Chapter 100

Amidst the misty rain, Meisaki stood on the gradually silent boat, holding an umbrella to shield herself from the drizzle, and gazed at the opposite side where Yin Zhiping stood in a pink robe.

A cool breeze blew, causing her hair to dance. The fine rain, blown by the wind, soaked the robe under the umbrella, bringing a chill.

Rumble!

Bubbles rose from the water, and the boat beneath her feet was completely submerged. Just as her feet were about to touch the water, Yue Yuan moved.

Tap!

With just a bit of the boat still visible, Yue Yuan used the paper umbrella to carry himself, leveraging the wind, and flew toward Yin Zhiping like a piece of paper blown by the wind.

Similarly,

Yin Zhiping's boat also sank completely, and at the same moment, he made his move.

On the moat, a blue and a pink paper umbrella approached each other quickly in the misty rain.

At the moment of contact, both drew their swords.

Under the umbrellas, the long swords, like dragons, transformed into cold light, directly piercing toward the umbrellas held by the other. Clearly, both Yue Yuan and Yin Zhiping chose to break the other's umbrella, which was the source of their leverage.

It could be said that in this confrontation, whoever's umbrella broke would lose.

Yue Yuan did not want to lose and did not think he would lose in terms of lightness skills.

Yin Zhiping, on the other hand, could not afford to lose, so he pushed his potential to the limit.

Hmm!

Surprised, Yue Yuan's body leaned backward in mid-air. His paper umbrella avoided Yin Zhiping's three-foot sword, and at the same time, he kicked with his right foot, hitting the sword in Yin Zhiping's hand. With a light sound, Yin Zhiping's sword was deflected.

Ding!

At the same time, Yue Yuan felt his sword hit a metal object.

Looking up, Yue Yuan realized that Yin Zhiping had used the bottom of his sword hilt to block his sword tip, preventing it from piercing the umbrella shaft.

"..."

Slightly startled, Yin Zhiping actually knew little about Yue Yuan, only aware of his lightness skills, internal strength, and palm techniques, which were evident from his battle with Guo Jing at the Heroes' Assembly.

In his mind, he had speculated about Yue Yuan's sword skills, but this was the first time he saw Yue Yuan's true sword technique.

The sword technique was not extremely profound but was fast, similar to his own, though the speed and the aura they exuded were different.

After one exchange in mid-air, Yin Zhiping was forced backward by Yue Yuan's direct thrust, while Yue Yuan fell headfirst into the water.

"Ha!"

With a light laugh, Yue Yuan let his body fall. Just before hitting the water, he rotated his paper umbrella and placed it under his body, falling straight into the water with his head down and feet up.

Splash!

A light sound, the opened umbrella pressed directly onto the water surface.

Ripples spread, the water surface, which was originally just a few ripples, began to undulate, as if a depression had been pressed into it, slightly sinking.

Immediately, using the rebound force, Yue Yuan leaped up again.

Holding the paper umbrella, he rotated, creating a long trail of water, drawing a transparent circle in the air.

Bang!

Yue Yuan's long sword, changing from a sweep to a strike, swung horizontally, hitting the circular water wave around him.

Instantly,

The water wave dispersed, turning into countless droplets, like a shower of flowers, raining down on Yin Zhiping in mid-air.

"This is!"

Holding the umbrella in one hand, Yin Zhiping's eyebrows twitched upon seeing this. The numerous droplets, like arrows, rained down, causing him great alarm. In mid-air, he could not find any leverage, and even the Golden Goose Technique could not help him avoid them.

The range of the droplets was simply too large.

Thinking this, Yin Zhiping could only frown and make his three-foot sword dance rapidly to disperse the incoming droplets.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A series of clear, ringing sounds echoed, like pearls falling on a jade plate.

Amidst the splashing water, Yin Zhiping's three-foot sword was almost invisible, only the dispersing water droplets in front of him and the umbrella could be seen.

However, there were too many droplets, and no matter how hard Yin Zhiping tried, he could not block them all. Even when he dispersed them, the splashing droplets still carried considerable force. Along with the clear sounds, there were occasional dull thuds.

Each time a dull thud sounded, a small hole appeared in Yin Zhiping's pink paper umbrella.

The sounds stopped, and the sword stopped.

Both fell toward the water.

Yin Zhiping's face turned pale, but he touched the water and walked on it, heading for the shore.

Similarly,

Yue Yuan also held the blue paper umbrella, moving like a dragonfly skimming the water.

Two figures, one in pink and one in blue, landed on the shore like wisps of smoke.

...

By the river, under the Xiangyang city wall.

Yue Yuan and Yin Zhiping stood side by side, looking at the direction of the completely submerged black boat in the river, silent.

After a long time,

Yue Yuan, who had been waiting, spoke, "Brother Yin, your martial arts have progressed beyond my expectations. What kind of martial arts is this?" In the previous exchange, although Yue Yuan had some guesses, he did not believe that Yin Zhiping had truly learned the *Kuihua Manual*.

After much thought, Yue Yuan decided to ask this question directly.

"..."

Yin Zhiping was silent for a moment before saying, "先天功 (Xiantian Gong), I have cultivated my sect's foundational technique, the Xiantian Gong!"

Xiantian Gong...?

Yue Yuan was stunned. In his feeling, the Xiantian Gong should not be like this. However, no one had ever seen the Xiantian Gong in action.

Could there be something wrong with the Xiantian Gong?

Yue Yuan did not voice his thoughts but sighed, "I see!"

"Pity!"

Yin Zhiping sighed, looking at the pink paper umbrella in his hand, which was full of holes, and the broken shaft, feeling defeated, "I ultimately lost!"

"No!"

To Yin Zhiping's surprise, Yue Yuan denied his self-deprecating words. Turning around, Yue Yuan looked at his own umbrella with a strange expression and slowly said, "I lost!"

As he spoke,

There was a crack, and the blue paper umbrella in Yue Yuan's hand broke, a large crack appearing on the umbrella surface.

Staring at the broken umbrella, Yue Yuan's mind recalled the previous exchange. Although he had also broken the other's umbrella, Yin Zhiping's speed was a step faster, and the force of the three-foot sword had broken the umbrella surface, only bursting out now.

Although Yue Yuan could have avoided this, he allowed the force to remain on his umbrella.

"..."

Silently watching Yue Yuan turn and leave, Yin Zhiping's lips moved, but he said nothing, a hint of joy appearing on his face. Yue Yuan's words told him that his efforts were not in vain.

If he had his current strength back then, he could have protected Miss Long well.

Thinking this, the joy on Yin Zhiping's face faded, replaced by regret. Unfortunately, it was all too late!

The pink paper umbrella fell to the ground, and the long sword in his hand dropped as well. Yin Zhiping stood still in the misty rain, letting the wind and rain hit his face.

Red sleeves like knives.

In this confrontation, Yin Zhiping lost, and Yang Guo lost.

But in this exchange on the river, Yue Yuan deliberately lost.

A spring breeze blew, causing the two paper umbrellas on the ground to roll continuously, and the long sword Yue Yuan had stuck in the ground to sway.

In the misty rain, the blue figure disappeared into the city gate of Xiangyang.