Stelle looked at the popcorn Bai Luan handed her, which emitted an enticing aroma of burnt cream, and hesitated for a split second—mainly because she felt that eating snacks at such a tense and exciting scene of exterminating abominations seemed a bit disrespectful to the two young heroes fighting hard ahead.
But on second thought, this wasn't some serious life-or-death match, so she took it.
Stelle casually shared some with March 7th.
March 7th looked at the popcorn and said:
"I don't really want to eat popcorn."
"Then I also have Candied Haws."
Bai Luan's smile remained unchanged. With a nimble flick of his fingers, several skewers of bright-colored Candied Haws, coated in a crystalline sugar shell, appeared between his fingers like a magic trick.
The hawthorn berries were red and plump, and the glutinous rice paper was slightly translucent, making one's mouth water just looking at them; there were also Candied Haws made from other fruits.
March 7th looked at Bai Luan, who had conjured sweets like a magician, and asked:
"...You're not carrying a lot of snacks with you, are you?"
"Yeah, strictly speaking, the stuff I have on me is enough for several people to eat for several months."
"That's... a bit too exaggerated, isn't it?"
"It's quite convenient to prepare this way. I can start a fire and cook anytime, anywhere. Anyway, I have a spatial storage device on me, and the internal space is large enough."
Bai Luan handed March 7th a skewer of Candied Haws; each berry on that skewer was perfectly round and enticingly colored.
"I made them myself, want a taste?"
"You made them yourself? Then I definitely have to try one."
Bai Luan shifted his gaze to Lingsha, but before he could speak, Lingsha shook her head and politely declined.
Well then, no need to force it.
Yanqing controlled his swords, easily stabbing several abominations to death.
"Wow. (munch munch munch)"
Stelle nudged March 7th next to her with her elbow.
"Yanqing is on quite a roll. The way he handles those swords is like a butterfly flitting through flowers."
"Not necessarily. (munch munch munch)"
March 7th was also following the situation:
"Look at Yunli over there, she's not falling behind either. The way she swings that greatsword, the momentum is terrifying!"
The spectator stands were bustling, and the competition scene naturally wouldn't be quiet.
Yunli glanced at Yanqing, her words still sharp:
"A guy who can't even hold onto his sword actually has some skill."
Then, she raised 'Old Mettle' in her hands high and turned to look at the Abominations of Abundance in front of her.
Under her command, the 'Old Mettle' in Yunli's hands manifested a massive sword shadow, hacking down towards the Abominations of Abundance:
"Heavenly Decree—Floating Clouds—"
That group of Abominations of Abundance only saw the giant sword shadow smashing down before they hurriedly departed from this world.
Who would have thought that the last meal they ate before leaving this world was a strike from Yunli's sword?
Really... have you eat?
Haven't?
If you hasn't yet, then eat this!
With that one strike from Yunli, her score instantly overtook Yanqing's. With a hint of pride, she looked at Yanqing provocatively.
"Too many flashy moves, yet barely hitting any vitals. Using your sword like that is such a waste."
Facing Yunli's provocation, Yanqing didn't reply. He simply controlled his flying swords to shoot out in all directions, every blade hitting the vitals of the Abominations of Abundance, ending their lives in a single strike.
Yanqing gave her a cold sideways glance:
"Better save the trash talk for after you've won."
He then ignored her, rushing towards the Abominations of Abundance again to widen the score gap once more.
Yunli stomped her foot in anger, then chose to vent her frustration on those Abominations of Abundance.
She raised Old Mettle and locked onto an abomination not far away.
And so, the two of them chased after each other, one clearing an area while the other swept a group. They kept the score extremely close, alternating in the lead, neither willing to give an inch.
Stelle and March 7th watched with great interest from the side, occasionally letting out low exclamations at a clever sword move or a violent hack.
Then they naturally reached out to take new snacks from Bai Luan, chewing while whispering critiques, looking every bit like professional (self-appointed) match commentators.
Soon, fifteen minutes passed.
As soon as the agreed time arrived, almost at the exact same moment, Yanqing and Yunli both stopped their attacks.
Yanqing guided with a sword gesture, and all the flying swords returned to his back with a sharp 'swish,' perfectly aligned.
Yunli flipped her wrist and placed her sword on her back.
The two of them coincidentally chose the roof of a nearby abandoned pavilion as a landing spot, leaping up lightly and confronting each other from a distance before reporting their scores to one another.
This small contest came to an end. The final result of their competition in slaughtering Abominations of Abundance was a victory for Yanqing, with Yunli narrowly losing.
Even for someone as usually composed and polite as Yanqing, a bit of pure youthful pride couldn't help but surface between his brows as he looked at the defeated Yunli.
"I won, Miss Yunli."
"It was just a fluke."
Clearly, from Yunli's hands-on-hips posture, she wasn't convinced. If Old Mettle had fallen just a bit faster, she would have been the winner.
"You should just obediently return the sword to me, apologize respectfully, and then go back crying to your grandfather to complain."
Obviously, it was Yanqing's turn now. As a Pathstrider of The Hunt, how could he pass up such a good opportunity to follow up?
Yanqing crossed his arms: "Meeting me is your luck. I'm not interested in that big, heavy, rusty iron sword of yours. Nor do I have a hobby of stealing other people's weapons."
"Getting carried away just because you killed a few monsters. Hmph, if you think you can take this sword from my hand, why don't you give it a try?"
As it turned out, trying to completely settle the grudge over a sword between two young geniuses through a limited abomination-slaying contest was clearly impossible.
From Bai Luan's perspective, not long after the two stopped on the roof, they each took up their stances and began the second round.
『"Don't leave after the match, there's still an octagonal cage match between us"』
The system's snark appeared timely in the corner of his vision, the font even mimicking the style of a promotional poster for some combat event.
Bai Luan glanced at the system and smiled.
Yo, your advisor didn't beat you to death?
Or did you just win a revival match?
『Keep it up and I'll beat you to death』
『My advisor is beautiful and kind-hearted, unlike a certain someone. How could that happen?』
Heh, you've grown up; you actually know how to talk now.
Stelle tugged at his sleeve, pulling Bai Luan's attention back.
"Uncle! Yanqing and Yunli have started fighting! They've fought so far they're out of sight now. Shouldn't we go break them up?"
"No need to worry, some kind soul will stop them."
Stelle was stunned upon hearing this.
Kind soul? Who could it be?
She tilted her head and thought for a bit. With her understanding of the interpersonal relationships on the Xianzhou Luofu, at this moment, someone who could be nearby and have the weight to stop these two little ancestors... didn't seem to have a clear candidate?
But since Uncle said so... Stelle decisively gave up on further thinking.
If Uncle said there would be a kind soul, then a kind soul would definitely step in.
March 7th's shout came from the distance.
"Stelle! Bai Luan! Yanqing and the other one ran over there! Hurry up!"
"Coming."
Bai Luan called back, then gave Stelle a look.
"Let's go, time to change seats in the front row."
By the time they arrived, they happened to see Yanqing and Yunli rushing at each other with the momentum of wanting to run each other through.
At that moment, a figure as upright as a pine tree, like a ghost, inserted herself abruptly between the two at a speed that seemed leisurely but was actually unimaginably fast!
She used both hands, catching both of their weapons with two fingers each.
Although neither Yanqing nor Yunli used killing moves, they both used a fair bit of their true skill, yet they were easily neutralized by this person of unknown origin.
Feixiao's power radiated out, precisely knocking away Yanqing's flying swords. The swords, losing control, scattered and pierced into the surrounding deserted buildings.
Yanqing looked up in disbelief at this mysterious person who had suddenly appeared and effortlessly neutralized the full-force strike from both himself and Yunli.
Meanwhile, Yunli was still staring fixedly at Yanqing opposite her, her hands gripping the sword hilt tightly, refusing to let up and trying to continue pressing down. Unfortunately, her old iron was as steady as a rock in that person's hand.
The uninvited guest—the General of the Yaoqing Xianzhou, Feixiao—looked at the shocked Yanqing on the left, then at the still-unyielding Yunli on the right who was still struggling. A smile with the tolerance of an elder and a hint of teasing appeared on her face as she spoke:
"Not bad fighting, you two little ones. However, one of you only knows how to dodge, thinking your footwork is agile, while the other relies on brute force, always fantasizing about defeating the enemy in one blow... both your tactics and techniques have flaws."
Stelle, beside Bai Luan, tugged his sleeve again, leaned in, and asked in a low voice full of curiosity:
"Uncle, who is she? So powerful! With just two fingers..."
"The General of Yaoqing, Feixiao."
Lingsha glanced at Bai Luan with some surprise.
"I didn't expect you to be so well-informed."
"Of course."
Bai Luan smiled and said:
"Don't underestimate my intelligence network."
As soon as he finished speaking, Stelle couldn't help but whisper a snarky rebuttal from the side:
"Uncle, you don't even have a proper intelligence network..."
She paused, then muttered in an even smaller volume that only Bai Luan could hear.
"You're purely relying on having a cheat..."
Bai Luan: ...