Chapter 214: Martial Performance

Dust filled the sky, and amidst the swirling dust, two knights in heavy armor were fighting fiercely.

Around one of them, all the scenery became faintly blurred.

Wherever he walked, grass and shrubs were all shattered into fragments by an invisible force, and the surface of the soil was shaken loose, churning constantly as if it were boiling liquid.

The tall trees were left with only bare trunks, as their leaves and branches had also been shaken to dust.

The reinforced Greatsword in his hand seemed to tear the sky and earth apart with every swing; its momentum and power were shockingly amazing.

The other man was much calmer; he was like a willow branch in the wind, dancing with the breeze, and like a floating boat on the sea, riding the waves, completely merging with the surrounding environment, including his opponent’s attacks.

However, those astonishing attacks could never get within a foot of him, just like the Pillar Mountain standing in the rapid currents of the Yellow River—let the winds come from all directions, he remained steadfast and unmoving.

Then, every sword counterattack of his, which seemed plain and unremarkable, forced the man opposite to scramble to dodge.

In the entire Bolerum Territory, the only one who could use his moves so freely and flawlessly was Sir Val.

The other man was the older generation’s Sir Chris, the father of the current Sir Chris in the territory.

This old man could be considered the second strongest among the knights of the previous generation in the territory.

As for the first place! Of course, it always hung on the head of the Val Family.

However, if they, father and son, were to demonstrate in front of everyone, it would feel a bit weird somehow.

Moreover, the place where the two were fighting now was not the martial arts arena in the city, but beside a small woods outside the city at the Manor.

Sir Val waved his hand to Old Chris, and then took a step forward.

If it were a clash between masters, the moment that decided life and death, victory and defeat, was often just a single step.

George, Hiren, and a group of other friends watching from the side probably couldn’t detect any difference yet.

Even George and the others, who were not directly involved, suddenly had a feeling completely different from just before.

They only felt that their entire bodies, every part, were shrouded by the cold air emanating from Old Chris.

Any part could become a target for attack—this was a fierce aura that only a warrior who had experienced many battles could emit.

Even across a not-so-short distance, bearing only the aftermath of the clash, it was still soul-snatching.

Even the Dragon’s Dread of a Dragon would be hard-pressed to achieve the effect before their eyes.

On the battlefield, just this aura alone would be enough to make the enemy commander flustered for a good while.

Facing such suppression of aura, George could not help but feel a sense of powerlessness in his heart.

It seemed that what was opposite him was not a person, but thousands of troops and horses galloping forward with murderous intent.

This powerful aura was not quite the same as the Spirit Light triggered by internal force; it was a frightening power formed by the natural combination of state of mind, one’s own ability, and the surrounding environment.

Purely physical momentum probably wouldn’t have caused such a psychological burden on George and the others.

But at this moment, Old Chris had turned himself into an organic part of nature.

The wind blowing in their faces and the rain falling could both trigger an earth-shattering attack.

One could defend when facing a person, but how could one defend against the whole of nature?

Perhaps some would question whether the Dragon’s Dread of a Dragon was really inferior to Old Chris?

Not counting the three that attacked Poitou City, even among the White Dragons George had encountered in Brandenburg, there were Legendary Powerhouses of the Silver Rank.

Yet this middle-aged man before him, who had appeared quite kind when they met in the past, was only of the Bronze Rank.

That was because the Dragon’s Dread was a natural ability they possessed; it did not need to be learned and naturally strengthened as they grew.

Precisely because for Dragons, this was something as simple and natural as breathing.

But who would be idle enough to practice controlling their own breathing?

Therefore, in most cases, this spontaneous passive ability was often inferior to the active skill Old Chris had honed through training and insight.

Do not think that all innate abilities are stronger than post-natal training; this is not the classical primordial world of Tianchao.

Do you think iron ore is stronger than refined steel ingots?

Only after a thousand trials and constant insight can an ability be truly sublimated.

Of course, there were Dragons who were good at Dragon’s Dread—the most famous being the Dragon of Eternity.

Sweat poured down the foreheads of George and the others watching from the side.

On the contrary, Sir Val, who was right in the middle of it and the direct target of this ability, felt as if a spring breeze was blowing against his face.

If one said that Old Chris had just made his mind resonate with the surrounding natural environment.

Temporarily borrowing the power of heaven and earth for his own use.

Then Sir Val seemed to have merged himself into this world.

The difference in strength between the two was immediately clear.

Even those who did not know of his past achievements should understand that Sir Val, who could become one with heaven and earth, indeed possessed the strength to compete with the vast majority of Dragons.

It could be said that facing the opponent’s earth-shattering offensive, Sir Val did not deliberately make any defensive moves.

He had a very objective understanding of himself.

Just standing there casually, every part of his body was a flaw, and every flaw was bait.

But Old Chris just could not find a position to attack; he had a feeling that no matter which direction he attacked from, he would be torn to pieces before touching Sir Val’s body.

A flawless opening did not have practical significance; where was the real flaw?

Facing Sir Val, who was wide open from head to toe, Old Chris thought hard.

He understood that as long as the confrontation of aura relaxed slightly, he would immediately face a storm-like attack.

Of course, the battle could not remain in such a stalemate.

Sir Val could stand here easily for half a day, thereby achieving the goal of delaying time and consuming the opponent’s energy.

But Old Chris could not afford to just waste time with Sir Val like this?

Because from any perspective, the longer he dragged it out, the more obvious his disadvantage would become.

‘Since I can’t attack, then I’ll make you attack!’ With this plan in mind, Old Chris steeled himself, and his originally surging aura retreated back into his still-peak body like moths diving into a fire.

Then he stepped back half a step with his right foot.

Since he could not attack, he would lure Sir Val into attacking first.

The opponent had no flaws while standing, but would he be equally perfect while attacking?

This was a thought that quite a few people would have!

An arc of white light flashed before everyone’s eyes, a perfect curve without a trace of smoke or fire.

Neither fast nor slow, neither dragging nor hesitant, it was as if it should have appeared right there.

Compared to it, the rainbow on the horizon lacked a bit of sorrowful beauty, and the morning or evening glow lacked that imposing manner.

No matter how great a person’s ability was, they could never contend with the whole of nature; the insignificance of the individual seemed to be fully revealed at this moment.

Even as a bystander, George understood that no matter how fast his speed or how agile his steps were, he could not avoid this pull of death like a white ribbon—heaven and earth seemed to lose their color at this moment because of its existence.

Just when George thought Old Chris might be helpless, the white ribbon cutting through the sky revealed wisps of killing intent, a killing intent that was incompatible with the power of nature.

Sir Val still revealed a fatal flaw before succeeding.

Old Chris seized this fleeting opportunity, bent one knee as if in a lunge stance, and at the same time blocked the white ribbon with his Longsword held horizontally.

In this dead end, he fought for a slim chance of survival.

Having achieved his goal, Sir Val finally breathed a sigh of relief, and a long-lost relaxed expression spread across his face.

Old Chris’s right hand gripped the hilt as motionlessly as if it were cast in iron, while his left forearm pressed against the spine of the sword.

After blocking Sir Val’s Longsword, a fine scar less than an inch long appeared on the shoulder armor of Old Chris; the iron armor looked as if it had been cut by a high-pressure water jet—the break was flat and smooth.

The distance was too close; even though he successfully stopped Sir Val’s Longsword, and there was no internal force on the blade, the airflow formed by its high-speed breaking through the air still caused damage to the metal plate armor.

“Isolde! You kid really leave me speechless! Did you have to make it so thrilling?

If you hadn’t intentionally revealed a flaw at the end, this old man would have been scared to death.

Next time, I won’t spar with you no matter what; I’m old, and I can’t play heart-pounding games like you young people.

Even now, I feel like I’ve aged several years!” Old Chris stood up and patted his dusty armor, using a unique vibration to make all the dust return to the ground.

Losing is losing, winning is winning, without any sloppiness.

“That flaw at the end wasn’t intentionally revealed by me; it was bound to appear—because that is not my own Dao.

Its prototype was a challenger I met while traveling the Continent,” Sir Val said, raising his voice. “He was a genius who used a Spear, but unfortunately for him, an attack without killing intent and killing aura could not kill the enemy.

As long as he maintained that perfect state during the attack, that spear thrust could only injure people.

But the duty of a warrior is to take the enemy’s life, and human killing desire is fully exposed the moment the spear tip touches the body.

So he saved the only flaw for the last moment, because the vast majority of people would have given up the determination to resist at such a critical juncture.

However, for those with tough minds, as long as they do not give up the chance to resist until the end, there is this slim chance of survival.”

His words were not only spoken to the elder in front of him, but the main purpose was to inform the young people watching from the side.

Seeing the clash end, George was the first to come before the two elders and asked, “Sir Val, is there a way for you to maintain that state before killing the enemy?”

“People always have some desires; although they are suppressed well at first, they will always burst out at a certain moment.

So that challenger kept challenging opponents stronger than himself in order to fix this flaw,” Sir Val said with a tone of regret, looking up to the sky and sighing. “But as long as desire exists, the mind cannot reach perfection, and he will never surpass his current Rank in this life.

As for me, because I didn’t take that path, it was actually quite strenuous for me to imitate it to this extent.

However, if that guy could have a spell like ‘Mechanized Mind’ cast on him, he might really be able to achieve his expected goal!

But in that case, he might not be able to complete the final step relying on his own strength.

Of course, I might also have to lie in bed for a few months to recover from injuries; after all, the other party was also a person with persistence…”

“I say, old man, what happened to that guy who challenged you in the end?” Hiren finally waited for Sir Val to finish speaking and immediately interrupted.

“That’s not clear. Although at the time he was hit by my sword spine until he vomited blood, he was still able to walk back by himself when he left.

I suppose even if there were issues, they shouldn’t be major! It’s just that we haven’t met again since then.

I originally hoped that after he pushed his skills to the peak, the two of us could have another match! But…” As he spoke, Sir Val seemed to be bragging a bit too.

Old Chris suddenly patted Sir Val on the shoulder from behind and said, “Your family really are all monsters.

Fortunately, my grandson is still young, so at least he won’t live in your father’s shadow all year round like I did back then.”

“Let’s see in a few years! Hiren is already a Formal Knight now.

Little Clarence is only four years old now; with a gap of fifteen years back and forth, people rarely compare them.

Even for Craig, the age difference is quite large compared to the other side.

Speaking of which, the main competitor in the Territory is only Abraham from the Ahuatan family, so it looks like the pressure will really be much less!

But if Abraham is a little genius, then…” Sir Val didn’t finish his sentence directly, leaving the rest unsaid.

This really didn’t save any face for Old Chris.

“Your mouth is still as poisonous as ever, but I have a lot of confidence in the little guy! Ah! Ah! Ah!” Old Chris instead let out a burst of hearty laughter.

But soon, Old Chris raised his own question: “I say, Isolde, you dragged me here for a sparring match early this morning, you just wanted me to be a training partner, didn’t you!

My old arms and legs can’t compare with a guy in his prime like you.

And you brought these little ones along, surely not just to see me make a fool of myself!

Of course, if you really want to find a sparring partner, it’s really hard to find one in the Duchy, isn’t it?”

“Of course not! If I wanted a sparring partner, I would go find the Titans living in the Cloud Peak Mountains.

As for these little ones, the purpose of our fight this time was for them?” Saying this, Sir Val turned around and asked George and the others, “Did you feel anything from the battle just now?”

After a buzzing discussion among the crowd, most members looked confused.

Hiren seemed to know something, but he looked like he knew the what but not the why.

Sir Val directly pointed out his purpose: “Alright! To be honest, this martial performance was actually prepared specifically for you, George.

You should have reached the elite level of the Red Iron Rank by now, right?”

“Yes, in the battle a few days ago.

But it seems the realm is not stable yet; it will probably take at least two months of hard training and adjustment to truly get into the state.”

George didn’t intend to hide anything about it, but he had been too busy before, and since no one else asked, he certainly wouldn’t go around telling everyone he had a breakthrough.

Of course, there was another issue; the reason that prompted his breakthrough was the insight regarding the Sword of Military Path generated during the battle.

As described above, only battle is the best aid for the advancement of the Sword of Military Path.

This made George vaguely worried in his heart whether he had really broken through.

Now it seemed he was worrying for nothing; after all, given Sir Val’s experience, he wouldn’t be mistaken.

After sheathing the Longsword in his hand, Sir Val said, “George, the path you took before is very similar to what I just demonstrated.

And in my opinion, you can go further than him.

Because in battle, not only can you control your emotions, but even your desires are well suppressed by reason.

If you can vent or wear it down through reasonable means after the battle, once you become a Formal Knight, you might do even better than I did just now.

The possibility of eventually reaching the end of this path is also very high.”

‘Isn’t this similar to one of the manifestations of the Supreme Indifference? And it seems that as long as a certain stage is reached, one can have the effect Sir Val just predicted!’ George nodded suddenly as he thought of something.

“It seems you understand.

However, letting you know about this kind of thing so early, whether the pros outweigh the cons or the cons outweigh the pros is unclear.

I originally planned to discuss the future path with you after you became a Formal Knight,” Sir Val held his head and continued, “But it seems you have undergone great changes after this advancement, especially in the understanding and application of aura.

Although it is not impossible to walk two paths at the same time, the difficulty might be very great.

How to proceed specifically is something you need to consider carefully.

That is why I dragged Old Chris here for the demonstration.

After all, he also walks the path of aura, so this can give you some intuitive judgment.”

“If it’s George’s business, then why drag us all here so early in the morning!” Green in the group was the first to complain.

“I say, since there is such a high-level contest, of course I hope to see if you little ones can gain any benefits from it.

It seems I overestimated you.” Sir Val showed an expression of ‘I misjudged you’.

The friends were naturally filled with righteous indignation, but unfortunately, each of them dared to be angry but did not dare to speak out.