Chapter 127: You Look Good When You Use a Sword (Second update, seeking monthly votes)

"You wouldn't retreat without a fight, would you?"

The young man Li Long was disguised as made no effort to hide his schadenfreude.

His smug expression was so blatant it was as if he had "I'm going to beat you up" written on his face.

Ren Yidao held his teacup, blinked, and thought silently to himself:

"Oh dear, the situation doesn't seem very good."

If Ren Yidao were to retreat now without doing anything, to say nothing of other things, the label of "cowardice" would be pinned on him.

This world is inherently unfair.

Even though others may have been the first to show cowardice, people are often more willing to let the middle parties go and only interrogate those who left first or last.

Although, in truth, Ren Yidao did not need their approval anyway.

But Ren Yidao did not follow the path of playing the pig to eat the tiger; being looked down upon would ultimately not make him feel comfortable.

Wipe spit off your face and let it dry?

How could I, Huhu, with this explosive temper, ever suffer such grievances?

Slap.

Waving his hand to put away the tea set, Ren Yidao rose leisurely and patted the non-existent dust off his body.

He cupped his hands toward Li Long on the opposite side of the arena and smiled:

"Brother Dao's strength is astonishing; I am afraid I am no match for you, but retreating without a fight is not the style of my Divine Path Sect."

"Therefore, I must still give it a try. Please forgive any offense."

Try?

Li Long laughed.

I want to see what you, kid, intend to try?

"Fine, come on then!"

Let me have a good look!

Without taking the initiative to attack, Li Long simply crossed his arms and waited for Ren Yidao to make the first move.

But Ren Yidao did not attack right away; instead, he sighed with emotion and shook his head:

"Speaking of which, when I first came to Wentian, I met a brother with similar interests."

Li Long: Oh?

"That Brother Long was truly a dragon among men; he was ambitious and noble, witty and humorous, learned and knowledgeable, handsome and dashing... Such a person is the only one I have ever met in my life."

Watching Ren Yidao's emotional expression, Li Long unconsciously puffed out his chest, and the smile at the corners of his mouth grew even more flamboyant.

Ahem, praise me a bit more.

I love hearing it!

Li Long was actually no stranger to this kind of admiration and praise.

The ministers in the court were all experts at this; their mouths were like blooming flowers, and they never repeated themselves when praising him.

But Li Long felt exceptionally pleased right now.

The reason was simple: the person speaking was different.

How many of the ministers who praised him did so from the heart, rather than because of his status as Emperor?

Both the monarch and his subjects knew the ratio in their hearts; there was no need to expose it.

But the current situation was completely different.

Ren Yidao was a heaven-gifted talent he recognized, and his own identity as Brother Long was not that of an Emperor who needed to be looked up to by him.

Without the oppression of monarch-subject etiquette, then...

All of Ren Yidao's approval was heartfelt!

Li Long felt secretly delighted.

Hehe, hahaha...

No, there's really no need to praise me like that; I won't reward you!

Looking at Ren Yidao, Li Long's gaze grew increasingly kind, and the displeasure in his heart vanished for the most part.

Sensing the shift in Li Long's emotions, Ren Yidao knew the time had come and changed the subject.

"Compared to those things, I actually admire his talent even more."

Hearing this, Li Long's expression shifted.

Oh!?

I even have that?

"Once, after getting drunk, he said to me, 'The great wind rises, the clouds fly; I have conquered the world, I return to my hometown; how can I find brave warriors to guard the four corners!'"

"Truly heroic and magnificent!"

Li Long: Hmm? Did I say that?

It seems I said quite a lot when I was drunk?

Hmm...

Since it's so philosophical, it must have been me who said it.

As expected of me!

Next time I'll find an opportunity to add it to the Diary of Activities and Repose... eh?

Strange, why would I be thinking about these things at a time like this?

At this moment, Li Long suddenly noticed where the problem lay.

Although he was careless, how could he have become so distracted?

Wrong!

Once the problem was realized, the previously obscured senses recovered in an instant, and the scene before his eyes appeared subtly different.

Two Ren Yidao appeared in the arena!

When Li Long reacted, the one in front of him smiled, bowed slightly, and then dissipated.

As for the other Ren Yidao, he had already walked slowly off the arena, turned around beside Li Qiushui, bowed leisurely, and smiled:

"Brother Dao, I concede."

Who wants to fight you.

What kind of problem do I have that would make me let you beat me up?

Am I a masochist?

Li Long looked at the youth who was standing beside his daughter with a smug smile, and after a moment of silence, he shook his head with a laugh.

"Cunning brat."

With a loud laugh, he turned and disappeared directly from the Qian Mirror.

In the great hall, Su Peiqing squinted at Li Long's back and shook his head slightly.

Your Majesty, you really are quite idle...

However, this was not the first time such a thing had happened; Su Peiqing did not need to be reminded at all, and he chose to turn a blind eye out of habit.

What Emperor?

I saw nothing, I guessed nothing!

He announced with a straight face according to the procedure:

"... First place in the Martial Pass, Jia Ming."

Your Majesty, your level of picking fake names is exactly the same as the Late Emperor's.

Li Long ignored the various gazes in the great hall, crossed his arms, and looked at the scene in the Qian Mirror.

This Martial Pass ended in a muddled way, but it didn't matter to him.

Li Long had fought very enjoyably.

Ren Yidao had eaten his melon very happily.

So who exactly was uncomfortable in this matter?

Neither Ren Yidao nor Li Long knew.

Nor did they care.

Well, Ren Yidao could not completely not care.

He supported the unevenly breathing Li Qiushui, placing his palm against her back to regulate her breath.

Wow, your old man really has a heavy hand.

You are his biological daughter, right?

While teasing in his heart, Ren Yidao actually understood Li Long's helplessness.

Facing a sword cultivator like Li Qiushui who pressed forward without retreat, it was already very difficult for Li Long to manage to only disrupt her breath without damaging her foundation.

The internal injury Li Qiushui suffered was not caused by Li Long, but was the backlash of her own Sword Intent.

When the sword is drawn without retreat, it hurts others, and it also hurts oneself.

"Cough, cough... I'm fine."

Coughing up a mouthful of tainted blood, Li Qiushui's complexion immediately improved, and she wanted to push Ren Yidao away.

But she was held down by the shoulders by Ren Yidao and pressed back down.

"You still need to recuperate now, don't move around."

Thinking for a moment, Ren Yidao whispered in her ear:

"Behave."

In this sentence, he rarely used the ability of Fox Speech outside of causing trouble.

Her tensed muscles went limp involuntarily, and Li Qiushui leaned her head weakly onto Ren Yidao's shoulder.

!!!

Feeling the warm body temperature, Li Qiushui's body trembled, and her breath, which had just begun to recover, became disordered once again.

But in the end, Li Qiushui did not continue to struggle, but lowered her head in unwillingness.

She said:

"I didn't succeed..."

She had clearly boasted, yet she was actually defeated by someone so easily.

Who was that guy?

Why had she never seen him before?

"Don't mind it, the world is vast, and it is not strange for hidden dragons and crouching tigers to exist."

Ren Yidao comforted her softly:

"You have already done very well; I never thought you would look so good when you use a sword..."

"Very beautiful."