Probe

On his way home, Chen Yiming rode his bicycle along the street.

His physique was very different from before. His whole body had grown a lot stronger, and his martial artist aura could not be concealed by his training robes.

This was especially true for his eyes. It was not clear whether it was because he had mastered the concept of swordsmanship or due to some other reason, but those who looked into his eyes felt that he was piercing right through them.

It was evening time, and every household along the way had already locked their doors. From time to time, the sound of tires pushing against the mud road caused the dogs within the houses to bark.

Dogs, traditionally viewed as the guards of the house, were once again being held in high regard.

As he approached an intersection near his house, Chen Yiming spotted Zhang Youde in the middle of the road.

Zhang Youde's hands were in his pockets, and he was pacing back and forth. From time to time, his breath would mist up in the air.

If he was in the middle of the road at this time, he was obviously waiting for someone.

After this intersection was Chen Yiming's house. It was clear who he was waiting for.

Chen Yiming had no idea what Zhang Youde was up to, but since the other houses had all locked their doors, he couldn't hide from him.

He could only pretend to be calm and collected as he continued to cycle along the road, stopping when he was around a meter away from Zhang Youde.

"Junior Brother Chen, could you spare me a few minutes?"

Zhang Youde held out his hand to stop him and took a few steps forward.

"Senior Brother Zhang, what's the matter?"

Chen Yiming pretended to be clueless as though they had bumped into each other coincidentally.

He planned to see what Zhang Youde had to say first. As long as it wasn't a life or death sort of grudge, the elders of the martial arts clans wouldn't interfere in the matters of the juniors.

"Don't be so formal, calling me senior brother. Just call me Youde," Zhang Youde said as he laughed awkwardly. It was hard to tell that they had been in conflict before.

"Hu Shixin always has a foul mouth. I've already sent him to the warehouse as punishment."

Zhang Youde revealed where Hu Shixin had gone.

Hearing this, Chen Yiming felt that others would think that he had forced Hu Shixin to leave. Hence, he magnanimously said, "It's all in the past. I really didn't blame him at all. Besides, it's not easy to join a martial arts school. Let Hu Shi Xin come back."

He did not want to be thought of as a petty person.

"Some rules have to be followed. One needs to be punished for their wrongdoings. Hu Shixin left because he felt too ashamed to continue staying in the martial arts school. When he left, he even asked me to apologize to you, and let the unhappiness between the two of us be resolved."

Zhang Youde rejected Chen Yiming's request for Hu Shixin to return to the school, and gave an apology to Chen Yiming on Hu Shixin's behalf.

Whether Hu Shixin had gone willing or was driven away, no one would pursue the matter. After all, he only had the potential to be an ordinary trainee.

"Since Hu Shixin said so, then so be it. Help me to pass on a message to him when you have the time, and tell him I didn't blame him at all. If that's all, I'll be going first."

Chen Yiming didn't want to be embroiled further in Zhang Youde's matters, so he prepared to cycle past him.

That Hu Shixin had felt so embarrassed that he left willingly was something that sounded completely untrue.

However, this allowed Chen Yiming to better understand the disciples of the martial arts clans. They were overly pragmatic, and were able to treat anything as a bargaining chip.

Zhang Youde hastily extended his hand to stop Chen Yiming.

"Junior Brother Chen, don't be in such a hurry to leave. Now that we have cleared the air between us, why don't we trade a few blows by having a sparring session?"

He hadn't achieved his objective for the visit, so he couldn't let Chen Yiming leave.

"A sparring session?"

Chen Yiming thought to himself, "What is Zhang Youde up to? Is he trying to test my abilities or does he have some other motive?"

Since he couldn't figure it out, he decided not to think too much about it. In any case, the power from his third transformation was more than enough for him to protect himself without any trouble.

"Okay."

Chen Yiming knew that avoiding the issue wouldn't solve the problem, so he parked his bicycle by the wall and drew the wooden sword on his back.

"Thank you."

Zhang Youde joined his hands in salute, then pulled out his sword.

He was half a head taller than Chen Yiming, and his frame was a size bigger. This was the physique that he had developed from eating mutant beast meat since he was young. He had unearthed more of his potential than an ordinary trainee.

However, strength was not simply determined by one's muscles.

Both sides stood still and neither took the initiative to attack.

Chen Yiming was being forced into a fight, so he didn't have any intention of making a move to begin with. Therefore, he wasn't in a hurry to attack. Instead, he wanted to conceal his strength as much as possible, and get it over and done with.

Zhang Youde, on the other hand, believed that he was one level above his opponent. Even if his swordsmanship and talent were inferior to the other party, he still had the advantage in terms of strength. He did not want to take advantage of his opponent by attacking first.

The stalemate lasted for several minutes.

Seeing as neither side had the intention to make the first move, the match would end in an anti-climatic manner if he did not try to attack. Thus, Zhang Youde had no choice but to take the lead and attack first.

Once he made his move, he executed the Mantis Snake Sword Technique, immediately using his full strength.

Zhang Youde had no intention of starting with the basic sword techniques. This was because in terms of sword techniques alone, Zhang Youde knew that he was inferior to his opponent. He could only rely on his cultivation to defeat his opponent.

In his heart, he thought that Chen Yiming was only at the level of just completing the first transformation. He was thus a level higher than Chen Yiming. If Chen Yiming couldn't withstand his attack, he would suppress his power to that of the first transformation to continue the fight.

Chen Yiming focused his attention and managed to block easily, dissipating the impact of the attack.

Both of them had different thoughts regarding the fight. Chen Yiming actually had to suppress his physical abilities and behave as though he was at the level of the first transformation to prevent himself from being exposed.

After one move, Chen Yiming understood Zhang Youde's abilities. He was probably at the initial stage of the second transformation, which meant that he had completed the second transformation not too long ago.

He adjusted his body's strength slightly and used the same Mantis Snake Sword Technique to launch a counterattack.

The two swords clashed, and only flashes of their figures could be seen.

After the transformation, their speed and reaction were far above that of ordinary people. Ordinary people could not observe the real situation in their fight at all.

Not far away, by the window on the second floor of the Chen family's restaurant, Father Chen, Mother Chen, and Chen Yingying looked on anxiously as the two sparred.

They were not able to hear the conversation between the two. Furthermore, Zhang Youde didn't wear a training robe as he preferred to be dressed in shirts and jeans. Therefore, they thought that Chen Yiming was facing an enemy.

Father Chen and Mother Chen talked in low voices from time to time.

They didn't go out and interfere, because they knew that they wouldn't be able to help even if they tried. They might even create more trouble for Chen Yiming.

After a few dozen moves, Chen Yiming thought that he couldn't appear too strong, but he couldn't afford to seem weaker than his opponent either. Otherwise, he would lose the initiative in their future interactions.

The gap between the first and second transformation wasn't as insurmountable as the third transformation.

Thus, he made use of Zhang Youde's relatively poor grasp of swordsmanship, and repeatedly attacked his weakness.

Very quickly, Zhang Youde made a mistake in the thick of things. He couldn't take care of both his front and back, and Chen Yiming's sword managed to strike his hand. His grip loosened due to the pain, causing the sword to fall out of his hand.

"He's actually a genius capable of fighting someone of a higher level than him."

Zhange Youde confirmed the guess he made earlier. Due to inertia, he only came to a stop after taking a few steps forward.

Previously, Chen Yiming had been able to hold his own against Wang Bowen, who had suppressed his cultivation level to match his opponent. Zhang Youde had guessed that Chen Yiming was the kind of person who could fight on par with someone stronger than him.

However, he did not know if Wang Bowen had deliberately gone easy on Chen Yiming. Only by fighting him personally could he be certain of his judgment.