Chapter 2113: Guidance Bureau

At the same time, Xia Duo also began his own counterattack: "It is one thing for a child to be ignorant, but why is Elder Yinsuo also so uninformed? Does Elder Yinsuo not know the original meaning of Taier Aishi?"

"As far as I know, in the history of the Taiquese Yizu, there has never been an instance of conducting a Taier Aishi ritual with an outsider. Does Elder Yinsuo wish to be the first?"

"No, how could you be the Elf to break this tradition that has lasted for tens of thousands of years! This little friend here should be the first! If this truly happens, I wonder what kind of evaluation future generations will make!"

As soon as Xia Duo finished speaking, Crown King Helien followed up immediately, "Lord Xia Duo is right. Elder Yinsuo told me just a while ago to respect tradition, yet now he intends to break this traditional custom himself?"

To this, Yinsuo hurriedly retorted, "In the long history of 【Taier Aishi】, its original meaning has long since extended into concepts far richer than the initial one. If Elves and humans have a disagreement, it is only natural that they can decide it accordingly."

Seeing that Yinsuo still dared to retort, Helien's inner anger grew even more intense, but a smile appeared on his face instead. He then stared coldly into the other's eyes, emphasizing almost every syllable as he asked:

"Does Elder Yinsuo truly intend to make things difficult for our guest?"

"If the Crown King feels it is inappropriate, then let it be. It is just a pity for that child Beinuo's such pure heart of martial advancement!"

At the critical moment, Yinsuo still backed down. It was unclear whether he truly cared for Beinuo or feared the Crown King, but Xia Duo was unwilling to let this matter pass so easily. He stood out once again and said to Beinuo:

"Actually, if you want to spar in Sword Art, you don't necessarily have to go through the Taier Aishi ritual. Has ordinary dueling become unable to help you improve? Child, as a pioneer in the field of Sword Art, I feel it is necessary for me to give you some pointers!"

After speaking, Xia Duo had already walked to the center of the banquet where performances were held, and he used Spellcasting to take two training swords from the weapon rack on the perimeter of the courtyard, holding one in his own hand and sending the other before Beinuo.

In reality, performing duels at banquets to liven up the atmosphere was not a rare occurrence; in fact, it was quite common. It was just that he had truly heard of using the Taier Aishi ritual for it for the first time.

What he was doing now was essentially signaling to the other party and all the banquet guests that the upcoming battle was for the purpose of performance and sparring. If Beinuo believed his heart of martial advancement could only be satisfied through the Taier Aishi ritual, then he should not lose this sparring-style duel performance!

To add a bit more drama to this performance, Xia Duo held his sword and drew a circle with a diameter of about 3 feet around where he stood, then gestured a starting stance toward Beinuo.

Just as he expected, the young Elf could not withstand such provocation; his face flushed red, but at this moment, Beinuo still retained a shred of reason and subconsciously looked toward Yinsuo.

Xia Duo noticed this scene, but he did not care. What he was demonstrating now was actually a type of dueling ritual, just a simplified version, and it was often used for sparring between Apprentices.

Of course, that was not the key; the key was that Sword Art teachers in the Elf World often used such simplified dueling rituals to guide Apprentices, with the circle serving as the mark.

No matter how the teacher maneuvers, both feet cannot leave the ground at the same time, nor can they leave the range of the circle, while the student has no such restrictions.

The way Xia Duo was inviting a duel now was clearly and unmistakably telling the other party—you are not yet qualified to challenge me! It is more like I am the one giving you pointers!

Since Beinuo dared to initiate the Taier Aishi ritual, he must be extremely proficient in both Sword Art and Spellcasting; otherwise, if he were a silver-tipped pewter spearhead who was killed in an instant, it would simply be a joke.

For countless years to come, a legend would circulate in Yierlan—so-and-so from such-and-such family overestimated themselves and challenged the Sword Art Master so-and-so, only to be killed in one move, not only dying himself but also bringing shame upon his family.

The more confident one is in oneself, the harder it is to accept such a face-slapping approach from Xia Duo. Moreover, regardless of whether Beinuo accepted Xia Duo's challenge, Beinuo would be the one to lose face first.

It would be fine if he won, but once he lost, I am afraid even the previous matters would be dug up, and the impact on the family's reputation might not be much lighter than dying directly in the Taier Aishi ritual.

Furthermore, considering Xia Duo's identity as a human, the impact would likely be even more severe.

But if he did not accept, while it would be a good thing for the family, for Beinuo himself, it would almost confirm the fact that he was not even at the level of the other's Apprentice.

Beinuo was annoyed, and Yinsuo was no better, only more seasoned than Beinuo and did not show it on his face.

At this moment, almost everyone present at the banquet focused their gaze on Yinsuo, and a few old friends even swept their playful eyes back and forth between him and his nephew Beinuo, which made it almost impossible for Yinsuo to maintain his composure, and he almost subconsciously nodded at Beinuo.

Having received his uncle's consent, Beinuo immediately reached out and grasped the training sword hovering before him, then pointed the tip of the sword at Xia Duo and said arrogantly:

"Human, you will pay the price for your arrogance!"

"I look forward to it, because I always remember the teachings of an Elder—a true Master always keeps the heart of an Apprentice!"

Although the Elder was fake, this was a true reflection of Xia Duo's inner self. He was indeed mocking the other party, but that was merely a strategy and a means; he did not believe he had already reached the peak.

Of course, he did not actually care much about so-called "Sword Art," which was likely an important reason why he could always see himself clearly.

One side issued a challenge, and since the other side had accepted, the agreement for this sparring-style duel was established, and the battle could break out at any moment.

Xia Duo stood holding his sword, waiting quietly for the other's attack, while Beinuo did not hold back at all. His opening move was a direct thrust at the vital parts of Xia Duo's torso, and he used a special technique to make the slender sword body vibrate violently, causing a trail of afterimages to form at the tip, making it impossible to distinguish the main direction of the attack.

"Hmph!"

Xia Duo sneered inwardly. The other party was just using a simple thrust; although he used some exquisite technique to vibrate the sword body, it was pure delusion to think he could win with just this.

If it were any other human, because their Dynamic Vision was poorer, they might have been successfully hit, but this avatar of Xia Duo was not essentially a body of flesh and blood, and its Dynamic Vision was almost comparable to his main body after several awakenings.

If he completely unleashed his power, he would have even more special types of Perception. If it were not for the many advantages it possessed, he would not have kept using this avatar.

Compared to the main body, the only thing this avatar lacked was perhaps pure strength, but his current strength compared to Beinuo opposite him was far from the point where technique could not compensate.

Or rather, the strength of this avatar was actually not inferior to Beinuo's, it was just that the main body's strength was ridiculously high, making the avatar's strength seem somewhat insufficient by comparison.

Facing Beinuo's probing sword strike, Xia Duo just casually raised his hand and tapped lightly in the direction of the sword's rebound at the moment when the tip of the opponent's sword was vibrating to the extreme and its lateral velocity approached zero.

The subtle balance of the vibration was instantly broken, and a bizarre scene appeared—

Beinuo's sword was thrusting toward Xia Duo, but only halfway through, Beinuo acted as if he had been electrocuted; he suddenly let go, and the ownerless sword flew crookedly toward the banquet area on one side.

Seeing this, Xia Duo tapped the center of gravity of the training sword with another strike, knocking it down. Looking at Beinuo again, he was now standing there in a daze with an expression of disbelief.

The next moment, the other party screamed with a voice that was distorted, perhaps due to extreme emotional fluctuation—

"You cheated with a Spell!"