Chapter 47: Distinguishing Superiority and Inferiority

Chapter 47: Distinguishing Superiority and Inferiority

"Who's at the training ground?" Meng Yuan asked as he put on his clothes.

"I don't recognize him, but he looks like he's got some background!" Iron Ox said anxiously, helping Meng Yuan with his clothes.

"Iron Ox," Meng Yuan held Iron Ox's hand and said solemnly, "The sky hasn't fallen yet. Remember, no matter what happens, you must remain calm. Especially for us martial artists, when we encounter enemies or dangerous situations in the future, we must maintain a calm mind."

Seeing Meng Yuan's seriousness, Iron Ox quickly agreed.

Meng Yuan finished dressing, tied his hair, washed his face, and then left with his sword.

The training ground was right next door, and before he even entered, he could hear the sounds of combat coming from inside.

As he pushed open the main door, he saw nine students on the training ground, with Hu Qian standing aside, looking rather gloomy. She was the only one not engaged in the sparring, as the other eight students were paired off, using real swords in their practice.

These students had all learned the Gale Blade Technique, and although they might not know the Energy Circulation Method, they were still skilled from their daily endurance training, making their moves swift and powerful.

Standing next to Hu Qian with his arms crossed was Ren Debiao, who occasionally leaned over to speak to Hu Qian, but she paid him no heed.

Several scholarly guests were gathered around the heir, Solitary Loneliness, offering their opinions.

Solitary Loneliness, with his fat head and big ears, was dressed in scholarly attire, with one hand behind his back and a folding fan in the other, tapping his chest as he paced in front of the students, apparently composing a poem.

"I thought it was a big deal, but it turns out the great poet has arrived!" Meng Yuan wasn't sure if the heir was targeting him, so he wanted to ask Scholar Wang, a familiar acquaintance, about the situation. However, he discovered that Scholar Wang was not present.

With no other choice, Meng Yuan saw that Solitary Loneliness was observing intently and hadn't noticed him, so he pulled over one of the scholarly guests to the side.

"Where's Scholar Wang?" Meng Yuan and Nie Yanian had given silver to Scholar Wang, so they were old acquaintances.

The scholarly guest, recognizing Meng Yuan, replied, "Scholar Wang is on his day off today."

"You scholars even get days off?" Meng Yuan was surprised.

"What?" The scholarly guest became anxious upon hearing this, "Even oxen and horses get to rest, why can't we take a break?"

"My apologies, I spoke out of turn," Meng Yuan quickly apologized, then asked, "Why is the heir here? It's dangerous with all these blades and swords, someone might get hurt."

"The Empress Dowager summoned the heir for a talk. After leaving the Tranquil Garden, the heir heard the commotion here and came to take a look." The scholarly guest stroked his beard and reassured, "Don't worry, the heir will return after composing two poems."

Meng Yuan nodded, relieved that the heir wasn't here for past matters.

Previously, Meng Yuan had also inquired about the heir from Scholar Wang, and indeed, the heir was pure and simple, not interested in women, food, wine, clothing, or wealth, but only in composing poems, and he was only happy when doing so.

He truly had no ill intentions and was born with a natural noble disposition.

Seeing this, Meng Yuan decided not to pay him any mind and wait for the heir to finish his poems and leave.

Over on the side, Hu Qian saw Meng Yuan arrive and quickly ran over, saying, "This is so rude! We've become entertainers for their amusement!"

"Let's bear with it for now," Meng Yuan knew she had a fiery temper, so he tried to placate her.

"If the heir wants us to spar, I actually don't mind," Hu Qian pulled Meng Yuan aside, "After all, the heir is... that pure and simple person. It's all Ren Debiao's doing, constantly urging us to spar!"

Meng Yuan looked towards Ren Debiao, who also glanced at him with a smug nod.

"I've got it!" The heir, Solitary Loneliness, suddenly spoke up, tapping his fan on his palm and taking two steps forward.

Everyone turned to look, and the sparring students paused.

Solitary Loneliness slowly recited, "I came to the training ground to watch the sparring, with great swords and long blades, they fought like fierce tigers, scaring the birds into fluttering away."

What nonsense is this? Meng Yuan thought that even if Xiang Ling were to teach him for a couple of days, her poems would still be better than this!

However, the heir had his entourage of scholarly guests, who were already starting to flatter him.

Meng Yuan silently noted their words, waiting for the day when Xiang Ling learned to compose poems so that he could also flatter the heir with ease.

"Oh my! I'm so inspired to compose a poem!" Solitary Loneliness, after being praised for his poetry, was overjoyed. He waved his hand, "Faster, faster! Make the sparring more intense! I want to compose a frontier poem!"

Meng Yuan glanced at the scholarly guest and took out ten taels of silver, passing it over with the intention of sending this great poet away!

Regarding the heir, Meng Yuan didn't feel any animosity towards him, as he was simple-minded and had no ill intentions. It was enough to just humor him.

The scholarly guest seemed accustomed to such situations and immediately understood Meng Yuan's intention, ready to persuade Solitary Loneliness.

Just then, Ren Debiao stepped forward and clasped his hands, saying, "Then I'll show my clumsiness in front of the Prince!"

After saying this, he looked at Meng Yuan and said, "Meng Yuan, didn't Master Nie teach you a set of boxing techniques? Come, come, come, let me see how you've practiced!"

"Master Nie didn't teach me any boxing techniques," Meng Yuan smiled and said, "Brother Ren, it's not early, the training ground is about to serve lunch."

"No problem, then let's try the Gale Blade Technique! Since you can kill Buddhist Demons, your skills must be decent. Let me see for myself!" Ren Debiao drew his sword from its sheath.

Meng Yuan remembered that when they first came out of Peach Blossom Ridge, Master Nie had said he had gained something, while Ren Debiao had not. In that case, he had offended Ren Debiao. Now it seemed that Master Nie's eyes were indeed sharp; Ren Debiao was still unhappy about the Peach Blossom Ridge incident!

The other students had never heard Meng Yuan talk about killing demons, so now, seeing Ren Debiao speak up, they all looked at Meng Yuan with curiosity.

Prince Solitary Loneliness also felt curious and leaned in to ask the Scholar Qing quietly.

"Ren Debiao, you've reached the Eighth Rank. He's been learning martial arts for less than three months. Why are you being so arrogant?" Hu Qian said indignantly.

"I'm not skilled in disputes, Brother Ren, please go ahead," Meng Yuan did not draw his sword.

"You don't even dare to draw your sword. Are you a real man?" Ren Debiao said.

"I have captured a black sheep demon and severely injured a white one; I pursued a wolf demon and fought hard to kill it," Meng Yuan smiled and said, "Am I a real man? You probably don't have the right to ask."

Ren Debiao had only achieved a trivial merit in the Peach Blossom Ridge incident. Hearing this, he immediately became furious and thrust his sword forward, "Then let me see your demon-killing prowess!"

Meng Yuan paid no attention, even turning his back to Ren Debiao.

Ren Debiao drew his sword extremely fast and immediately pressed it against Meng Yuan's back, but in the end, he didn't dare to stab.

Meng Yuan had seen through this person. His martial talent was indeed good, but he lacked the capacity to tolerate others, and his boldness was a facade for his cowardice.

Seeing MEng Yuan so disdain him, Ren Debiao immediately became furious with embarrassment. He saw Iron Ox nearby and knew he was the closest to Meng Yuan, so he turned his sword and moved toward Iron Ox.

Iron Ox hadn't yet figured out what was happening. Seeing the sword coming, he hurriedly raised his sword to block, but the other party's sword was extremely fast, and he had to dodge away. Instead, a cut was made on his arm, immediately opening a wound.

"Have you gone mad?" Hu Qian couldn't bear to watch and immediately raised her sword to save.

"I need to tell Master Nie!" Wu Changsheng, seeing Hu Qian had already acted, hurriedly joined in, raising his sword to strike Ren Debiao's right side.

But Ren Debiao was already at the Eighth rank, his True Energy was full, and his sword was both fast and fierce. With just a turn, two sounds of impact, and he had disarmed Wu Changsheng. Hu Qian managed to keep her sword but was forced back several steps.

Ren Debiao didn't chase Hu Qian, only making a cut on Wu Changsheng's left arm.

"Hard training and diligent cultivation, reaching the rank to break the mirror and truly understand the essence of the blade!" Having defeated three people, Ren Debiao looked at Meng Yuan, but saw Meng Yuan still not looking at him, about to show his skills again, when he heard Prince Solitary Loneliness sighing repeatedly.

"Meaningless!" Prince Solitary Loneliness's fat face revealed impatience, "You just fight those who are inferior to you. What's the point in that?"

"Let's go then!" Prince Solitary Loneliness folded his fan and inserted it into his neck, immediately walking out. Passing by Meng Yuan, he actually pulled him aside, saying, "Come with me, let's talk about killing the Buddhist Demon!"

"Have you forgotten about me hitting your dog?" Meng Yuan smiled, seeing Prince Solitary Loneliness had a good heart, "No problem, it's just a friendly sparring."

Prince Solitary Loneliness looked Meng Yuan up and down, "Then don't forget to tell me about the Buddhist Demon!"

He patted his buttocks and left with Scholar Qing and the attendants.

The training ground returned to tranquility.

Meng Yuan sighed with relief, pressing the hilt of his sword at his waist, and said, "Brother Ren, we are both under the Empress Dowager's protection and have been taught by Master Nie."

"Do you want to spar with me?" Ren Debiao's face showed caution. He felt that Meng Yuan now seemed like he did at Peach Blossom Ridge, when this person had killed Wolf one, but the excitement in his eyes hadn't faded, a killing aura persisted.

"Brother Ren, just now there were many outsiders. If we fight, it might damage the Empress Dowager's reputation," Meng Yuan, pressing the hilt of his sword, said, "You being angry with me, I don't mind. But Master Nie has appointed me as the supervisor here, and you hurt my companion. Now the outsiders are gone, you can apologize to Iron Ox and Wu Changsheng, and this matter will be considered settled."

"If I don't acknowledge it?" Ren Debiao sneered.

"Then we will decide superiority and inferiority, and even life and death," Meng Yuan drew his sword from its sheath.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end