I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 153 Victory

"My meager skills are no match for yours, young lady. Please spare me."

Chen Ming refused to budge no matter what he said.

The path of martial arts becomes increasingly difficult as one climbs higher, and the gap between different realms widens. There is a huge chasm between the fifth and fourth ranks.

The fifth rank is the Qi Sea Realm, where one opens up a Qi Sea that can hold more than ten or even dozens of times more true Qi than the sixth rank.

Upon reaching the fourth rank, one enters the Qi Condensation Realm, where true qi is transformed into qi condensation, granting the ability to defend against enemies with qi, a killing range exceeding ten meters, and protective qi condensation.

Under normal circumstances, Chen Ming can't even break through Su Zhining's defense, so how can he fight her?
He won't play a game he's bound to lose.

Last time in Yujie County, he was able to defeat two fourth-rank officials because both the captain and the demon prince were poisoned and injured. He only won by taking advantage of their vulnerability.

Su Zhining stared into his eyes, as if trying to see through him, and after a while she spoke, "I will not use my internal energy, I will only use sword techniques."

No need for internal energy?

Chen Ming raised an eyebrow and asked seriously, "Why are you so fixated on whether my swordsmanship is superior or inferior, young lady?"

Su Zhining said seriously, "My master told me to practice my swordsmanship more before I left home, but I haven't met a suitable opponent yet."

Unexpectedly, the man she had been protecting was already nearing the pinnacle of swordsmanship. This was an elder's assessment, and she wanted to confirm tonight whether that elder had exaggerated.

Chen Ming couldn't help but complain, "With you hiding in the shadows all day, afraid of being discovered, how can you possibly run into any opponents?"

With her strength, there are very few people in the world qualified to be her opponent. And she doesn't interact with others much. Do you think an opponent will fall from the sky?
"Since you insist, it would seem disrespectful of me to refuse. But it's settled then, we'll only be fighting with sword techniques. Don't let me suddenly unleash a sword aura halfway through and kill me."

"it is good."

After Su Zhining finished speaking, she turned and walked outside.

The room was too small to move around freely, so naturally we had to go outside to the yard.

Chen Ming picked up the long sword on the table and followed behind her.

The sword is brand new. The original sword had more than a dozen nicks after the battle with Luo Xu today and was no longer usable.

If Su Zhining doesn't use her inner energy, he still has a chance of winning.

Since her master made her hone her swordsmanship, it proves that her swordsmanship is not yet fully mastered. As long as it is not fully mastered, he still has a chance.

This confidence stems from mastering the Vermilion Bird Sword Technique.

……

Chen Ming stepped out of the room and into the courtyard. In the night sky, a bright moon hung high, its silvery light falling on Su Zhining, adding to her ethereal and aloof aura.

She slowly drew the long sword from her back; the blade gleamed coldly in the moonlight, clearly indicating that this sword was no ordinary weapon.

With a sword in hand, her entire demeanor changed, a sharp glint appearing in her eyes. She said in a clear voice, "Please enlighten me."

Looking at Su Zhining, who resembled a fairy under the moon, Chen Ming couldn't help but recall the first time he met her.

At that time, he had just broken through to the sixth rank and was still a nobody.

Now, he is a fifth-rank official. Although there is still a big gap between him and her, in terms of swordsmanship, he has the qualifications to stand in front of her and fight her.

Chen Ming drew his sword, flicked it lightly, producing a clear, melodious sound, and suddenly said, "If I am fortunate enough to win even a move or two, may I make a request of you, young lady?"

"can."

Su Zhining answered.

"Then, young lady, be careful. Take this sword."

Chen Ming knew she wouldn't strike first, so he didn't hold back and thrust out his sword first.

"A feather can weigh a thousand pounds!"

What appears to be a simple sword strike is actually full of unpredictable twists and turns, sealing off all her escape routes. If she were to retreat, she would face a storm of sword attacks.

Su Zhining's eyes suddenly lit up.

With just this one sword strike, she knew that what that senior had said was unfounded, and that Chen Ming's swordsmanship had reached an extremely high level.

Among his fellow disciples, few could compare to him.

Ding!
Su Zhining thrust her longsword forward, and it collided with the tip of the opponent's sword with perfect precision. Sensing the force transmitted from the tip of the opponent's sword, she knew the approximate level of Chen Ming's true energy.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Ming's second sword strike had already arrived.

She reacted instantly, and in an instant, the courtyard was filled with flashing sword light. Two kinds of sword energy, one cold and one hot, collided and scattered, creating small craters in the trees and walls of the courtyard.

……

On the rooftop, a figure almost blended into the darkness was watching the battle, the hem of his clothes fluttering in the wind, revealing that the person was not at peace.

"How can this be?"

This person was none other than the mysterious Princess Hongyu, who had always been by Chen Ming's side, hiding in the shadows. During the day, she dared not approach the Number One Pavilion Under Heaven, and therefore had not witnessed Chen Ming's swordsmanship.

Chen Ming's winning streak had already surprised her. Logically speaking, he had only recently broken through to the fifth rank and shouldn't have been able to win so many matches.

She had initially thought that perhaps all the young people in Jiangzhou City were incompetent fools.

Seeing Chen Ming's swordsmanship, she was so shocked that her eyes almost popped out.

Princess Hongyu witnessed Uncle Shang teaching Chen Ming swordsmanship; that was about a year ago.

At that time, under Uncle Shang's personal instruction, it took this kid a whole month to master the sword technique; his comprehension was simply too low.

A year later, the same Vermilion Bird Sword Technique was being used by Chen Ming with effortless ease. He had completely mastered its profound mysteries, reaching the pinnacle of skill. No wonder she was so astonished.

If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she would never have believed that someone could master a second-rate sword technique to this level in just one year.

Princess Hongyu had some doubts. Was the Chen Ming in front of her really the same stupid kid who used to ask questions repeatedly when learning a single sword technique, leaving Uncle Shang speechless?
a long time.

Princess Hongyu looked down at Chen Ming, who had slashed through Su Zhining's veil with a sword, in the courtyard below. She murmured to herself, "Just how many surprises can this kid give me?"
……

After more than thirty moves, the sword light in the courtyard vanished without a trace.

Su Zhining's longsword hovered between Chen Ming's brows, just an inch away. Her eyes were filled with shock and bewilderment.

A night breeze blew by, lifting the veil on her face and letting in a cool breeze.

After a while.

She sheathed her sword, lowered her eyes, and sighed softly, "I lost."

This time, Chen Ming didn't offer any thanks. In this situation, it would be inappropriate for him to be modest.

Moreover, Su Zhining's swordsmanship was indeed very high, putting him under great pressure. She was much stronger than Luo Xu, making it impossible for him to hold back and forcing him to go all out.

Therefore, the battle was ended in just over thirty moves.

You have defeated a level 69 opponent and gained 41000 experience points.

Chen Ming was overjoyed when he saw the prompt in front of him.

Miss Su is such a kind person; she gave him a large amount of experience points.

In that brief moment of distraction, Su Zhining had vanished without a trace. No one knew where she had disappeared to.

He glanced at the hundred-refined steel sword in his hand and saw seven or eight nicks on the blade. Another one ruined.

"No wonder Yu Haitang likes to use her sword to win over others."

If Su Zhining had used just a little more force and broken his longsword, he would have lost.

Of course, this was because Su Zhining only wanted to exchange sword skills and did not want to take advantage of him.

If you encounter an enemy, then it's a different story.

Chen Ming thought to himself that he would have to find a better sword in the future.

Then he went back inside. The oil lamp was still lit. He sat back down in his chair, adjusted the wick, picked up the medical book he was halfway through, and continued reading.

……

The next morning, at the same time, Chen Ming and Feng Siyuan went out together to "The First Restaurant Under Heaven".

“There was quite a commotion in your yard last night. I thought someone was coming to assassinate you.”

Feng Siyuan was joking.

Chen Ming casually replied, "It's just a friendly sparring session with a friend."

“Your friend is quite something. My grandfather Qi told me that your swordsmanship is almost identical.”

He smiled slightly and said, "My friend doesn't like to be in the public eye."

Feng Siyuan added, "Besides your friend, an uninvited guest also came last night. He's at least a third-rank official, and he's probably here for you too, so you'd better be careful."

"Thank you for reminding."

Before long, the two arrived at the gate of the No. 1 Restaurant under Heaven again. This time, there were obviously many more people calling his name.

Feng Siyuan recalled an amusing incident and said, "It's said that all the major gambling dens closed their betting yesterday and stopped accepting bets on you to win. It seems that everyone thinks it's a sure thing that you'll be on the Qingyun List."

Chen Ming said, "We'll have to see what happens today and tomorrow."

Starting today, he will face those seven seeded players, and it will be a seven-game series. This is the real test.

Of these seven people, at least three are no less powerful than Luo Xu.

"Even Luo Xu is no match for you, so the others are even less of a threat."

Feng Siyuan still had blind faith in Chen Ming.

"Young Master Chen, you must win!"

Just then, Chen Ming heard a somewhat familiar voice. He turned around and saw that the person looked familiar. It should be a merchant from Qingfeng City, someone he had met before.

He nodded slightly, as if to say hello.

"Is that Chen Ming? He certainly has an extraordinary appearance."

"Unexpectedly, after so many years of decline, Qingfeng City has finally produced a true genius."

"Hmph, what genius? He only defeated an unknown nobody. Once he meets Young Master Jiang and Young Master Ji, he'll show his true colors."

"Exactly, this Luo Xu, who came out of nowhere. Who are these people he beat? Does he even deserve to be called a master?"

"..."

Hearing the arguing behind him, Chen Ming stepped into the gate of the No. 1 Restaurant under Heaven. As he entered, even the old man guarding the gate nodded and smiled at him.

He knew that he had truly become famous.

(End of this chapter)