The Exchange Matches At Goyou Cave

Elder Chiu of Goyou Cave reported to Sect Leader Ruwan Kai that the young ones from Gyorei Cave had arrived. Sect Leader Ruwan had a build one head taller than Elder Chiu, and he had the epithet “Flame Giant.”

“Who led them here?”

“Elder Tsuen and Bowen, sir.”

“Oh. The Taoist practitioner whom Sect Leader Wei of Gyorei Cave recognized as talented and made his direct disciple. So, were there any young Taoist practitioners who looked difficult to deal with?”

“The two young ones carrying broadswords seemed to have the fullest qi.”

“That is strange. When it comes to powerful martial arts in Gyorei Cave, it should be swordsmanship. They did have broadsword martial arts as well, but I believe they were nothing remarkable.”

“Their master must be skilled with the broadsword.”

“There should not have been any elders or high disciples skilled with the broadsword. Well, fine. Can we win?”

“We have Unran.”

Unran was the grandson of Elder Mei, one of the elders of Goyou Cave. Elder Mei, a master of Dragon Fang Dao, had given his grandson Unran an elite education, and when Unran entered Goyou Cave at the age of twelve, he had already become a user of Sharyou Sword, Goyou Cave’s basic sword art.

“Unran is thirteen years old, yes? How far has his qi reached?”

“The Tenth Tier, sir.”

“The Tenth Tier at that age is splendid. But there are two broadsword users.”

“It cannot be helped if one of them loses. However, if Unran shows overwhelming ability, we should be able to show the people of Gyorei Cave that Goyou Cave is clearly superior.”

“I see. If that is the case, it is not bad.”

Sect Leader Ruwan nodded.

From the day after they spent one night in the guest rooms, Haoxuen and the others went around touring Goyou Cave. It was a small island, but there were many things worth seeing. Goyou Cave’s apothecary and Treasure Tool Workshop had structures different from those of Gyorei Cave, and the things they made also seemed slightly different.

After that, they were also guided to scenic places and were able to recover from the fatigue of the journey.

“It seems they will not let us see the ‘Gate to Another Realm,’ the thing I wanted to see most at Goyou Cave.”

Seiran said that regretfully.

“That probably means it is so important that they cannot show it to people from other sects.”

Haoxuen also said that regretfully.

“Tomorrow is the exchange match. Let us sleep early today.”

The next morning, after eating breakfast, Haoxuen and the others headed to Goyou Cave’s training ground. The exchange matches were scheduled to be held there.

“As I told you before, there is no need to worry about victory or defeat in the matches. Just fight in a way that does not lower Gyorei Cave’s reputation.”

Bowen said that to calm the young Taoist practitioners. Haoxuen and Seiran were not especially affected, but the other five seemed nervous.

“Are you and Seiran fine?”

Hongfa asked. In response to that question, Seiran tilted his head.

“What do you mean by fine?”

“We are about to have exchange matches. Of course you would be nervous.”

“I am nervous, but it is not scary compared to training with Senior Brother Kou.”

Hongfa and Meimei tilted their heads.

“Why is training with Senior Brother Kou scary?”

Meimei and Hongfa had also trained with Kou before, but they had never felt it was scary.

“When Senior Brother Kou gets serious, he attacks while giving off overwhelming qi and killing intent. Even knowing that it is training, it feels like my heart is about to stop.”

“Oh, so he is that strict.”

“He said we needed to get used to that sort of thing. That is why I think our minds were trained too.”

“So training like that has that kind of effect. Maybe I should ask Senior Brother Kou too.”

When Hongfa said that, Seiran gave a wry smile.

“It would be better not to. That training is meant for when we fight powerful demonic beasts.”

In other words, if there was no need to fight powerful demonic beasts, it was unnecessary training.

“But it is useful training, right?”

“It is so scary that you think your lifespan has shortened.”

While the two of them were talking, they arrived at the training ground. A great many Taoist practitioners had gathered there, and the young Taoist practitioners of Goyou Cave, their opponents in the exchange matches, were doing something like warm-up exercises.

Seeing that, Haoxuen and the others also began warming up. Once that ended, they chose the weapons they would use in the exchange matches. The weapons prepared for the exchange matches were practice swords and staves.

Haoxuen and Seiran chose long staves, Meimei chose a practice sword, and Hongfa chose a shorter staff.

“Everyone has chosen their weapons. First up will be Yuhan.”

Elder Tsuen informed them. Hearing that, Yuhan stepped out to the center of the training ground with a tense expression. Since Yuhan was learning the Heavy Resonance Sword, he had a practice sword.

Goyou Cave’s first fighter was a tall boy named Ganzuu. He was about the same age as Yuhan and was holding a practice sword. Those two waited with tense expressions for the signal from Elder Chiu, who was serving as referee.

“Who do you think will win?”

Seiran asked Haoxuen. Haoxuen tilted his head after being asked.

“Their qi is about the same, so I do not know.”

Haoxuen had not yet awakened the Lone Awakening Eye, but he had somehow become able to sense qi. If the level of qi was about the same, then it would come down to martial skill, but there did not seem to be that much difference.

“Begin!”

With Elder Chiu’s signal, the exchange match began. Yuhan began attacking with the Heavy Resonance Sword he had only just started learning. It began with Ganzuu defending against it using the Sharyou Sword.

When Yuhan swung the practice sword down diagonally, Ganzuu caught it and pushed him away. This time, Ganzuu began attacking. It was an intense offense and defense that was interesting to watch, but Haoxuen noticed that Bowen was frowning.

“Even though it is a Heavy Resonance Sword, he has forgotten the basics of Floating Yang Qi and Heavy Yin Qi. Disgraceful.”

Haoxuen and Seiran heard Bowen’s murmur.

“But the opponent, Ganzuu, is not using qi well either.”

When Haoxuen said that, Bowen turned his eyes toward him.

“That is why it has become an even more disgraceful fight.”

“Are you saying it is a fight that lowers Gyorei Cave’s reputation?”

Seiran asked.

“That is right. Neither of you should fight like that.”

Because Bowen had said they did not need to worry about victory or defeat, the two of them had thought he was a kind senior brother, but it seemed he was not merely a kind person.