Roadmap to the Boundless Sky-Chapter 90Book 3, : Another Fight

“Not bad.” Jiang Tian clapped by the side.

Strictly speaking, Chen Chuan and Guo Xingzhi had only exchanged one blow, but the entire process had been really exciting. They had fully displayed their strength, speed, and technique.

Jiang Tian could tell that Chen Chuan had created his chance by making use of Guo Xingzhi’s cautious nature.

Guo Xingzhi had just been thinking about testing Chen Chuan’s strength instead of winning with just one attack, but when he saw that Chen Chuan was standing there and not moving, he found the situation strange. Even so, he thought that it wouldn’t be right for him to pull his spear back, so, at the end, he decided to thrust it forward. Yet, once a martial artist’s original intention was disrupted, it would lead to them being unable to generate the proper amount of energy for their attack. Their attack would then not be as fast and strong as they imagined.

Even though the chance of Guo Xingzhi deciding to change his attack was slim to none, the moment he decided to do it, Chen Chuan seized the opportunity.

Still, that was not the end. Guo Xingzhi’s subsequent attack was a pretty great threat. If Chen Chuan hadn’t been able to counter it properly, the tables might have turned against him again.

But Chen Chuan was able to negate that attack cleanly and smoothly, thereby not allowing Guo Xingzhi to turn things around.

The teaching assistant’s views on Chen Chuan had changed as well. He, too, had seen the tricks and strategy involved in this.

Only Liang Xin remained in a foul mood. Both of their fights had ended in one exchange, but the results were completely different. This left him feeling frustrated.

“You learned technique from Lao Zheng, didn’t you?” Jiang Tian asked.

“Yes, I did,” Chen Chuan answered with a nod.

“The way you executed your refined force seemed like his technique. You have completely distinct refined forces for offense and defense, and there was no pause in your movements. He’s taught many students, but none have managed to master his technique at your age, aside from his daughter, that is. Hmm... with your results, I should give you a high mark...”

He trailed off for a moment before grinning. “Would you like to get an even higher mark?”

Chen Chuan turned fully to him.

With his entire being brimming with interest, Jiang Tian asked, “How about a spar, Chen Chuan?”

The teaching assistant whipped his head toward him. What exactly was he doing? A lecturer fighting against a student? Could it even be considered a fight?

Guo Xingzhi and Liang Xin were both shocked, because there really was an incredible difference between lecturers and students. No matter what, there was a whole limit between them.

All the lecturers in the main campus were at the Third Limit. They could instantly end fights with students at a lower limit, so the result was predetermined.

“I looked through your records just now. You can increase your physical abilities and strength by taking medicine, and you’ve killed a Third Limit martial artist before,” Jiang Tian said calmly,

The moment he said this, Guo Xingzhi and Liang Xin became even more shocked. Chen Chuan had killed a Third Limit martial artist? With wide eyes, they turned to stare at him.

The teaching assistant, too, wasn’t expecting this and looked at Chen Chuan in amazement. While he wasn’t the first student to be capable of such a feat, the teaching assistant wasn’t expecting Chen Chuan to have done something like that before. This meant that the fight just now wasn’t enough to gauge his full potential.

“If you want to increase your mark, I’ll let you take medicine. The longer our fight takes, the higher your mark will be. We can keep fighting until you reach the highest mark I can give you,” Jiang Tian continued.

Chen Chuan pondered over it. Getting a higher mark was indeed beneficial. First, he would be given priority in regard to any resources the university offered. Second, he would gain access to a lot of materials he couldn’t read before.

And these were just the obvious benefits. There were plenty of other unseen things, such as the way the government departments and various companies treated the students after they graduated. Their attitudes toward those who scored high and those who scored low were like night and day.

“Since you think that’s okay, I’d like to try,” Chen Chuan said while meeting Jiang Tian’s eyes.

Guo Xingzhi and Liang Xin’s breathing quickened. At the same time, great excitement thrummed in their veins.

“Nice.” Jiang Tian went to the weapons rack and grabbed a thin, long sword that was more of a rapier. With a flick, it let out a shrill swish in the air.

He then grabbed the tip of the rapier, pushed down, and bent the blade. The moment he let go, the blade bounced back and became straight again.

The teaching assistant cautioned grimly, “The examiner has the right to give you a higher mark, yes, but I need to remind you that this sort of rapier has great flexibility. In Mr. Jiang’s hands, it can turn tough and durable or soft and flexible depending on what refined force he uses. It’s fast and destructive. You must be careful.”

Jiang Tian then motioned to the side and said, “What sort of medicine do you need to take? We have everything here, though I’m not sure whether they taste the same as the ones you usually have. I don’t know anything about them, since I’ve never taken any...”

The teaching assistant gave him the stinkeye. He’s not ordering food. Why would pills have any taste?

Chen Chuan went over to take a look. The medicine box had power-boosting medicine and medicine for emergency treatment. After skimming through them, he picked a few and took them in a familiar motion.

He waited for the span of a few breaths before slowly letting go of all his restraints and letting his body return to his post-fusion state.

Jiang Tian raised an eyebrow at that. He could sense that while Chen Chuan seemed no different from before, something about him had changed. The youth was making even him feel threatened.

Just like Jiang Tian, the teaching assistant sensed how Chen Chuan had changed. His expression became a little more serious as he stressed, “Mr. Jiang, Chen Chuan, this is just an exam.”

“I know, I know,” Jiang Tian said in a relaxed fashion while walking forward.

“Chen Chuan, while the main focus of the exam today is technique, without strength and speed as a foundation, all technique is useless.”

Then, with a flourish, he brandished his rapier.

He didn’t seem to have moved very quickly, but Chen Chuan felt as if he couldn’t avoid it. Wary of it turning to the side, he positioned his saber horizontally in front of him and blocked its tip. In an instant, he felt a powerful force charge into him. Even with his current level of strength, he felt as if he couldn’t parry it fully, and he was forced several meters back.

Jiang Tian had only delivered a light thrust, but all his power was centered at the point of contact between their weapons, which showed great efficiency in utilizing his strength.

“Good display of strength there. Even after you took medicine, if your bones and fascia weren’t strong enough, they wouldn’t have been able to sustain that power. Hmm... but fighting like this is so boring...” He raised his voice. “Hongfu, switch the location. Pick... Venue Five. Deduct the hologram resource points from my account.”

The next moment, they were standing in a stone forest full of tall stone pillars of various sizes and stone walls.

Jiang Tian swung his rapier at the stone pillars around him like he was conducting an orchestra. A moment later, two neat cuts appeared on the tall stone pillars next to him, then they started sliding forward slowly and crashed on the ground together. With a loud bang, they broke into several pieces. Dust and dirt flew into the air.

Chen Chuan cast a glance at the stone pillars next to him and pushed against them. They were solid under his touch. He couldn’t tell whether what he saw was real or whether his senses were fooled, but since they felt real, he should treat everything in this venue as if it truly existed.

Jiang Tian strolled over.

Chen Chuan did not back away. With the saber in hand, he walked over as well. Jiang Tian had said that the longer he lasted in the fight against him, the higher his mark would be.

If Chen Chuan accepted these terms, he would be positioning himself as the inferior one between the two of them. Perhaps that was what he should do as a student, but he didn’t want to do that.

As he stared at Jiang Tian, his senses gave him information about the lecturer’s breathing and movement rhythm. Jiang Tian, too, should have been doing the same thing. Perhaps he could see even more things than Chen Chuan could.

Jiang Tian grinned. Suddenly, he moved and arrived before Chen Chuan in a flash, even though he had been more than thirty meters away a moment ago. At the same time, he thrust his rapier forward.

Clang!

Chen Chuan parried it with the Frost King Saber. Neither Guo Xingzhi nor Liang Xin could even see what had happened.

Jiang Tian moved back and instantly widened the distance between them until they were around eighteen meters apart. He praised Chen Chuan, “Not bad.”

Being able to block his thrust wasn’t that impressive. What was impressive was Chen Chuan’s ability to discern that Jiang Tian had used firm force just now. If that were the case, he could fight without holding back too much.

He exercised his wrists before vanishing again. Then, the students heard a series of weapons clashing against each other.

Jiang Tian showed up briefly in all directions while attacking with either slashes or thrusts, yet Chen Chuan was always able to accurately defend against him.

The rapier switched to delivering yielding force, but Chen Chuan was still able to block its tip and stop it from reaching him. The rapier now wasn’t as powerful as before. Instead, it felt light, as if it had no power.

After his training with Mr. Zheng, Chen Chuan was familiar with the changes between firm and yielding forces. The moment their weapons made contact, he didn’t release his refined force, which allowed him to not be baited into the wrong action.

“Good!” Jiang Tian praised him again. This time, his voice came from all directions, as if he were in multiple directions at once. The rapier’s attacks did not stop.

Chen Chuan didn’t just stand still and do nothing. While moving, he tried looking for a terrain that would be beneficial for him. Jiang Tian didn’t just attack quickly, but also kept changing directions, so Chen Chuan was unable to track him down. He had a hard time getting a grasp of where he really was, so he was looking for a place where he could limit Jiang Tian’s movements.

After moving back more than ten steps, he suddenly shifted to the side, right behind a stone wall.

Shing!

The rapier pierced through the stone and appeared in Chen Chuan’s path.

Clang!

He blocked it.

With a swoosh, the rapier disappeared behind the wall before coming at him from another direction.

Chen Chuan kept blocking the thrusts while staying behind the stone wall. The weapons clashed as rapidly as before, not slowing down at all.

Just then, Chen Chuan noticed something going wrong and took a step back.

Whoosh!

He saw a crescent-shaped flash, and the stone wall was cut apart.

Immediately after, a flash as strong as the previous attack came from another direction. After the two crisscrossing slashes, the stone wall was finally unable to hold on and fell apart.

Boom!

A large cloud of dust flew into the air.

With the broken stone wall between them, Chen Chuan met Jiang Tian’s eyes. Their bodies could only be seen vaguely amid the rolling dust clouds.

Mr. Jiang’s attacks are too fast. If I just keep on defending, I’ll never be able to leave the defensive position, so...

Chen Chuan exercised his wrists and swung the Frost King Saber before charging forward. Jiang Tian grinned and leaned forward as well. In an instant, both of them vanished, and the sound of their weapons clashing could be heard.