Chapter 65: All-Out Strike

"Senior Sister Song, my name is Nan Qiuchun."

"Oh, so it’s Junior Sister Nan."

Nan Qiuchun knew of Song Qiaoqiao, but Song Qiaoqiao didn’t know her.

Thanks to Fang Yun, the two were now briefly acquainted.

After registering with the Steward, Fang Yun began to restore his Spiritual Power, preparing for the next round of Magical Combat.

Battle Peak had designated areas for restoring Spiritual Power. The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was denser there, helping disciples recover more quickly.

Finding an unoccupied cushion, Fang Yun began meditating to restore his Spiritual Power.

When he had finished restoring his Spiritual Power, he saw Liu Chenliang leaning against a wall, waiting for him.

"Senior Brother Liu, sorry to keep you waiting."

"Not at all. I just got here myself."

Of course, Liu Chenliang hadn’t been waiting there the whole time. He would have much rather spent the time watching other disciples engage in Magical Combat.

He had estimated how long it would take Fang Yun to restore his Spiritual Power and arrived a little early.

As it turned out, Fang Yun recovered even faster than he had anticipated.

"Junior Brother Fang, you’re quite familiar with Senior Sister Song, aren’t you?" He had, of course, seen Fang Yun chatting with Song Qiaoqiao earlier.

"You could say we’re pretty familiar," Fang Yun nodded.

’I’ve even met Song Qiaoqiao’s great-grandfather, and I think I left a decent impression.’

"While you were restoring your Spiritual Power, I was mostly watching Senior Sister Song’s Magical Combat..."

After getting Fang Yun’s confirmation, Liu Chenliang went straight to the topic of Song Qiaoqiao’s Magical Combat.

Song Qiaoqiao was currently in her second match. She had won her first one against an Inner Sect Disciple at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

Liu Chenliang vividly described the course of Song Qiaoqiao’s match.

Ultimately, Song Qiaoqiao had won because she used a Top-Grade Magical Artifact.

Top-Grade Magical Artifacts were extremely valuable and difficult for an ordinary Inner Sect Disciple to acquire, but it was perfectly normal for someone like Song Qiaoqiao to have one.

Magical Combat sparring was mainly for gaining experience, so normally, neither side would go all-out from the very beginning.

Through sparring, disciples could become more familiar with their Magical Artifacts, allowing them to wield them more flexibly against future enemies.

"Senior Brother Liu, are you telling me all this because you’re eager to start our Magical Combat?"

"I am, Junior Brother Fang." Liu Chenliang nodded, then gave his reason outright. "Heh heh, since I’ve already described Senior Sister Song’s first match, there’s no need for us to go watch her second one."

If Fang Yun decided to watch Song Qiaoqiao’s match, their own duel would be delayed even further.

Liu Chenliang was getting a little impatient.

’Today is the day I break through Fang Yun’s defense.’

"Alright," Fang Yun agreed.

"Hahaha, I knew you’d understand, Junior Brother Fang."

Fang Yun didn’t reply. He, too, simply wanted to avoid wasting any more time. This trip to Battle Peak had already taken far longer than he had allotted.

After the two registered with the Steward, they were assigned to Dueling Platform Two.

A match between Qi Refining Ninth Layer Inner Sect Disciples was underway on Dueling Platform One, so the crowd of Sect Disciples gathered to watch here was much smaller than for the last match.

Those who were present were mostly there for Fang Yun.

"Senior Brother Fang’s last match of the day is finally starting! I’ve been waiting for ages."

"I was about to leave earlier, but I stayed when I remembered Senior Brother Fang had one more match."

On Dueling Platform Two, the two combatants had taken their positions.

"Liu Chenliang, Qi Refining Seventh Layer."

"Fang Yun, Qi Refining Sixth Layer."

"Junior Brother Fang, a word of warning: I aspire to become a Sword Cultivator."

As he spoke, a sword materialized in Liu Chenliang’s hand. Fang Yun could tell at a glance that it was an Upper-Grade Magical Artifact.

’Fang Yun didn’t know much about Sword Cultivators.’

’He only knew that to become a Sword Cultivator, one’s method of Foundation Establishment had to be different from the norm. He seemed to recall something about a Sword Dao Foundation Establishment.’

’By declaring his aspiration to become a Sword Cultivator, Liu Chenliang was essentially stating that his offensive capabilities were extremely strong.’

"Your move, Senior Brother Liu."

"Alright!"

With no complex maneuvers, Liu Chenliang unleashed a pure, straightforward strike with his Upper-Grade magical artifact sword.

The strike was so direct, there was no need to even search for an angle to block it.

Facing this strike, Fang Yun’s intuition told him that blocking it with only a Middle-Grade Profound Iron Shield might be risky.

’Using the Upper-Grade Profound Iron Shield would be the safer bet.’

Without a moment’s hesitation, Fang Yun followed his instinct and summoned his strongest Profound Iron Shield.

’It’s that tough?’

This wasn’t what Liu Chenliang had expected. He was confident in his offensive power.

Facing the purely defensive Fang Yun, he hadn’t held back at all. Usually, when sparring with other Inner Sect Disciples, he would attack with seventy percent of his power and keep thirty percent in reserve.

And yet his all-out attack had resulted in... this.

He had been so certain he could send Fang Yun flying, but in the end, he hadn’t even managed to push him back.

"That must have taken a lot out of you, right, Junior Brother Fang?" Liu Chenliang asked, hoping to regain some confidence.

"It was manageable," Fang Yun answered truthfully.

’I had to pour eighty percent of my Spiritual Power into the Upper-Grade Profound Iron Shield just now. I have to admit, Liu Chenliang’s strike is truly powerful.’

’And that’s coming from someone whose Cultivation is only at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.’

"Again!"

Liu Chenliang continued to attack without holding back.

"Has Senior Brother Liu always been this ferocious in his spars before?"

"I don’t think so. But what good is being ferocious if he still can’t break Senior Brother Fang’s defense?"

"Junior Brother Liu’s attacks are too direct. It makes it easy for Junior Brother Fang to block them."

Compared to his previous match, Fang Yun’s spar with the Qi Refining Seventh Layer Inner Sect Disciple was over much faster. Liu Chenliang’s attacks were ferocious, which meant they also consumed a great deal of his Spiritual Power.

By the end of the match, with little Spiritual Power left in his Qi Sea, Liu Chenliang had no choice but to admit defeat.

"You gave up awfully fast, Senior Brother Liu," Nan Qiuchun, who was standing below the Dueling Platform, remarked the moment she saw Liu Chenliang concede.

Nan Qiuchun had been watching Song Qiaoqiao’s match against the Qi Refining Ninth Layer Inner Sect Disciple, but she had rushed over the moment she noticed the duel between Fang Yun and Liu Chenliang had begun.

She wanted to see if Liu Chenliang could break through Fang Yun’s defense.

The outcome was the same as when she had fought him.

This put her in a very good mood.

’We’re both Inner Sect Disciples at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer. If I couldn’t break Fang Yun’s defense, but Liu Chenliang could...’

’...that would draw a direct comparison between us.’

’Since we’re both at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, it’s much better for us to be equals.’

"So what if it was fast? My attacks forced Junior Brother Fang to use an Upper-Grade Magical Artifact. You didn’t even make him go that far."

Hearing Nan Qiuchun’s jab about his quick concession, Liu Chenliang immediately shot back.

There’s a clear difference in offensive power, even among cultivators at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

The gap between him and Nan Qiuchun was evident in the grade of the Magical Artifact Fang Yun was forced to use for his defense.

"Using an Upper-Grade Magical Artifact against your attacks is just easier. It requires less finesse," Nan Qiuchun retorted, refusing to admit she was inferior to Liu Chenliang and trying to save face.