Chapter 67: A Calculated Spar and a Hidden Breakthrough

For someone like Lilia, the only path forward is to accumulate combat experience, seeking opportunities for breakthroughs amidst the heat of battle. It was for this very reason that Miss Sina had previously ventured out to battle the black bear, an encounter Gern had stumbled upon.

Gern’s situation, however, was somewhat unique. As a reincarnated soul, he had long since mastered the intricacies of cultivation. The path to cultivation before reaching Tier 6 was already meticulously planned in his mind; he merely needed to adapt his past experiences to the present circumstances. Lilia, on the other hand, lacked such a wealth of reference, compelled to forge her own path step by arduous step.

Gern recalled glimpses of Lilia from his previous life—a succession of golden-haired maidens relentlessly pursuing him in combat—hoping to unearth some clue to her breakthrough within those memories. To his surprise, after a moment of contemplation, Gern indeed found a promising lead.

Lilia’s cultivation technique was the exclusive royal art of the Klett Kingdom, known as the Nirvana Art. This art specialized in enhancing control over fire-element magic, martial skills, and movement techniques, growing stronger with each battle. For a cultivation art of this nature, Gern realized he simply needed to relentlessly pressure Lilia in combat, allowing her inner fury to build. This might just be the catalyst for her to break through to Tier 3.

“Lilia,” Gern proposed, “we won’t discern much just by looking. How about we spar a bit?”

Hearing this, Lilia’s beautiful eyes flickered with a hint of challenge, a spark of interest igniting within her.

“Oh, alright! How do you want to spar? Any rules?”

“No strict rules. Since you’re aiming to break through the Knight pathway, let’s stick to a knight’s strength.”

Truthfully, Gern was concerned Lilia might resort to magic, which he wasn’t quite prepared for. It was just a spar, no need for such a desperate struggle.

“Alright, hand me a sword.”

Gern nodded, producing two practice wooden swords from his storage ring.

They stood facing each other, a subtle tension beginning to simmer in the air between them.

Lilia held immense respect for Gern’s strength, evident from his ability to single-handedly repel the giant serpent earlier. Sparring with him demanded her absolute, undivided attention to ensure she wouldn’t fall short. Yet, she was also wary of the astonishing speed at which Gern’s power grew. She distinctly remembered encountering him when he was still in his ‘little dragon girl’ form, not even a Tier 1 Knight. Now, he had already reached Tier 3. It truly spoke volumes about the Silver Dragon clan, once the most prosperous among all dragonkind.

The solemn expression on Gern’s face stemmed entirely from the memories of Lilia’s torment in his past life. In his mind, he had already branded her as powerful and disturbingly pathological. Moreover, he didn’t believe his current self was all that formidable. His success in scaring off the giant serpent earlier was only because Lilia and her companions had already wounded it. Coupled with his thorough understanding of the serpent’s weaknesses and habits, he had been able to exploit its vulnerabilities. This was precisely why the giant serpent had considered fleeing. Had his current self lacked the experiences of his past life, sparring with Lilia would have been utterly impossible.

Both harbored their own complex thoughts, yet neither seemed eager to initiate the fight. Each was acutely aware of the other’s strength, feeling a distinct lack of confidence in securing a swift victory.

Ultimately, Gern decided that his hesitation was unbecoming. After all, he had been the one to propose this spar, intending to help Lilia identify where her breakthrough was faltering. With that resolve, he made his move.

His wooden sword shot forward, aiming directly for Lilia’s face.

Lilia’s eyes narrowed instantly, and she raised her own sword to parry. The two wooden blades clashed, their combined force momentarily locked in a perfect stalemate. Lilia then stepped forward, her longsword sweeping ahead. As she deftly evaded Gern’s attack, she simultaneously lunged towards his face.

To her surprise, a knowing smile played on Gern’s lips—this was an opening he had deliberately offered Lilia. His longsword’s momentum shifted, blocking Lilia’s advance, and their blades met once more with a resounding clang.

“Hmph~ As expected of Lo… *cough*, as expected of Gern. The speed of your feints is truly astonishing.”

Lilia exhaled a soft breath, her gaze at Gern sparkling as if tiny stars had ignited within her eyes.

Gern, however, felt a chill creep down his spine under Lilia’s intense gaze. In his past life, he had only ever seen her look at her fiancée with such an expression. ‘Surely, this Lilia doesn’t harbor *those* kinds of feelings for me in this life, does she?’ ‘But I’m a man! Lilia, the “girl-liker,” couldn’t possibly be interested in me, right?’

In the brief instant Gern was lost in thought, Lilia seized the opportunity, thrusting her sword towards his throat. Startled, Gern snapped out of his daze, his footwork shifting as he darted backward, simultaneously raising his longsword.

*Clang!

The two wooden swords collided once more with a sharp crack. The immense force generated by their clash caused faint cracks to spiderweb across both blades. They briefly separated, creating a momentary distance that Gern immediately recognized as an opportunity.

Lilia aimed to awaken as a Tier 3 Knight, and the most crucial aspect of this tier was the battle qi that could be infused into one’s weapon. Gern intended to use this chance to allow Lilia to truly experience the pressure of a Tier 3 Knight’s battle qi. In a flash, countless streaks of sword qi, forged from battle qi, cleaved towards Lilia.

Lilia showed no surprise at the sight; her mind, at that moment, was exceptionally clear. She deftly dodged several incoming sword qi slashes, but met the final one head-on with her wooden sword. Feeling the force reverberating through her hand and the energy contained within the sword qi, Lilia sensed a deeper understanding of battle qi beginning to coalesce within her. She was confident that if she could withstand a few more of Gern’s attacks, she would achieve her breakthrough to Tier 3 Knight amidst the struggle.

Observing the effect his sword qi had, Gern launched a rapid succession of slashes towards Lilia. Invisible sword qi, imbued with potent gales, swept forth, kicking up a swirling cloud of dust. This time, Gern struck with exceptional force, sending a prickle of alarm through Lilia. She gritted her teeth, refusing to retreat, and instead charged forward, her own sword slashing out to counter Gern’s incoming sword qi.

A protective aura of flames instantly erupted around her, Lilia channeling her cultivation art to resist the encroaching sword qi. With a whoosh, the sword qi slammed into Lilia’s fiery defense, cleaving a significant gap in her flame shield. Gern couldn’t help but inwardly sweat, relieved that the sword qi had dissipated immediately after breaching Lilia’s shield. He finally let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. His estimation of the protective limit of Lilia’s battle qi aura had been remarkably precise. This level of power was just enough to exert pressure without actually harming her.

Lilia, having weathered Gern’s attack, wiped a bead of cold sweat from her forehead. She had genuinely felt on the verge of being consumed by that surge of sword qi. While relieved Gern hadn’t used his full power, a faint hint of resentment still stirred within her. ‘I’m so good to him, yet he actually dared to strike with such force!’

Yet, in the very next moment, Lilia felt a subtle loosening in the bottleneck within her. Only then did she realize that Gern’s earlier display of power was entirely calculated to penetrate her current bottleneck, a method designed to help her break through. With this realization, the faint resentment she had felt moments ago vanished instantly, replaced instead by overwhelming joy and admiration.

Gern shivered involuntarily. Why did Lilia’s gaze suddenly feel… off? ‘It’s like… she’s got hearts in her eyes?!’ ‘Does Lilia have some hidden masochistic tendency?’