Having studied for a hundred years, why do you call me the Martial Saint?

Gu Shuxian patted Young Master Liu on the shoulder and walked confidently toward the girl in yellow.

Liu Mingyuan was stunned for a moment, but when he saw that the man was really going to speak up for him, he was overjoyed and followed suit.

"This young lady."

Gu Shuxian bowed with a composed expression, displaying great poise.

Unexpectedly, the girl didn't even bother to lift her eyelids, instead picking up a piece of osmanthus cake and putting it in her mouth, mumbling indistinctly:

"One foolish young master wasn't enough, now we have a boring helper too."

"Who are you calling a fool?" Liu Mingyuan retorted angrily.

"Whoever answers is the one." The girl swallowed the pastry, licked the frosting on her fingertips, and then looked at Gu Shuxian with a grin.

"What, you're here to discuss chivalry with me too? You look like someone who knows martial arts, are you trying to show off your knowledge like those bookworms? Or do you want to try your hand at fighting?"

The effects of physical training are evident in the external world, but those at higher levels are more subtle and restrained.

So when he was recognized as a martial artist, Gu Shuxian wasn't nervous and smiled:

"Today is not a day for violence. Do you dare to challenge me to a contest of skill, to see who is better in calligraphy?"

"Boring." The girl curled her lip. "A foolish young master plus a bookworm who fawns over him, isn't that doubly boring?"

Just as Liu Mingyuan was about to lash out, Gu Shuxian stopped him.

"If we are to determine who is superior and who is inferior, we must first exchange names."

Gu Shuxian replied unhurriedly, "I am..."

He stopped mid-sentence.

Qian Le openly used his real identity, and their identities as disciples of the Suishan Sword Sect might have already been exposed, but it would still be better to be more careful.

If I reveal my real name, and some outcast from Suishan tries to trace me, it will eventually become a problem.

Moreover, when you're out and about, you give yourself your own identity.

On a whim, he decided to just pick a fake name.

"My name is Lü Xiaobu."

But as soon as she finished speaking, the girl's smile vanished.

She squinted, looked him up and down, and repeated it.

"Lü Xiaobu?"

"Exactly." Gu Shuxian replied without changing his expression.

"You hesitated just now, was that on purpose?" The girl snorted, her brows furrowing. "On purpose, stealing my name?"

"Steal your name?" Gu Shuxian was taken aback.

Your name is Lü Xiaobu?

What a coincidence?

"My name is Yan Xiaoshuang! You chose a fake name and deliberately included the character 'Xiao' (meaning 'little' or 'small'), so you've known me for a long time? Are you deliberately mocking me?"

"I don't know her. Miss Yan might be a little too confident."

Yan Xiaoshuang stared at Gu Shuxian suspiciously for a few more moments, as if comparing her memory to see if such a person had ever existed before.

As she watched, she suddenly burst out laughing.

"You, a grown man, are sharing the character '小' (xiao, meaning 'little' or 'small') with us girls? Aren't you ashamed? I think you should just drop the '小'!"

"That might not work." Gu Shuxian raised an eyebrow.

"What? There are plenty of people in the world with the same name, and yours is definitely a pseudonym. What does it matter?" Yan Xiaoshuang asked in surprise.

Gu Shuxian didn't respond to that. He didn't care whether the other person realized it was a fake name or not, as long as they didn't know his real name. He changed the subject:

"Miss Yan, you've been dodging the question for a while now. Are you afraid to discuss books with me?"

"Afraid? What clichés could you possibly have?"

"Ah, the book is here!"

Gu Shuxian raised his hand, signaling Liu Mingyuan to borrow a copy of "The Legend of the Heroes of the Halberd Shooting" from the crowd. His expression hardened, and he opened the book, pointing to one of the chapters:

Do you know the deeper meaning behind this passage in the book? How would you interpret it?

Yan Xiaoshuang looked down.

That was a key plot point in the book.

Since his debut, the Divine Halberd Hero had roamed the martial world undefeated. However, even humans are not plants or trees, and how can they be without feelings? He and his lover lived in seclusion in a small border town, indulging in a life of tenderness and pleasure, enjoying each other's company every night, and living a life of blissful bliss.

The Divine Halberd Hero drank every day and partied every night, gradually losing his spirit.

Just then, the first bandit stronghold in the northern border led its men to attack, vowing to slaughter the entire town.

The halberd master, wielding his halberd, met the attack, but after more than thirty moves, he was at a disadvantage. This was the first defeat of his life...

After reading it, Yan Xiaoshuang's eyebrows furrowed in a frown:

"What's so hard to solve? The Divine Halberd Hero doesn't owe the people of that city anything. He can just elope with his sweetheart and that's it. Why bother with those irrelevant people!"

"No!" Liu Mingyuan jumped in to retort, "A true hero should fight for the greater good!"

Yan Xiaoshuang remained noncommittal and ignored him.

Gu Shuxian stood with his hands behind his back, looked up at the sky, and sighed:

Throughout the book, the Divine Halberd Hero fought against heroes all over the world and never backed down because of the strength of his opponents. But this time, he was defeated, not by the enemy, but by his own complacency.

"He could have blamed it on the allure of women, he could have simply left, and gone back to being the carefree and unburdened swordsman of the Divine Halberd!"

"But he didn't! He chose to stay, choosing to carve out a path for himself between gentleness and responsibility!"

"This passage isn't clearly about chivalry or romance, yet it's filled with both!"

"It tells the story of a chivalrous hero, caught between love and duty, who neither betrays his beloved nor his ambition!"

"Chivalry is enhanced by emotion, and emotion is strengthened by chivalry; the two are inherently one, so how can there be a distinction of superiority or inferiority?"

"..."

Gu Shuxian spoke earnestly, hoping that his insightful words would elevate the two men's taste!

Yan Xiaoshuang pondered for a moment and said, "You mean his chivalry makes his loyalty even more precious? If that's the case, I'd somewhat agree."

Seeing that this sharp-tongued girl had actually said such a thing.

Liu Mingyuan was overjoyed: "Hahaha! I knew my code of chivalry was sound! Brother Lü, you really understand me!"

Gu Shuxian felt that they still didn't understand.

But that's not important; he wasn't really there to debate.

"Brother Liu," Gu Shuxian called out affectionately, seeing that Liu Mingyuan's mood had improved, "Where's your sequel? Take it out, let's critique it together and carefully search for the chivalrous spirit within!"

"Alright, alright! Let's criticize it together!"

Liu Mingyuan's eyes lit up, but then he suddenly looked troubled. "I do have a sequel, but I borrowed it before..."

Yan Xiaoshuang suddenly interrupted, her eyes widening:

"You have a sequel? That book, *The Divine Halberd Couple*? Let me take a look!"

Liu Mingyuan, who had just been called an idiot by her several times, now straightened his back and raised his chin:

Why should I lend it to you?

"You're so rich, why are you so stingy about lending me a book?"

"I have money, that's my business. What does it have to do with whether I lend it to you or not?"

"Tch." Yan Xiaoshuang curled her lip.

Gu Shuxian thought to himself, "This is bad. What is Yan Xiaoshuang talking about borrowing?"

Asking for help is a very low-class thing to do!

Sure enough, Liu Mingyuan realized what he meant and chuckled:

"You two both want to see a sequel, right?"