The match officially began.
On the sidelines, everyone’s expressions varied.
Laura’s gaze was as calm as water, filled with scrutiny. Dio was deep in thought, as if he were remembering or comparing something.
Sara wore a look of worry, her slender hands instinctively clenching. Emma was even more tense, clutching her staff and ready to cast a Healing Spell at any moment.
Only Luke, with his noticeably large head, had a smile so wide it nearly reached his ears.
‘You want to challenge Senior Yize without using martial arts or Aura?’
Luke laughed hysterically inside. ‘Do you think my 1,314 previous challenges, where I was easily defeated by the Senior in every possible way, were a joke?’
Luke hailed from the Wilson family. Even if his talent for martial arts wasn’t high, he had undergone systematic physical and combat training since childhood.
However, during his countless “sneaks attacks” and “challenges” against Yize, he had deeply experienced the absurd physical attributes and reaction speed hidden beneath Yize’s seemingly thin frame.
Although his understanding of Yize’s true strength was limited, based on the “experience” accumulated from those 1,314 crushing defeats, he did not believe Li En could be Yize’s match through physical stats alone.
Luke’s overly bright and certain smile immediately caught Swan’s attention.
He asked in a puzzled whisper, “Senior Luke, doesn’t Senior Yize… not know martial arts? Why do you look so… excited?”
Luke chuckled and thumped his chest, whispering boastfully, “Junior Swan, you wouldn’t understand! You can question my own strength, but you can never question my eye for picking a ‘Master’!”
His tone was filled with worship and trust toward Yize.
Swan: “…”
He was momentarily speechless, his cheeks flushing slightly. This was the first time he had seen someone speak of “recognizing a master” with such confidence and pride.
He silently complained in his mind: ‘Did his head really break because it got too big…?’
Meanwhile, Swan was communicating with Iguneel in his consciousness.
‘Iguneel, who do you think will win this match?’
Iguneel’s voice carried a hint of laziness. ‘Although that Yize kid is decent and makes delicious walnut milk, in terms of physical fitness alone, I think Li En has the upper hand.’
He explained, ‘Li En has my Dragon Blood fused within him. Even if he doesn’t actively trigger the Dragon Power, his physical fitness has long surpassed that of an ordinary human. It has been fundamentally enhanced.’
Upon hearing this, Swan couldn’t help but worry for Yize. He didn’t want the senior who had been looking after him to be injured and defeated in front of everyone.
At that moment, all eyes were focused on the two people in the center of the training ground who seemed to have a massive disparity in strength.
Yize gripped the wooden sword with both hands, his posture awkward and stiff, as he charged toward Li En without any discernible form.
Laura shook her head slightly, her face displaying a “just as I thought” expression.
This kind of attack — devoid of any foundation and relying purely on reckless bravery — was worthless in her eyes. It even caused her to lose all interest in the match.
In contrast, as he faced Yize’s loophole-ridden charge, Li En’s body swayed like a willow catkin in the wind. He elegantly evaded the wooden sword’s slash by a mere hair’s breadth.
He didn’t even bother to block, relying solely on precise footwork and a slight tilt of his body to display a natural sense of composure and grace.
His wooden sword hung naturally at his side, and he was in no hurry to counterattack.
A flicker of appreciation flashed in Laura’s eyes. Putting everything else aside, Li En’s basic movement and precise control of distance truly demonstrated high martial talent and a solid foundation.
Seeing Yize’s attack miss while Li En appeared to be at ease, Sara and Emma’s worries deepened.
Dio, on the other hand, frowned slightly. He had initially held a sliver of hope for Yize.
After all, this junior — who shouldn’t have existed — had shown amazing potential in magic. Perhaps he had hidden talent in martial arts as well?
But the clumsy attack before him made him doubt his own judgment.
Li En sneered inwardly. This was exactly the effect he wanted. He wasn’t in a hurry to defeat Yize.
Instead, like a cat playing with a mouse, he wanted to toy with him first to fully display his talent, grace, and “mentoring” ability in front of everyone.
As he effortlessly dodged Yize’s non-threatening attacks, he spoke in a clear and gentle voice, sounding like a patient tutor.
“Student Yize, when you strike, you must lock your gaze on the target and anticipate their movements…”
“Pay attention to your footwork. Don’t be too chaotic; stay steady.”
“You don’t have to meet an attack head-on. You can try to observe the opponent’s point of exertion and dodge, just like I am.”
He deliberately held back, only defending and not attacking, molding himself into the image of a graceful genius who was happy to guide a “struggling” peer.
Feeling that he had set the stage sufficiently, Li En decided it was time to move to the second stage of “guidance” — making the other party suffer a bit.
He stopped dodging and took a step back. Facing Yize, who appeared “breathless” after several failed attacks, he said with feigned politeness, “Student Yize, it’s my turn to attack next. You can try to use the methods I just mentioned to evade and defend against my sword moves.”
With that, Li En flicked his wrist, and the wooden sword pierced toward Yize at a moderate speed, the sound of breaking wind following it.
He still held back, intending to apply pressure slowly to make Yize look pathetic before gradually increasing the intensity.
Eventually, he would “accidentally” knock him down. This way, he could show off his strength without appearing malicious.
As instructed, Yize scrambled as he attempted to block and dodge. His movements looked quite comical.
His posture was awkward when blocking, and he stumbled while dodging, barely avoiding the blade several times by the skin of his teeth.
He even occasionally let the wooden sword graze his arm or shoulder on purpose, then grimaced in pain, putting on a very dedicated performance.
Laura, who had already looked away, paused when Yize once again seemed to have extreme luck, using a bizarre posture to deflect Li En’s thrust. A very faint look of confusion flashed in her eyes.
‘A coincidence?’ she wondered, but she quickly calmed down, still believing it was just Yize’s luck.
Seeing that Yize was still standing despite his pathetic state, Li En gradually grew impatient.
He secretly increased the speed of his sword and added more power to his arm. The sound of the wooden sword cutting through the air became sharper.
However, to his frustration, although Yize seemed to be struggling more and more with even more ridiculous movements, he managed to narrowly endure the intensifying offensive.
Either he used the flat of the blade to block at a strange angle, or his feet seemed to slip, which just happened to help him dodge a horizontal sweep.
‘What’s going on?’
Li En was shocked and uncertain. ‘I’m clearly using 70% of my strength and my speed has increased, so how can he still catch my moves?’
By now, the look in Laura’s eyes had completely changed. Her sharp eyes narrowed as she stared intently at Yize’s seemingly disorganized movements.
Others might not see it, but she saw it clearly — Li En’s offensive was already fierce, with no intention of holding back.
Yet, within Yize’s seemingly clumsy and pathetic responses, he always managed to block or dodge at the most critical moments!
This could not be explained by luck alone!
‘This kid…’
Laura was shaken. ‘His physical reactions and instincts are far beyond what he’s showing!’
Seeing this, Luke wore an “as expected” expression and even shifted into mockery mode.
“Isn’t that Li En a genius of both magic and martial arts?”
“Didn’t they say his martial talent is once-in-a-century?”
“How come he seems to be evenly matched with my senior?”
He even feigned surprise. “Could it be that my senior is also a one-in-a-million genius?”
Clearly, Li En heard Luke’s mocking words. At that moment, he truly wanted to rip apart Luke’s sarcastic mouth.
Seeing that he couldn’t win after so long, the wicked fire in his heart burned hotter and hotter.
Seeing his plan to humiliate Yize slipping away — and feeling as though he were actually the one helping the other guy practice — a look of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.
He decided to use his trump card!
Beneath his sleeves and pant legs, where it was difficult for others to see, fine dragon scale patterns quietly emerged on the skin of Li En’s arms and calves.
A hidden power instantly surged into his limbs and bones!
‘Swan!’
In the sea of consciousness, Iguneel suddenly spoke up to warn him. ‘That Li En kid is using the power of my Dragon Blood! Although it’s faint, he’s definitely triggering Dragonification features to strengthen himself!’
Swan was startled. ‘I didn’t expect Li En to be so dishonorable?’
He claimed he wouldn’t use Aura or martial arts, yet he was using the power of Dragonification?
His gaze toward Li En gained a hint of disgust. Then, he began to worry about Yize’s safety again.
Li En was confident that with the support of Dragonification Power, he could instantly crush Yize even without using Aura!
His sword style changed abruptly as his speed exploded. The wooden sword turned into a blurred shadow, attacking Yize with even greater force!
However, what happened next made Li En nearly unable to believe his eyes!
Yize remained in that same clumsy state, stumbling around with ugly blocking postures.
But no matter how fast the sword was or how fierce the force, Yize always “just happened” to block it or “luckily” dodge it.
That seemingly crumbling defense refused to be completely destroyed.
What made Li En even more frustrated was that after Yize “painfully” parried another heavy overhead strike, he actually found the time to counterattack!
It was still a disorganized, loophole-filled strike, thrusting crookedly toward Li En’s face, but the angle was so tricky that Li En was forced to defend.
At the moment he blocked, the tip of Yize’s wooden sword “accidentally” slid upward. With a thwack, it tapped Li En’s wrist with moderate force!
A piercing numbness instantly shot through him. Li En groaned, his arm going weak, and the wooden sword nearly flew from his hand!
He retreated several steps before barely stabilizing himself. The look he gave Yize was full of shock and disbelief.
Yize, meanwhile, put on an expression of “surprise” and “gratitude,” saying breathlessly, “St-Student Li En, the methods you taught really work! Observing the point of exertion is indeed effective!”
The muscles on Li En’s face twitched. He managed to squeeze out a smile that looked worse than crying, while a storm raged in his heart.
‘Why?! Why can’t I take him down even after using my Dragonification Power?!’
‘In fact… I was actually hit by him?!’
He didn’t understand. His strength, speed, and defense had clearly been significantly enhanced, so why couldn’t he gain any advantage? Why was he starting to fall behind?
Yize’s seemingly comical movements always managed to neutralize his offensive with minimal cost, followed by a seemingly lucky but actually precise counterattack at the moment his old strength was spent and new strength had yet to form!
The rest of the battle became a nightmare for Li En.
The more impatient he became and the harder he pushed his Dragonification Power, the more openings he left.
Yize’s “luck” seemed to have reached its peak. He always “just happened” to catch those openings, his wooden sword tapping or slapping against Li En’s body again and again.
Although Yize deliberately controlled his strength to avoid serious injury, the pain and humiliation nearly drove Li En mad.
Sensing that his performance was almost over, Yize pretended to be exhausted and out of breath. Finally, in a display of putting forth his last bit of strength, he stumbled forward.
His wooden sword “accidentally” swept precisely across Li En’s shin bone. A surge of sharp pain followed, and Li En could no longer hold himself up.
With a thud, he collapsed to one knee, and the wooden sword in his hand fell with a clatter.
He gasped for air, sweat drenching his hair, his face filled with pain, confusion, and humiliation.
He struggled to stand, only to find the pain in his leg unbearable. He tried several times but failed.
He had lost.
Under the conditions of not using Aura or martial arts — and even after secretly using Dragonification Power — he had lost to the seemingly untalented, comically clumsy Yize.
He lay on the ground, staring up at the gray sky above the training field.
His mind was a total blank, with only one giant question mark echoing repeatedly: ‘Why… why did it turn out like this?’
At this time, Yize also seemed to have overexerted himself, his entire body collapsing onto the ground.
Following the system’s options, he said to Li En, “It’s all thanks to your guidance, Student Li En.”
“That was truly a hearty battle.”
“But Student Li En, you’re such a good person. You went so easy on me that I was able to win by luck. I hope we have a chance to spar again next time.”
‘A hearty battle?’
The corners of Li En’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch. However, he maintained a very friendly smile. “We are classmates, it’s only right that I go easy on you…”
Emma quickly came over to treat their injuries.
She spoke the heart-stabbing truth. “Oh, so you were going easy on him!”
“I almost believed what Luke said earlier and thought Junior Yize had a one-in-a-million martial talent. But even if you were going easy… there was no need to lose on purpose…”
Li En: “…”
By now, the way Laura looked at Yize was completely different.
Noticing Laura’s expression, Sara asked, “Teacher Laura, did you discover something?”
She hadn’t reached Laura’s level and couldn’t tell if Li En had really been holding back since no martial arts or Aura were used.
However, she still felt there was something unspeakably eerie about this match…
Laura replied, “I’ll talk to you about this later in private.”
After Emma’s “useless treatment,” Yize pretended to be fully revived.
He walked back to the weapon rack to return the wooden sword. As he passed by Li En, he spoke quickly in a voice only Li En could hear.
“I said you were going easy on me, and you actually had the nerve to accept it?”
“A genius of Liyue Academy? Hah, is that all?”
“How does it feel to be a clown in public, especially in front of all these beautiful girls?”
“…If you’re this bad, practice more.”
Li En: “???”
At the same time, a notification came from the System.
[Congratulations, Host. You have simultaneously completed three options. You have gained Protagonist Value +10, Antagonist Value +10, and NPC Value +10.]