Chapter 109 - 17: Sword and Halberd Dual Mastery

Chapter 109: Chapter 17: Sword and Halberd Dual Mastery

The scene fell silent for a moment before erupting into cheers.

A group of disciples who had been dispirited after the Supervisor of the Army defeated several of their best fighters now felt a sense of vindication and pride. They truly had not expected this usually quiet new disciple brought back by the dojo master to be so strong.

Feng Yin turned around and saw that the Supervisor of the Army had already taken off his ferocious Beast-faced Armor, his physique slowly shrinking back to normal.

The Supervisor of the Army looked at him with sincere eyes. "Feng Yin, that last move of yours was miraculous. How did you do it?"

Feng Yin knew the Supervisor of the Army was referring to their clash at the final moment, when he had perfectly Skewed his opponent’s Heavy Mace aside.

A Skew was different from a Block.

A Block sought stability in one’s stance, using advantageous leverage to counter the opponent’s disadvantageous leverage. The goal was to solidly block the opponent’s attack, achieving the result of expending a small amount of effort to drain a large amount of the enemy’s strength.

In contrast, a Skew required significantly more technical skill than a Block. It aimed to use precise techniques to adjust and guide the impact based on the initial blocking contact, causing the opponent’s power to misfire. Then, in that split second when the enemy was delayed by their misdirected exertion, one could turn defense into an offense and counter-kill in one fell swoop.

Normally, being able to Skew an opponent’s attack essentially represented a relative crushing advantage in technique. For example, during Ya Lie and Feng Yin’s previous spar in their Armor states, Ya Lie had been noticeably weaker in pure strength, yet he had achieved total suppression.

It was because Feng Yin’s attacks were entirely Seen Through by Ya Lie. They were either intercepted early or, even if successfully launched, Skewed aside. Later on, if he hadn’t relied on the Armor’s Trait of being impervious to having its defenses broken to pull off a shameless trade of blows, he probably would have been forced to run for his life. Dying was out of the question. If the situation truly turned dire, he would have just used Stealing Step to open up the distance and run a marathon with Ya Lie, who certainly wouldn’t have been able to catch him.

However, Ya Lie’s ability to Skew Feng Yin’s attacks relied on his miraculous See Through and Pre-read abilities. Feng Yin’s ability to Skew the Supervisor of the Army obviously relied on—cheating.

The Owl Hunting Form’s Trait, "Owl Dance", manifested after its "Materialization" as the ability to let him precisely Block and Skew enemy attacks. The weakening effect in the state without the Manifestation Armor did not reduce the maximum Reserve limit of ten uses, but rather the "Recovery Speed of those uses." The Speed that originally allowed all ten uses to recover in thirty seconds had now become a full five minutes for a complete Recovery.

There was another difference after Materialization: Feng Yin could independently choose the timing of Owl Dance. He could choose to consecutively Block and Skew attacks ten times. Or he could rely on his own technique to deflect nine attacks, and then suddenly execute a Skew on the tenth.

In short, it was incredibly flexible.

Of course, there was no way Feng Yin would tell the Supervisor of the Army the real reason. Facing the burly young man’s humble inquiry, he merely offered a faint smile and replied softly, "It was nothing but a flash of Spiritual Light in a desperate situation. If we fought again, the victor wouldn’t be so certain."

Hearing Feng Yin’s answer, the Supervisor of the Army nodded honestly. "I see. Next time we have a chance to spar, I’ll work even harder."

Off the arena, Nie Fei heard Feng Yin’s response, and a strange expression appeared on her face.

She thought, "Why does this sound so familiar? Is he playing him for a fool? When this guy defeated me using the technique to interrupt a Fixed Form last time, he said something similar. But during our daily spars afterward, it’s obvious that he can interrupt his Fixed Form whenever he wants! Feng Yin, just how many secrets are you hiding?"

Meanwhile, Bai Canglan walked over straightforwardly, her gaze toward Feng Yin filled with intrigue.

"How interesting. Under such circumstances just now, you actually dared to use a Skew technique to redirect his force and break Po Jun’s Fixed Form.

"The point is, you actually succeeded. Should I say you’re just lucky, or is your strength truly monstrous?" she added, a playful glint in her eyes.

"Perhaps a bit of both," Feng Yin said softly.

On the other side, Ding Qi laughed heartily. "I expected this kid to win, but I really didn’t expect him to pull a stunt like that. He’s hiding his true depths quite well."

Ding Qi had thought Feng Yin would use his ability to interrupt Fixed Forms and win with an unexpected evasion and Counterattack. In the end, Feng Yin defied his expectations once more, unexpectedly using skill to break through brute force and securing a forceful victory in a head-on clash.

He thought, "That son of a bitch, Old Xie, is too damn lucky! He goes out to sea once and picks up such a monstrous disciple for free!"

Feng Yin’s smooth defeat of the Supervisor of the Army also brought great relief to Xie Yanran and Huo Ming, who had been under immense pressure.

Xie Yanran walked over slowly and said in a low voice to Bai Canglan, "Junior Martial Uncle Bai, the sparring is over. Are you satisfied?"

Bai Canglan chuckled coldly. "It was alright. He can be considered a super genius. However, since he has this kid, why hasn’t that bastard Xie Jingyuan returned to the headquarters yet? Could it be that he’s hiding from me?"

Beside them, Xiao Yu’s ears instantly perked up. She smelled gossip!

She thought, "Master is hiding from Junior Martial Uncle Bai!? Master is a handsome older man who hasn’t married or had children for so many years. Junior Martial Uncle Bai is so pretty, has a great figure, and is Master’s fellow sect member from the headquarters. Now she’s acting like a resentful wife. This is huge news!"

Meanwhile, faced with Bai Canglan’s aggressive questioning, Xie Yanran was momentarily stumped. Having been exiled to Border Prison Island for several years, her temperament had long been forced into an inarticulate and gloomy state. Even though she had now returned to Celestial Essence, she couldn’t adjust back right away.

Huo Ming was much more tactful. He immediately explained, "Master went to the Central Celestial Capital for a meeting with Xiao Yu’s father. How could he intentionally hide from Junior Martial Uncle Bai?"

Bai Canglan raised her eyebrows, about to say something more.

Not wanting them to start arguing again, Feng Yin recalled what Xie Jingyuan had told him and quickly interjected, "Junior Martial Uncle Bai, before Master left on his business trip, he told me that after I participate in this Rising Star Ranking Tournament, he would take me back to the Yin Yang Sword Sect headquarters to cultivate."

Bai Canglan paused and looked at Feng Yin suspiciously. "Oh? Did he really say that?" Yet, an uncontrollable joy faintly appeared on her face.

Feng Yin nodded earnestly. "Master told me to get a good result in the tournament so that I’ll be taken more seriously by the headquarters when we go back..."

Bai Canglan sneered, then glared unhappily at Xie Yanran and Huo Ming.

"That sounds like that bastard’s style. He’s been wandering outside for over a decade without taking in a single reliable true disciple. Now that he finally has a genius like you, of course he wants to return in glory.

"It’s all because you two are so disappointing. If either of you had shown even a little progress, that old ghost wouldn’t have had an excuse to loiter outside for so long!"

Both Xie Yanran and Huo Ming lowered their heads in shame.

Bai Canglan looked back at Feng Yin. "Kid, your performance wasn’t half bad, and I’m in a good mood. Tell me what you want, and I’ll get it for you."

Feng Yin looked at Bai Canglan, who, despite remaining fierce, had suddenly changed her attitude. An idea sparked in his mind.

He asked softly, "Junior Martial Uncle Bai, I want to learn a Long Handle weapon Martial Art. Do you have any way to help with that?"

"A Long Handle weapon?" Bai Canglan’s expression turned odd. "I think you must be joking. Don’t you know about Xie Jingyuan’s Cyan Dragon Style Sword and Halberd Dual Mastery? And you’re coming to me to learn a Long Handle weapon?"

Feng Yin was utterly astonished.

"Ah?" Xiao Yu, standing to the side, blurted out in amazement. "Master knows how to use a halberd?" She looked at Xie Yanran and Huo Ming. "Senior Sister, Senior Brother, did you know about this?"

The two exchanged a glance and nodded slightly.

"In his early years, I did see Master practicing with it often," Xie Yanran said, "but I’ve never seen him use it against an enemy."

Bai Canglan scoffed.

"Tch, when roaming the martial world, carrying a long halberd naturally isn’t as convenient as wearing a sword at one’s waist.

"Besides, with that bastard’s level of Martial Arts, whether he uses a sword or a halberd has almost no impact on his combat strength. Naturally, he does whatever is most convenient."

Bai Canglan’s gaze suddenly flickered, letting out an eerie chuckle that transitioned into a hearty laugh.

"If that bastard won’t teach you, I will. I also understand the basics of the Cyan Dragon Style Halberd Technique. I’ll just snatch his disciple from right under his nose to make him suffer.

"It just so happens that I’ll be staying here for a while. You can just come straight to me to learn."

Feng Yin glanced awkwardly at Xie Yanran and Huo Ming, unsure of how to reply. In response, the two shot him a meaningful look and nodded slowly. Feng Yin read the message in their expressions: Junior Martial Uncle Bai is not someone you can afford to offend, just do as she says.

Thus, he nodded. "Alright, Junior Martial Uncle Bai. Thank you for teaching me."

From the current situation, Master Xie Jingyuan and this martial uncle Bai Canglan had an ambiguous relationship. He guessed that even if he learned from Bai Canglan, Xie Jingyuan wouldn’t have any objections.

He thought, "Then it would be a waste not to learn it!"

***