Chapter 71
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Volume 3 + Chapter 71: The Secret Meaning of Swordsmanship
Anthony was actually a pretty decent young man, with a rather good natural talent.
Perhaps because of that, he had gotten a bit too proud—but nothing too serious.
Besides, ever since he was taught a lesson by Xia Yi last time, he had toned it down a lot, no longer as arrogant as before.
What a pity.
Anthony’s talent was only outstanding among humans.
But for a high-level race like the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan, he was still far behind.
Just in terms of physical capability, he was already born several levels below.
From the moment the match started, Xia Yi already knew how it would end—the only question was whether Anthony would lose disgracefully or with some dignity.
While the other students thought the two were evenly matched, the katana in Yue Liu’s hand shifted its blade.
“Swordsmanship Secret Art—”
Her first strike was merely a starting move.
What followed was a storm-like assault, about to come crashing down.
As for Anthony, after unleashing his Gale Sword, he didn’t realize Yue Liu’s technique was only a setup. He didn’t react in time, only noticing something odd in Yue Liu’s posture.
“What… what is she doing?”
He started thinking.
“Crap!”
Anthony’s expression changed suddenly. He tried to raise his guard.
But it was too late.
That brief moment of hesitation had cost him the best opportunity to defend.
“Nine-Tailed Fox Flash!”
Yue Liu slashed out a sharp, fierce sword light—the second strike.
Clang!
With a crisp sound of steel clashing, Anthony’s sword flew high into the air.
Now defenseless, Anthony fell into despair.
“So this is… what it feels like to be swallowed by the abyss?”
He felt a wave of powerlessness.
Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine!
Yue Liu’s sword strikes came at lightning speed, slashing out nine times in an instant. Anthony was driven back again and again, like a sandbag being pummeled.
“Huh? What just happened?”
When the stunned crowd came to their senses, all they remembered was the nine sword flashes Yue Liu had unleashed—and Anthony’s complete defeat.
“Anthony’s not dead, right?!”
The students started panicking.
With the sword technique Yue Liu had just used, it would’ve been too easy to kill Anthony.
Someone rushed over and helped him up quickly.
He wasn’t really injured—just shaking all over, drenched in sweat, like someone who had just survived a disaster.
“I… I’m not dead?” Even Anthony himself was surprised.
He looked up at Yue Liu.
Only then did he realize that the slashes just now hadn’t been made with the blade—but with the back of the sword.
Which meant…
If this had been a real battle, his body would’ve been shredded to pieces already.
She had held back.
“Etch it into your memory—the feeling of being consumed by endless darkness.”
Yue Liu slowly sheathed her katana and made a dramatic, vague statement.
“I am the abyss. I am darkness!”
“…I lost.”
Anthony lowered his head and admitted defeat. This time, he had no excuses. He had been serious from the start—yet still wasn’t her match.
He was deeply shaken.
He had always been seen as highly talented, ranked among the top on entry exams. But now, he had been thoroughly defeated again and again—how could that not mess with his mindset?
“Classmate Yue seems really strong.”
“That level… she’s not even on the same tier as us anymore, huh?”
“No wonder she doesn’t need to take exams.”
“Honestly, her dramatic lines kinda sound cool now.”
The students began changing their opinions of Yue Liu.
Xia Yi, watching from the sidelines, was speechless.
This Chuunibyou fox radish girl was completely smurfing the match.
Opening up with a finisher move—how’s the opponent supposed to play like that??
“Hehehe, my destined rival! Are you feeling the fear? The terror?”
Yue Liu ran over to Xia Yi, proudly showing off.
“This is the secret sword technique I developed just to fight you! And I have many more secret arts—all for you! Want to see them?”
“Oh,” Xia Yi replied perfunctorily.
“Oh?? That’s it?!”
Just that one word completely broke Yue Liu’s dramatic persona. She panicked and shouted.
“Do you know how many sleepless nights I’ve had—because I kept thinking about you?! All the things you did to me back then—I’ve never been able to forget!”
Although Xia Yi knew what she meant—Yue Liu had been treating her as a training rival all along, often meditating and thinking about swordsmanship techniques—this kind of thing was common back in her days as a human Sword Saint.
Still, to everyone else, it sounded… pretty juicy.
“So Yue Liu and Xia Yi really have a complicated relationship.”
“That’s definitely a love debt, no doubt.”
“Looks like Yue Liu got her feelings played.”
Just as the conversation in the swordsmanship class was going off-topic, Hill stepped forward.
“Classmate Yue, your swordsmanship truly exceeded my expectations. Both your skill and talent are far above most—I’m very impressed,” Hill praised.
“Of course! My future goal is to become the swordmaster who conquers dragons!” Yue Liu proudly puffed out her chest.
“Classmate Anthony, tasting defeat is never pleasant. But on the path of swordsmanship, learning to confront and overcome failure is a required lesson.”
Hill walked over to Anthony.
“Today, you encountered this lesson earlier than the others. I hope you’ll face it properly—don’t run away.”
“Teacher Hill…”
Anthony looked at her for a while, then finally nodded.
Seeing this, Xia Yi smiled slightly.
Hill really had the presence and authority of a true mentor. Not bad—she had inherited the same aura Xia Yi once had herself.
Definitely worth encouraging!
Though Xia Yi really wanted to go over and pat Hill on the head to praise her student…
Doing that would be hard to recover from afterward.
“Classmate Xia Yi, I need to evaluate every student’s performance in actual combat. Now it’s your turn.” Hill looked at her.
Xia Yi blinked.
“Teacher Hill, who’s my opponent?”
“Me,” Hill replied.
“Wait…?!”
Xia Yi looked troubled.
Why was Hill going to fight her?
It wasn’t that Xia Yi was afraid of losing or anything.
It’s just… if she accidentally slipped up during the fight—showed some habits or techniques—Hill might notice something!
After all, Hill’s swordsmanship had been taught by Xia Yi herself. How could Hill not be familiar with it?
But from the standpoint of her former identity as a human Sword Saint… of course she wanted to spar with her student and see how much progress Hill had made.
Such a conflicting feeling.
What now…?
Xia Yi hesitated.
“Oh, my destined rival,” Yue Liu said smugly, “could it be you’re afraid your performance won’t be as cool as mine? If you want to amaze everyone and look as awesome as I did, why don’t you summon your Holy Sword right now?”
