Medical room, snow-white sheets.
On the sickbed, Leon slept peacefully.
Having just finished checking on her brother, Lei Ying breathed a sigh of relief: "It's only three broken ribs, not a big problem."
Although Lei Ying didn't intend to pursue the matter, Xu Lan couldn't avoid giving her an explanation, as neither the Lei Family nor Three Pure Ones Mountain could be offended.
"Ye Qingzhou, you'd better give me a reasonable explanation!"
"Teacher Xu, you know me well. If not for Leon's strong insistence, I wouldn't have gone all out. He said to give me a move, and I just didn't expect him to be so weak that he couldn't even withstand one of my moves!"
Ye Qingzhou looked aggrievedly; if the match had been normal, Leon might not have lost so miserably.
After all, Ye Qingzhou's Dragon-Shaped Sword Qi Slash is indeed powerful, but it takes over 3 seconds to charge. In an intense match, who would give you 3 seconds to charge up a powerful move?
But Leon, thinking himself invincible, wanted to completely subdue Ye Qingzhou with an overwhelmingly strong posture, and thus trouble occurred.
Upon hearing the whole story, both Xu Lan and Lei Ying were speechless.
Xu Lan pinched her brow and glared at Ye Qingzhou irritably: "I'll deal with you when we get back!"
At this moment, Leon woke up leisurely.
The first thing he said upon opening his eyes was: "Ah, who unleashed that Sword Qi Slash?"
Tried to struggle up, but ended up straining the chest injury, causing him to grimace in pain and yelp.
Lei Ying hurried forward to press him down: "You've been injured, stay still and lie down. Rest well these days and you're not allowed to go anywhere."
"Sis?"
Leon, this eccentric teenager, became obedient upon seeing Lei Ying. This is what they call one thing restraining another; after all, he's been rebellious, so he's accustomed to Lei Ying's righteous iron fist since childhood.
Turning his head, Leon saw Ye Qingzhou walking towards him.
"Leon classmate..."
"Oh shoot, don't come over here!"
The memory of the sword strike before he fainted flashed through Leon's mind. This was the first time he had been so close to death, clearly still shaken.
Ye Qingzhou, intending to approach and greet him amicably, shrugged helplessly upon seeing this, and then left the medical room with Xu Lan.
Seeing the Great Demon King Ye Qingzhou leave, Leon exhaled a sigh of relief, only to feel the stabbing pain from the injury again. He looked at Lei Ying plaintively: "Sis, why didn't you tell me there's such a top-notch expert in the Swordsmanship Club?"
Seeing her brother so useless, Lei Ying was also annoyed and grumbled: "I haven't addressed you yet; did you slack off and sneak away on the mountain? How else could you fail to withstand even one sword from Ye Qingzhou?"
Upon hearing this, Leon pulled a long face: "Sis! That was a Sword Qi Slash! Even a Professional Level Martial Artist can't necessarily take it head-on unscathed, let alone me?"
After saying this, his tone shifted, somewhat proud: "You should know your brother is an unrivaled genius. If I hadn't accidentally broken master's favorite Profound Light Treasure Mirror, he wouldn't have had the heart to kick me off the mountain."
"What? You smashed master's Profound Light Treasure Mirror?"
Lei Ying became even angrier upon hearing this.
"No, sis, listen to my explanation..."
"There's nothing to explain. I think you're asking for trouble, need a lesson."
"Ah, ouch! Sis, let's talk nicely. I'm a patient now... no! Don't hit the face!"
In the medical room, the siblings were intensely communicating, and the occasional cries of agony scared away several students seeking Teacher Da Lei for treatment.
......
Fighting Center, Swordsmanship Club.
Returning, Ye Qingzhou saw most people had left, feeling puzzled: "Where is everyone? Where did they go? Wasn't there supposed to be a seat battle? I haven't started yet."
Xu Yuebing approached with a complex expression: "It's already over."
"Huh? Over? When?"
"Just now."
"Did you stage it when I wasn't here?"
Xu Yuebing gave Ye Qingzhou a big glare: "Stage your head, for this seat battle, you're first seat, I'm second seat, and Senior Lu Yifan is badly injured, expected to rest for maybe three to four days, temporarily third."
Ye Qingzhou then relaxed: "That's good, I thought you were playing dirty because you couldn't beat me."
"Who'd covet your stuff!"
Xu Yuebing stomped her foot angrily; every conversation with Ye Qingzhou made her quite mad.
But remembering Ye Qingzhou's stunning defeat of Leon with that breathtaking sword, she couldn't help but ask: "You've already learned Sword Qi Slash?"
"Consider it learned, but not very practical in a ring fight."
Ye Qingzhou felt there was nothing to hide, so opted to speak truthfully.
The Dragon-Shaped Sword Qi Slash has enormous power but charging for three seconds is its greatest flaw. In real fights, no one would stand still for those three seconds, allowing a hit.
Oh, unless you're someone as clueless as Leon.
Even so, Xu Yuebing found it unbelievable: "You haven't advanced to Professional Martial Artist yet, but have already mastered such a Mid-Tier Martial Technique like Sword Qi Slash?"
In the Martial Arts world of Blue Star, Martial Arts Apprentices can typically only master Initial Tier Martial Techniques, like the Basic Six Techniques of the Six Military Techniques—Wind, Fire, Mountain, Forest, Yin, Thunder—which are Initial Tier Martial Techniques, also known as Low Tier Martial Techniques.
Above Initial Tier Martial Techniques are Mid-Tier and High-Tier Martial Techniques, corresponding to Professional Level and Master Level ranks.
Compared to Initial Tier Martial Techniques, Mid-Tier Martial Techniques and High-Tier Martial Techniques pack much more power.
For example, except for a few techniques officially announced and widely promoted, Mid-Tier Martial Techniques of this grade mostly belong to schools' secret teachings.
Mid-Tier Martial Techniques are fortified from foundational Martial Arts stances, with formidable power, so typically only Professional Level Martial Artists can master them, and their damage can rival firearms.
The power of High-Tier Martial Techniques even surpasses Mid-Tier Martial Techniques. Besides techniques developed officially by the Dongji Kingdom, High-Tier Martial Techniques remain supreme skills within large Martial Arts schools.
By "supreme skills," it implies only core disciples of these schools can learn them, absolutely non-transferable.
Be aware, High-Tier Martial Techniques are exceedingly advanced Martial Arts skills with tactical-level striking effects on the battlefield, capable of rivaling artillery, often decisive in local battle outcomes.
Seeing Xu Yuebing's apparent interest in his sword skills, Ye Qingzhou, short on funds for training, smiled enthusiastically: "Want to learn? I can teach you."
Xu Yuebing was quite surprised; a secret Martial Technique as potent as the Dragon-shaped Sword Qi Slash, and Ye Qingzhou was willing to pass it on?
"Are you really willing to teach?"
"Of course, it'll cost you One Thousand Gold, guaranteed mastery."
"..."