Chapter 149: The Duel

The other person's smile only made his anger flare up even more. He turned abruptly and strode forward.

Gazing intently at Song Yan, he demanded, "What are you laughing at?"

Faced with this sudden interrogation, Song Yan was slightly taken aback before his smile faded.

He said calmly, "No offense intended, the little snake doesn't know any better..."

Lowering his head to look at Xiao He, he added, "I will certainly discipline her strictly when we return."

In Kong Yun's eyes, the other party obviously knew he was no match for his older brother, which was why he had spouted such big words earlier, yet now he lacked the courage to speak up.

He immediately sneered, "Since you dared to utter such wild words, claiming my brother is inferior to you, why don't you step onto the stage and fight him?!"

Hearing Kong Yun's challenge, the surrounding area suddenly fell silent.

The gazes of the crowd converged on them, wondering what was happening over here.

At the edge of the Sword Discussion Platform, a tall and wildly attractive young female cultivator was hugging a jar of wine and letting out a hiccup.

Her sitting posture was extremely unrefined, while Junior Sister Gu Qingqing beside her was flusteredly trying to cover her up, her little face flushed red.

"Senior Sister Yuwen! You—you—you... can't you just sit up properly!"

"I won't!"

Gu Qingqing was also furious, extremely dissatisfied with this drunken senior sister. "If I had known you only came here to drink, I wouldn't have accompanied you!"

"Nonsense!"

The drunken female cultivator straightened up with a jerk, as if about to say something serious.

In reality, it was anything but serious.

"I clearly came here to spar and duel with Kong You! Don't you go running back to the peak talking nonsense!"

"Well, now that he's done with his match, why aren't you going up there?!"

The sooner the fight was over, the sooner they could return to Lianyou Peak.

Senior Sister Yuwen didn't care about her image at all, inadvertently exposing her charms, yet she left her little follower to feel embarrassed and annoyed on her behalf.

Truly hateful!

"Ah, we arrived at the wrong time. By the time we got here, he was already fighting."

"Since he's already fought, his condition will naturally have dropped. Even if I win against him, it wouldn't be glorious, understand?"

"…Senior… Sister… makes… complete… sense…"

Gu Qingqing pouted her lips and said perfunctorily, "Then let's hurry back!"

"Hey, since we're already here, let's watch a bit longer."

"If you ask me, you just want to drink a bit longer..."

"Nonsense!"

Yuwen Yao put on a stern face, about to offer another retort, when she noticed some commotion near the Sword Discussion Platform.

Gu Qingqing also followed the sound and spotted a familiar figure among the crowd.

"Eh? Isn't that Senior Brother Song?"

"What are they arguing about?"

Kong Yun's shouting made Song Yan the center of attention.

"Who is this guy?"

"Seems to be an inner sect disciple from Sword-Wiping Peak? Old Chen, do you recognize him?"

Whispers rippled through the crowd.

Someone turned to ask a slightly older cultivator from Sword-Wiping Peak.

"Never seen him. He must be a junior brother who only recently advanced to the inner sect."

"Such nerve! He has just entered the inner sect, and his seventh-layer Qi Condensation cultivation is probably not even stable yet, yet he dares to talk such big words?"

Truth be told, ever since the incident at Changping, Song Yan's name had actually become quite prominent among the Qi Condensation disciples.

Unfortunately, across the entire Dongyuan Sect, hardly anyone could match his name to his face.

The onlookers sized up the young cultivator, feeling that something was slightly odd.

"What is that on his back?"

"Looks like... a sword box? Does anyone still use such antiques nowadays..."

"Perhaps he's imitating the ancient cultivators."

Kong Yun caught the remarks of the people around him and sneered with disdain, just about to mock him further when a clear and upright voice rang out from the stage.

"A'yun."

Kong You had somehow looked over in this direction as well, and upon seeing the opponent's cultivation level, a trace of disappointment inevitably surfaced in his heart.

Knowing his younger brother's temperament, he immediately spoke up to stop him.

His gaze swept past the sword box on Song Yan's back, and he nodded slightly. "If this junior brother has no intention of sparring, there is no need to force it."

The older brother's tone was peaceful, yet it immediately deflated Kong Yun, who could only cast a resentful glare at Song Yan. "…Watch your mouth next time, I'm warning you."

For Kong You, Song Yan was clearly not the kind of opponent he was looking for.

Including the two individuals Li and赵 from earlier, they were all far too naive when it came to actual combat and bloodshed.

What he wanted was an opponent who could at least give him a slight sense of oppression.

Among the Qi Condensation cultivators of the Dongyuan Sect, such people could probably be counted on one hand.

"That Li Yi... how on earth did he forge such battle intent..."

Although he hadn't fought him, he knew in his heart that if he faced that person, defeat would be certain.

Just as he remained lost in thought, the noisy chatter of the crowd reached his ears.

"What... what is he doing?"

"Does he really want to spar with Senior Brother Kong?"

"Fine by me. Let him learn how high the sky and how deep the earth really are."

Kong You snapped back to his senses and saw that the young man had already stepped onto the bluestone platform, nodding slightly.

Ever since entering the Dao, Song Yan had practically never sparred with anyone else.

The few times he did were after Peach Blossom Dock, discussing cultivation matters with Li Qingfeng.

The rest had almost entirely been life-or-death battles.

Now, with the sect's sword-wiping trials fast approaching, it was time to get used to this kind of sparring where they stopped at the touch.

He couldn't very well pull out his Sword Dao True Essence during a friendly exchange.

That would ruin the harmony.

This Senior Brother Kong before him looked to possess a profound reserve of spiritual power, and judging by the offensive might he displayed, it was quite "moderate."

He would make a very suitable first opponent.

Kong You assumed this person was simply too hot-headed and young, provoked by the surrounding discussions to let his blood boil and rush up to vie for supremacy.

Though he sighed inwardly, since he had already stepped onto the Sword Discussion Platform, there was no reason to refuse the fight.

He nodded slightly and offered a word of comfort, "It's just a spar, no need to take it too seriously."

"May I ask your name?"

"Sword-Wiping Peak, Song Yan."

The name sounded somewhat familiar, but Kong You didn't dwell on it right now.

"Junior Brother Song, please."

In sparring matches, there was no official referee; the moment one party uttered the word "please," it signified the start of the duel.

"..."

Kong You froze slightly.

He sensed that at that very instant, the opponent's aura had completely changed.

He saw Song Yan raise his gaze slightly, his entire aura sharp and brimming with edge.

Kong You felt a jolt in his heart, and his initial sense of contempt and condescension instantly waned by several notches.

Spiritual energy converged between his hands.

The water barrier he had previously used against Zhao Mian reappeared once more.

This Senior Brother Kong seemed to be quite fond of countering after the opponent's move.

One could not say whether this was good or bad; it was simply a personal combat style.

And it was diametrically opposed to Song Yan's.

Raising his hand slightly, a streak of cyan sword qi flew out from his sleeve, sweeping forward like a violent storm.

Kong You flicked his fingertips to drive his spiritual energy.

He calculated that once the sword qi was neutralized by the water barrier, he would immediately unleash an offensive spell to end the battle early.

However, things did not unfold as he had anticipated.

The cyan sword qi instantly tore through the water barrier, hurtling straight toward Kong You's face.

"?! "

Driven almost by a survival instinct, he instantly canceled his previous action and channeled his spiritual energy to form an ice shield in front of him.

Boom!

The ice shield met the cyan sword qi, and within a breath, signs of shattering appeared.

Hastily, Kong You had to continuously recast the ice shield spell.

At the same time, his figure retreated backward continuously until he reached almost the edge of the Sword Discussion Platform, where he finally managed to steady his footing and settle his spiritual energy.

At this moment, his heart was filled with utter astonishment!