Yan Yi had planned to hold back against Juben while testing his own power control. He’d initially blocked Juben’s attacks to gauge their strength.

After parrying a few strikes, he noticed something odd. Juben’s first few sword swings were ordinary, but gradually, his attacks came slightly earlier, angles growing unnaturally sharp. Yan Yi found himself only able to block—no time to counterstrike.

This shift surprised Yan Yi. Clearly, this boy wasn’t some sheltered flower. He’d likely survived countless life-or-death crises. The bloodthirsty aura clinging to his blade? Probably earned through his own battles.

*Impressive.*

Yan Yi mused inwardly: *If my physique weren’t so abnormal, at his age I might not be much stronger than him.*

As Juben’s sword speed increased, Yan Yi chose simplicity. When blade met scabbard, the instant Juben retracted his sword, Yan Yi’s rear foot exploded forward. Scabbard pinned against Juben’s blade, closing the distance to half a meter. No room left for Juben to wind up a swing!

Yan Yi’s idle right fist shot out.

*You dare pressure me head-on? Fine. I’ll crush you head-on.*

Before the punch fully landed, Juben’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. His left hand flickered—a fist-sized, translucent emerald orb materialized between them, thrumming with potent mana.

“Vacuum Orb!”

Juben’s roar triggered the orb’s detonation. A violent blast of wind hurled both fighters backward.

Luris’s mother instantly activated the training ground’s barrier. Butler Bai shielded the others. The barrier blocked magic, but not the mundane wind gusts.

Yan Yi slammed his great sword into the earth, flipping upright. His boots cracked the ground as he dissipated the force.

Juben lacked such control. His blade skidded deep furrows into the earth. Before he stabilized, Yan Yi charged.

Seeing Yan Yi’s fist clench, Juben calculated: *He attacks in straight lines. I can’t dodge like this!* But why hadn’t Yan Yi punched immediately? *Range limitation?* Juben’s only options: stabilize for close combat… or counterattack now.

Though a peak Class B, Juben’s magic mostly augmented his swordplay. That didn’t mean he lacked other spells.

Ignoring his backward momentum, he yanked his sword free. The fading wind around it surged violently, fracturing into razor-sharp blades.

“Sixfold Wind Blades!”

Off-balance, Juben slashed diagonally. Six wind blades shot forth—each packing mid-tier peak power, far beyond ordinary wind blades.

*Sword aura?*

Yan Yi hesitated. His body instinctively dodged only when attacks nearly hit—a disadvantage against Juben’s speed. To suppress his power, he’d sacrificed that instinct. Still, Juben’s chance of victory remained slim.

Yan Yi glanced at his left hand… *scabbard*. *Damn it, show-off! Should’ve drawn the damn blade from the start!*

“What’s wrong with a scabbard?!”

Yan Yi roared, slashing the scabbard like a dagger. Three sword auras erupted!

*With my current strength, these lack cutting power—pure impact. Three is my limit. But enough to block his.*

“Phantom Step!”

After three auras canceled three wind blades, Yan Yi’s form blurred—splitting into two, then four clones. All accelerated simultaneously. The remaining wind blades sliced through the gaps between them.

Juben activated mana detection—and nearly lost his footing. Zero mana fluctuations ahead. *Yan Yi isn’t in front of me?!*

*Above?!*

He snapped his head up, ignoring the three clones. (Yan Yi’s clones were physical illusions, not magic—but Juben assumed otherwise.) Had he not feared ambush, he’d have realized the clones’ unnatural stillness.

*Why look skyward? A feint?* Yan Yi frowned. *Doesn’t matter!*

His real fist smashed into Juben’s face. Holding back the piercing force, but the impact still rattled bone.

Juben felt like a hammer had struck his skull. Mid-recoil, a second punch lifted him off his feet. His sword tumbled away as he rolled violently across the ground—twenty meters before lying motionless.

Yan Yi stared, bewildered. *This… is almost comical.*

Luris nearly rushed forward when Juben flew—but trusted Yan Yi wouldn’t go too far. Butler Bai urged Luris’s mother to lower the barrier, fearing for Juben. She waved him silent, eyes locked on Juben. *He won’t lose so easily. Not with his promise to Luris.*

Juben’s mind swam in chaos. *Who am I? Where…?* Then searing pain jolted his memories clear—Luris’s final words echoing:

*“If you defeat him… I’ll… agree to date you.”*

Yan Yi’s voice followed:

*“What she knows… is that I can beat you.”*

Joy and grief tangled. Pain—physical and crushing—weighed his body down.

*Don’t black out!*

Memories flashed: childhood meetings, walking beside Luris, vowing to shield her back… Ten years. Unchanged.

*Stand up! Rejected before? So what? Keep going!*

*Beat him! Even if she refuses again—I’ll find her once more!*

*Get up! I… haven’t lost yet!*

Five seconds after Juben stilled, Yan Yi stepped forward—then froze. Wind swirled around Juben’s body. A miniature tornado formed, sucking in surrounding air.

Luris’s mother and Butler Bai gasped. *Impossible at his rank!* That was an *incantation*—magic beyond high-tier spells!

Yan Yi braced against the gale. The tornado stretched upward. Juben rose slowly, right hand fused with the vortex. He clenched his fist.

The tornado dispersed. A thirty-meter wind-blade materialized in his grip—solid gales coiled around its length, mana so dense the maids outside froze in terror.

“Incantation: Azure Wind Sword!”

Yan Yi eyed the colossal blade, envious. *Magic really is convenient.*

Juben swung without words. The blade’s sheer size and wind pressure warped the air around it. The two elders frantically channeled mana into the barrier.

Luris watched, heart aching—proud yet resigned.

The Azure Wind Sword struck. The earth heaved. The barrier shuddered violently, cracks spiderwebbing across its surface.

Yan Yi landed on a flying debris chunk, stunned. *A mere Class B… achieved this?!* He could replicate it, but Juben’s power alone couldn’t—no technique could bridge that gap. *This… is magic’s might.*

Suddenly, Juben’s sword flew toward Yan Yi’s back. Sensing it, Yan Yi twisted, slamming his scabbard against the blade. He shifted force to disarm Juben—but froze. *No weight behind it. No one there!*

Juben’s lips curled in a faint smile. His form vanished. Just as his mana detection failed against Yan Yi’s clones, Yan Yi couldn’t pierce the wind-refracted illusion hiding Juben’s true position.

The real Juben closed in from behind, the Azure Wind Sword now normal-sized. He swung.

*Got you!*

Yan Yi sensed the ploy and smiled—a genuine flicker of respect.

“Well played. But… too green.”

His left hand gripped the scabbard. His right rested on… the sword hilt.

His left thumb flicked the blade loose. Steel flashed.

In an instant, their positions swapped. Before Juben’s widened eyes could process it—*shiiing*—the sound of a blade sheathed. Then blood erupted from his chest.

Luris’s mother dropped the barrier. She’d seen the final exchange. *He’s unconscious. Needs healing—now!* She blurred beneath them, catching Juben on a glowing disc. Yan Yi landed lightly.

“Incantation: Holy Angel’s Chant!”

Golden light flooded Juben’s body. Wounds sealed before their eyes.

Butler Bai rushed over, but she silenced him with a gesture.

Seeing Juben stable, Yan Yi nodded at the butler. He stepped forward—and vanished before their eyes.

He stopped beside a building, facing the corner.

“As… you wished. He… is not invincible.”

With that, Yan Yi vanished again. At the corner, Luris struggled to suppress the pain in her heart and slowly slid down to sit on the ground...