"Really?"

After a short pause, Zhang Yan responded, a grin spreading across his face in the shadows, "Oh, Junior Brother Yu doesn't seem to be my type at all."

His smile held no real joy of finding a kindred spirit. Instead, it felt more like a perfunctory task. He wasn't a fool. When Yu Ci initiated the conversation with the topic of "gambling," he could guess his intent:

Young people, they can hardly keep their impatience at bay. The strategy of overcoming the strong by the weak was appropriate here, but it was necessary to control the heat well.

The more he understood Yu Ci's thoughts, the less interested he became. According to the lost bet a few days ago, he should cooperate well now. Otherwise, even a fool could see the trick when they started fighting! But faced with a topic that had been overused for decades, Zhang Yan simply couldn't muster the energy. After a few noncommittal grunts, he waved his hand and said:

"The lesson of the past is here, Junior Brother, you'd better be cautious."

Next, he should be trying to appeal to my interests, hmm, should I show a bit more enthusiasm to prevent the young fellow from overreaching and making a mess?

Zhang Yan was still pondering, but Yu Ci's response was somewhat unexpected, "I want Senior Brother Zhang to know that I am well aware of the harm of gambling, which is no different from Senior Brother Zhang."

If he had said anything else, it would have been fine, but Yu Ci's "no difference" clearly indicated that he had seen through his thoughts. Being treated this way by a young man decades younger than him, even the good-tempered Zhang Yan felt a bit humiliated. Of course, the more important reason might be: he knew that Yu Ci was not just talking big!

Regardless, Zhang Yan had his response ready. In the shadows, he raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "You know what I'm thinking?"

Yu Ci responded with a cunning but sharp answer, "I think, Senior Brother Zhang is a very smart person."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a blush spread across Yu Ci's face. Zhang Yan's eyes flashed like a sword, sweeping across his face before fading. This probably meant that Zhang Yan had accepted his offense, and Yu Ci naturally continued,

"Although I know the harm, my gambling nature is something I can't get rid of. If I did, I would probably lose my life."

"Oh, is it that serious?"

Zhang Yan responded, but felt somewhat disappointed inside. He thought it would be some impressive rhetoric, but it turned out to be just a scare tactic, a common trick of the trade! He turned his head to look at the sky, estimating that it would be more than half an hour before the appointed time, and he let out a groan.

Yu Ci, however, seemed oblivious and just nodded, laughing, "Yes, yes, others can't quit gambling because they can't get away from the thrill, but my life depends on it. Uh, what about Senior Brother Zhang?"

His question was met with an awkward silence.

Yu Ci didn't mind, waited for a few breaths, and when Zhang Yan didn't answer, he went on, "Does Senior Brother Zhang know what I gamble on most often?"

Why should I care what you gamble on?

Zhang Yan was in a bad mood due to the young man's series of self-proclaimed clever actions and had no desire to entertain him. He was thinking about closing his eyes and pretending to sleep when suddenly he felt a chill. When he opened his eyes, a cold light tore through the darkness, aiming straight for his head!

Damn it!

Zhang Yan almost cursed out loud, but similar phrases had already been repeated hundreds of times in his heart. He never expected that this kid would turn on him so suddenly!

The two were merely four or five feet apart. Yet, the suddenness of the sword strike, devoid of any warning, was startling. Halfway through the sword's arc, the blade seemed to vanish, replaced by a spectral glow. In the darkness, it was as if the moonlight from beyond the cliff could permeate the sword, creating an illusory, bewildering sight that made it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion.

Zhang Yan had to admit, for someone of Yu Ci’s age and level, his swordsmanship was truly at an astonishing level. At a glance, he could see that Yu Ci was practicing a kind of Sword Way that blurred reality, creating an illusion with his Sword Energy. If not for the delicately distributed Sword Energy, how could it reflect the moonlight, appearing as luminescent as glazed glass?

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Yet, precisely because of this, Zhang Yan suddenly found himself facing an extremely awkward dilemma:

Should he counterattack?

If he were to judge purely by reason, he was ninety-nine percent certain that Yu Ci wouldn’t be foolish enough to fall out with him over a bet. He was even more convinced that this was some sort of psychological tactic. He believed that Yu Ci’s sword would stop at the very last moment, leading to some sort of excuse.

If he truly wanted to end this once and for all, the best course of action would be to do nothing and force Yu Ci to back off with his indifference. He imagined that Yu Ci would have no face to persist.

A series of thoughts flickered through his mind like lightning. As the Sword Energy approached, his conclusion became increasingly certain.

That is until he saw the icy glint in Yu Ci’s eyes!

"Damn it!" With a roar from the depths of his heart, a rainbow light spread from the shadow of the cliff wall, momentarily overpowering Yu Ci’s moonlit sword mist.

Despite the grandeur of the moment, Zhang Yan felt a sense of frustration. He couldn’t help but retaliate, for at the crucial moment when the sword light was about to strike, he was still intimidated by Yu Ci’s Sword Intent, unable to resist his instinct for self-preservation.

However, once he had truly initiated his sword move, Zhang Yan felt relieved about his decision. The almost microscopic Sword Energy on Yu Ci’s sword was piercing and bone-chilling, making his scalp tingle. There was no sign of holding back.

Despite being only at the Nature-Connecting realm, this sword move had the aura of the Golden Elixir stage!

As the sword rainbow and sword mist clashed, Zhang Yan’s position remained unchanged. However, Yu Ci, whose Cultivation Level was one stage lower, couldn’t sit still. He sprung up, but instead of retreating as Zhang Yan had expected, he charged towards the spreading sword rainbow without a word, going straight from the Central Palace!

Didn't this kid know when to stop? Zhang Yan was initially angry, but the sword light rushing straight at him cut off his thoughts.

The humming of the Sword Energy reverberated back and forth in the relatively narrow shadow of the cliff wall. The released Sword Energy filled the area, even tearing open the iron-like rocks.

One sword, two swords, three swords, four swords... Zhang Yan only counted to the fourth sword before he had no more opportunity to be distracted! Yu Ci’s sword had completely vanished, leaving only the unrivaled Sword Energy, moving freely in the void.

Zhang Yan didn't have, or rather didn't have time to use his "Piercing Sun Flying Rainbow" special technique. He could only use his relatively weaker close combat sword technique to fend off Yu Ci's storm-like onslaught. At the same time, he could no longer limit the sword fight to the shadow of the cliff wall. Both of them leaped and flew, like two flying monkeys, running back and forth on Touching Sky Peak. In a blink of an eye, they had already made a big circle.

The intensity of the fight had long since attracted the attention of various figures on the peak, and more than a dozen people had followed halfway up to watch from the periphery. Zhang Yan, however, could not afford to care about these spectators. His mind was completely occupied by an almost unbelievable fact.

From the beginning of the swordplay till now, Yu Ci had not once defended!

Zhang Yan was certainly not in a situation where he could only parry and had no power to counterattack. In fact, during this round of swordplay, he had launched counterattacks more than once. There were at least thirty opportunities where he could have posed a lethal threat to Yu Ci, yet Yu Ci treated these threats as if they were nothing, not even blinking an eye, and continued his relentless onslaught, forcing Zhang Yan to withdraw his sword and defend.

"Cowardly tactics!" someone from the periphery remarked.

A coward? Zhang Yan didn't think so!

He indeed had control over the situation, ensuring that it would not lead to a bloody catastrophe. But under this premise, the intensity of his more than thirty counterattacks had increased with each strike. Towards the end, he became more and more aggressive, with seven or eight consecutive strikes radiating rainbow light, their force shaking the cliff wall, as if they had the power to shake a mountain.

Despite this, Yu Ci's sword light still broke through, the aura he emitted dictated the momentum of the swordplay. His cold and ruthless demeanor remained unshaken from beginning to end, demonstrating a true advance without retreat! But what was even more crucial was that during the exchange and transformation of the aura of their swordplay, Zhang Yan had a feeling:

Was he a bit slow?

As the swordplay progressed, and as his counterattacks became increasingly fierce, this feeling became clearer and clearer. The scene might deceive people, but the aura would not. Zhang Yan could clearly feel that the young man opposite him was very invested in the swordplay. His posture was upright, his advances and retreats were methodical, and he advanced without retreating for a reason, not just a so-called "cowardly tactic."

He began to understand what Yu Ci meant by "bet."

Wasn't this a bet? Using his own life as a stake, betting that his Sword Energy would always be a step faster, betting that he could kill the enemy first. If he won the bet, everything would be fine. If he lost, he would lose his life!

Up to now, every stroke of Yu Ci's sword was a bet, without exception!

Just as Yu Ci launched another attack, Zhang Yan suddenly felt an impulse to ignore Yu Ci's swordplay and launch a deadly strike. At the same time, his mind focused like never before, staring intently at Yu Ci's reaction.

The sword light was like a rainbow, leaving a clear trail in the night sky.

Their figures crossed, and with a "boom", Zhang Yan's Protective True Evil was fully activated. The resulting impact was more than Yu Ci could withstand, and he was blown several meters away, crashing into the cliff wall, ending his round of relentless attacks.

He then turned around and faced Zhang Yan, who was expressionless. They stood about ten meters apart, neither of them intending to make another move.

Zhang Yan sheathed his sword first, still staring at Yu Ci, "So this is your favored method of betting?"

Yu Ci nodded and smiled, "It's the only trick I know. I hope Senior Brother Zhang appreciates it."

Zhang Yan reached out to touch his collar and shook his head, "What appreciation? Today's bet is about this, right? I lost!"

...