Chapter 307: Chapter Titles Do Not Reveal the Outcome

The last day of April, morning.

Four people and one cat strolled through the National Defense University campus. Chen Shu and Qingqing walked in the lead, heading toward the Martial Arts Arena. The road was lined with Chinese banyans, so lush that even the midday sun likely couldn't reach the ground.

Chen Shu liked this season very much.

Early summer.

The sunlight was abundant but not too hot; there were cicadas chirping, but it wasn't noisy. Warm and sunny, it was a very beautiful season.

"Qingqing."

"Speak."

"I saw someone wearing a skirt on the road; it looked quite nice."

"Then you should look a few more times."

"You rarely wear skirts."

"Get to the point."

"If I win..." Chen Shu dragged out the end of his sentence, "I won't make you wear black silk stockings anymore. Wear a skirt for me to see, okay? Short skirt or long skirt, either is fine."

"..."

Ning Qing lowered her head, her eyes flickering.

"This isn't asking too much!"

"Fine."

"It's a deal."

"Mm."

"Good!"

Chen Shu's expression became determined.

The two gradually walked toward the No. 1 Martial Arts Arena.

For their battle today, the Military Academy had specifically expanded the area of the No. 1 Martial Arts Arena, incorporating the original No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 Martial Arts Arenas into it, while simultaneously expanding and upgrading the Defense Array—what stood before them now was a massive earthen pit sunken into the ground.

At the same time, for better viewing, the Military Academy had erected a high platform outside the arena, resembling a small hill.

By now, many spectators had already arrived.

Every contestant who had participated in this tournament was present. Several of the silly group members spotted Chen Shu from afar. Wu Eiwei stood alone in the distance, and Brother Meng had actually managed to get a pass and was standing with Brother Jiang. Chen Shu also saw many professors and leaders from the colleges and the university among the audience. Many bigwigs from the Spirit Sect and the Sword Sect were also present; they were sitting together, whispering to each other.

The Vice Sect Master had come as well.

Rare, truly rare.

Chen Shu greeted the university teachers and the sect seniors one by one, then his gaze met Zhang Suannai's. Neither of them spoke, yet both were determined to win.

Conversations drifted into his ears.

The Sword Sect and the Spirit Sect were truly two extremes among the top sects.

The Sword Sect was as arrogant as the Spirit Sect was reserved; the Sword Sect was as vulgar as the Spirit Sect was refined; the Sword Sect was as poor as the Spirit Sect was wealthy. Yet, these two were precisely the oldest and second-oldest sects in the world, with one founded over five thousand years ago and the other over four thousand years ago.

Truly interesting.

Chen Shu listened quietly, saying nothing.

Nine-fifty, the match was about to begin.

Cheers came from the sidelines, from people he knew and people he didn't. Many were just pure shouting, and both of them responded with smiles.

Chen Shu looked at Qingqing and grinned:

"Cheer for me."

"Cheering for you."

"That's so perfunctory..."

"Go for it."

She adjusted her tone slightly this time.

"Fine."

Chen Shu indicated he would settle for that.

Zhang Suannai stood nearby. After a brief silence, she looked at the little girl beside her.

She saw the little girl holding Taozi. Although her brother-in-law wasn't looking at her, she kept watching him. Waiting for him to turn his head to look at her, she immediately said firmly, "Brother-in-law, go for it! Beat up Zhang Suannai!"

"Woof!"

She didn't even call her Sister Suannai anymore?

Zhang Suannai's expression was pained.

"Contestants, enter the arena!"

The two walked side by side into the Martial Arts Arena.

Chen Shu glanced at Zhang Suannai and saw she was wearing a pure black training outfit. It was a modern style, like a fitness set, only the design was a bit tacky. Both the left chest of the top and the left side of the shorts bore the mark of the Sword Sect. The material looked thick and stiff, but it seemed to have a lot of elasticity. In previous matches, she had always worn her regular clothes because her opponents hadn't been qualified to even touch her.

For a Fifth Stage to Sixth Stage match, one really should wear specialized clothing.

Especially when the opponent is a Spirit Cultivator, clothes are easily damaged. To avoid any indecency, men must at least wear a pair of specialized undergarments, and women must also wear a specialized vest. These are generally provided by the organizers and won't be easily damaged in a normal Fifth Stage battle.

If one wants to use their own, that is also fine, provided it is within a reasonable range.

The specific range depends on the strength of oneself and the opponent.

This also counts as a piece of defensive equipment; if the protective capability is too strong, it will affect the fairness of the battle.

Yesterday, Chen Shu had specifically reminded Zhang Suannai to wear an outfit with strong protective capabilities, especially emphasizing protection against high temperatures.

This must be that set.

"What are you staring at?"

"Nice outfit."

"What kind of aesthetic is that?" Zhang Suannai asked, holding two Long Swords. "I suggest you surrender; otherwise, it'll be very embarrassing if I beat you too badly. Besides, I'd feel a bit bad if I beat you too badly, and I wouldn't be able to mooch meals off you next time."

Chen Shu smiled, pursing his lips without a word.

For the sake of Qingqing's dress!

Zhang Suannai stopped, standing inside a circle.

Chen Shu, meanwhile, continued walking forward, staring at the ground as he went.

Just like the year before last, the Military Academy's Martial Arts Arena was made of yellow earth; it was neither paved nor solidified using Spells, just plain yellow earth. On one hand, this could simulate the most realistic Battlefield environment, facilitating the use of earth-type Spells and related equipment. On the other hand, although the yellow earth was easily damaged, it was also easy to repair, and the terrain could be altered as needed, making it very cost-effective.

This also made things convenient for Chen Shu.

Recently, Chen Shu had specifically improved an earth-type Defense Spell for the Sword Sect Sword Control Technique—

The Sword Light and Sword Qi of the Sword Sect had extremely strong penetrating power, especially their Spirit Power penetration, which had a very strong destructive effect on pure Spirit Power Defense. However, if he used a barrier constructed from earth-type Spells as a foundation and used Spirit Power to reinforce the yellow earth, the defensive capabilities would be much stronger.

The improvement of this Spell lay in using a massive amount of Spirit Power to make it harder than steel, while also reacting extremely quickly, allowing for the rapid construction of a defense.

The downside was the high Spirit Power consumption and high requirements for the user.

Naturally, Sword Light could turn.

But once it turned, its force would decrease.

Every bit of weakening helped.

Chen Shu stopped his footsteps, stood in another pit, and took his Standard Longsword into his hand.

At this moment, the distance between the two sides was three hundred meters.

On the spectator platform, Vice Sect Master smiled and said to the teacher Fu Jia beside him, "These two are quite interesting. A Traditional Sword Cultivator using dual swords is already rare, and this is my first time seeing a Spirit Cultivator take a single Sword into a match."

Teacher Fu Jia smiled.

However, the Sword Sect bigwig on the side heard this and spoke up: "It's not that a Traditional Sword Cultivator using dual swords is rare; it's that it has never happened before. To us, a Sword is like a life partner; one must be monogamous, and a one-husband-one-wife system is the basic respect due to it. It is only because my Junior Sister is gifted with extraordinary talent and received the recognition of two successive Sword of the Sword God before she even began cultivation that she is forced to use dual swords."

This man paused, then shook his head and said, "It's a pity, though, that this trash competition doesn't allow our Sword Sect Disciple to use their own Sword..."

The leader of the Martial Body organizing committee was sitting right next to them, but acted as if he hadn't heard.

Vice Sect Master Du Heng could also tell that the first half of this person's sentence was bragging, wanting to say how awesome his Junior Sister was, while the second half was laying the groundwork: if she lost, it would be the fault of this trash organizer for not allowing them to bring their own Long Sword.

"Hehe, indeed..."

Vice Sect Master Du Heng smiled gently.

Ten o'clock arrived.

"Whew..."

"Bang!"

A firework bloomed in the sky.

Both people below left the ground instantly.

One charged forward, one retreated.

One drew their Sword, one floated in the air.

One pursued, one dodged.

The Sword Sect bigwig frowned as he watched, his eyes narrowing slightly.

At a rough glance, the flight speeds of both sides were actually almost identical.

This was unusual.

His own Junior Sister was supremely talented and had entered the Sixth Stage at the same time as this Spirit Sect brat. With identical talent and identical cultivation, a Traditional Sword Cultivator's sword-drawn flight should be faster than any other system's Spirit Repulsion Spell; even without using her own Spirit Sword, she should have had the advantage.

The Sword Sect bigwig's expression was grave.

Within the arena, his Junior Sister had already accumulated hundreds or thousands of Sword Light, each one incredibly dense, pressing forward with her. Meanwhile, the Spirit Sect disciple was retreating while releasing invisible Tracer Technique; if viewed with a Spirit Eye, each of these Tracer Technique shots emitted a strong light, dozens of them appearing in an instant, drawing long trails in the air like meteors.

The Sword Light collided with the tracers.

"Rumble..."

The explosions connected into one, resembling a curtain wall.

Only this one moment was clear; after this, the Spirit Power in the Martial Arts Arena was disturbed into chaos, and looking through a Spirit Eye, it was a mess of colors, making it impossible to see clearly anymore.

At the same time, normal vision was also affected.

This Tracer Technique was no ordinary Tracer Technique!

This Spirit Sect disciple had modified it so that every Tracer Technique explosion would leave behind a short-lived mist in the air. Although the mist only lasted a few seconds, it could significantly obstruct vision, while the massive Spirit Power fluctuations triggered by the Tracer Technique explosions would disturb the heaven and earth Spirit Power, causing the Spirit Eye to temporarily fail.

The Sword Sect bigwig squinted his eyes, looking toward the Martial Arts Arena.

A few tracers passed through the sword curtain to intercept Zhang Suannai, while many Sword Light passed through the explosion curtain, shooting toward Chen Shu.

"Boom..."

The yellow earth behind him instantly accumulated into a wall, forming a slanted defensive fortification several meters thick.

Under the solidification of Spirit Power, this soil was harder than steel.

Chen Shu quickly ducked behind the defense.

Zhang Suannai's vision was obstructed, but the Sword Light did not stop, carrying boundless sharpness as they plunged into this layer of slanted yellow earth.

"Ssh!"

Like a toothpick inserted into tofu.

Zhang Suannai's figure followed closely behind, instantly rushing out from the mist.

Greeting her was Tracer Technique like a meteor shower, True Fire that was crimson red and seemed to have substance, and thunder like chains and spiderwebs... Zhang Suannai felt the heart-palpitating Spirit Power in every Tracer Technique, and also felt the scorching temperature of the True Fire. At the same time, she knew that Chen Shu's Thunder Method was currently an absolute secret of Yujing Academy, and even the Spirit Sect and Yiguo, possessing the effect of penetrating Spirit Power.

These three things intertwined into a large net, waiting for her to enter the trap.

And the Sword Light she had accumulated had already been worn away in the soil.

Offense and defense swapped in an instant.

A transition so sudden that most of the audience was caught off guard.

Zhang Suannai, however, was not the least bit flustered; one Sword flew in front, continuously evolving new Sword Light, while another was gripped in her hand, the Sword body blooming with blinding radiance. As she frantically drew upon Spirit Power to construct a defense around her body, she instead accelerated once more, crashing into the wall of Spell-constructed barriers ahead.

"Boom—"

The light trailed as it exploded, like heavy artillery firing in unison.

In that instant, the Spirit Power of heaven and earth became chaotic; the violent explosion caused the air to vibrate incessantly, and the shockwaves continuously rippled out, slamming into her, destroying her Spirit Power Defense while simultaneously hindering her flight.

The Spirit Power True Fire was like a ladle of magma poured out by a giant, possessing a viscous, flowing texture, airtight and inescapable.

The moment Zhang Suannai crashed into it, she felt this True Fire adhere to her body, as if she had been drenched in water, only this water was thousands of degrees hot; at the same time, the Spirit Power she used for defense on her body surface burned like paper, being eroded by it.

The clothes on her body had already been burned to a glowing, translucent red.

Scorching! Pain!

Explosion! Tearing!

These injuries stacked together, causing her brows to knit tightly.

Her Spirit Power Defense instantly became thin and fragile; in the next instant, thunder rose from all directions, yet all took her as their final destination.

"Sizzle!"

Lightning covered her entire body, bright enough to be blinding.

For a time, the whole world was left with nothing but lightning.

This lightning pierced through her Spirit Power and seeped into her body, not only destroying her bodily tissue structure but also destroying the Spirit Power within her; it was as if countless ants had entered her meridians to bite, and as if countless small knives were slicing her flesh.

"Break!"

Zhang Suannai endured the pain and shouted sharply.

On the spectator stand, everyone saw only vast smoke and incessant explosions; within the smoke shone crimson flames and flickering, bright lightning, and then a slender figure holding a Sword forcefully pierced through from within, carrying ten thousand Sword Lights, crashing diagonally from the sky toward the ground below.

Her clothes and hair were burned red like steel, but it was precisely this that endowed her with an unstoppable momentum.

She could care about nothing else, she could attend to nothing else.

At this moment, she endured the pain in her body, her sharp gaze fixed only on that one figure.

"Swoosh!"

The first Sword Light pierced through that figure.

Then came the second, the third...

The hundredth, the thousandth...

In just a single breath, countless Sword Lights pierced diagonally through that figure; that figure was the intersection point of the sky-filling Sword Light, and in the blink of an eye, it was torn to shreds. Immediately, the Sword Lights collided with each other, sparking bright Spirit light in the air, either shattering and disappearing or plunging into the ground, vanishing without a trace.

Everyone on the spectator stand had long seen it clearly, yet they still could not help but let out a gasp of surprise.

Zhang Suannai gritted her teeth even harder.

"Illusion!"

To go all out like this only to strike at thin air—this feeling truly made her feel terrible.

By the time she turned with her Sword, she had already sensed an extremely violent and rare fluctuation of Spirit Power in the air; these Spirit Powers seemed to have changed, colliding in a way rarely seen in daily life, erupting with intense Spirit Power fluctuations.

"Small Blazing Sun Art!"

This thought rose instantly in Zhang Suannai's heart.

But it was already too late to dodge.

The first thing she felt was light, shining from beside her, from all directions; it seemed as if the air itself was glowing, as if the small area where she stood was, and in the blink of an eye, the light became so bright she could not open her eyes, submerging her.

Immediately following was the terrifying Spirit Power and high temperature.

It seemed as if it would burn her blind, as if it would melt her.

A blazing sun appeared on the ground.

At today's Martial Body gathering, there were two suns.