Chapter 306: The Laughingstock
Like Evan, the remaining one hundred thousand Cloud Sect disciples were shocked by what they saw!
Everyone knew Zen was exceptional at the basic swordsmanship. However, Evan had foolishly boasted in front of all disciples that he wouldn't need to unsheathe his sword in his fight against Zen. He must have been out of his mind!
But, the sad fact was, most of the disciples had the same mindset as Evan.
Earlier, when some of the disciples had seen Zen's fundamental swordsmanship, they were impressed, and spoke highly of his basic swordsmanship. When that was passed along, it became deeply rooted in the minds of the rest disciples, which made them feel Evan's bragging and looking down on Zen ridiculous.
Thus, they had been waiting, on edge, to watch Evan fail, and would be equally thrilled if Evan yielded to Zen.
At that moment, all those one hundred thousand disciples shared a single thought, 'You always boast about yourselves, just because you are a personal disciple. Do you think you're invincible? Now, let's see how you handle Zen and his swordsmanship! Wait and see, you will submit to Zen, and admit that he is your master!'
Evan was feeling embarrassed that he had talked big and regretted it thoroughly since he wasn't able to walk the walk.
How on earth was Zen's basic swordsmanship so seemingly exceptional?
There was no other swordsmanship that was more ordinary than what Zen had adopted. It was only horizontal stab, and that, to be honest, was the most straightforward, yet simplest move used in basic swordsmanship.
An opponent using this style of swordsmanship could be easily outmaneuvered by shooting the sword out. Horizontal stabbing was the first move that most swordsmen studied first. To lay a solid foundation for future swordsmanship skills, a juvenile usually practiced horizontal stabbing at least a thousand to ten thousand times.
It was just the horizontal stabbing move, so, why was Evan finding it impossible to dodge in any direction from the assault?
It appeared to be just the basic swordsmanship. How was it possible for Zen's moves to be this awesome? Evan felt like he was going crazy.
Naturally, he didn't know Zen had done brilliantly in the All Peaks Competition purely using the basic swordsmanship. Zen only adopted simple swordsmanship, yet, it was challenging for Evan to dodge. A hundred thousand disciples watching thought it was natural for Evan to be in a difficult situation.
It seemed it was only Evan who wasn't aware of Zen's extraordinary performance so far at the All Peaks Competition utilizing just his basic swordsmanship.
After all, Evan had outperformed everyone using his strength since three years ago and was the most talented disciple in Cloud Sect.
Since then, his strength had enhanced greatly.
Noticing the razor sharp blade slashing the air as it headed towards him, Evan unconsciously reached for his sword. Recalling his promise, he stopped himself, and instead turned abruptly, contorting his body and barely escaping Zen's attack.
Just now, Evan had managed to avoid Zen's first sword attack, but it put him in an extremely awkward position. Then came Zen's second strike! A third sword attack followed! Then, the fourth sword attack...
Evan's head cleared, and he realized he wouldn't be able to keep on dodging Zen's sword attacks even if he used all the body techniques he knew. However, he still had difficulty because he had boasted that he wouldn't draw his sword in the fight with Zen. At least that was how Evan felt. If he unsheathed his sword to confront Zen now, he would have to acknowledge Zen's superiority and refer to him as his master.
With this in mind, Evan determined stubbornly that he had no choice but to continue resisting Zen's attacks without his sword.
Without hesitation, Zen thrust his sword forward a second time, using horizontal sweep! For the horizontal sweep move, one should keep the blade horizontal while swinging it quickly. The force was exerted upon the front of the sword's edge near the little finger.
As the sword drew closer, Evan gritted his teeth again and abruptly moved to avoid it. The tip of Zen's Streamer Sword nearly sliced Evan's back. If his blade had been raised just a little higher, Evan would have been injured.
The third sword attack was called sword pointing.
When using sword pointing, one should keep his wrist relaxed and then quickly flick it with great force in order that the sword tip could abruptly strike the opponent in a downward motion which caused the force to travel to the tip.
Zen used these three basic swordsmanship techniques in combination.
Since Evan found Zen's first and second offenses so severe, he would run out of steam with this third swordsmanship assault against him, and soon enough, he would be struck by Zen's sword if he stuck to not drawing his blade. Evan would be defeated if he was struck by Zen's sword whether or not he was injured.
After his position was worsened, Evan gritted his teeth and unsheathed his sword in spite of his promise. Ingeniously taking advantage of the situation, he swept Zen's sharp sword away.
Now, there were at least a hundred thousand disciples paying close attention to the battle between Zen and Evan. All of them had opinions on how many attacks Evan could withstand before he pulled his sword out.
Some of them thought Evan could resist five sword attacks, while others considered six sword assaults would be Evan's limit. There were a few disciples who had been watching Evan's dodging capabilities and thought he would hold out till the tenth strike though.
They had all guessed wrong. Evan had no choice but to unsheathe his sword when Zen took the offensive for the third time.
“The sword is drawn. Did Evan unsheathe his blade already?”
“Will he address Zen as his master? Or, will he break this promise?”
“Well, he really has no choice but to keep his word on this! He made his promise in front of so many people! ”
Unsheathing his sword, Evan was filled with regret and a grudge swelled from deep inside him! All the blame was his though, and his boastful words! He shouldn't have been rash, and should never have made that promise without just cause! Even though he regretted it, there was nothing he could do at that moment. What was said was like water spilled, and could not be taken back. Besides, Evan had made the promise publicly with one hundred thousand Cloud Sect disciples present!
If he acknowledged Zen as his master, he would be thoroughly disgraced, but on the other hand, if he refused, Evan would be untrusted among his peers.
Away from Evan, a slight knowing grin could be seen on Zen's face as he held fast to his sword without saying a word.
Even now, Evan hesitated because he wasn't sure what to do next...
Evan felt as though he was going stark raving crazy!
“Say it! Call him Master!”
“Come on. Call him Master!”
“Call him Master!”
yelled merciless disciples, with others joining in after the first troublemaker shouted. Suddenly, there were hundreds and thousands chanting the taunt together.
Elder Ge stood there dumbfounded. He couldn't believe Evan was that unpopular with his fellow disciples that they would have him humiliate himself publicly like this. Why were the disciples of the Cloud Sect against him?
The fact was though, that it couldn't be said all the disciples showed hatred toward Evan, just like it couldn't be concluded that Zen was favored by them.
It Evan hadn't arrogantly boasted, they wouldn't have treated him so rudely. But, from the very start of the fight, Evan had taken for granted that he was superior, and everyone was very glad to witness the failures of people like that. The greater the fall, the happier the bystanders were.
A hundred thousand people shouted in unison, making the very grounds shake. As the chanting grew louder and louder, it seemed the scene would stay with Evan the rest of his life!
At long last, Evan ground out through clenched teeth, “Fine! I will refer to him as my master!”
Evan thought he would be able to seize the chance and call Zen “Master” quietly, while all other disciples were loudly chanting. However, all of them fell silent all of a sudden as if they were of one mind. It became so deathly quiet that one could even hear a pin drop! Additionally, all eyes were on Evan, with their ears wide open...
“Are you teasing me?” asked Evan, feeling like he would burst into tears any moment. Evan was feeling reckless and a little mad, but he wasn't a fool. How could he have cultivated himself and reached the level he was if he had been?
Evan realized it was impossible to make excuses to not to keep his promise. At last, he gave up and with shagging shoulders, he yelled, “My Master!”
“Ha!” Not far off, Yan couldn't stifle the laugher when she heard Evan calling Zen his master. As she laughed, her chest and waist bounced, trembling like a paper flower.
Many times, Evan had lost bets, and yielded to Yan, calling her “Queen”. Now, as promised, he was calling Zen “Master”. But, it was Evan's own fault! So, Evan didn't deserve pity from anyone!
The silence broken by Yan became an uproar as most of the disciples burst out laughing too. Their uproarious laughter echoed throughout the field, ringing in Evan's ears! How sensational the laughingstock was!
Evan blushed as blood rushed to his cheeks. He was more furious when he saw Zen smiling and knowingly nodding at him.
'I'm your senior in Cloud Sect. I just called you “My Master”, and are you so shameless that you responded by nodding in agreement? Well, I will make you regret that!'
After the roaring laughter gradually died down, Evan added, “Yes, I underestimated you earlier. Now, I'd like to fight with you again, but, this time with swords. The loser will acknowledge the winner as his superior, and address him as ”Master“ whenever we meet in the future. Zen, do you accept my challenge?”
Zen was stunned! He listened to what Evan said and stood there dumbfounded while firmly glaring at Evan.
All one hundred thousand disciples stared at Evan in shock with their mouths agape....
Evan was behaving like a fool, even now. Zen had agreed to decide the winner of the All Peaks Competition based on swordsmanship. Now, Evan was making another outrageous request?
Evan realized his request was a little rude. He felt he couldn't do more than grit his teeth and add, “Well, I can't force you to, but, let's formally fight against each other using swordsmanship techniques!”
As soon as Evan finished speaking his mind, his long sword trembled, and he pointed the tip at Zen! Suddenly, Evan's face turned hard.
Even though it was only a mysterious weapon, Evan looked extraordinary, as if the weapon he held were a fairy or sacred weapon.
Zen felt as if Evan was like the Iceni on Killing Sword Mountain. Since Evan was a senior disciple at Cloud Sect, he could not be a simpleton!