On the training grounds, Dongfang Jiang and Qin Ye’s breathing had already become erratic.
Seventy-plus rounds of high-intensity combat had taken a massive toll on both stamina and energy.
His forehead was covered in sweat, his breathing was rapid, and the flying sword beneath his feet began to tremble slightly.
Qin Ye’s condition wasn’t much better.
Her white ponytail had mostly come undone, strands of hair sticking to her cheeks, and her hand holding the long spear was shaking slightly.
But her eyes were still bright, and her fighting spirit hadn’t waned; on the contrary, it burned even fiercer.
“Dongfang Jiang, you are strong.”
Qin Ye stopped, her long spear held horizontally in front of her, the lava energy on its tip slowly receding.
“But your energy is almost exhausted. Next move decides the winner.”
“Just what I was thinking.”
Dongfang Jiang jumped off his flying sword and landed on the ground.
The three energy swords returned to his side, hovering in the air, their tips aimed at Qin Ye.
He closed his eyes.
The three streams of energy within him were no longer fighting each other; instead, under the guidance of his will, they all transformed into golden desert energy.
This was the first time in battle he had converted all his energy into a single attribute.
He hadn’t dared to do this before, because conversion took time, and during the process, his defense would drop to its lowest.
But now, he had a bold idea.
“Are you sure you want to do that? During the conversion, you have almost no defense. I only need one spear thrust…”
“You won’t.”
Dongfang Jiang opened his eyes, a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
“Because you won’t see me.”
Golden light burst from his body, like the scorching heat of a desert under the blazing sun.
The light spread outward from Dongfang Jiang, and wherever it went, the air began to distort, and light began to refract.
Qin Ye squinted instinctively.
When she opened her eyes again, the training ground had vanished.
She stood in an endless desert.
The sky was blindingly blue, the sun hanging directly overhead, pouring its harsh light onto every inch of sand.
Heat waves rose from the ground, blurring distant scenes into a haze.
The sand beneath her feet was scorching hot, burning through her boots and searing her soles.
Qin Ye had extensive combat experience and knew this was an illusion magic used by Dongfang Jiang.
Her consciousness told her it was false; she was still on the training ground, with Dongfang Jiang standing opposite her.
But her five senses told her it was real.
She could feel the heat, smell the dry sand in the air, and even hear the low moan of the wind blowing over the dunes in the distance.
“This is your illusion magic?”
Qin Ye stood still, her long spear in hand, watching her surroundings warily.
“Compared to Miss Yisela’s illusion magic, it’s still far behind.”
“I know.”
Dongfang Jiang’s voice came from all directions, like wind echoing between dunes.
“I don’t need it to be indistinguishable from reality. I only need it to distract you.”
Qin Ye’s pupils contracted sharply.
She realized she had made a mistake: she had focused all her attention on breaking the illusion, forgetting the real battlefield.
The desert before her suddenly shattered.
It wasn’t that the illusion was broken; rather, the real scene of the training ground reappeared before her eyes.
She saw Dongfang Jiang standing right in front of her, less than two meters away.
An ice sword was hovering three inches from her throat, its tip radiating a cold, icy light.
‘When did this happen…?’
Qin Ye instinctively tried to raise her long spear to block, but found her right hand empty.
The spear was not in her hand.
She looked down.
The long spear lay two meters away at her feet, wrapped in a thin layer of ice, its tip wedged into a crack in the ground.
The audience was also silent.
Everyone had been fooled by Dongfang Jiang’s illusion.
What they saw was: Qin Ye piercing Dongfang Jiang’s chest with her spear, blood splattering.
But the next second, the “Dongfang Jiang” who was struck dissolved into a cloud of yellow sand, and the real Dongfang Jiang appeared behind her, his ice sword at her throat.
By the time everyone came to their senses, the battle was over.
“I lost.”
Qin Ye straightened up, looking at the Dongfang Jiang in front of her.
There was no resentment in her eyes, only recognition.
“I accept defeat wholeheartedly.”
She laughed, heartily, bending over with laughter.
“Good! Good! Good!”
After saying three “goods,” she extended her right hand to Dongfang Jiang.
“This battle was exhilarating.”
Dongfang Jiang also smiled, put away the ice sword, and took her hand.
“You honor me.”
The audience burst into thunderous applause.
The outstanding battle between Qin Ye and Dongfang Jiang had deeply impressed them; Qin Ye’s exquisite spear art and Dongfang Jiang’s innovative sword control technique were things they had never seen in their lives.
Vard stood up, clapping vigorously, his expression shifting from surprise to something meaningful.
Duke Ignatius also stood up.
He glanced at Vard, and their eyes met knowingly in the air for a moment, then they both looked away deliberately.
Then, the same thought appeared in both their minds simultaneously.
Dongfang Jiang was definitely a piece of material that could be honed.
Yisela and Pandana both sighed in relief, exchanged a glance, and saw smiles in each other’s eyes.
“We won,” Pandana said softly.
“Yeah, we won.”
Yisela nodded, picked up her teacup and took a sip, only to find the tea had gone cold.
But she didn’t mind.
Her eyes fell on the young man wiping sweat on the training ground, and the smile at the corner of her mouth couldn’t be hidden.
At the edge of the training ground, Qin Ye took a towel from an attendant and wiped the sweat off her face.
She looked at Dongfang Jiang, a hint of something indescribable in her eyes.
“At tomorrow’s palace banquet, will you come?”
“Probably.”
“Then we’ll talk then.”
Qin Ye mounted her horse in one fluid motion.
She turned back on horseback and looked at Dongfang Jiang.
“Oh, right. There’s something I have to tell you.”
“What?”
“There is more than one Valen Ring.”
With that, she rode off, her black steed leaving a long shadow in the afternoon sun.
“Tell me something everyone doesn’t know…”
Dongfang Jiang stood there, frowning slightly.
He looked down at the Earth Ring on the index finger of his right hand.
The dark brown gemstone refracted a warm light under the sun.
‘Does she mean that besides Kaxiu in the Royal Capital, there are others with Valen Rings?’
‘And the remaining ones, whose hands are they in?’
“What are you thinking about?”
Yisela saw Dongfang Jiang standing there lost in thought, walked over to him, and handed him a cup of water.
“Just thinking about something.”
Dongfang Jiang took the cup and downed it in one gulp.
“Let’s go. Let’s head back first.”
“Mm.”
The two walked side by side out of the training ground.
The setting sun behind them stretched their shadows very long.
Pandana followed behind, watching the two figures ahead of her.
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
She took a small notebook out of her pocket and wrote a line in it.
Then she closed the notebook and quickly caught up.
“Mister Dongfang, what’s for dinner?”
“If you’re treating, I’ll tell you.”
“Tch, stingy~”