Chapter 84

"Did you just say that my way of practicing swordsmanship is useless?" Ai asked, his face expressionless.

"Yes, I did say that," Long Yi admitted straightforwardly.

"Do you still think so now?" Ai asked again, his face still devoid of emotion.

"Yes, it hasn't even been two minutes. How could I have changed my mind so quickly?" Long Yi continued to answer honestly.

"Tell me why you think my way of practicing is useless," Ai asked, a hint of sharpness flashing in his eyes.

"Because your enemies aren't all that short," Long Yi said, gesturing to a height that, seemingly casual, was exactly where Ai's sword paused each time, without a single discrepancy!

Ai's eyes flickered, and he paused, saying, "I change the height of my sword swings every day."

Long Yi was taken aback. No way? This freak actually changes the height of his swings every day to make up for this flaw?

"This... this must take... a lot of willpower..." Long Yi muttered. What he really wanted to say was, "How much of a pain in the ass is this? Can't you just train normally? Why do you have to do it this way? Is it because you're too confident in yourself, or is this just how geniuses behave?"

Ai Lin is sixteen, and this kid is seventeen, a year younger than Long Yi, yet he's already in the sixth grade. He's definitely a genius. But even if you are a genius, you don't have to torture yourself like this.

Perhaps noticing Long Yi's strange expression, Ai didn't say much more. He just threw the clearly larger Dragon Slayer sword to Long Yi, who caught it. The sudden weight made the sword slip from his hand!

"Damn, it's so heavy?"

Seeing the hilt about to slip from his fingers, Long Yi grinned and used his longest finger to flick the heavy Dragon Slayer sword, which immediately spun half a circle in the air and landed in his palm with a thud.

Long Yi weighed it and swung it a couple of times. The Dragon Slayer sword weighed about 200 pounds. While this weight wasn't much for most Dragon Warriors, who had the support of Aura, it was extremely difficult to hold it in the air without Aura, especially with the leverage of the hilt. Anyone with a basic understanding of physics would know how challenging this was.

Seeing Ai's expression, Long Yi suddenly grinned and then performed two of Ai's previous slashing moves.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

The Dragon Slayer sword sliced through the air, making a whistling sound, exactly the same as Ai's moves, even the height was perfectly matched!

At this moment, Ai slowly smiled, revealing a grin!

Ai Lin, seeing this, immediately covered her eyes.

Oh no.

Her second brother, Ai, was a true battle maniac. The only thing that could make him smile wasn't money or beauty, but a worthy opponent!

And now, Long Yi was that opponent!

But Long Yi only had nine layers of Aura, while her second brother already had nineteen layers! How could Long Yi win?

Although Ai Lin was confident in her second brother, knowing he was very precise, what if Long Yi lost?

Unconsciously, Ai Lin's focus had shifted. If her second brother, who had always liked her, heard her thoughts, he might be furious.

"Let's fight!"

Without further ado, Ai pulled out another identical Dragon Slayer sword from the ground, held it in one hand, and pointed it at Long Yi, who couldn't help but grin.

"Brother, this isn't appropriate, you know. I'm Ai Lin's classmate, and you're her second brother. What if I hurt you?"

Ai was taken aback. He never expected Long Yi to actually say that! Did he really think he could hurt him?

Ai had seen Long Yi's battle with the Third Prince. In Ai's view, he could turn the Third Prince into a corpse with one move, while Long Yi wasted so many opportunities, which was extremely foolish. He wanted to see for himself what this famous figure, who spent all his time with his sister, was really made of!

Ai wasn't much of a talker; he preferred action!

He swung his sword!

No Aura, no fancy moves, just a plain, simple strike!

Long Yi chuckled and swung an identical strike!

Clang!

The sound was not loud, as if they hadn't even touched! Ai Lin's eyes widened. Was it because the sound was too loud that she didn't hear it? No! It was because the two heavy metals barely touched! Both saw each other's moves and almost simultaneously reduced their force, then simultaneously swung a horizontal cut!

Clang!

Another not-so-loud sound!

Then, in the spacious training ground, the light clanging sounds continued. Some students who had just finished dinner and come to train were immediately drawn to this exciting duel, watching intently!

Despite the lack of Aura, this was the most exciting part of pure sword combat, evaluating strength and skill without Aura!

They exchanged over a hundred strikes, but none of them made substantial contact.

"Brother, I'm done warming up. Let's start, shall we? But you've already wasted a lot of energy before I came. I have the advantage," Long Yi said with a smile.

"No, I was resting then. This is just my warm-up," Ai replied.

Long Yi sneered, which was why he hated geniuses. Ai Lin was already a freak, and this Ai was even more so. As a giant, he was strong and had abundant stamina. Why was a mere human joining in?

"Alright, let's go!"

Long Yi estimated the strength Ai might reach and swung a direct overhead strike!

Ai's eyes narrowed, and he swung an identical overhead strike!

Clang—!

The massive metallic collision made Ai Lin cover her ears, and not just her, but all the spectators except a few show-offs covered their ears.

The two Dragon Slayer swords collided and then separated, the originally blunt blades now dented!

"Good!"

Feeling the vibration in his hand, Long Yi turned his body and swung another strike. This time, the force was even greater!

Clang—!!

Crack!!

The two swords broke simultaneously!

Long Yi held the broken sword, his face full of excitement! There was actually a human who could match his brute strength in this world!

At this moment, Ai was inwardly bitter. He was very confident in his absolute strength, but he never expected Long Yi's strength to be so unreasonable! The first strike was within his range, but the second one he barely managed to block, and the third one would have made his sword slip from his hand if the Dragon Slayer sword hadn't broken! Ai could already feel his hands trembling slightly!

"Brute strength, I lose!" Ai said, "But combat isn't about brute strength! It's about Aura!"

Seeing that Ai wasn't conceding, Long Yi smiled.

He knew this would be the result.

To be honest, Ai was very strong. Being able to achieve this without using Aura was a testament to his strength. It was clear that Ai was very confident in himself, and it was easy to imagine that in a place like the Dragon Knight Academy, there were very few people who could achieve this level of strength through brute force alone. After all, this was an era where Aura and magic could defeat enemies, and few people were willing to put in the extra effort to train their physical strength.

Ai was clearly not an ordinary person. As a genius, he naturally had the talent of a genius. From a young age, he discovered that as his absolute strength increased, his power would multiply under the enhancement of Aura.

This was Ai's talent, and his greatest reliance!

So, Ai threw the broken half of the sword aside and fully unleashed his nineteen layers of Aura! The surrounding people were all pushed back by the massive Aura, and they couldn't even look directly at it!

Nineteen layers of Aura! Just one layer away from obtaining a Dragon Mark!

This formidable power was facing Long Yi, who had just entered the second year!

The spectators were stunned. Without a doubt, Ai, though always low-key, had a very loud reputation in the Dragon Knight Academy. A genius who entered the sixth grade at sixteen couldn't possibly be unknown.

And Long Yi, the straightforward one, had been a topic of conversation recently. He entered the first year and defeated a second-year student, then publicly beat up the emperor's son, and quickly advanced to the third year. His mysterious relationship with the White Dragon Knight Elsa also made him a focal point.

People knew Long Yi was strong, and he seemed to get stronger over time. But no matter how strong he was, there was still a limit. A second-year student challenging a sixth-year, and not just any sixth-year, but the famous genius Ai.

Oh my God, is this some kind of ridiculous comedy?

Or is Ai planning to bully someone?

But Ai didn't think so. Although he couldn't accurately gauge Long Yi's strength like his sister Ai Lin, he had a vague feeling that Long Yi was hiding his true strength. His real power was definitely not what he saw!

So, Ai decided to use all his strength to draw out Long Yi's true power! He wanted to see if this Long Yi, who spent all his time with his favorite sister, was really the right person!

Facing nineteen layers of Aura, Long Yi smiled.

Was he crazy? Of course not! On the contrary, he was very excited!

Even when facing the Three-Star Clown in the Dragon God Space, Long Yi hadn't felt this excited. Because deep down, he really disliked these martial artists who only knew techniques and had no strength, jumping around like monkeys. In Long Yi's view, a martial artist should use overwhelming strength to tear through the enemy's defenses, pulling out the fools hiding in their shells and ruthlessly beating them.

Technique is important, but when you jump around and can't even move the enemy, isn't that too stupid?

"Nineteen layers of Aura? It seems I really need to bring out my hidden skills. Otherwise, I'll lose today."

Hearing this, Ai's eyes tightened, because he knew he was right!

Long Yi, indeed, had been holding back!

Long Yi's muscles tensed, and a strange power flowed through his body. He was using a secret method to convert his mana back into Aura!

In just an instant, Ai Lin's eyes widened as she saw Long Yi's strength change!

It was...

"Eighteen layers of Aura!"

Ai Lin's eyes widened!