Chapter 43: A Respectable Opponent

Chapter 43: A Respected Opponent

Tap, tap, tap—

“Has your fighting spirit already crumbled?”

Qin Feng circled Zhou Yu, maintaining a “coiled” posture as he paced, speaking softly, ready to finish her off.

“No.”

Zhou Yu replied.

Her impatient, slightly reddened eyes slowly closed, then in the next instant, snapped open.

All the agitation, anger, and helplessness were forcibly suppressed in that moment.

In their place emerged a calm and resolve born of burning one’s bridges.

She no longer attempted to unleash the relentless offensive of the *Ninefold Thunder Blade*; instead, she held her long blade before her, adopting a purely defensive stance.

Since she couldn’t attack, she would defend!

Defend until her opponent showed a flaw! Defend until the very last moment!

The rhythm of the battle shifted instantly.

If before it had been Qin Feng’s solo dance, now it became a true, suffocating game of attack and defense.

Qin Feng’s spear transformed into countless starry points, raining down from all directions onto Zhou Yu’s defensive perimeter.

And Zhou Yu poured all her focus into her defense.

Her blade moved like lightning, each swing precisely parrying the deadly spear tip.

“Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—”

The sound of metal clashing rang out like a violent storm, echoing through the entire hall.

All the watching trainees stared in awe, their minds shaken.

They could no longer even follow the movements of the two; all they saw was a blur of silver spear shadows and a flash of black blade light, colliding and intertwining wildly on the center of the arena.

On the platform, both fighters were fully engaged.

Under the extreme pressure of defense, Zhou Yu’s understanding of the *Ninefold Thunder Blade* deepened at an unprecedented rate.

Each of her parries skillfully neutralized the force from the spear tip.

Meanwhile, Qin Feng was equally immersed in this exhilarating battle.

‘Not enough! My pressure isn’t enough!’

He no longer confined himself to mere control; instead, he unleashed one after another of the cunning, ruthless killing moves from the *Thousand Army Spear*.

Lift, thrust, chop, bounce, point, sweep…

Every thrust of his spear seemed forged through countless refinements, carrying a blood-soaked, iron-willed aura from the battlefield.

In this extreme exchange of attack and defense, both their spirits seemed to transcend the bounds of the flesh, entering a mysterious state of epiphany.

In Zhou Yu’s eyes, the countless spear shadows appeared to slow down and become clear.

She could sense the intent behind each of his strikes, predicting the next landing point of the spear tip.

Her blade moved with her heart, her defense impenetrable.

Zhou Yu no longer attacked proactively; instead, she waited for the moment when Qin Feng’s new force had yet to arise, then gathered momentum with her blade.

And in Qin Feng’s eyes, Zhou Yu’s seemingly flawless heavy armor revealed faint traces of energy flow.

He could see that each parry caused a tiny loss in her armor’s energy.

He could clearly calculate the number of strikes and the force needed to break through that armor.

“Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—”

The sound of metal clashing layered upon itself.

True fire stirred, unleashing heroic passion!

You attack, I defend; you defend, I attack—every move a battle of wits, every stance a setup for the next.

It was utterly exhilarating; the two had forgotten heaven and earth.

—

Shua, shua, shua—

Inside the Thunder Martial Hall, the experts from the Martial Hall suddenly rose to their feet.

Exclamations rang out without end.

“Epiphany! Both of them have entered a state of epiphany at the same time!”

“Geniuses! These two children are true martial arts prodigies!” “This battle, win or lose, is a tremendous fortune for both of them!”

As experts who had set foot in the starry sea, they were well-versed and immediately recognized the state of Qin Feng and Zhou Yu.

Ding, ding, dong, dong—

The crowd listened quietly to the clanging sounds, their eyes fixed intently on the battle.

Zhou Yu, who had been on the defensive the entire time, seized a fleeting opportunity!

Qin Feng executed a cunning “backward thrust,” which Zhou Yu had anticipated; the spear’s momentum was spent, and new force had yet to arise.

Now!

A sharp light burst from Zhou Yu’s eyes. She stomped hard, her entire body like a cannonball, her blade resting on her upper arm as she rammed into Qin Feng’s chest!

This was her all-or-nothing counterattack!

Faced with this sudden close-quarters assault, Qin Feng showed no panic.

‘Here it comes!’

His mind reached its peak of concentration.

‘I must not forget! Never forget! The seventh match, the shame of being closed in on by a pugilist! The fourth match, the helplessness of being toyed with by an assassin!’

In the past nine battles, those bitter defeats had carved the deepest muscle memory into his body.

Every moment, Qin Feng reminded himself to always be wary of enemies closing in.

‘Every second, imagine countless foes around you! Every second, guard against a fatal strike from any angle! Especially, close-range enemies!’

This forced, extreme focus had become his instinct in battle.

Just a moment before Zhou Yu crashed into him, Qin Feng’s body made an incredible move.

He did not retreat; instead, using his left foot as a pivot, his body spun like a top, arcing backward and to the side.

Thousand Army Spear, body technique—Wandering Dragon!

This was the manifestation of his epiphany, combining the lessons from his previous failures to elevate the battlefield footwork inherent in the *Thousand Army Spear* to a new realm!

In that instant, deep within the left brow of Qin Feng, a nearly invisible, dark-golden micro-rivet flickered silently, then vanished.

“Shua!”

Zhou Yu's sure-win close-quarters knife grazed the hem of Qin Feng's clothes and struck empty air.

Because she had overexerted herself, she exposed an unprecedented, gaping flaw.

And Qin Feng had already circled to her side.

The long spear in his hand was coiled and ready to strike.

All his strength, all his spirit, all his killing intent—at this moment—condensed upon the spear's tip.

"Ten Thousand Troops, Fall Back!"

A low shout rang out across the arena.

A dazzling spear radiance, as if it could cleave mountains and rivers and repel a thousand armies, swept outward and struck precisely at the waist of Zhou Yu's heavy armor.

"Crack—!"

A harsh sound, like shattering glass, erupted.

The sturdy heavy alloy armor on Zhou Yu's body—under this spear strike—had its energy shield annihilated in an instant, and the physical armor, from the point of impact, split with cracks like a spiderweb, then exploded into pieces.

[Victory!]

The cold system prompt announced the final outcome of this thrilling battle.

Before the light screen, inside the Thunder Martial Hall, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

All the trainees stared, stunned and speechless, at the ID standing with spear in hand, upright posture—"Qin."

On the arena, Zhou Yu's figure slowly dissipated.

In the moment before she completely turned into light particles, she straightened her body toward Qin Feng's direction and solemnly gave a standard Imperial military salute.

In this battle, she lost with full conviction.

Qin Feng stood still, his chest heaving slightly, savoring the exhilarating pleasure of victory.

He also raised his hand and, toward the direction where Zhou Yu had vanished, returned a solemn Imperial military salute.

This was the purest respect between warriors.

(End of this chapter)