The woman laughed again, a husky sound that vibrated pleasantly. "My Department is situated right beside the auxiliary arenas, little monster. I naturally felt the tremors. And even though I only caught the tail end of your midway fight, it was quite the spectacle."
Yoriichi merely hummed, resting his hands in his lap.
This breathtaking, terrifying woman was none other than Zhan Yue, the infamous Head of the Combat Department. She is a legendary figure within the Jia Nan Academy, a High Dou Huang who disciplined her students with iron fists and unparalleled strictness.
Their bizarre relationship had begun a few weeks ago. Seeking to broaden his understanding of the continent's various martial styles, Yoriichi had visited the Combat Department's grand training halls for experience. Zhan Yue had coincidentally been present, overseeing the facility. Intrigued by the stoic freshman everyone was gossiping about, she had personally stepped down to test his physical strength, suppressing her cultivation to the Dou Zhe realm.
Instead, she had received the shock of her life. She found that the youth fought not like a talented teenager, but with the terrifying perfection of a warrior who had accumulated decades of life-or-death experience.
Every single one of her masterful blows found some kind of hidden deflection. Even with her vast experience as a High Dou Huang, she found herself profoundly impressed—and slightly outmaneuvered—by his pure swordsmanship.
From that day on, she had instructed him that she would occasionally visit his courtyard to spar.
True to her word, Zhan Yue started dropping by Courtyard 404 once or twice every week. Unlike the other department heads who were busy cooking up political schemes to poach him into their factions, Zhan Yue had absolutely no hidden agenda.
She didn't want to trap him in her web. She realized that sparring with this terrifying youth managed to polish her own heavily ingrained sword skills. He forced her to abandon reliance on raw Dou Qi and re-evaluate her physical fundamentals.
She fought him simply because it brought her immense joy and profound martial enlightenment. The youth's natural sword skills were absolute, representing a peak she had never seen in her entire life.
Over the past few weeks, she had been silently observing him, realizing that she truly couldn't fathom the depths of his capabilities. Today's incident in the arena had only solidified that mystery.
"To be perfectly honest," Zhan Yue said, the playful teasing leaving her voice as she leaned back against the bark, "I was deeply disappointed at first. When I saw you, a strong victor, willingly kneeling in front of your crushed opponent without showing an ounce of superiority... I thought you were soft. In the Black-Corner Region, showing that kind of mercy is usually a fatal flaw."
She turned her head to look at his sharp profile.
"But..." Zhan Yue continued, her tone softening with profound respect, "seeing what happened next... seeing your opponent literally reforge his Dao Heart right there in the dirt because of your words... I felt my entire view changing."
She looked back up at the orange sky, a philosophical smile touching her lips. "It is an absolute truth of the martial world that a winner cannot always win. Even the greatest grandmasters eventually taste defeat. But what you taught him today... it is also the truth that today's loser, if given the proper respect, wouldn't lose the same way ever again. You didn't just win a spar, Xiao Ning. You created a better warrior."
Yoriichi remained silent for a moment, absorbing her words. He simply watched a few stray leaves drift into the small pond.
"In the brief silence before you struck," Zhan Yue continued, her tone shifting to a sharper, more analytical edge. "You used a terrifyingly compressed Dou Skill. Those crimson flames... they melted his Earth attribute instantly. But even then, I could tell you had held back. You showed them a secret, but not your absolute best. Was that necessary? You could have simply deflected his boulders and walked away."
"It would be vastly more troublesome if I did not strike back definitively," Yoriichi explained, his deep voice calm and pragmatic. "If I only dodge, they will view me as a passive target. If I do not show them a terrifying limit, the arrogant will constantly test me, and the foolish will endlessly bother me. By showing them the Raging Sun, they now believe they have seen my trump card. The resulting fear and awe will enforce a boundary."
He turned his head, his crimson eyes locking onto her silver ones.
"Furthermore," Yoriichi added smoothly. "I sensed your aura the moment Kuo condensed his liquid Dou Qi armor. I knew you were hovering in the sky. If his attack had genuinely threatened to maim me, I know you would have intervened to save me."
Yoriichi looked back out over the garden, his expression unyielding. "But... I cannot rely on others to protect my life. A blade that relies on a shield will eventually rust."
Zhan Yue's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Even as a Dou Huang hiding her presence in the clouds, his spiritual perception had detected her location.
She stared at him for a second before a brilliant, genuine smile broke across her face. She raised her elegant eyebrows and chuckled, a throaty sound of pure delight.
"Ahh... you caught me," Zhan Yue teased, lightly bumping her shoulder against his. "I was absolutely ready to dive down and sever Kuo's arms if he had landed that blow. Then, you would have been in my debt. It is such a profound disappointment that you wouldn't owe a favor to a poor, helpless older woman like me."
Yoriichi's expression remained deadpan, refusing to take the comedic bait. "You are neither poor, nor helpless, Department Head Zhan."
"Fair enough," Zhan Yue laughed loudly, tossing her violet hair over her shoulder. The banter with this endlessly stoic youth was incredibly refreshing compared to the terrified obedience she received from everyone else in the academy.
She pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on her arms as she looked at him with intense, burning curiosity.
"So, the boundary has been set. You've officially conquered the arena and terrified the instructors," Zhan Yue murmured, her eyes tracing the mesmerizing gradient of his crimson-black hair. "What would you do next, Xiao Ning? The standard classes are clearly a joke to you now. Are there any other massive, heart-stopping surprises you plan to unleash upon my academy?"