Yaoqing, Yuqiu Army Training Room.
This place was almost always bustling with soldiers, but today, it had been booked exclusively by their group. This way, they could let loose and have a proper fight.
No need to worry about hitting any bystanders or damaging any equipment or buildings. Because today, General Yueyu was footing the bill for all damages!
"A duel this exciting... even I can't help but feel my heart race."
Feixiao took off her jacket to allow for easier movement.
She had participated in countless battles, large and small, and had witnessed the might of Emanators on multiple occasions. Logically, she should be like a veteran actor who never breaks character.
But facing Leon.
Even when he was just standing there, he felt completely unattainable. As if she could run for a lifetime and never even glimpse his back.
It was precisely this challenge that stirred Feixiao's fighting spirit. It made her blood boil with excitement.
Ah... so this must be it.
Feixiao took a deep breath, raised her fists, and assumed a combat stance with a solemn expression.
—Admiration is the furthest distance! It's because she admired Leon that she felt she could never reach him, isn't it?
"Come."
Feixiao said in a low voice, looking eager to begin.
But she wanted to stand by his side, not drift further and further away. To that end, she would shatter this status quo with her own hands! She would shrink the gap between them to a distance she could actually cross!
Even if it was still a road with no end in sight. At least then there would be a slim chance, unlike the untouchable reality of now!
Feixiao swore to outpace that "shooting star"!
"Bare-handed?"
Leon asked, noticing she wasn't carrying any weapons.
"Yes, pure hand-to-hand combat."
Feixiao nodded.
"To put it nicely, I created my own martial art. To put it bluntly, my training is a messy hodgepodge of different styles."
Feixiao explained why she wasn't using a weapon.
"I use a mixed assortment of weapons, but this martial art is supported entirely by pure technique, so bare hands are all I need."
"Weapons are ultimately external objects, auxiliary tools. How much power they unleash depends entirely on the user. True strength comes from within—from honing your skills and tempering your body."
"Reaching the pinnacle through this path is the proper way."
Feixiao expressed that everything external was secondary.
If you yourself are strong, your weapon will naturally be strong as well. There was no need for specific training.
"I agree,"
Leon acknowledged.
What could possibly be better than one's own tempered body? Absolutely nothing. The purity has been greatly enhanced!
"I hope you'll take this seriously, Leon."
Before the fight officially began, Feixiao hoped he would show some of his true skill.
"What's your DPS?"
Leon smiled. "You don't have to tell me."
He adopted the serious demeanor of someone reviewing a top-tier flagship model.
"——I'll run the numbers myself!"
Words of some unknown, fiery passion escaped his lips.
"Alright!"
Feixiao nodded firmly, translating his words into something she could understand.
How much of his strength he would unleash, how high his numbers would go, depended entirely on how much excitement she could draw out of him. If she wanted to see his full power, she had to earn it herself.
Feixiao had no objections.
She was indeed being a bit presumptuous, knowing full well that in her current state, she couldn't even touch the hem of Leon's clothes.
He was, after all, the inheritor of a legacy sanctioned by the Reignbow Arbiter.
Otherwise, a fair duel like this would have been impossible.
With his level of power, if he got serious... it would probably be over the moment it began.
The odds were ninety-ten in his favor; he could probably kill her ninety-one times over.
Leon: Wow, a stealth ad.
"Here I come!"
After this final warning was called out.
With a bang, Feixiao stomped on the ground and vanished in a flash.
She was like a lurking tigress, revealing her proud fangs the moment she descended the mountain, her restrained aura manifesting as tangible pressure!
Leon didn't dodge or evade, simply standing still and letting her attack.
Feixiao didn't mind. She knew she didn't have what it took to make him move even half a step.
A sharp whoosh cut through the air!
She suddenly appeared right in front of Leon. A blurry afterimage flashed by as she, without a hint of recovery lag, raised her right leg high and kicked at the left side of his head!
She used her full strength, holding nothing back!
After a loud bang, a powerful shockwave erupted from the point of impact, spreading out in all directions!
The gale turned the training grounds upside down!
The bangs of both Feixiao and Leon were blown upwards as they stared into each other's eyes. A lot of the training equipment was toppled by the aftershock of their clash.
"Th-This..."
Sushang, her hair blown back into a windswept pompadour, was dumbfounded. She watched the scene unfold and swallowed nervously.
"S-So... So strong..."
Sushang trembled, this earth-shattering battle completely upending her worldview.
My goodness, she had always thought her mother was tough on her. But compared to these two, her usual training and sparring sessions were nothing more than child's play.
Speaking of which, she seemed to recall Jiaoqiu saying her mother was even stronger than Sister Feixiao.
Looking at Feixiao, whose kick seemed capable of splitting the sky, and Leon, who had remained calm and composed from the very beginning, Sushang realized she had misunderstood all along.
She really was her mother's biological daughter, not adopted.
Sushang didn't dare imagine what would happen if her mother trained her with her true strength. She couldn't even fathom what a miserable state she'd be in.
She had misjudged her mother. I'm sorry, Mom.
Sushang felt she had reached an epiphany.
She often heard her mother say that in swordsmanship, the person is important, but the state of mind is even more so. Although she couldn't impress her mother through sparring, perhaps she could through improving her state of mind.
Sushang felt she had attained enlightenment.
Yukong: If you can attain enlightenment, then pigs can fly.
Click!
Unlike the disheveled Sushang, March 7th, whose dress fluttered in the wind, reacted calmly, simply raising her camera without any fuss.
With a click, she captured the "clash of titans" unfolding before them.
Right in front of them, Leon had raised a hand.
He had effortlessly caught Feixiao's swift attack, his palm locked firmly around her ankle.
The lion hidden in his eyes did not emerge, failing to create the tiger-versus-lion battle Feixiao had hoped for.
—Because she wasn't worthy!
Another whoosh cut through the air as Feixiao immediately launched the most advantageous counterattack for her situation.
She twisted her body, beginning to rotate, and kicked with her left leg toward the right side of his head.
Leon paid it no mind.
Because no matter how many times she attacked, to him, it was all effortless!
Feixiao feinted.
While her left leg feigned a kick to the right side of his head, her locked right leg seized the momentary opening to break free from his grasp!
Then, using the momentum, she spun a half-circle in mid-air and aimed a kick at Leon's abdomen.
Her sequence of moves was as smooth as flowing water.
Few ordinary people could keep up, as it required exceptional dynamic vision and reaction speed. The two are basically the same thing.
But most people only have the former and not the latter—the classic case of the mind being willing but the body being unable.
Even if you could see a bullet coming, how could you react if your body wasn't physically capable?
Those who could truly react all shared a common title.
"Martial Arts Genius."
The body not keeping up with the mind is a problem for ordinary people.
Coincidentally, Leon was no ordinary person.
Forget bullets, he could even react to seashells!
After an invisible shockwave.
The foot Feixiao had just kicked out once again landed squarely in his palm.
Seeing this, she gritted her teeth, an immense pressure welling up inside her.
Feixiao raised her still-free leg to kick his left shoulder, hoping to force him to block the attack so she could use that fleeting chance to escape.
Leon said nothing, not even moving an inch.
This was just a warm-up match against a weaker opponent; if he moved more than necessary, he'd consider it a loss.
Feixiao sensed something was wrong.
As if anticipating that this attack would also be caught, she instantly switched from offense to defense, using the feint as a cover.
She once again struggled free of his control.
But this time, she didn't rush to attack again, instead quickly creating distance between them.
She kicked off the empty air.
Under the thrust, Feixiao was in a bicycle kick posture.
After a moment, she performed a backflip in mid-air and landed steadily, the gravity on her face now double what it was at the start.
Feixiao began to study Leon, trying to find any weakness.
From a martial artist's perspective, he was full of openings. And that was precisely the problem.
If he really had that many weaknesses, he wouldn't have remained in the exact same spot until now.
Not even an inch of difference. He was standing exactly as he was at the beginning.
Feixiao readopted her stance, showing no signs of giving up.
The next second, she shot forward!
Her right fist aimed for his face, her left for his abdomen!
But, as expected, both were easily caught by Leon.
Feixiao wasn't discouraged. Instead, she increased her attack speed and frequency again and again.
Born to fight, never stopping until death!
She was like a bloodthirsty wolf that would never stop hunting until it tasted savory flesh.
Bang, bang, bang.
The two exchanged countless blows.
Feixiao desperately threw every fighting technique and martial art she knew at him, sweat soaking through her clothes before she even realized it.
But even as she attacked tirelessly, pushing her potential to its absolute limit, the mountain that was Leon remained unshakable. Her all-out assault failed to move him even a single step.
He just stood there.
An insurmountable obstacle not just for Feixiao, but seemingly for the entire galaxy.
The heroes of the world are as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river, and he is the fisherman who catches them.
The two were locked in a fierce battle.
But Feixiao knew that to him, this was all just child's play.
Whether in strength or speed, Leon surpassed her in every aspect.
He was purely sparring for the sake of sparring.
He wanted her to clearly see how her moves were being countered, to physically remember the feeling, learn from it, and ultimately turn it into her own experience.
If he really wanted to fight, the clash between them would be over in the blink of an eye.
After a long time, the sound of ragged breathing echoed through the space.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Feixiao stopped attacking, panting heavily after creating distance between them again.
"How... do you know... everything...?"
She asked haltingly between breaths.
Many of the techniques she used were unique to Yaoqing, and Leon had never studied there.
How could he use them even more proficiently than she could? He even surpassed her—finding ways to dismantle them all. That was something many creators of martial arts couldn't do.
"You'll understand sooner or later,"
Leon said calmly.
In truth, he didn't know any fighting techniques; it only looked that way from Feixiao's perspective.
Honestly, the only thing he really knew was how to draw a bow, as taught by Lan.
Beyond that, he was clueless.
If you were to ask how he could do what Feixiao described... the answer was actually very simple, and had been in plain sight all along.
High stats, and a believing heart.
He thought it, therefore he could do it.
All he had to do was believe he could do it, and leave the rest to brute force.
As the saying goes, brute force beats technique.
It doesn't matter what kind of monster you are; I'll just crush you.
Just kidding, there's no technique here. I'm just really strong.
"Sooner or later?"
Feixiao chuckled after catching her breath for a moment. She felt she wouldn't live to see that day.
"I have learned a great deal today. Thank you for the lesson."
Feixiao cupped her fist in her hand and bowed to him.
It was true that he had been instructing her one-sidedly, but who said instruction wasn't a form of improvement?
Only by knowing one's weaknesses can one address them and advance further.
And what Leon had shown her were precisely the shortcomings in her own skills.
Feixiao herself could never have imagined her moves could be broken that way.
Leon had personally shattered the bottleneck she had encountered.
No exaggeration, if she could fully grasp everything from today... and learn to compensate for her weaknesses, she was certain her strength would rise to a whole new level.
"Approved. Top-tier."
Through this practical test, Leon had simulated the performance chart he wanted in his mind.
Conclusion: She has power, but her skillset is too messy and chaotic, making her difficult to master. Overall, she's guaranteed a spot in the top tier. Please pull responsibly.
"Do you think I can really win the Martial Decree Ceremony?"
After this bout, Feixiao became deeply aware of her own inadequacies.
In front of a truly strong person, she was still just a novice.
Leon had sparred with her on equal footing this time. She had lost to a version of Leon at her own level; it wasn't a case of a veteran bullying a rookie.
"Just how did you get so strong, Leon?"
"Because I believe I'm supposed to be this strong."
Leon replied casually,
"There's nothing in this world that's absolutely impossible. The prerequisite for everything is belief."
"If you can't even believe, then of course, nothing can even begin."
Leon said as much. "There's nothing you can't win."
"I believe in myself, so I can do it."
He met Feixiao's gaze. "By the same token, I believe in you, too."
_____
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