Chapter 68: Martial Will

“Little witch of the Red Dragon family, tell me—why do you think Jiang Cha can withstand the Great Sage’s attacks?”

Seeing Lina gulp in shock, Shui Jun chuckled and slung an arm around her shoulder, whispering playfully.

“Because she calculated every single move the Great Sage would make.”

Lina had a decent gift for battle herself, and she quickly saw through the flow of the fight.

“Exactly~ This kid’s talent is downright monstrous!” Shui Jun spat the words like she’d bitten into something sour.

Her ability to restrain Jiang Cha came down to a matter of strategy. Jiang Cha’s raw offensive power couldn’t break through Shui Jun’s intricate defenses, while the Great Sage’s attacks, though far stronger, lacked that same defensive finesse.

“Heh! Since when has your monkey brother ever used a shield?”

Still, even so, Jiang Cha was walking on thin ice. One wrong move and she’d be flattened by a single swing of that staff.

Low-tier spells were useless against the Great Sage, and while Jiang Cha had managed to make up the difference in quantity of mid-tier spells, she still couldn’t instant-cast them.

At a glance, it looked like she was matching every strike perfectly with precise timing—but in truth, every spell she cast was a pre-emptive calculation, leaving herself just enough space to react to the next unpredictable move.

Like this sneak attack, for example—

The Great Sage’s golden staff suddenly grew larger and thicker, sealing off all of Jiang Cha’s escape routes in one brutal sweep.

But the girl didn’t panic. With a calm flick of her wand, the spell she’d prepared in advance—[Spatial Deflection]—activated.

She placed the deflection point precisely where the Great Sage’s swing had begun, redirecting the attack right from its starting motion. By the time the staff came down, the area of safe movement around her had widened dramatically.

Technically, she could have used [Teleportation], which was the textbook best counter for physical attacks, but [Spatial Deflection] covered a wider range of possibilities.

Even if the Great Sage suddenly dropped the staff and launched a fire explosion spell instead, [Spatial Deflection] could still bend it away.
[Teleportation], on the other hand, would have been useless—if the Great Sage just curved that fire blast mid-air, it would hit her the moment she reappeared.

That was Jiang Cha’s greatest strength—
Her unreal calculation ability, and her familiarity with the Great Sage’s habits.

Each spell she chose wasn’t just a counter—it was the one with the widest coverage against every possible outcome.
And she prepared it in advance.

“Enough of this running around! Take my staff head-on!”

The Great Sage finally snapped.

Jiang Cha was like a slippery loach—she couldn’t hurt her opponent, but she could drag the fight out forever, turning the whole duel into a battle of stamina and mana reserves.

That was the girl’s hidden plan.

After all, the Great Sage had deliberately suppressed her magic power, which meant her reserves couldn’t compete with Jiang Cha’s. And with her special “transformed witch” status, the Great Sage’s high-, mid-, and low-tier mana pools were all smaller than Jiang Cha’s.

Simply put, going toe-to-toe in magic output against an all-element prodigy like Jiang Cha was a losing game.

But this next swing—

“Spatial Lock?! No… that’s Martial Will?!”

Lina’s expression turned worried.

A witch could learn martial arts, but few ever did. Yet the Great Sage’s staff techniques had clearly reached a terrifying level—she was using sheer martial will to seal off the space itself, cutting off Jiang Cha’s prepared [Teleportation], which she’d been holding back for emergencies.

“So it’s still impossible to win, huh…”

Realizing that even her backup spells couldn’t handle this one, Jiang Cha dropped her emotionless full-power mode and sighed softly.

She’d actually prepared several trump cards—
[Subspace Tunneling] to counter space locks,
[Creation Shield] for wide-area blasts,
[Flying Dagger Array] for demon summons,
[Runic Grand Array] for sealing enemies,
and even her ultimate [World-Ending Curse] as a last resort.

But this strike was simply too fast—too strong. She had no time to react.

Against this kind of brute-force, no-nonsense physical attack, Jiang Cha’s options were almost nonexistent.
So, she made the cleanest choice possible—she surrendered.

She had spells ready for summoned monkeys and demons—but a staff backed by martial will? That was outside all her calculations.

Utterly unmanageable.

Yet to her surprise… that strike never landed.

The Great Sage’s staff whooshed past her, missing by inches. Her golden hair rippled in the air as she turned back, frowning.

“Why didn’t you dodge?!”

The girl looked wronged, her lips quivering, her voice almost tearful.

“I’m just a little witch! How could I possibly dodge that?”

The Great Sage: “…”

Ah, crap. She’d gotten carried away and forgotten—this kid had only been in the academy for less than a year.

The Jiang Cha in her memory was the mysterious, all-powerful witch from that fragmented world—not this small, helpless girl she could swat to death with one careless hit.

That sudden clash between memory and reality left the Great Sage momentarily off-balance.

It would take time to reconcile the two.

“If killing me once would make you feel better, then go ahead, Great Sage~”

The girl blinked playfully. Seeing the Great Sage fall silent, she wasn’t so pouty anymore.

Her lips curved into a mischievous smile. She reached out a hand—but stopped just short of touching her, unlike how she used to tease Taotao.

“Shoo, shoo.”

The blonde woman waved her off irritably.

Her tone—and the gesture—were exactly like Taotao when she got annoyed.

“Why would I beat up a little witch like you?”

“Ehehe~”

Jiang Cha grinned triumphantly, saying nothing more as she turned and skipped back to the viewing seats.

“And you still say there’s nothing going on between you two?”

Lina shot her a look.

“Your little cabbage from home keeps running off to flirt with someone else.”

“What are you talking about? It was just a coincidence.”

Jiang Cha rolled her eyes, her tone dry.

Like hell Lina didn’t see it.

Anyone who knew of the Great Sage could guess her origin—after all, Journey to the West was still famous even in the 22nd century.

And if not by name, her fighting style gave it away immediately—
No witch in her right mind fights an entire duel without casting a single spell, just pure melee with a staff!

Sure, some witches fought close-range—but only with magical buffs.
The Great Sage? She was swinging that staff raw.

“Cha-bao~”

Lina’s eyes darted between the Great Sage and Jiang Cha, a fawning smile spreading across her face—her intentions couldn’t be more obvious.

“You should go ask her for guidance! The Great Sage isn’t stingy with advice.”

“Then I’m going!”

Lina bounced up excitedly.

Earlier, she hadn’t known which Sage was coming to supervise their duels, so while she’d been thrilled, she wasn’t that thrilled.
But if it was the Great Sage herself—
That changed everything.

Her close-combat expertise alone was priceless!

Who knew if she’d even stick around after seeing Jiang Cha?
This was her one chance!

So she ran straight up—
…and got smacked back with three clean hits.

“Good talent, but not enough training. Red Dragon spoils you, doesn’t she?”

The “Red Dragon” in her mouth referred to the Red Dragon Sage—
one of Lina’s two mothers.

“Well, I owed her a favor back then anyway. Come on, kid. The Great Sage will give you a few pointers.”

She said it like she was being righteous and generous—
but Jiang Cha could tell.

The monkey woman just wanted to blow off some steam.

And Lina? She’d walked straight into it.