Chapter 92: Chapter 91: Swordsmanship
It’s unclear how much time passed before the stunned referee finally came to his senses. He hastily shouted, "North Mountain, Wen Qingye wins!"
Only then did the crowd react.
"How does Wen Qingye know Yann Xiangyang’s Proud Cold Sword Technique? And he’s so proficient with it!"
"Is this what a true genius is like? He comprehended two Martial Arts just by watching the Profound Light Mirror once?"
"Wen Qingye’s talent is just staggering. That one sword strike... even though he only just comprehended it, it looked as if he’d practiced it countless times."
"Heavens, so Wen Qingye’s greatest strength is his Swordsmanship! He’s a prodigy of the Sword Dao!"
Yann Xiangyang stared at the ice flower on Wen Qingye’s chest, her teeth clenched in fury as she glared at him. Her legs were now frozen solid by his sword strike.
"I haven’t lost!" Yann Xiangyang declared, unwilling to concede. She tried to force herself to raise her sword.
SWOOSH!
Just then, Wen Qingye swung his sword. Shards of cold light danced through the air, sweeping directly toward Yann Xiangyang’s neck.
GASP!
The crowd froze. ’Is Wen Qingye going for the kill?’
Terror and despair filled Yann Xiangyang’s eyes. ’Does Wen Qingye really dare to kill me?’
Suddenly, the sword in Wen Qingye’s hand spun, the hilt twirling in his grasp in an elegant flourish.
The tip of Wen Qingye’s sword had drawn a bloody line across Yann Xiangyang’s neck, the crimson gash clearly visible.
The crowd stared blankly. ’This... what level of Swordsmanship is this?!’
Everyone stared at Wen Qingye in utter astonishment, the only sound being the thumping of their own hearts.
"You’ve lost," Wen Qingye said with a calm expression and a slight smile. "Stop struggling. You... are not my match."
With that, Wen Qingye sheathed his sword and walked off the platform.
For some reason, hearing Wen Qingye say, "You... are not my match," filled Yann Xiangyang with a sense of deep frustration and indignation, yet she was utterly helpless.
Gao Yuerou hurried toward Wen Qingye, a smile gracing her lips.
Many new and senior students saw this, and countless among them were left heartbroken.
Gao Yuerou’s Qingcheng-level beauty, her innate kindness, her gentleness that flowed like water—who knew how many men had spent lonely nights sighing over her?
Immediately, a huge cheer erupted from the new students. None of them had expected that one of their own, Wen Qingye, would actually make it to the top four by defeating a senior student from the previous intake.
Guu Xiong, Lu Hongfei, Xia Moyu, and the others watched as Wen Qingye accepted the new students’ cheers, and a silent resolve formed in their hearts.
Who wouldn’t want to be the one in the spotlight, admired by all?
Who wouldn’t want to receive the crowd’s cheers and applause, to have them rally for you?
Slowly, the thought of making it their goal to defeat Wen Qingye began to take root in their hearts.
......
Lil Ya watched Wen Qingye below the platform and burst out laughing. "Good! Excellent! HAHAHAHA!"
Lil Ya laughed with genuine delight. It had been a long time since anything had made him laugh so heartily; this was just too exhilarating.
The corner of Gong Tianshun’s mouth twitched. His heart was bleeding, and he could only stand to the side, utterly speechless.
Zhangg Tai sighed. "This Wen Qingye is truly remarkable. I’d say his aptitude is on par with Lang Feng’s in his prime. With such talent, he’ll surely be unrivaled in this generation."
Nie Qinglan was overjoyed. She never expected the Outer Courtyard to produce such a prodigy. As the Vice Director, she was naturally ecstatic. ’We must cultivate his talent. He must be given top priority.’
Lil Ya replied joyfully, "Yes, Vice Director!"
The Mountain Masters of the other three mountains all looked at Lil Ya with envy. With a student like this, his prestige would be boundless, even after the boy entered the Inner Courtyard.
Lil Ya turned to Gong Tianshun and grinned. "Brother Gong, don’t you forget our bet."
Gong Tianshun slowly reached out, viciously tossed a blood-red vine to Lil Ya, and said through gritted teeth, "Here, Brother Lil. Take good care of it."
Lil Ya looked at the Red Blood Vine in his hand and chuckled. "My thanks for your generosity, Brother Gong."
Gong Tianshun snorted coldly and turned away, his heart aching as if it were bleeding, yet he couldn’t help but inwardly marvel at Wen Qingye’s truly astonishing talent.
........
Wen Qingye returned to his thatched hut at the foot of North Mountain and sat in his armchair, quietly watching the sunset. Gao Yuerou sat beside him, her eyes also fixed on the crimson clouds of dusk.
Wen Qingye didn’t speak, and neither did she.
About to head home, one lingers a little, for the love of the crimson sunset.
The crimson clouds slowly dyed half the sky, a scene beautiful and poetic, warm and serene.
Gao Yuerou glanced at the sunset, then turned her head to look at Wen Qingye beside her. Gazing at his calm, serene face, bathed in the glowing halo of dusk, her heart began to stir like the first ripple on a placid lake.
"Go on, it’s fine!"
"That’s right, you should hurry and go!"
"Okay, I’m really going then."
Just then, some faint noises drifted over. Wen Qingye and Gao Yuerou couldn’t help but look, only to see several young women in the distance, shoving each other playfully and whispering amongst themselves, clearly up to something.
After a moment, a rather pretty girl walked up to Wen Qingye and said bashfully, "Wen Qingye, I’m a student from East Mountain. Could you please give me some pointers on my Swordsmanship?"
Wen Qingye paused, then glanced instinctively at Gao Yuerou beside him. ’What’s going on?’ he wondered, confused by the situation.
Gao Yuerou glanced back at Wen Qingye, thinking he was asking for her permission. She blushed to her ears and said, "If someone is asking for pointers on their Swordsmanship, you should teach them a little."
Wen Qingye nodded. "Alright, I’ll give you a few pointers."
The girl was overjoyed, and at this point, the other girls who had been hanging back came forward as well.
The young woman demonstrated her Swordsmanship. Wen Qingye watched for a few moments before speaking. "Your wrist isn’t strong enough, and your Sword Techniques are too rigid. Your fundamentals are clearly lacking. You need more practice with the basics of Swordsmanship: the hack, thrust, point, parry, flick, block, slice, pierce, lift, raise, bind, and sweep..."
Wen Qingye pointed out the woman’s shortcomings one by one. The student from East Mountain was overjoyed. Afterward, the other young women also began asking Wen Qingye for guidance, and he gave them pointers one by one.
After receiving his pointers, each of them had a moment of sudden realization, as if they had been instantly enlightened. They thanked Wen Qingye profusely before reluctantly taking their leave.
Just then, Xiaxia came marching over with Little Yunshan, puffing her cheeks out. "Master, what are you doing teaching them? You can barely teach me, and now you’re teaching other people?"
Wen Qingye couldn’t help but laugh. "It’s not that I’m a bad teacher. Every time I try to teach you Swordsmanship, you come up with a new excuse. Last time, you said your wrist hurt. The time before that, you said holding the sword was uncomfortable. And there was that one time you said your luck wasn’t good that day, so it was a bad day to practice..."
Hearing this, Xiaxia’s face turned red. She stuck out her tongue playfully and said, "Fine, Master. I’ll just stick to practicing the Alchemy Dao."
Wen Qingye spread his hands helplessly. "If people come asking for advice, I can’t just refuse to offer a pointer or two."
Xiaxia nodded at his words. ’Who can I blame but myself for being bad at Swordsmanship?’ she thought.
Xiaxia’s eyes darted about for a moment. Then she looked at Gao Yuerou and said, "Sister Yuerou, you’d better be careful. Didn’t you say you were going to help my future mistress keep an eye on Master?"
Gao Yuerou’s smiling face instantly flushed crimson. Her eyes, which seemed to hold all the clarity of autumn waters, fixed on Xiaxia. "Xiaxia, what nonsense are you spouting?"
