1993 Competing Skills

“Sister, can Han Sen win?” Yun Suyi’s hands were drenched in sweat. She grabbed Yun Sushang’s shoulder as she felt her body go soft. She feared she’d faint if she didn’t stabilize herself.

“I really don’t know,” Yun Sushang said, but she felt bad about it.

“He can’t win.” A man’s voice sounded next to the two sisters.

“Dad?” Yun Sushang and Yun Suyi shouted upon seeing the man.

Thousand Feather Crane bowed and addressed him as master. That middle-aged man, with gray clothes, was Yun Suyi’s father. He was the tenth elder called Yun Changkong.

“Dad, are you saying Han Sen will lose?” Yun Suyi couldn’t help but ask.

Yun Changkong shook his head and said, “I said he wouldn’t win. I did not say he will lose.”

“Then what does that mean?” The three of them were frozen. What Yun Changkong said was too strange.

“Both of them have knifeskills and knifeminds that have reached a pinnacle that ordinary people cannot reach. There is a minor difference between winning and losing. Anyone can win. Anyone can lose. If this was a deathmatch, one would be a winner. But this is not a deathmatch; if this is for the comparing of skills, neither can truly win,” Yun Changkong explained.

“Then how do we determine who will win?” Yun Suyi asked.

“Who knows? Why do you want to know the result so bad? Isn’t it better not to focus on a winner and a loser, right now?” Yun Changkong smiled.

Yun Suyi wished to say something, but she noticed Han Sen and Lone Bamboo were separated. Neither of them were striking, and she nervously looked their way. She wanted to see what was happening.

“It looks like knives can’t determine a winner.” Han Sen sighed. He then put Ghost Teeth Knife back to his waist. He thought Teeth Knife was close to deified, given the extent of his knifemind. He wanted to suppress Lone Bamboo, but his tactic hadn’t worked at all.

Lone Bamboo lifted the Spring Heart Knife in front of himself on a flat palm. He bowed, and then the knife became a green light and disappeared. It returned to the main island.

“What else are you good at?” Lone Bamboo asked as he looked at Han Sen.

If this sentence had come from someone else, it would have sounded like pure arrogance. But this was coming from Lone Bamboo, so it felt like something ordinary.

He had experienced so much. He was not only good with knives; he was probably talented with everything. That’s why he had the guts to say something like that.

Han Sen went silent and said, “Whichever weapon we use, the result will likely be the same. If we are not fighting for our lives, determining a winner might be impossible. This is pointless.”

“What are you thinking?” Lone Bamboo asked.

“If we can’t fight, then this match is dull. How about we stand here, and we use our techniques to compete? We can see who can crack the skills of the other,” Han Sen said quietly.

“Sure. You can go first,” Lone Bamboo said.

Han Sen did not hesitate. He cast a jade light that landed on Lone Bamboo’s chest.

When the Sky Palace students saw the jade light land on Lone Bamboo, they became so nervous that they wanted to scream.

But when the jade light landed on him, nothing really happened. It turned into a strange symbol, and it became attached to his chest.

Everyone looked at the symbol strangely; they were unsure what it was supposed to do.

Lone Bamboo moved his body and said, “This skill can reduce speed. It is very unique. This is the best geno art I have seen that is associated with such an effect. It is not much worse than a King class geno art, but…”

“But what?” Han Sen asked the question the entire audience wished to.

Lone Bamboo said coldly, “If I am not mistaken, your geno art uses the Outer Sky powers from Sky Palace.”

After he said that, everyone in Sky Palace was shocked. Han Sen was an outsider, and he had only walked the Road to the Sky once. And yet already, he could use the fabled words to synthesize a new geno art. It was unbelievable.

Everyone looked at Han Sen, awaiting his answer.

“Not bad.” Han Sen nodded, in admittance.

All the Kings, hearing Han Sen admit this, were shocked. It was hard to believe.

“He wasn’t carried because he could not walk to Sky Palace. It is because he was learning the two words Sky Palace from the Road to the Sky. He was successful. This guy is scary!”

The students in Sky Palace discussed. Even the powerful Kings all looked surprised.

If Outer Sky feelings were that easy to grasp, Sky Palace would have elites everywhere.

Lone Bamboo quietly said, “I practiced the Textless Book. Outer Sky powers come from there, so it won’t work on me.”

After that, Lone Bamboo’s body trembled. The turtle shell was then shattered. It hadn’t even left a mark on him.

“It is your turn.” Han Sen shrugged his shoulder. He knew it would be difficult to trap Lone Bamboo with the Turtle skill.

Lone Bamboo did not move, but his eyes did. And when they did, a light went into Han Sen.

Han Sen did not evade it, and he let the light enter him.

“What is this power? It feels so familiar.” Yun Sushang frowned in thought.

Yun Changkong said grimly, “It is a dream skill from the Dream Beast. Lone Bamboo was only there for ten years, and yet he learned Dream. Although it is not as good as a thousand dreams, it is enough to trap Han Sen in there for his whole life.”

When Yun Suyi heard that, she was shocked. A lifetime could be long, and so he might enter a sleep from which he would never wake.

But when that light landed on Han Sen, his eyes were so clear. It didn’t look as if he was going to dream.

The light on Han Sen slowly disappeared. And eventually, he smiled and said, “It is my turn again.”

“Please,” Lone Bamboo said simply.

First Day was confused, and so he said, “Weird. Why is Han Sen not in a dream? Does he have a skill that can remove dreams?”

Yun Changkong shook his head and said, “He didn’t need to remove the dream. Snaring someone in a dream requires a stronger will than your opponent, and for that foe to stumble into the dream. Han Sen didn’t fall into a dream, and that meant his will is as strong as Lone Bamboo’s. That is why it did not work on him. The nightmare that Lone Bamboo experienced was something that should have taken him ten thousand years to wake up from. But Lone Bamboo’s will continued to grow, even inside that dream. It reached a scary level, and the dreams after did not affect him. That is how he was able to wake up in only ten years.”

“Does that mean Han Sen’s will is as good as Brother Lone Bamboo, who experienced the dream? How did he manage that?” First Day asked with wonder.

“That is something you will have to ask him.” Yun Changking shook his head. He looked at Han Sen with admiration.