Chapter 14: This Girl, No Hope

As soon as the words were spoken, Di Xin'er charged forward with her sword.

"Wait!"

Xu Xiaoshou thrust his hand forward, stopping her rushing figure. "As the saying goes, a gentleman argues with words, not fists, and if he must fight, he doesn't use a sword!"

"How about this? I won't use a sword, and you won't use a sword. We'll go at it bare-handed, hand-to-hand combat." As he spoke, Xu Xiaoshou placed the wooden sword from his back on the ground.

Hand-to-hand combat?

Di Xin'er furrowed her brow. She knew he wasn't being deliberate, so she went along with it: "I know you have a Jiu Pin Ling Jian called 'Zang Ku.'"

Xu Xiaoshou chuckled and pulled "Zang Ku" from his ring, setting it on the ground.

It wasn't that he wanted to cheat; it was just that yesterday, while practicing sword techniques in the courtyard, the wooden sword was more suitable, so he'd been carrying it until now.

"I know you're physically strong, Xu Shixiong, but I only know sword techniques. So, let's fight!" Without further ado, Di Xin'er thrust her sword.

Xu Xiaoshou nearly cursed. This girl had tricked him into putting down his sword and now attacked?

Sure enough, women were unreliable, all big liars!

He quickly dodged, and for some reason, he felt Di Xin'er's sword was incredibly slow, full of flaws.

Her cultivation must be sloppy—such a shame for an eighth-realm expert.

In the instant he sidestepped, Xu Xiaoshou aimed a knife-hand strike at Di Xin'er's waist, but his mind flashed back to that poking incident from before, so he changed it to a fist.

Di Xin'er reacted swiftly, pulling her sword back horizontally and flipping it to point the blade at his fist.

If Xu Xiaoshou's punch landed, it would surely be split in two.

"Ah!"

In the next second, Di Xin'er felt something trip her foot, and she fell straight to the ground.

Xu Xiaoshou quietly retracted his left foot, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Was this Di Xin'er's eighth-realm cultivation fake? How could every sword move of hers be so predictable?

If Xu Xiaoshou had picked up his sword and swept it across right then, the battle would have been decided, but how could he do that?

He finally had a fight on his hands, so of course he wanted to earn more passive points.

Di Xin'er seized the opportunity, rolling away like a lazy donkey to escape his attack range, then stood with her sword ready.

This Xu Xiaoshou was incredibly formidable!

That sudden kick was a stroke of genius!

She had been careless!

As Di Xin'er adjusted her state, Xu Xiaoshou spoke again: "Think about it—I meant what I said, no deception."

"You don't know fist techniques, and I don't really know them either. Us fighting hand-to-hand is fair!"

The audience seats, already buzzing from Xu Xiaoshou's kick, erupted even more at his words.

"Shameless!"

"This Xu Xiaoshou is so shameless—sneak attacks are bad enough, but why keep pushing for hand-to-hand with Di Xin'er?"

"Exactly, he doesn't even think about his own physical strength—how could Di Shijie handle that?"

"If it were me, I'd never agree!"

Some female disciples blushed at these comments. What kind of audience was this, full of such vulgar talk?

Xu Xiaoshou clearly realized the issue and quickly added: "Like this, I'm physically strong, so I have an advantage. I'll let you have one hand..."

Seeing Di Xin'er thrust again, he raised his voice: "Two hands, two!"

"I'll fight you with just my feet, hand-to-hand!"

"Shut up!"

Even though she knew Xu Xiaoshou was deliberately provoking her, Di Xin'er couldn't hold back anymore. A vile, shameless person like him deserved to be pierced by a sword.

Xu Xiaoshou had no idea why this girl had suddenly gotten so angry, but angry or not, her sword techniques needed to be sharper—stop being so polite with all these openings.

There were so many flaws; he didn't even know which one to exploit.

Xu Xiaoshou dodged again, this time not attacking, and said sincerely: "Consider it, hand-to-hand!"

Di Xin'er slashed out several swords in frustration, her face flushed red. She couldn't believe she'd cheered for Xu Xiaoshou before—this was the kind of person he was.

"Be careful, Xu Shixiong!"

After missing over a dozen strikes, Di Xin'er finally realized that Xu Xiaoshou knew some sword and body techniques. She decided to use her spiritual skills!

A surge of powerful spiritual energy shook Xu Xiaoshou back. After calming herself, Di Xin'er's sword suddenly slowed.

Xu Xiaoshou's expression grew even stranger. Bai Yun Jian Fa?

Was this girl really trying to use Bai Yun Jian Fa against him?

What a joke!

Xu Xiaoshou flipped his body, his hand touching "Zang Ku"—wait, he couldn't injure her...

He picked up the wooden sword and countered Di Xin'er's move with a stroke of "Bai Yun Youyou," leaping through the air like a fish to weave through dozens of sword lights.

The audience seats erupted in astonishment.

"This Xu Xiaoshou has some real skill—dodging that? I thought he'd have to block it head-on!"

"Bai Yun Jian Fa—he seems to know it too. I heard he's practiced it for three years, so he might know the routines well?"

"Three years? This guy only mastered one move, 'Bai Yun Youyou,' after all that time!"

"Why's he using a wooden sword? Doesn't he have a Jiu Pin Ling Jian?"

Everyone watched in shock as Xu Xiaoshou emerged unscathed from the sword net, dodging left and right under Di Xin'er's blade until he reached her.

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated, then gently tapped her head with the wooden sword.

His intention was, of course, that she was defeated—if this were a real sword, she'd be done for. But to the audience, it looked completely different!

"Brute!"

"Xu Xiaoshou, stop!"

"Ah, Di Xin'er is mine!"

"Xu Xiaoshou, you bastard, it's a fight, so why use a wooden sword!"

Xu Xiaoshou lifted the wooden sword, deciding to give her another chance. Since hand-to-hand wasn't working, he'd provoke her to mock him, earning more passive points.

"Not bad!"

Holding the wooden sword upside down, he said: "But your sword net was too rushed, all laid out in one layer. Once it's broken through, you have no follow-up."

He looked down at her condescendingly: "This 'Bai Yun Youyou' needs improvement. Keep at it!"

To criticize her in her area of expertise with the most arrogant attitude—that was pure villainy!

Who could handle that?

Anyone would explode in rebuttal, mocking him right back!

Xu Xiaoshou was satisfied with his delivery.

Unexpectedly, Di Xin'er forgot about the sword on her head and started pondering on her own.

What Xu Xiaoshou said made so much sense. Maybe his real strength wasn't hand-to-hand, but sword techniques?

She'd heard he had practiced Bai Yun Jian Fa before?

Xu Xiaoshou felt awkward. Watching her daze, he froze too—this wooden sword, should he take it away or not?

Girl, this is a fight—why are you having an epiphany?

Di Xin'er snapped back, pushing up the wooden sword on her head and realizing her mistake. She had that old habit again.

This was a battle; she couldn't think!

Her cheeks turned red as she pulled back, her eyes showing a strange mix, as if she wanted to say something but held back.

"Received gratitude, passive points +1."

Xu Xiaoshou: "..."

Was this girl that naive? Really thinking he was giving pointers?

"Again!" Di Xin'er couldn't bring herself to say thanks, so she shook out sword flowers and advanced, as if to pull Xu Xiaoshou into a sword energy vortex. "Bai Yun Jian Fa, second move: Yun Juan Yun Shu!"

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes lit up. This was the one he hadn't learned in three years—it actually seemed traceable now?

He experimentally blended his sword into her vortex, mimicking her technique, shaking out sword flowers, using her force against her, and deflecting all the incoming sword shadows.

Di Xin'er was stunned. She saw her own sword being guided sideways by him, while his wooden sword stopped on her shoulder, paused, and then gently tapped her soft cheek.

Smack!

The sound wasn't loud, but everyone in the audience seats imagined it vividly, jumping up in anger.

"Brute!"

"Xu Xiaoshou, stealing my Di Shijie, you'll die a horrible death!"

"Get that sword away, or I'll hunt you to the ends of the earth!"

There were protectors on Di Xin'er's side, but also young women captivated by Xu Xiaoshou's two sword moves.

"Ahhh, my heart is melting—Xu Xiaoshou, please tap me!"

"Xu Xiaoshou, fight properly—I won't allow you to be so gentle!"

"Xu Xiaoshou, are you crazy, flirting with another woman in front of me?"

Xu Xiaoshou felt extremely awkward. He wanted a real battle, but the wooden sword's power didn't allow it—he could only do this much.

Besides tapping or touching, what else could it do?

And if he switched to "Zang Ku," Di Xin'er clearly couldn't handle it!

What if that sword intent from last time activated and turned a pretty girl into minced meat?

Di Xin'er's face burned red, but this time, she didn't avoid his gaze; instead, she stared at Xu Xiaoshou intently.

Xu Xiaoshou was baffled. What did this mean? Did she want an explanation?

He tried: "This move should follow your previous sword net. If the enemy is wounded, use the sword's momentum to press down and secure victory."

"If the enemy breaks through the net, you should retract and entwine, using this 'Yun Juan Yun Shu' to wrap their attack, linking one move to the next and setting up the following one."

Who knew that just saying it offhand would make her show a look of sudden realization?

"Received gratitude, passive points +1."

Xu Xiaoshou was speechless. Did he really want to keep earning passive points from this girl? Honestly, it felt a bit wrong.

Di Xin'er pulled back again, calling out delicately: "Third move, Yun Li Wu Li!"

Xu Xiaoshou quickly thrust his sword, adding some force, and tapped her wrist as she struck. Her sword fell from her hand.

Di Xin'er stared at Xu Xiaoshou, her eyes full of grievance.

"Ahem."

Xu Xiaoshou coughed awkwardly. This couldn't go on—her look was getting weird. If they kept fighting, sparks of romance might fly.

He pressed the wooden sword to Di Xin'er's throat, deciding to nip any feelings in the bud.

"You've lost!"

His tone was condescending, hoping to annoy her.

Di Xin'er seemed to catch on, turning her grievance into gratitude, and said with a bright smile: "Thank you for the pointers, Xu Shixiong. The preliminary rounds have a time limit, so I'll have to ask for more lessons another day!"

"Received gratitude, passive points +1."

Xu Xiaoshou: "..."

This girl was beyond saving!