I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 32 War Letter
Chen Ming took the Hong family mother and son and quietly left the Huo residence. After returning home, he settled them in the guest room.

Then, he returned to his courtyard, lit an oil lamp, took out the book "Five Elements Knife Technique," and began to read it by the firelight.

After looking at a few pages, he knew it was genuine.

The above mental techniques and incantations are consistent with the "Eight Trigrams Knife Technique," only more profound. Combined with the above illustrations and compared to the techniques used by Zhao An in his fight against the man surnamed Guo a few days ago, a conclusion is reached.

However, it is difficult to recreate all the details of the moves based solely on the illustrations.

At least, he doesn't have that ability.

"First, I'll memorize the sword manual, and then I'll have Hong Mingquan teach me when he returns."

Chen Ming thought to himself, and then focused on reading the sword manual.

He was so engrossed in watching that he didn't realize how late it had gotten.

Suddenly, his ears twitched as he heard a noise outside. He thought it was two maids and was about to ask them when he heard a whooshing sound.

A pebble pierced the paper window and landed on the table in front of him.

A piece of paper was wrapped around the stone.

Chen Ming's gaze sharpened as he noticed some writing on the paper. He unfolded it and saw a line of somewhat hastily written words: "Meet me in the back alley in a quarter of an hour, and we'll settle this once more."

"A challenge?"

He was somewhat puzzled. To further rank them, that is, those who had fought him...

Could it be her?

After thinking it over and over, Chen Ming could only think of one person.

The girl in blue I fought with at the Huo residence a few days ago.

He's recently faced her, and she's the only one who would specifically come to his door to challenge him to a rematch.

"Could it be a scam?"

This was his first thought.

He immediately realized he was overthinking things. If she were after Hong Mingquan's wife and children, she wouldn't need to lure him away. If her fellow disciples came together, he wouldn't be able to stop them, no matter how many there were.

……

A moment later, Chen Ming, carrying a long sword, arrived at the back alley and, sure enough, saw a figure standing on the wall of his backyard. She was dressed in night clothes and had a graceful figure. Judging from her figure, it was the girl in blue.

"My senior brother said that you deliberately lost to me in your fight a few days ago. Is that true?" As soon as she spoke, it was indeed that familiar voice.

Chen Ming said, "So it's a young lady. I am indeed no match for you. I admit defeat wholeheartedly."

She has three senior brothers above her, and a master who is likely a sixth-rank cultivator. He doesn't want to cause trouble.

"Hmph, I trust my senior's judgment. Let's fight again."

"Forget it..." Chen Ming really didn't want to fight her. Losing would mean losing experience points, which was too much of a loss.

"That's not up to you. Take this."

Zhong Shuyu had already drawn her sword and, without saying a word, thrust forward to stab.

This sword strike aimed straight for the heart, ruthless and merciless.

Chen Ming hurriedly drew his sword to defend himself.

Her sword strikes were swifter and faster than the last, like a sudden storm, each strike aimed at a vital point.

Chen Ming became increasingly alarmed as the fight progressed; this was no longer a mere exchange of blows.

One wrong move and you could die on the spot.

He finally understood what she meant by "it's not up to you".

They actually used this method to force him to use his full strength.

His strength was indeed slightly inferior to his opponent's; what he relied on was his mastery of the "Eight Trigrams Saber Technique" and the fact that his opponent's swordsmanship was not yet refined.

The sword technique used by this girl was almost identical to that of the "Five Elements Sword Technique".

Her swordsmanship is not refined enough, and the transitions between her sword techniques are not smooth enough, which is a sign of a lack of practical experience.

Now that she's unleashing her full power, it's actually masking the flaws in her swordsmanship.

For a time, Chen Ming found it difficult to find a way to feign defeat without hurting her or himself.

If you're not careful, a feigned defeat can turn into a real one, and you'll end up with a hole in your body—that's no joke.

This girl is ruthless; she's not like Huo Qianqian, a sheltered young lady. She may have blood on her hands.

Chen Ming focused intently on the situation, not daring to be distracted in the slightest.

At the same time, he compared the opponent's sword moves with the moves in the sword manual...

When it reached the forty-odd moves...

As he saw the girl shift her stance, her longsword poised to strike, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he predicted that she was about to unleash "Turning Adversity into Prosperity." Chen Ming's hands moved faster than his mind; his longsword had already slashed out, striking the weakest point on the girl's sword.

With a clang.

The longsword slipped from the girl's hand.

She cried out "Ouch!", took two steps back, gripped her wrist, and glared at him angrily.

Chen Ming's heart skipped a beat. This was bad; he had completely offended her.

Or should we kill her to silence her?

The thought flashed through his mind, but he immediately dismissed it. It wasn't time to go that far.

Zhong Shuyu's voice was full of anger, "You really did hold back last time."

Chen Ming explained, "No, not at all. I just acquired the manual for the Five Elements Sword Technique. I'm very familiar with your moves, which is why I managed to win by half a move."

"You actually used such a rudimentary sword technique as the 'Eight Trigrams Sword Technique' to defeat my 'Swallow Return Sword Technique'!" Zhong Shuyu became increasingly angry as she spoke.

Suddenly, her eyes widened as she looked behind Chen Ming, as if she had seen something terrifying.

Chen Ming instinctively turned his head, but then felt a gust of wind coming. Without thinking, he swept his long sword and knocked the incoming object away.

There was a ding.

It was a hidden weapon, a plum blossom dart.

He glanced at the plum blossom dart at his feet, and in the moonlight, he saw a faint blue light emanating from it. He narrowed his eyes and said expressionlessly, "Miss, we have no grudge against each other. Why would you resort to such a vicious attack?"

"Tch, when you're out in the world, you have to use every means at your disposal when you encounter an enemy. I'll teach you a lesson today. If you're too soft-hearted next time, you won't be so lucky."

After Zhong Shuyu finished speaking, she flipped onto the wall and disappeared in a few leaps.

You have defeated a level 12 enemy and gained 150 experience points.

The notification finally appeared.

Just now, Chen Ming was cautious because he didn't see the notification to defeat the enemy, which prevented him from being ambushed.

"In other words, the system's prompts can indicate whether the opponent is feigning defeat or genuinely admitting defeat."

He discovered another hidden function of the system.

Chen Ming tore off a strip of cloth, wrapped it around the plum blossom dart on the ground, and picked it up.

Both are unruly girls, but Huo Qianqian is much kinder than this girl in blue.

Therefore, people are afraid of comparison.

……

Chen Ming climbed over the wall back home. When he arrived at the courtyard, he saw a short figure lingering at the door.

"Uncle-Master Chen."

The other person spoke first; it was Hong Zilin's voice. He asked in a low voice, "Have you come here to cause us trouble?"

Chen Ming hadn't expected to alarm him, and said, "No, they've come to see me."

"Oh."

"Alright, it's late, go back to sleep."

"Okay, uncle."

Hong Zilin bowed and turned to leave.

Back in the guest room, as he opened the door, his mother asked softly, "How was it?"

"The person has already been driven away by my martial uncle."

"Are they coming for us?"

“Hmm,” Hong Zilin said, “I finally understand why Dad made us follow Uncle Chen. He didn’t want us to feel burdened, so he lied and said that the people were after him.”

"Hmm." Madam Li said with some worry, "I don't know who your father offended. Before he left, he solemnly instructed us to let my son and me follow this person."

"Father has his reasons. Mother, it's getting late, let's go to sleep."

"Ugh……"

……

…………

Chen Ming returned to his room, but couldn't fall asleep, so he picked up the sword manual again and started studying it.

"She just said that the sword technique she used is the 'Swallow Return Sword Technique.' Why is it almost exactly the same as the 'Five Elements Saber Technique'?"

"Could it really be as they say, that the Five Elements Knife Technique was originally a sword technique, but was forcibly changed into a knife technique just to deceive people?"

(End of this chapter)