The First Sword of the Universe

Chapter 333 The Third Match: Martial Arts
Several mute servants removed the two large drums and took the drumsticks from Ouyang Ke and Guo Jing.

Then, a wooden table and two benches were moved over and placed on the open ground.

"You two, sit here!"

Under Huang Yaoshi's direction, Ouyang Ke and Guo Jing came to the table and sat on separate benches.

Snapped!
Huang Yaoshi placed the blank blue book on the table and said calmly, "When I say 'begin,' you will all flip through this book together until I say 'stop.' Then, begin to memorize the contents of the book. Whoever memorizes the most words wins!"

Guo Jing and Ouyang Ke responded in unison, "Yes!"

Huang Yaoshi took a few steps back, wasting no time, and said directly, "Begin!"

Guo Jing and Ouyang Ke simultaneously reached out to flip through the cover of the blue, wordless book. Upon seeing the text on the first page, they immediately began to memorize it.

Huang Yaoshi glanced at Ouyang Ke, then at Guo Jing, who still looked honest and simple, his mind filled with many thoughts.

"The reason I posed these three questions is that I believe Brother Ouyang's nephew is quite well-read and has been influenced by Brother Ouyang's teachings. He must be quite skilled in music and martial arts as well."

"As for this kid surnamed Guo, he has no scholarly air about him whatsoever. He's dull and stupid, so he's definitely not good at music, and his martial arts skills are mediocre at best."

"But unexpectedly, this kid's skill was quite strong, and his composure was incredibly deep. In the first match, he was minimally affected by my Azure Sea Tide Melody, and even managed to draw the match in a strange way."

"Could it be that I really misjudged him?!"

"If this kid also manages to draw or win the second match..."

Thinking of this, a shadow of gloom flashed across Huang Yaoshi's eyes!
He was knowledgeable in astronomy and geography; he understood Qimen Dunjia (a form of divination), agriculture and water conservancy, and even had a deep understanding of medical books and medicines.

How could someone as brilliant as him possibly be interested in a simple-minded son-in-law like Guo Jing?!
If I were to marry my daughter to such a son-in-law, I wouldn't be able to rest easy even if he were to pass away alongside my wife.
The open space was completely silent!
Almost everyone's eyes were on Ouyang Ke and Guo Jing, waiting for them to fight again.

Xu Xingchen watched Guo Jing diligently memorizing the book's contents and thought to herself, "This time, there's no cheating like in the world of the book. I wonder if Jing'er can still win; however, even if he doesn't, there's always a third round."

With his thoughts wandering, Xu Xingchen's gaze bypassed the two people competing in the arena and landed on the coiled venomous snakes behind Ouyang Feng.

The thousands of venomous snakes were covered in a variety of colors, some as red as fire, some as green as bamboo, some as deep as purple, and some as golden as gold.
A myriad of forms, their beauty concealing a chilling and dangerous crisis!

"If we clash with Ouyang Feng later, how should we deal with his venomous snakes?"

"These venomous snakes are controlled by the flutes played by the men and women in white."

"No, that's not right! I remember when Ouyang Ke used his transformation after breaking through three realms in the Prince's mansion, he could directly control it with martial arts essence."

"It seems that Ouyang Feng's skill in controlling these venomous snakes far surpasses that of Ouyang Ke."

"Speaking of which, Master Huang's flute playing should be quite effective against these poisonous snakes."

"Sigh, without a wide-range attack method, dealing with these poisonous creatures is really frustrating."

"However, it's not like there's no way to deal with it."

Time slips away silently.
The two people sitting at the wooden table read one page, then turned the page; they read one page, then turned the page; both were trying hard to memorize the contents.

Guo Jing was still able to memorize it with a serious expression.

Ouyang Ke, however, sometimes frowned and sometimes rejoiced as he read, feeling that every word in the book was exquisite and every sentence profound, containing many martial arts principles. He wished he could snatch the book back on the spot and study it slowly.

But he knew it was just his unrealistic fantasy.
In front of Huang Yaoshi, who was able to produce this book, all his little schemes would be doomed!
He could only try his best to memorize it, and try to read and recite it as much as possible, but the content was too difficult, which increased the difficulty of memorization several times over.

If you can remember even half of the content after reading it three or five times, you're lucky!
It's simply impossible to memorize something after watching it only once.

While reading, Ouyang Ke also glanced at his rival beside him to observe his state.

Guo Jing's calm and serious demeanor made him feel uneasy and his scalp tingled.
"Okay, stop!"

Huang Yaoshi suddenly spoke, startling the two people who were reading.

At that moment, the book on the table was only halfway through, with most of the content still unread.

Huang Yaoshi stepped forward and put the books away. His gaze swept over Ouyang Ke and Guo Jing, and he asked calmly, "Which of you two will recite first?"

Before Guo Jing could speak, Ouyang Ke stepped forward and said, "Lord of the Desolate Island, I'll go first!"

Huang Yaoshi glanced at Guo Jing, and seeing that he had no objection, then glanced at the composed Hong Qigong and Xu Xingchen, and nodded, saying, "In that case, you go first!"

Ouyang Ke straightened his back, looked up at the sky, and tried hard to recall the contents of the book. After a moment, he began to recite it.

He memorized the first dozen or so sentences fairly fluently; but as he went on, his brow furrowed more and more, and the memorization process became intermittent.

Before long, he had to ponder for a long time after each sentence he recited before he could remember the next one.
Xu Xingchen listened to the content, which was consistent with the upper part of the Nine Yin Manual, and exchanged a glance with Hong Qigong, secretly chuckling to himself, "It really is the lower part of the Nine Yin Manual."

On the other side, Ouyang Feng listened intently as his nephew recited the text, his expression gradually becoming serious and solemn.

As one of the four great masters of the martial arts world, he was naturally a discerning person.

After listening to just a few sentences, I knew that the book my nephew had just been reading was profound and wonderful, absolutely extraordinary.

He was somewhat surprised and uncertain: "Could the book in Huang Yaoshi's hand be a martial arts manual he wrote himself?"

"But his martial arts skills are only about the same as mine, how could he write such profound and mysterious things?"

"Could it be that Huang Yaoshi's martial arts skills have improved significantly in the past twenty years?"

In the center of the venue, Ouyang Ke's recitation finally stalled, as he couldn't remember much of the following content.

Huang Yaoshi announced expressionlessly, "Alright, since you can't remember, you can go and rest for now!"

Then, turning to Guo Jing beside him, he calmly said, "It's your turn!"

Guo Jing strode forward fearlessly and began to recite.

He seemed to remember less than Ouyang Ke, and his speech became hesitant and stumbling after only reaching the seventh paragraph.

He would occasionally furrow his brow in deep thought before continuing to speak!
Seeing this, Xu Xingchen shook his head and sighed, feeling that his disciple was in a precarious situation in this match.

Even with the first part of the Nine Yin Manual that he had memorized the night before, Guo Jing's memory was still not fast enough; his only strength was that he wouldn't easily forget what he had spent a lot of time memorizing.

However, this strength was completely useless in this competition.

Just when Xu Xingchen thought he was doomed to lose the second match, Guo Jing actually stumbled through the recitation, reciting three more words than Ouyang Ke, before finally staring blankly and getting stuck.
After a long while, Guo Jing finally came to his senses and said helplessly, "Master Huang, I really can't remember the rest!"

Ouyang Feng snorted coldly: "What you've memorized is only three words more than what Ke'er has; if Ke'er hadn't memorized it first, and you hadn't reviewed it again, I'm afraid you wouldn't have been able to memorize this paragraph yet."

He turned to Huang Yaoshi and said, "This brat got a huge advantage in this contest; Brother Yaoshi, tell me, who won and who lost?"

Hong Qigong laughed heartily and said, "Brother Ouyang, I think this second round can be considered a draw, right? After all, they both memorized about the same number of words; even if it were my disciple's turn to recite first, he might still be able to recite this passage; you mustn't be prejudiced."

Huang Yaoshi, standing in the center of the arena, frowned as he watched the worst-case scenario he had envisioned unfold.

His gaze swept back and forth between Ouyang Ke and Guo Jing, unable to make a decision.

Huang Rong, however, was cheering and jumping for joy in the pavilion, loudly encouraging her "Brother Jing".

Seeing Huang Yaoshi hesitate, Xu Xingchen suddenly spoke up, "Jing'er, could you recite what you just memorized again?"

Guo Jing, unsure of his master's intentions, respectfully replied, "Yes, Master! I can recite it again, word for word; and this time I'll recite it even more fluently."

Xu Xingchen smiled and looked at Ouyang Ke: "Ouyang Ke, if I asked you to recite it again now, could you still remember what you had memorized before?"

Ouyang Ke's face tightened, and he said unhappily, "I just recited it. Of course I can remember it in such a short time!"

The people present were all seasoned veterans who had been in the martial arts world for many years. They could tell at a glance that he was guilty and knew that if he were asked to recite it again, he might not be able to recite the same long passage as before.

Huang Yaoshi snorted coldly: "The second match is still a draw! As for the third match..."

Huang Yaoshi's gaze swept over Ouyang Ke and Guo Jing, then over Ouyang Feng, Hong Qigong, and Xu Xingchen, his mind racing as he considered the upcoming match.

As a result, after much thought, all the ideas I had previously set out to be put aside were overturned.

Finally, with a hint of helplessness, he took a deep breath and said, "The third competition: martial arts."

"You two will settle your differences through martial arts, and determine who is superior through martial arts."

"Unleash all the martial arts skills you've learned!"

Guo Jing and Ouyang Ke replied in unison, "Yes, Island Master Huang!"

(End of this chapter)