to him, perhaps even more clearly.
Instructor Jiang smiled faintly. His figure suddenly flickered, covering more than thirty meters in an instant to close in on him, the point of his sword thrusting forward at the same time.
With a sharp clang, the thrust was steadily parried away by the Xuejun Saber. At this moment, neither Guo nor Liang off to the side could clearly see what had just happened.
Instructor Jiang retreated, clearing seventeen or eighteen meters in an instant. He praised, "Not bad."
Parrying his thrust was nothing special, but being able to discern that he had applied rigid jin was remarkable. In that case, he could cut loose a bit more.
He snapped his wrist, and his figure vanished from where he stood once again. Immediately, a continuous barrage of clashing weapons rang out across the arena.
Instructor Jiang's figure flickered in every direction, the slender sword slashing and thrusting from all angles, yet Chen Chuan accurately parried each and every strike.
At that moment, the slender sword suddenly underwent a flexible shift. Chen Chuan met it without a hair's breadth of error at the tip, yet the force on the sword was not as powerful as before; instead, it felt weightless and unanchored.
Yet after Instructor Zheng's specialized training, he was exceptionally familiar with such shifts between light and heavy. At the instant of contact, his own jin remained contained and unreleased, preventing his strength from being drawn into empty air.
Instructor Jiang offered another praise: "Good!" His voice echoed from front and back, left and right, as if he had shifted positions multiple times in an instant, while the slender blade's onslaught never paused for a second.
Chen Chuan did not stand still. On the move, he sought advantageous terrain. Not only were Instructor Jiang's attacks swift, but his positioning shifted constantly, elusive and unpredictable. Chen Chuan found it difficult to pinpoint his exact location, so he had to find a spot that could restrict his movement.
Retreating more than a dozen steps, he suddenly shifted sideways, placing a stone wall before him. With a sharp hiss, a section of the slender blade pierced straight through the stone barrier, thrusting right across his path of movement. With a clang, it was deflected by his blade. The slender sword snapped back with lightning speed, only to thrust in from another spot.
Through the stone wall, Chen Chuan continuously parried the lunging thrusts. The rapid clatter of clashing weapons was not dampened in the least by the intervening wall.
Suddenly sensing something amiss, he stepped backward. A crescent arc of light flashed, cleanly slicing through the stone wall that was over four meters wide.
Right on its heels, another sword light no less powerful slashed back in reverse. Under the two crisscrossing slashes, the entire stone wall could no longer stand and collapsed to either side with a thunderous roar, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
Chen Chuan and Instructor Jiang looked at each other across the ruined wall, their silhouettes looming indistinctly through the churning dust. Chen Chuan looked ahead. Instructor Jiang's offensive tempo was too fast; passive defense would only lead to a beating. Therefore...
He rotated his wrist, swept the Xuejun Saber across, and charged forward. Instructor Jiang grinned, leaned forward as well, and in an instant, both vanished simultaneously from their spots. The clash of saber and sword rang out immediately afterward.
Chapter 319