Su Xi returned after taking a shower, neatly tying her slightly damp long hair into a high ponytail, deliberately ignoring Lancelot out of spite.
"It's about to start. Who are you betting on?"
Lancelot stood to the side with his arms crossed, trying to ease the awkward atmosphere by proactively breaking the ice.
"Hmph."
Su Xi turned her head away, but her peripheral vision was constantly focused on the battle situation between Chu Zihang and Cheng Sui downstairs.
But the two people downstairs remained completely still, as if the pause button had been pressed.
Chu Zihang was looking for Cheng Sui's weakness.
In Chu Zihang's eyes, although Cheng Sui adopted a very clumsy starting stance, his grip on the blade was unfamiliar, as if he had never touched a sword, leaving him wide open and full of flaws.
But the failure during the Day of Freedom made him hesitant to attack rashly. Perhaps the flawed starting stance before him was a trap set by Cheng Sui, waiting for Chu Zihang to step into it.
Meanwhile, Cheng Sui looked at Chu Zihang, who was as still as a rock, his posture flawlessly perfect.
This clearly looked very professional! He felt that any attack would be defended and then countered.
"Ha!"
In the end, Chu Zihang was the first to launch an attack. He was never one to wait passively; the timid youth from that rainy night had long since transformed into a fearless warrior.
This shout is called "Kiai" in Japanese Kendo. It is both a technique to boost morale and a method to coordinate power, seeking the unification of spirit, sword, and body to maximize combat effectiveness.
Although Cheng Sui always felt this was just a trick used by the Japanese to intimidate opponents, and not as mystical as described in Kendo textbooks.
Chu Zihang raised the wooden sword high with both hands. Immense power rose from his feet, transferred to his waist, and finally burst through his arms, bearing down on Cheng Sui with the momentum of splitting mountains and dividing seas.
However, this strike, which was extremely oppressive in the eyes of others, seemed to slow down in Cheng Sui's eyes. Cheng Sui seemed able to see every inch of Chu Zihang's muscle changes and power application.
Cheng Sui gripped the blade with one hand and swung a diagonal upward cut, using the motion of wielding a club.
In Chu Zihang's eyes, this cut was ridiculously wrong. Not only was the blade path drastically off, but the method of applying force was also incorrect. Using this method wouldn't just fail to hurt the opponent; it would injure the hand holding the blade.
"Clang!"
The two wooden swords collided, producing a grating sound.
The force transmitted through the blade far exceeded Chu Zihang's imagination, shaking his arms numb. Since the night he ignited his Golden Eyes, he had never felt such a massive disparity in strength against anyone.
This force was completely different from the power he displayed on the Day of Freedom. Was he still hiding his strength that day?
Chu Zihang took a deep breath. The oxygen entering his lungs temporarily suppressed the numbness in his arms, and he gripped the wooden sword tightly again.
Cheng Sui wasn't thinking as much as Chu Zihang; his face under the mask was currently sucking in a cold breath.
He had no idea how to properly apply force with a samurai sword. The clash with Chu Zihang just now left his sword-holding right hand aching slightly.
Chu Zihang quickly adjusted his stance, making a horizontal slash with the wooden sword from left to right, aiming directly at Cheng Sui's waist.
But Chu Zihang didn't withdraw his sword at all. He delivered a second strike with the exact same posture and trajectory, hitting Cheng Sui's wooden sword in the precise same spot, followed by the third, fourth, fifth... The continuous slashes surged forward like a tide.
"What a monster."
Lancelot was completely captivated by the duel before him and couldn't help but comment.
"Are you talking about the President?"
Su Xi had also calmed down by now. She wasn't a temperamental person by nature; she had simply been annoyed by Lancelot's blunt comment earlier.
"No, I'm talking about Cheng Sui. Although the President is currently pressing Cheng Sui with attacks, look closely at Cheng Sui's footwork."
Su Xi followed Lancelot's direction and looked at Cheng Sui's footwork. What she saw made her beautiful eyes widen.
She saw that under Chu Zihang's relentless slashes, Cheng Sui's feet had surprisingly not taken a single step back.
One must know that everyone in the Lionheart Society had previously sparred with the President, and no one could withstand the seventh strike of this move.
They were either shaken so badly that their arms couldn't grip the sword, or they simply couldn't withstand the force on Chu Zihang's blade and were knocked to the ground.
The eleventh strike, the twelfth strike, the thirteenth strike!
Historically, Kendo Masters could deliver thirteen consecutive slashes, concentrating thirteen bursts of power onto the exact same spot on the opponent's weapon in an instant, eventually breaking their blade.
This was the limit for human Kendo Masters, yet Chu Zihang hadn't even broken a sweat, and the slashes were still continuing.
But Cheng Sui did not allow the opponent to continue his assault.
He was here to learn sword combat offense and defense, not just to take a beating.
"Get lost!"
Cheng Sui roared in anger and delivered a kick with his left leg, swift as lightning, aimed straight at Chu Zihang's waist.
This kick came too suddenly, genuinely startling Chu Zihang.
Few people could manage a reaction other than blocking under his relentless slashes, let alone such a fierce counter-kick technique.
How terrifying was this person's core strength? Was he truly a C-rank?
Facing this sudden kick, Chu Zihang had no choice but to retreat.
Cheng Sui stretched his shoulders, a savage grin appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"I've taken a beating for long enough. It's my turn to counterattack."
Cheng Sui darted forward, the rapid wind pressure lifting the bangs from Chu Zihang's forehead.
Cheng Sui lowered his body and bent his knees, adopting a starting stance identical to Chu Zihang's, and unleashed a horizontal slash that tore through the air.
The wooden sword ripped through the air, and due to its excessive speed, it actually created ripples in the air. The blade itself bent slightly from the accumulated force.
Chu Zihang's pupils contracted, but the strike was simply too fast—so fast he couldn't react in time. He could only hastily place his wooden sword horizontally at his side.
"Thwack!"
The sound of wood colliding echoed through the training hall, and Chu Zihang was sent sprawling onto the ground.
Cheng Sui gave him no chance to catch his breath, instantly closing the distance and raising the wooden sword high in his hands.
This was the move Chu Zihang used to start the fight; now Cheng Sui was going to use it to end the fight.
Chu Zihang felt a shadow descend upon him. When he looked up, the strike was already upon his head.
This strike carried an irresistible momentum. Cheng Sui was like a deity delivering divine punishment, the wooden sword in his hand like a sudden downpour or a furious thunderbolt capable of destroying everything.
Chu Zihang suddenly thought of that night, when that true deity had also looked down from above and delivered an unavoidable strike like this.
After all these years... has nothing changed?
He gripped the sword tightly, and the scene from that rainy night shattered piece by piece before his eyes.
No.
He had once promised that man, and he had promised himself, that he would never retreat again.
The dragon blood in Chu Zihang's body boiled, his Golden Eyes suddenly lit up, and incredible power surged from within him, supporting him as he swung an upward counter-strike.
The strike he couldn't deliver back then was the greatest regret of his life; now, he would personally cut through the nightmares of the past.
The two swords slammed into each other!
"Crack!"
The expected massive crash did not occur. Both wooden swords had reached their limit and snapped simultaneously the instant they clashed.
Cheng Sui looked at the broken sword in his hand, feeling slightly unsatisfied.
Chu Zihang removed his headguard and said softly:
"I lost."
Cheng Sui originally wanted to casually pat his shoulder and say a few comforting words, but the moment he clearly saw the other person's expression, his movement involuntarily stopped.
The boy's eyes, which were originally as still as a cold pool, seemed to be enveloped by a heavy gloom, and sadness crept into his gaze like a silent tide.
Yet, in the deepest part of his eyes, a faint glimmer of relief quietly surfaced, like the first thin ray of dawn after a long, dark night.