Even without using the power of the Paths, Jingliu still failed to gain the upper hand.
Su Ran's control over his physical abilities had reached an almost absurd level.
Sometimes she genuinely wondered...
Is Su Ran even still human?
His physique was so overwhelmingly powerful that it no longer resembled that of an ordinary flesh-and-blood being.
His strength.
His speed.
His reflexes.
Even his adaptability.
Every one of them surpassed hers.
Under such circumstances, no matter how exquisite her swordsmanship was, it simply wasn't enough.
Jingliu had tried setting several traps.
She had successfully lured Su Ran into them.
Yet almost immediately, he would react, adjust, and evade the killing blow.
If the gap between herself and an Emanator was already this obvious...
Then what kind of gulf separated an Emanator from an Aeon?
Battles between true experts
were decided by the smallest details.
One mistake, and recovering from it became extraordinarily difficult.
Yet Su Ran repeatedly relied on his overwhelming physical abilities to forcefully escape her killing techniques again and again.
The longer they fought, the more frustrating it became.
He was even willing to expend ten times the effort afterward just to compensate for an earlier mistake.
It perfectly made up for his lack of combat experience.
As someone from the Xianzhou,
Jingliu actually felt that Su Ran was even harder to deal with than the Abominations of Abundance she'd fought in the past.
He was practically comparable to one himself.
Even with her exceptional self-control, she couldn't help developing a little irritation.
"Lady Fox Saiguu, what do you think?"
Yae Miko nudged Fox Saiguu with her elbow.
"Our benefactor's strength is already unmatched beneath the heavens."
"What more is there for me to say?"
Fox Saiguu sighed, making it clear she didn't wish to comment.
Yet in the same breath, she praised Su Ran to the skies.
Yae Miko could only stare speechlessly.
Didn't you just give your opinion?
Forget it.
Lady Fox Saiguu was beyond saving.
At this point, her brain consisted of nothing but
"Benefactor."
"Benefactor."
"Benefactor."
"Then what about Lady Chiyo?"
"What's your opinion?"
Having given up on Fox Saiguu,
Yae Miko turned toward Mikoshi Chiyo, whose eyes were practically glowing.
At least Chiyo wasn't quite as hopelessly biased.
"Our benefactor truly is unrivaled beneath the heavens."
"Even Miss Jingliu, whom Ei herself praised so highly, isn't his match."
"I originally thought he was merely a frail scholar."
The more Chiyo watched Su Ran, the more satisfied she became.
The oni race naturally admired strength.
When Su Ran first resurrected her, she had assumed he was merely an exceptionally gifted scholar.
Only afterward did she learn how terrifyingly powerful he truly was.
And now, seeing his martial skill, she discovered he also stood at the pinnacle of swordsmanship.
The more she looked, the more she admired him.
"...You're calling him 'Benefactor' too?"
Yae Miko had always assumed that title belonged exclusively to Fox Saiguu.
"C-Cough..."
"Mr. Su Ran truly has shown me great kindness."
"So calling him 'Benefactor' is perfectly normal, isn't it?"
Chiyo's face immediately flushed red.
At first, that title had been incredibly difficult for her to say.
It wasn't that she couldn't.
According to oni customs, "Benefactor" was perfectly acceptable.
Still...
calling him ("benefactor" in the more formal sense)
would have suited oni traditions better.
felt...
far more intimate.
Just now, she'd been so absorbed in watching Su Ran fight, combined with Fox Saiguu repeatedly saying the word, that she'd unconsciously copied her.
And the worst part—
Yae Miko had actually pointed it out.
Couldn't she have just pretended not to hear it?
Oni were open-hearted, but they weren't shameless.
"Oh, don't be angry."
"I was only asking."
"No need to take it so seriously, Lady Chiyo."
Yae Miko waved her hands innocently.
Getting worked up over a junior would only make an elder seem petty.
She was merely a young fox.
Surely a respected senior wouldn't stoop to her level.
Serval watched the women banter with each other, feeling rather speechless.
The foxes here were much more cunning than the foxians on the Xianzhou.
She could only hope the Boss wouldn't end up getting tricked by them.
"Big Brother is amazing!"
Watching Su Ran fight Jingliu without falling behind, Clara's eyes sparkled with admiration.
Especially after witnessing Ei's earth-shattering slash and Jingliu's moonlike sword strike, both of which seemed capable of destroying the world itself.
Now, seeing Su Ran match Jingliu, he appeared even more incredible in Clara's eyes.
Yet strangely, the more amazing he seemed, the sadder Clara felt.
Perhaps...that simply meant
there was nothing left she could help him with.
This big brother had saved her world.
He had even taken her to explore entirely new ones.
Clara's gratitude toward him was beyond words.
She desperately wanted to do something in return.
Unfortunately...
Su Ran was simply too capable.
She couldn't think of a single thing she might actually be useful for.
The only real skill she possessed was repairing machinery.
But... there weren't any machines around Su Ran that needed fixing.
Which left her with no opportunity to help at all.
All she could do was stand quietly to one side, watching him continue to shine.
Compared to her duel with Ei, Jingliu found fighting Su Ran far less satisfying.
No matter how hard she tried, all she felt was helplessness.
Although they hadn't yet determined a winner, Jingliu understood better than anyone.
It wasn't because she was that strong.
It was simply because
Su Ran wanted to see
how many more hidden techniques she still possessed.
"...Stop testing me."
"I have no more tricks left."
Hearing that,
Su Ran decided to stop probing.
Jingliu leapt into the air, once again unleashing the same breathtaking sword strike that had astonished even Raiden Ei.
Su Ran answered with a slash of his own.
It carried the unmistakable style of Jingliu's swordsmanship, yet was fundamentally different.
It wasn't nearly as dazzling as Jingliu's attack.
Instead...
it perfectly dismantled it.
The moment Jingliu saw that sword, her face darkened.
That strike completely shattered her sword momentum.
If Su Ran hadn't deliberately held back...
the one falling to the ground would likely have been her corpse.
"A genius, you know..."
"...is good at solving all kinds of puzzles."
"Breaking someone's techniques..."
"...is simply another kind of puzzle."
Seeing Jingliu's dark expression,
Su Ran hurriedly tried to comfort her.
"You're actually the first person whose techniques I seriously analyzed and cracked."
"Shouldn't you feel honored?"
"...Then..."
Jingliu tilted her head and looked at him.
"Should I smile for you?"
"Sure."
"But make it a nice smile."
Without hesitation,
Su Ran pulled out his phone, opened the selfie camera, and wrapped an arm around Jingliu's shoulders.
—------------------------------
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