[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces":3,"chapter-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-243":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon of a Thousand Faces",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2269889,4431,"Chapter 243","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-243",243,"\u003Cp>“Snap!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lightly gripping his sword, Li En struggled to suppress the urge to counterattack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And according to the “rules,” he had to step back one pace, giving his opponent more room to attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ha!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lana breathed heavily but did not halt her assault.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She suddenly stepped back, staring at Li En with a thoughtful expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Friend bad, cheat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uh, sorry, sorry—did you feel that? Really sharp.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Angry little Lana hugged her sword, pouting and ignoring Li En.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the little one, daily sword practice with friends was the happiest time. Recently, Li En felt the same— for swordsmen, sparring itself was a form of heart-to-heart connection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The little one’s purity, drive, and youth could all be felt during sparring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En himself felt the same—his sword was gradually coming alive. To many, Holy Knights and Warriors were essentially the same: armored rushers wielding heavy swords. But inside, they were utterly different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Holy Knights fused supernatural traits, holy power, and martial techniques, specializing in combat and training themselves into professional fighting machines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Warriors, by contrast, poured nearly all their focus into martial arts cultivation—they developed strange insights into their swords, even viewing them as a part of their own lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But friend strong, very happy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lana, hands on her hips, nodded, clearly satisfied with Li En’s progress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En smiled wryly—but the truth was, before, in pure sword technique, he truly hadn’t matched the little one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, Li En’s “sword” seemed to have come alive—but it was slightly out of control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lana stopped because she sensed something off—she felt that if she charged forward again, she would die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This sense of disharmony meant Li En had not yet suppressed his sword technique’s instinct.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve been training with a strong teacher lately, learned some things—haven’t fully mastered them yet. Sorry.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Strong teacher?! I want to learn too!” The little one’s eyes instantly lit up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You will, you will,” Li En patted the little one’s head—Lex was running out of time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as he activated this legacy, there was a high chance Lana would be selected. If she wasn’t, Li En planned to pull strings and secure a spot for her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Second-Rank Warrior (Permanent), Combat Style (School): Duel\u002FCounterattack.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lex was truly absurd in terms of experience rewards; Li En had finally felt the thrill of cheating—ignoring the frustration of dying hundreds of times every night until he was numb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike his clashes with Su Er, where he was simply hacked to death with no gains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sparring with compressed-power Lex, the other side went out of his way to push Li En’s limits, trying to force his progress. Such dedication from Lex, a man prone to slacking, was nothing short of miraculous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is payment.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t even pretend—what the payment was didn’t need explanation; he was unmistakably a doting father.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, Dainya and Hela both seemed like good kids; he didn’t have to worry about them turning out badly. Perhaps he gave so much simply hoping the two little ones could receive Li En’s help and live a little more comfortably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Again. This time, I’ll suppress this counterattack instinct.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Second-rank Warriors, like second-rank Holy Knights, began choosing their advancement paths—the most crucial being their “combat style.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether to become a full-offense great-weapon user like a Judgment Knight, or stick with the balanced sword-and-shield style, one must learn to adjust during this stage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some called it a \"combat school,\" others saw it as a professional branch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En’s Holy Knight path followed the full-offense Judgment route—indeed, it suited him well. Well, mainly because Su Er specialized in this direction, allowing Li En to inherit Su Er’s sword techniques, arcane arts, and soul abilities to the fullest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By convention, he should have chosen the Warrior’s Great Weapon Master school, further enhancing control over heavy weapons and specializing in follow-through slashes. But in reality, this power overlapped too heavily with the Judgment Knight path, yielding only marginal gains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Er’s soul ability ensured Li En’s heavy sword lacked no destructive power, while Su Er’s sword art allowed the Exorcism Slash to function perfectly as a follow-through slash—further specializing offered only subtle improvements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet what ultimately made Li En hesitate and choose was still Lex.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I only know the Counterattack school. Learn it or not—your choice.” Lex was clearly no theory expert; he only taught what he was best at.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, what else was there to say? He’d learn this school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The school’s foundation was “Duel Master,” specializing in one-on-one weapon duels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its further branch focused on defense and counterattack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“More precisely, it’s about redirecting force. Every attack has a direction; with proper interference, you can easily deflect it—even turn the opponent’s force into your own.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lex demonstrated: a light sideways strike or diagonal pull against an incoming slash or thrust rendered the opponent completely off-balance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“. Watch closely. Strike the opponent’s most vulnerable spot—only a tiny bit of force needed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To Li En, this combat style looked like suicide—any mistake meant walking straight into a blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But paired with “Single-Minded Focus,” activating inhuman concentration and perception, one could dance on the edge of the blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The key isn’t even the swing itself—it’s anticipation, timing, and footwork. Always leave room, guide the opponent’s blade path to shift.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a combat style that, if mastered, would leave opponents utterly despairing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Any attack against it could be redirected into a fatal counter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But since you wield only one weapon and never hard-block, one misstep—your opponent’s technique going awry—could kill you instantly, and in a laughably stupid way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It works exceptionally well against large beasts—their attacks are direct. But many swordsmen are actually worse than beasts.”\u003C\u002Fp>",938,"2026-06-19T21:45:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","58426306e1dee45f88cb74539ea5add6437de7d04a7fe6f0be17ff7cd4eb993f","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-244","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-242",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]