Chapter 6: Dark Horse

In a short time, Liu Qingqing and Jiang Jinshi had exchanged several blows.

With his nimble movements and the protective gear on his arms, Jiang Jinshi was able to reliably block Liu Qingqing’s Phantom Sword Technique.

Liu Qingqing’s movements were still hard to ascertain, but the Phantom Sword Technique was mostly advantageous for playing tricks on one’s sense of sight. Its attack power was the same as a normal stab, equivalent to A-level.

Going against Jiang Jinshi, who was able to keep up with her attacks, each of her hits landed on the hard shell-like protective gear covering his arms. Other than leaving a white mark on them, there was not much effect.

Under this stalemate, Liu Qingqing was still pressuring Jiang Jinshi with her attacks. However, the specialty of Liu Qingqing’s technique was to create opportunities through rapid movements, so her stamina was depleting much faster than Jiang Jinshi, who was defending from the same spot.

In this kind of battle, if it became long and drawn-out, the situation could easily change.

Chen Yiming watched the two of them in a daze. Half of his consciousness remained rooted in the outside world to receive information, while the other half entered his mind.

It was as if he had left his body. The cheers around him were automatically blocked off.

Two figures appeared in his mind, one imitating Jiang Jinshi, and the other imitating Liu Qingqing, their movements only half a beat slower than in the outside world.

The secrets of Liu Qingqing’s Phantom Sword Technique, through imitation by the figure in his mind, were revealed to Chen Yiming. He understood everything about the technique, such as the stances, movements and weaknesses.

The two figures initially followed the movements of Jiang Jinshi and Liu Qingqing exactly. After repeating the same moves two or three times, the figure automatically optimized the execution of the Phantom Sword Technique and corrected any mistakes.

At this point, the balance immediately shifted.

After optimization, the Phantom Sword Technique fully displayed the advantage of an advanced technique. The figure who only knew how to block with its two arms was completely unable to withstand it.

Chen Yiming immediately understood that no matter how advanced a technique was, its effects depended on the ability of the user.

With his Level-1 swordsmanship talent, he undoubtedly had a better understanding of sword-fighting techniques than Liu Qingqing. Therefore, the figure who optimized the Phantom Sword Technique could instantly crush the other figure.

As the stalemate continued, the deafening cheers gradually died down and everyone became nervous.

“Could it be? Will Liu Qingqing lose?”

Liu Qingqing’s supporters felt as though their hearts were in their mouths.

The performance of the two people in the arena was completely unexpected. Liu Qingqing actually didn’t know how to deal with the other party.

“Is this Jiang Jinshi that formidable?”

On the other hand, the supporters from Second High started to feel hopeful.

Jiang Jinshi wasn’t very fast, and he hadn’t mastered any special techniques like the Phantom Sword Technique. However, his combat awareness was very good, and he could follow Liu Qingqing’s rhythm for every move. Together with the high defense from his arms, he perfectly countered Liu Qingqing’s style.

After a long time, the stalemate was still not broken.

Liu Qingqing was the first to change her strategy. She gave up on the Phantom Sword Technique and switched to the Three Body Illusion.

This was a technique that she had never used in competitions and had been saving as her trump card.

This technique allowed one to move quickly and create two afterimages. The original body, together with the two afterimages, attacked the opponent from three directions — front, left, and right.

If the opponent’s reaction speed was not high enough, he would not be able to identify the two afterimages. There was a two-thirds chance that he would misjudge the direction of the attack.

At this moment, Jiang Jinshi had already gotten used to Liu Qingqing’s style. With his outstanding combat awareness, he immediately launched a counterattack.

He didn’t stay put or wait for his opponent to change to a new move. Instead, he jumped up and landed near the corner of the stage, directly taking on Liu Qingqing’s attack.

Since they were battling on the stage, at positions near the four corners, there was only a little space to the side and behind him. Liu Qingqing’s style was to move quickly and agilely, so she wouldn’t trap herself in such a narrow space. Thus, Jiang Jinshi only needed to deal with attacks from the front.

Chen Yiming finally snapped out of his daze.

When his consciousness split into two, it was equivalent to doing two things at the same time, such as drawing a circle with his left hand while drawing a square with his right.

It took some getting used to, but now he could manage both sides at the same time. The figures continuously copied the moves he was watching, and his own movements were not affected.

Chen Yiming surveyed the students around him.

The atmosphere at the venue was no longer as relaxed as when Liu Qingqing fought her previous opponent. Most of Liu Qingqing’s supporters were tense and sweating.

This was especially true for the young man who had been bragging that Liu Qingqing was the best across all the high schools. At this moment, his face was pale and he bit his lips while gripping tightly at the corners of his shirt with both hands.

Chen Yiming patted the young man on the arm. Startled by the sudden contact, the young man shuddered.

“Liu Qingqing is going to lose if she doesn’t use her finishing move. Her opponent’s defense is too high, she can’t do any damage to him.”

Chen Yiming stated his judgment as a matter-of-fact. His words pierced the young man in the heart.

The young man glared at him and said stubbornly, “It’s not over yet. Anything is possible.”

His words were a little hesitant. As a hardcore fan, he could recite by heart every single piece of information about his goddess. Jiang Jinshi’s current move seemed to be perfect for sealing Liu Qingqing’s moves.

“The stage is only so big. Although Liu Qingqing is faster than her opponent, if this continues, she will soon run out of stamina. When it’s Jiang Jinshi’s turn to counterattack, he can knock Liu Qingqing down in one blow.”

Chen Yiming didn’t have any protective feelings towards Liu Qingqing, and didn’t try to hide the fact that Liu Qingqing was in a difficult situation.

Liu Qingqing switched strategies, and used another technique that also made use of the sense of sight — the Three Body Illusion.

Since it was not a sword technique, Chen Yiming could not learn it secretly. Even so, he could easily tell that the Three Body Illusion was based on principles similar to the Phantom Sword Technique.

The reason why Liu Qingqing couldn’t do anything to her opponent was because her own strength was average, and she lacked a lethal move that allowed her opponent to have no scruples. This wasn’t something that could be changed by changing the same type of sword technique into a movement technique.

The situation quickly moved according to Chen Yiming’s analysis.

In the area where the students from Second High were gathered, some students began to take the lead to cheer for Jiang Jinshi. They banged the thunder sticks together with all their strength, breaking the silent and tense atmosphere.

After Jiang Jinshi found out the details of Liu Qingqing’s abilities, he started to move. He saved 30% of his strength for defense, and used 70% of his strength to counterattack.

His arms were powerful and heavy. Even though he only used 70% of his strength, the impact of each move could be felt through the air.

The difference in strength between Liu Qingqing and her opponent was too much. She didn’t dare to receive her opponent’s powerful attacks head-on and could only rely on her agile movements to dodge them.

This way, she had to look for the gaps in her opponent’s defense while dealing with his sudden counterattack. Her stamina was being depleted even more quickly.

Soon, her breathing became erratic and she started to sweat. profusely.

Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead and gradually soaked her collar, leaving behind a sweat stain that was faintly visible.

Liu Qingqing had always liked to wear traditional clothing made of silk. This way, she looked like a fairy. However, the silk material had a flaw; it would stick easily when drenched in sweat and get stuck to the inner layer of clothes.

She had entered the Flowing Cloud Sword School as a core disciple in junior high. Although she was later proven to be unworthy of the status, she had the advantage of experiencing advanced cultivation techniques as a core disciple and had never met her match on the high school stage.

This was the first time she found herself in such a situation.

Knowing that she did not have any chance of victory, she did not choose to fight till the end. Instead, she decided to jump off the stage and gave up the fight, resulting in her first defeat on the high school stage.

“Jiang Jinshi!”

Someone shouted.

The students from Second High were in an uproar, and all of them joined in to chant the winner’s name.

All along, due to the reputation of being the top school, the best students would be enrolled in the First High School. Second High and Third High could only take their pick from the remaining students.

This time, an unknown newcomer suddenly appeared from Second High and immediately defeated First High’s top martial arts student. Such a situation had not occurred for many years.