Chapter 128: Lu Bichuan vs Li Heng

Chapter 128: Chapter 128: Lu Bichuan vs Li Heng

Lu Shengming didn’t know if he was the coolest kid on the block, but he was definitely interested in hearing that Li Heng wanted to spar with someone and show off his skills.

In fact, his interest was far greater than that of any other student on deck.

Lu Shengming knew Li Heng was powerful. He was now a Soul Warrior and even had an Ice Simurgh Bird. However, Lu Shengming had never actually seen Li Heng in a proper fight, so his curiosity was piqued.

His curiosity was so high, in fact, that he couldn’t help but step forward to participate in this "spar" between Lu Bichuan and Li Heng, volunteering to act as the referee.

The venue for the spar was, of course, the training ground on the Flying Boat.

"Considering the limitations of the Flying Boat’s grounds, for this spar, please try to refrain from using Soul Pets. Do either of you have any objections?"

Both Lu Bichuan and Li Heng said they had no objections.

The students who had previously seen Li Heng summon his Ice Simurgh Bird showed a flash of disappointment upon hearing that Soul Pets were not allowed.

They had really wanted to see the majestic Ice Simurgh Bird’s magnificent form in battle.

After all, they rarely had the chance to encounter Tier Two Soul Beasts, let alone one that was among the best of its kind.

But on second thought, the students realized it wasn’t really appropriate for a Tier Two Ice Simurgh Bird to fight here. The area was limited, and what if they were caught in the crossfire of its attacks?

’Besides...’ the students from Maple City thought, ’could this Lu Bichuan from Gongtong City even withstand a single round of attacks from an Ice Simurgh Bird?’

But it was fine even without any Soul Pets. Getting to see Li Heng, the 4,000-point monster, in action would be pretty great too.

After all, none of them had ever seen their city’s top scorer fight before.

Seeing that neither had any objections, the corners of Lu Shengming’s mouth turned up slightly as he added to the rules.

"This is just a spar, so stop before any serious harm is done! While you should display your strength, you cannot maliciously attack vital points. The spar ends when either party puts away or sheathes their weapon. It also ends if either party concedes."

Lu Shengming raised his right hand, signaling for them to get ready.

At the same time, Lu Shengming thought to himself, ’It’s a bit unfair since I haven’t announced Li Heng’s cultivation realm. But this Lu Bichuan should be the strongest student from Gongtong City applying to Meteor University, right? He should be able to last at least a dozen rounds against Li Heng, shouldn’t he?’

In reality, Lu Shengming believed this spar held no suspense whatsoever. As a Soul Warrior who was also evaluated as a Future Sword Dao Grandmaster, Li Heng was 100% guaranteed to win.

Lu Shengming was just using this opportunity to get a good look at Li Heng’s Swordsmanship and see what level he had reached, since he had never actually seen him fight.

In stark contrast to Lu Shengming’s thoughts, the students from Gongtong City, including Qian Yun, believed that Lu Bichuan was someone aiming to charge into the Celestial Rankings.

Moreover, Lu Bichuan’s blade techniques were considered the best among his peers in Gongtong City.

Although Li Heng had achieved an outrageous score of 4,000 points, he was still a stranger to them. Therefore, compared to the unknown Li Heng, the students from Gongtong City were more optimistic about Lu Bichuan. Besides, a score of 2,100 was pretty outrageous in its own right!

But regardless of whether they were from Maple City or Gongtong City, no one dared to speak out of turn. They all watched the two in the training ground in silence.

"Student Li Heng, my preferred weapon is a long blade. The blade techniques I’ve been practicing lately are all imbued with an attribute, so... you’d better be careful!"

As Lu Bichuan spoke, he drew a long blade with black patterns from thin air. The hilt seemed to be shaped like a tree.

Name: Black Leaf Blade

Category: Soul Energy Equipment

Rarity: Rare

Effects:

1. Wearer’s Strength +3, Agility +3, Spirit -1.

2. When used with Wood-attribute Soul Energy Skills, wielder’s Strength +3.

3. In an environment rich with the Wood attribute, Strength +3, Agility +3.

’It can stack?’

Li Heng saw his opponent’s Soul Energy Equipment and realized the Black Leaf Blade was a good piece of gear. Furthermore, there was a good chance Lu Bichuan used Wood-attribute Soul Energy Skills.

Li Heng guessed that Lu Bichuan probably wasn’t a Soul Warrior, so he based his calculations on the maximum stats of a Soul Disciple.

No!

’I’d better calculate everything using the highest possible stats!’

’19 points of base Strength, +3 from the Black Leaf Blade itself, another +3 from an active Wood-attribute Soul Energy Skill... This Flying Boat is made of wood, so that should count as a Wood-attribute-rich environment, which means another +3.’

’A total of 31 Strength!’

’I’ll calculate his Agility in a similar way... at most, it would be around 30.’

Li Heng did a rough comparison. His own buffed stats of 45 Strength and 46 Agility were far superior. It was basically a complete statistical domination, so this wouldn’t be much of a problem.

After making a quick assessment and feeling confident, Li Heng spoke.

"You be careful too, Student Lu. My preferred weapon is a longsword!"

A... a longsword?!

When Li Heng announced that his preferred weapon was a longsword, everyone except for Bai Shasha and Lu Shengming was stunned for a moment.

As for Li Heng’s opponent, Lu Bichuan looked as if he had seen a ghost. He even lowered the hand holding his Black Leaf Blade slightly and couldn’t help but ask directly, "Stu... Student Li Heng, your weapon... isn’t it throwing knives?"

"Nope! I only recently started practicing with throwing knives, just for fun. I learned the longsword during my compulsory education."

As Li Heng explained, he drew the Empty Cicada Longsword from his medium-sized Space Stone.

Even though his stats were overwhelmingly superior, Li Heng had no intention of using his throwing knives.

’Are you kidding me?’ he thought. ’If I use throwing knives against Lu Bichuan, the consequences would be severe regardless of whether I hit or miss.’

’If I miss, I’ll lose face. But if fate decides I get lucky and one of them hits, Lu Bichuan would probably be a goner.’

’With a longsword, however, I’m confident I can control my strength. It shouldn’t get bloody.’

"Student Bai Shasha... this Student Li Heng, is his preferred weapon really a longsword?"

Chen Bingjing was also surprised. She had seen the five throwing knives Li Heng always carried and assumed he was a hidden-weapon expert. She never expected him to use a longsword, so she couldn’t help but ask Bai Shasha.

Bai Shasha nodded and replied softly, "It’s not just what he’s good at. Li Heng’s Swordsmanship is very strong!"

Bai Shasha’s most recent memory of Li Heng’s Swordsmanship was still the moment he had instantly killed the Frost Spider with a single strike.

Although she could also kill a Frost Spider now, she knew she couldn’t do it to the same degree as Li Heng. Moreover, he had done it in a single strike, meaning he hadn’t even used his full strength.

Therefore, Bai Shasha knew that Li Heng’s Swordsmanship had to be even more formidable than she realized!

As Li Heng drew his Empty Cicada Longsword, Lu Shengming’s gaze sharpened. From that single motion of drawing the sword, he could already tell a lot.

The moment Li Heng gripped the longsword, Lu Shengming felt the aura around him change.

’And... this aura... I feel like I’ve sensed it somewhere before, but I just can’t recall where. Still, there’s no doubt about it—Li Heng’s swordsmanship is not to be underestimated!’

He then swung down the hand he had raised earlier. "The spar... begins!"