In their first meeting, Ling Shaoxuan was able to stop Long Zaitian even though the latter had the element of surprise on his side – thanks to his unconventional ambush. This time around, Long Zaitian hit harder and was quicker, making Ling Shaoxuan question if he could actually win.
Her Majesty’s loyalty belonged to Emperor Yuansheng given the time they spent together. Emperor Yuansheng didn’t like Ling Clan to begin with and disliked them even more for being the leader of the Seven Champion White Princes. Their unannounced visit undoubtedly rubbed him the wrong way. If Long Zaitian was allowed to be present at a meeting with a White Prince’s emissary, he wasn’t just any old retainer. If Ling Shaoxuan hurt someone that important to Emperor Yuansheng, Emperor Yuansheng might very well frame Ling Shaoxuan for something to punish him even harsher than otherwise. The Qilin Guards were experts at group beatings. You couldn’t call yourself an unorthodox faction member if the Qilin Guards hadn’t given you a group beating before.
Ling Shaoxuan didn’t even dare to go to the 60% threshold and took a reactive stance due to his concerns, while Long Zaitian didn’t pull his punches. If it wasn’t embarrassing, Ling Shaoxuan would’ve loved to call for a timeout. Little did he know, Long Zaitian was in the same boat.
Long Zaitian’s ultimate goal in life could be summarised as so: get promoted and make it rich. How does the promotion come? Connections to His Majesty. Who was Ling Shaoxuan? Her Majesty’s nephew! Which made him His Majesty’s nephew! Long Zaitian would have to be intoxicated to break Emperor Yuansheng’s nephew’s nose.
Long Zaitian deliberately threw bombs that made a lot snapping noises with the wind in order to appear dominant. Alas, his strategy was the same as sending a eunuch to a brothel – useless. Therefore, he fell back to evasion using his rolling technique, except he was better than before, so he only needed to utilise it here and there between his own punches. Even if his opponent was an Emperor’s nephew, blocking a blade with his body was going too far. Flying Thrust was rumoured to be impossible to block. After all, expecting to not get wet standing in a waterfall was impossible. In other words, Ling Shaoxuan was holding back. Long Zaitian couldn’t hurt Ling Shaoxuan while constantly bearing in mind that his biggest problem still loomed, a most stressful situation.
For the first time in their lives, they had the toughest fight against thin air and dirt. If their teachers were watching, their teachers would likely gasp blood. The three watching were totally perplexed.
Not long after the fighting started, Sir Bao from Shuntian Prefecture caught wind of the disturbance and rushed to the scene with troops. “Stay your hands at once!”
Long Zaitian and Ling Shaoxuan immediately stepped back in synchrony and bowed to Sir Bao. “Thank you!”
“Uh… you’re welcome?”
***
“You’re weak.” Bai Yumo had her long blade up against Su Xiao’s neck, but she never took her eyes off him for a second, apparently afraid he’d escape if she dropped her vigilance.
Their scrap was very short as Su Xiao ran from the moment Bai Yumo closed in. Unfortunately, she outclassed him in their short qinggong contest. Su Xiao’s attention was fully focused on the blade curving toward his neck out of his peripherals when it came because he felt he saw something, although he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. Consequently, he forgot to dodge.
As her task was to provoke her target, Bai Yumo made sure to emphasise her script. “You’re weak.”
Su Xiao titled his head. “So what?”
Bai Yumo blinked. “N-nothing… My skills with a blood are superior to yours.”
“Huh? So?”
Growing up in a family of martial artists, Bai Yumo had trained from childhood. Whenever she suffered defeat, she’d cry and make a scene or silently go back to training. To her, losing was something she deemed natural on her path to growth.
“What exactly do you want?! You came out of nowhere and started swinging at me. Weren’t you taught any manners?”
As much as she wanted to explain, Bai Yumo didn’t know where to start. “I, I… I’, here t-”
“You can’t do this no matter what you’re here for. It’s dangerous! Take the blade away from my neck already.”
“O-oh.” Bai Yumo removed her blade as Su Xiao demanded.
“Hmph, that’s more like it. Now, did you get lost?”
Bai Yumo shook her head.
“Do you have the wrong person?”
Bai Yumo shook her head again.”
“Why would you draw your blade then? Don’t you know it’s illegal? Didn’t your parents teach you to follow the law?”
Bai Yumo’s eyes turned red and foggy. “Th-they did…”
“Yet you broke the law? This is what they call poor education! You’re around my age. My mother taught me to be polite, to greet people when you meet them. Look at you. Not to mention you’re a girl. How disappointed would your parents be if they heard you started trouble at a school? What are you crying for?! Stop crying! Books teach us that our parents have rough times raising us. You weren’t raised to be a tr-, hey, don’t run! I’m not done!” Angry Su Xiao grumbled, “Weirdo. This is an academy for studying literature, not a martial arts academy. What would you pull your blade out here for?” He poked his tongue out in the direction Bai Yumo ran off and then went on his way.
