Chapter 3064: Master and Apprentice Duel

"Good evening, Miss Daniste. I'm here. Are we going for a walk in the woods?"

Xia De asked, but the young lady, whose expression turned serious after landing, shook her head:

"I want to discuss something with you—Xia De, it's been a year since you became my apprentice, hasn't it?"

"Yes."

"In this past year, do you feel you've learned a lot from me?"

"Of course. As a correspondence student not enrolled at the academy, while I wouldn't boast that all my current power is thanks to you, my foundation on the path of a Ringed Shushi is certainly inseparable from your guidance."

A smile curled the corners of the young lady's mouth; the only trace of the banquet remaining on her was her red hair, pinned up:

"Very good. You always seem to know what's on a girl's mind. In that case... have you considered graduating?"

"Graduating? You mean finishing my apprenticeship?"

Xia De frowned slightly and asked in confusion:

"For a correspondence student, applying for graduation is equivalent to losing the qualification to ever reach the academy and become a teacher. Everyone in our group is thinking about going to the academy in the future; I have no intention of graduating."

The red-haired young lady stood under a tree and shook her head gently:

"Not graduation from the academy, but graduating as my apprentice."

Xia De understood now. An apprenticeship is not a lifelong commitment to a teacher's side; once the results are recognized and the teacher is willing to let go, the apprentice can leave to pursue their own life and research.

"But why would I graduate? I've only reached the Ninth Ring, not the Thirteenth. No, no, Miss Daniste, I haven't thought about graduating. Why would you bring this up?"

The young lady's rose-red eyes were truly glowing under the full red moon as she stared into Xia De's eyes:

"Although you are only at the Ninth Ring, judging by your performance in this Battle of the Vista Forest, you are already capable of moving past me as your teacher.

Your performance was excellent; I dare say if I had done what you did, I certainly wouldn't have done it as well. Xia De, the things you can learn from me have actually been few for a long time now. If you want to graduate from my tutelage, I guarantee..."

"I must emphasize again, I have no intention of graduating now. Besides, being a Ringed Shushi isn't just a combat profession. No matter how well I can fight, it doesn't cover up my lack of knowledge."

Xia De took a few steps closer to her:

"So please don't mention graduation again; I won't have such thoughts for a long time. Let's not talk about this topic. Let's go back; tomorrow we still need to find Emilia and Sister Feilian to resolve the time curse on you."

As he spoke, he reached out to pull the red-haired young lady away, but after applying force, he found she stood motionless.

The red-haired young lady pursed her lips as if she had made a decision:

"Xia De, do you remember that we fought once before we found the door leading to the teacher's location in 1821? (Chapter 2584)"

"Of course I remember. That happened when we first arrived at the Vista Forest this autumn... you aren't still holding a grudge, are you?"

The young lady shook her head:

"I want you to fight me again right now. The ritual on the night of the decisive battle not only restored my Thirteenth Ring power for a short time but also further liberated me from the time curse. I am currently at the peak of the Eleventh Ring; you had better be prepared."

"Hmm... although I'm happy about the further weakening of the curse, why do I have to fight you?"

Xia De didn't understand. The red-haired young lady shook off his hand, placed one hand on her waist, and said seriously:

"Since I took you as my student, I have never seriously fought you. Since you said tonight that you don't want to graduate yet and still want to learn by my side, then prove your learning results to me and show me your determination. If I find that I am actually of no help to you, I will drive you away directly."

Xia De understood now—a surprise inspection:

"Then how shall we fight? Or is it just a simple comparison of speed, strength, and the intensity of our Shushi techniques?"

"Do not use Words of Sublimation, do not use any Relics; other than that, there are no rules."

In the right hand of the red-haired young lady under the tree, scarlet moonlight gradually condensed into a solid form, until it became a magnificent red 【Moonlight Greatsword】. Miss Daniste never liked such melee spiritual weapons; doing so would only limit her Eleventh Ring power.

The greatsword swept gently through the night wind, causing an inclined red crack to appear on the trunk of a large tree beside her, which then collapsed onto the snow with a boom. Her rose-red eyes watched him, reflecting the silver 【Moonlight Greatsword】 condensing in Xia De's right hand.

"Do we need dueling etiquette? Like bowing or shaking hands?"

Xia De asked again, and then he saw the female Shushi swing her sword and slash toward him.

Clang!

The two magnificent greatswords collided under the moon. Xia De's face was close to his own greatsword, and the young lady's face was illuminated by the blade of the red moon greatsword. He saw those rose-red eyes at close range, and the anger burning within them as if to tear him apart. She didn't seem to intend to hold back in this duel.

"Wait a moment, why are you angry?"

Xia De jumped backward, using the force to land on a branch of the tree behind him. But the red-haired young lady didn't want to explain at all. Standing on the snow, she slashed a sword beam at him. After Xia De dodged in time, that blood-red sword light sliced the tree he had just been standing on in half vertically.

He also swung his sword forward to slash; the silver sword light and the red sword light collided in the center of the snowfield. Xia De still didn't understand what was going on. As the sky filled with red and silver light fragments, his figure disappeared from where he stood and instantly appeared behind the red-haired young lady.

The silver greatsword swept horizontally, but was blocked by a layer of crystalline red moonlight behind the young lady. The young lady behind the shield made a spinning slash posture, and Xia De did the same as when they fought last time—

"Adele's Time Stop!"

His eyes met those rose-red eyes, and Daniste froze in place while maintaining her turning motion. Xia De could even see her dancing hair. Just as he was about to speak, a sound of wind suddenly came from behind him.

The illusion that had been frozen in time disappeared, and the greatsword in the red-haired young lady's hand was blocked by Xia De at the last moment as he turned around. But because he was caught off guard and his force was misapplied, the silver greatsword flew out of his hand and then dissipated into silver light.

"Xia De, did you think the same trick would work on me twice?"

She spoke for the first time since the battle began. Taking advantage of Xia De's weapon being knocked away, she held the sword with one hand and thrust it toward his chest. But with a *clang*, the greatsword was slapped directly by Xia De's hands, and the red moonlight greatsword was caught by him empty-handed.

The young lady tried hard to force the greatsword back down, but with her Eleventh Ring peak state, her strength was actually no match for Xia De, who was only at the Ninth Ring.

With a light snort, she simply abandoned the greatsword. The moment her hands left the weapon, the greatsword exploded directly in Xia De's hands.

Although it was an explosion, most of the power was still moonlight-attribute damage. Therefore, although Xia De, whose combat experience was not as good as that librarian's, was unfortunately hit head-on, the damage he received was not great because the Night Veil Seal blocked part of it.

The explosion kicked up dust in the snowfield. By the time the dust settled and Xia De walked out clutching his chest, the young lady's figure was gone:

"Truth Crystal!"

He raised his left hand to condense a silver crystal. Under the light of the crystal, which was specifically used to break illusions, a blurry shadow immediately appeared on the snow. Having had the experience of being deceived by illusions just now, Xia De didn't dare to assume it was the real body directly. The moonlight slash thrown by his left hand passed through the shadow, proving as expected that this was another trap.

"Where is the real body hiding?"

He continued to expand the crystal's light to illuminate a larger area. "She" suddenly reminded him in his ear:

【Above.】

Looking up, Miss Daniste was not hiding above preparing for a sneak attack. Xia De saw her standing high in front of the full red moon. As she raised both hands, her pinned-up red hair was already loose behind her, drifting backward in the night wind.

Her long dress was also red, so she seemed to blend into the moon at this moment. Xia De finally understood that her disappearance just now was not to hide and sneak attack, but to buy time for herself, because—

"Technique—Moon Goddess's Forgiveness!"

"How angry are you at me, exactly?"

While "She" chuckled in Xia De's ear, the figure of the red-haired female Shushi in front of the red moon was already wrapped in an extremely illusory giant figure. The female figure, whose face could not be seen clearly, held up the red moon in her hands, and so the light came from the sky, and the blood-red moonlight descending from the sky submerged Xia De.

【Moon Goddess's Forgiveness】 was, after all, a Thirteenth Ring technique. It was quite a stretch for Miss Daniste, at the Eleventh Ring, to forcibly use it. After casting the spell, she fell back into the forest, panting. Even though she had intentionally controlled the power for fear of really hurting him, casting a spell beyond her level would place a burden on her soul, no matter how little spiritual energy was expended.

The place where Xia De had been standing just now had turned into a deep pit emitting red light. If she hadn't sealed off this area in advance, the ladies on the ship would probably have flown over to check.

She looked at the deep pit with some worry, but fortunately, Xia De's figure soon flew out of the red light:

"Our duel should just be a test, right? We both restrained ourselves to only use moon techniques and spells and didn't go all out, so there's no need for you to use such a heavy move, is there?"

Xia De was putting on a new coat at this time; his original clothes were completely ruined. The red-haired young lady bit her lip, forcing herself to wake up from the daze after over-casting the spell. Her eyes hesitated for a moment but then became firm again:

"I believe in your strength."

The red-haired young lady said, suddenly raising her hand to throw a red moonlight. This time Xia De didn't even counterattack; the Night Veil Seal flashed and directly absorbed the red moon's light. He advised:

"Actually, you shouldn't have used a move that puts such a heavy burden on your mental power all at once. How about we call this test a draw? You look like you need a rest."

"No, since the winner hasn't been decided yet, it's not over!"

The young lady said, grabbing a large tree that was leaning on the snow because of the previous explosion, and then used one hand to suck onto the tree and pull it out by the roots. The light of the red moon spread from her hand to the innocent tree, strengthening its structure. ===== CHAPTER 3065 =====