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Chapter 38: A Test of Strength

Wang Kuang hadn’t expected that the slender girl in front of him would actually say something like this, and especially not with such a provoking tone.

“Oh?” He grinned with malice. “Why should I let you stay?” He scratched his jaw as he looked at her.

Yun Ruoyan held her head up high, not hiding her frightening appearance. What she counted on was strength, not beauty.

“Because this!” Yun Ruoyan stretched out her right hand and slowly clenched it into a fist.

“Ah?” Wang Kuang looked at the slender girl in front of him, who was clearly still in her teenage years. She clenched her fist in front of him and had said, perfectly seriously, “Because of this.”

He couldn’t help but start laughing.

“Be-Because of that?!” He pointed at Yun Ruoyan’s small fist as he looked left and right.

“Hahaha...” Liu Sheng clutched his stomach as he laughed, pounding on the ground. He extended his own fist and mimicked in a high-pitched voice, “I’ll use my small little fistie to pound your chest!” And then he exploded into laughter once more.

The others all began to smile upon seeing Liu Sheng’s tone and antics, and Yun Ruoyao’s party looked on with scorn.

Only Pei Ziao seemed to be taking Yun Ruoyan seriously. He had seen her agility, after all; her cultivation notwithstanding, just the phantasmal footwork she had shown while dealing with the saber-toothed tiger had left an indelible impression on his mind.

And how had Yun Ruoyan’s group escaped from near-certain death twice, against the saber-toothed tiger and against the snakes? Was it mere luck? His gaze swept over the tiger canine by Zhuo Yifeng’s waist. No, he didn’t think it was so simple.

“Sister Ruoyan, you’re only a third-rank blademaster, and your cultivation’s even lower than mine! You don’t have to try to be so brave!” Yi Qianying spoke earnestly. “Why don’t you guys leave with the beast cores you currently have? You—”

“Shut up!” Lin Qingxue broke her off. “Yi Qianying, you’re doing this purposefully, aren’t you?”

Although cultivators could more or less discern their opponent’s cultivation based on their breathing, this wasn’t particularly accurate: some highly skilled cultivators would be able to disguise their true power against those weaker than they were.

Even though Wang Kuang and the others laughed at Yun Ruoyan, this was the reason why they were somewhat apprehensive about battling her. The girl looked weak, but her calm aura seemed very much at odds with her supposed cultivation.

There could only be two reasons for this discrepancy: one, that the girl was truly an incredibly skilled cultivator, or two, the girl had an exaggerated sense of her own capabilities.

Although the rumors they’d heard in the capital all said that she was useless and lacked talent, perhaps there was some secret technique that could rapidly increase her cultivation, or perhaps the rumors were all unfounded.

“I’m not speaking nonsense! I’m just trying to make sure you’re not hurt, Sister,” Yi Qianying continued in a small voice, as if she had been wronged. “Three years ago, your cultivation stopped improving and began to drop, and even the family gave up on you. It’s alright even if you’re not strong, Sister, so stop trying to push yourself so hard!”

Yun Ruoyan gave Yi Qianying a cold glance. Once again, she’d managed to reinforce her image of being an innocent, caring girl while revealing sensitive information to her enemies.

When Yi Qianying felt her gaze, she couldn’t help but hide behind Pei Ziao.

“So the rumors were true!” At the start, Wang Kuang was still somewhat hesitant to attack, but after Yi Qianying had spoken, he lost all his misgivings. It seemed as though he had truly encountered a little girl who didn’t know anything about the real world.

“What’s the matter?” Yun Ruoyan smiled as she gazed at Wang Kuang. “Are you scared?”

“Me, scared?” Wang Kuang felt as though this was the most laughable thing he’d heard all his life. Not only did this ugly girl not understand her own mediocrity, she even seemed a little dazed in the head. “I just don’t want to fight with a fool! You go!”

He motioned toward Liu Sheng by his side.

“Alright.” Liu Sheng rubbed his knuckles as he strode forward, a grin plastered on his face. “Brother’s here to hit your chest with a wee fistie!”

“Sister Ruoyan, let me fight in your place!” Lin Qingxue was about to step forward when Lin Qingchen dragged her back.

“Based on his breathing, he’s a peak fourth-rank blademaster, and you’re only an early fourth-rank. Let me go.”

“How about me?” Zhuo Yifeng volunteered. “One punch is enough against a lackey like him.”

“No.” Yun Ruoyan’s tone was cool, but her intention obvious. “I’m going!”

“But, Ruoyan...” The others all interjected as one.

“Don’t you believe in me?” Yun Ruoyan’s tone was still level, but her aura was the same as when she’d fought the tiger and led the group out of the cave.

“Sister Ruoyan, of course we believe in you!” Lin Qingxue exclaimed.

“Yes, definitely.” Lin Qingchen nodded. After all, Yun Ruoyan, who was supposedly the weakest among them in terms of cultivation, had almost single-handedly solved all their problems during this expedition. What reason did they have not to trust her?

Yun Ruoyan’s severe mien cracked as she smiled, enjoying the feeling of being trusted by others.

She took two steps forward, facing Liu Sheng. “Let’s have a good fight.”

By this time, Zhuo Yifeng had put Zhuo Lin’er down from his back and walked to the edge of the arena, ready to rush forward as soon as Yun Ruoyan looked to be in danger.

“Alright. Even though you’re so ugly it makes me somewhat discomfited, I’ll certainly give you some pointers.” Liu Sheng smiled indifferently, his gaze somewhat rudely looking Yun Ruoyan up and down. “I won’t take advantage of you, either. In truth, I’m already a peak fourth-rank blademaster, so you shouldn’t try to bash a rock with an egg.”

“What drivel!” Yun Ruoyan unsheathed her sword as she rushed toward Liu Sheng. In the blink of an eye, the tip of the sword was inches from his head.

Before Liu Sheng could even draw his sword, Yun Ruoyan’s blade was already in front of him.

“Argh!” He screamed, dropped down, and barely dodged the blade, but some of his hair hadn’t escaped unscathed.

“Take this!” Without giving Liu Sheng any time to rest, Yun Ruoyan stepped forward once more, her footwork inscrutable, her sword moving like the wind.

Three strikes in a row, each fast and fierce, forced Liu Sheng to dodge in a wretched and undignified manner.

“Sister Ruoyan, you’re amazing!” Liu Qingxue called out in excitement. “Cut off his head, his mouth, his nose...”

“Ruoyao,” Yun Ruoyu looked at Yun Ruoyao, her face white in shock. “How’s Yun Ruoyan so strong? She’s only using the simplest moves from the Yun family register, so how can she make Liu Sheng back off like that?”

Yun Ruoyao shook her head imperceptibly, but the shock in her heart was no less than that in Yun Ruoyu’s. Although they had both lost to Yun Ruoyan, as had their genius-like brother, they’d always thought that it was because of their carelessness.

However, the fight in front of them proved that not to be the case.

“No, it has to be because Liu Sheng underestimated Yun Ruoyan by too much.” Yun Ruoyao finally found an explanation that could alleviate some of her and Yun Ruoyu’s shock.

“Look, although she’s clearly fluent with her bladework, none of her strikes are all that powerful. If she really were strong, then the sword qi by the blade’s tip would have severely injured Liu Sheng, and he wouldn’t have been able to dodge her blow.”

Only then did Yun Ruoyu calm down, feeling that Yun Ruoyao’s analysis was spot-on.

Yun Ruoyan’s sword was just a standard training sword provided by the Yun family, and her bladework the introductory moves taught by the family. However, her past life had given her much more combat experience, and her fluency with the blade was naturally more complete than others’.

This was why, even when she was facing someone like Liu Sheng, whose cultivation surpassed her own, as long as she didn’t give her opponent a chance to use his spiritual energy, she would be able to force him to a standstill with her stances alone.

“You... you shameless—” Battered and forced to dodge, Liu Sheng was unable to even draw his blade. Whenever he tried to do so, Yun Ruoyan’s sword would unerringly head for his wrist, so he had to fight without a weapon, let alone use his spiritual energy.

“Ha!” Yun Ruoyan laughed coldly. “There’s no such thing as shamelessness in a fight, only a winner and a loser.”

“You... if you have the guts, let me draw my sword! I bet I can restrain you with one blow!”

“Oh?” Yun Ruoyan laughed coldly once more. “But I won’t give you that opportunity.”

Saying that, she upped her tempo, and her blade became so fast that even Liu Sheng couldn’t track it with his naked eye.

His body began to bleed as Yun Ruoyan’s blade found purchase, as did his face. Yun Ruoyan gave him a deep, vicious nick on one cheek. How dare he call her ugly! She didn’t much mind her lack of beauty, but that didn’t mean she would allow people to degrade her!

“Ah! My face!” Liu Sheng called out as he fell onto the ground.

Yun Ruoyan stepped forward, the tip of her blade pointing at Liu Sheng’s nose.

“Do you admit defeat?” Her gaze was cold. “If not, I don’t mind cutting off your nose, so you’re even more unpleasant-looking than I am.

“Yes, yes!” Liu Sheng clutched his bleeding cheek as he raised an arm in surrender.

“Scram!” Yun Ruoyan sheathed her sword.

Liu Sheng scrambled back to Wang Kuang’s side.

A normal bystander would have come away from the fight thinking that Liu Sheng was useless: after all, the opponent had forced him to a standstill with her bladework alone, and the spiritual energy of his supposed peak fourth-rank cultivation hadn’t come in handy at all.

But Liu Sheng felt completely wronged: he didn’t know why, but he had lost even though he was certainly stronger!

“If you think you’re so good, you go face her!” He called out to Jin Fei’er. “My goodness, this vicious wretch! I’m really going to be disfigured now!”

The blood on his face kept dripping, no matter how much pressure he applied. Who knew how many blood vessels Yun Ruoyan’s sword had severed?

“Oh, I will!” Jin Fei’er called out, reaching for her sword as she smiled at Liu Sheng. “I’ll take revenge for you.”