One of Ling Uyong's eyebrows couldn't help but twitch a few times when she heard Huang Ying's demand and what he called her, but she didn't pursue it. Her gaze drifted down to the case that Huang Ying had placed on the ground, pointing at it with her two-headed spear.
"You're not gonna use your spear? Are you that confident that your gloves will be able to block me?"
She tapped one of her spearheads against the paved ground as she spoke, the heavy clanking sound showing just how heavy her weapon actually was. Evidently, she was actually somewhat worried that Huang Ying would hurt himself if he tried to block her with just the gloves. Of course, as she had already reached the 8th Mortal Step while Huang Ying only seemed to be at the 6th Mortal Step, her worry was well-founded.
The gap between the ranks in the early stages of cultivation wasn't too large, but a gap was still a gap. Huang Ying gave a serious nod of his head, once again cracking his knuckles while also rolling his head so that his neck produced a few cracking sounds.
"I don't have to be a genius to understand that you have far more experience with me when it comes to spear weapons, using the spear against you is like asking to lose. And besides, my objective is to steal your scarf, a spear isn't exactly well-suited for that."
Even with all the memories he had devoured, Huang Ying wasn't confident in using his spear against someone else who practiced using the spear. They would be able to take excellent advantage of any slight mistake he might make, prying open even the smallest hole he might create due to his lack of experience. Ling Uyong nodded her head after receiving Huang Ying's response, grasping her two-headed spear with both arms and taking on a slightly crouched stance as the corners of her lips rose up somewhat.
"Get ready, future Junior Brother, here I come."
Ling Uyong kicked off the ground the moment her words finished dashing forward and almost instantly arriving nearly right in front of Huang Ying. She stopped her charge when she was one step away from him, heavily stomping the ground and stabbing out with her spear, the tip cutting through the air as it headed for Huang Ying's head.
Huang Ying quickly raised his right arm and used the back of his hand to tap the spear just below the spearhead. The moment he made contact with the spear, he realized that he had still underestimated how heavy it was, he needed to use quite a bit of effort to push it to the side so that it slid past his head.
Huang Ying stepped forward and closed the distance between them at the same time as he pushed the spear away, his left arm quickly stretching out to snatch Ling Uyong's scarf. She was quick to react when Huang Ying retaliated, her left hand letting go of the spear and smashing sideways into Huang Ying's hand to knock it away.
Huang Ying's eyes narrowed slightly, his right hand suddenly sliding down the handle of the spear so that he could reach for the scarf. Ling Uyong was once again quick to react, a light clacking sound releasing from the spear as it split apart at the middle and turned into two blades. Huang Ying's hand became unable to slide further down, Ling Uyong smoothly spinning the blade that her right hand was still holding onto, the sharp edge swinging upwards towards Huang Ying's right hand.
Huang Ying quickly withdrew and lowered his right arm, grabbing onto the handle of the other blade that had started to fall to the ground after the spear split in two. His veins bulged slightly as he grabbed onto the blade and finally felt just how heavy it was, it was like he was trying to hold a large boulder. And yet, even though it was so heavy, he could feel that the handle was even softer and more flexible than he first thought. Even with the great weight, he still managed to spin the blade forward so that it swung downwards and crashed into the blade that swung upwards at him.
Even with gravity on his side, the clash still ended unfavorably for him, both the blade and his arm pushed back so violently that his shoulder ached. Huang Ying's eyes narrowed slightly, the burning light of excitement gleaming in them as he focused every inch of his perception on Ling Uyong, just like Li Jun had taught him to do against the puppet.
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Ling Uyong's movements seemed to slow down somewhat, but Huang Ying's senses weren't too strong yet so it wasn't by too much. But even slowing down her movements by a little was good enough, after all, a vast majority of people at their level wouldn't even be able to slow down her movements at all.
Huang Ying took advantage of the violent force that pushed his right arm back, letting go of the heavy blade and slightly twisting his body so that the strong force spun his body around. Huang Ying controlled the wind as his left hand swept past Ling Uyong's face, the wind brushed against her pink scarf and caused it to rustle slightly, something that resulted in her instinctively clutching it with her left hand to safeguard it.
But just as she safeguarded the scarf, Huang Ying's body finished spinning around, his right fist smashing into Ling Uyong's unguarded waist. Huang Ying's body was far stronger than others at his cultivation realm, it was so strong that Li Jun guessed that it was approaching the strength of someone at the 6th Mortal Step.
Ling Uyong hid dense muscles beneath her robe so hitting her was like hitting a slab of steel, but even so, her body was forced to bend slightly. She grit her teeth to prevent all the air from getting knock out of her lungs, quickly aiming a downward swing of her blade at Huang Ying's head, her grasp on her scarf loosening slightly. But how could she know that this was exactly the moment Huang Ying was waiting for? Every second he spent in battle allowed him to improve, let him digest more battle memories and hone his instincts. Thanks to this, he had already started to come up with a small plan after the first exchange of attacks.
Huang Ying slid his right hand up Ling Uyong's waist, twisting it around as he reached her chest and then quickly opened his clenched fist. Small particles of earth, practically a small cloud of dust, flew forth as he opened his hand. The dust flew into Ling Uyong's eyes and blinded her, forcing her to shut her eyes and lose sight of Huang Ying.
Her expression distorted slightly when she shut her eyes, the blade that was in the middle of swinging down at Huang Ying quickly pulled back before it could make contact. She managed to get rid of the dust after a few seconds, but by then her pink scarf had already been snatched away. Huang Ying stood a few steps away and had wrapped the scarf around his own neck, vigilantly gazing at Ling Uyong while he waited for her counterattack. But contrary to what he expected, the counter-attack never came. Ling Uyong lowered her blade, the other blade suddenly flying over and landing in her grasp. She placed both blades on her back again, shrugging her shoulders at Huang Ying.
"I've lost. No way in hell I'm going to be able to take back the scarf within the next 25 seconds. Not sure if I should call you reckless or risky for betting on that move, what if I hadn't pulled back my blade to avoid hurting you?"
With the dust blinding her she had no way of knowing where Huang Ying was, so if she continued her attack there was a good chance that she would hurt him. Huang Ying's body relaxed a little after Ling Uyong admitted her defeat, sliding off the gloves while he responded with a shrug of his own shoulders.
"I'd have tried to figure out a way to dodge. But looking at how none of your attacks contained any intent to kill or harm, I was confident that you'd pull back. Now then, Miss Anvil, I believe we had a deal, no?"
Huang Ying's eyes swept over the two blades on Ling Uyong's back, his eyes gleaming with light. It was far heavier and flexible than he first thought, both which were properties he was looking for in his weapon. Looking at how the other part flew back on its own, there even seemed to be a trick or two embedded into the weapon. Ling Uyong's eyebrow twitched again, but her lips curled into a slight smirk.
"Heh, you're a cheeky one, aren't you? But I can't say I dislike you, there wouldn't have been many chances for you to succeed if you hadn't used that last underhanded and risky move, it took guts and a sharp eye to pull it off. Alright, I'll prepare a weapon like this for you once you enter the academy. You can also hang on to that scarf, consider it a reward for your guts."
Huang Ying knew that she wasn't wrong, Ling Uyong had yet to bring out her element by the time he won, dragging out the battle would not be in Huang Ying's favor. Ling Uyong cupped her hands at Huang Ying, a gesture he returned before the two turned around and returned to their respective spots.
Ling Uyong returned to her spot behind the various elders while Huang Ying sat down on the ground a short distance away and started to observe the other battles taking place. Beating Ling Uyong not only meant that he could get his hands on one of those interesting weapons, but it also meant that he got a free pass to the last test, giving him plenty of time to observe the others.