Rematch with Anya

Fortune came so suddenly that Jiang Lin found it a bit hard to adjust.

Little Black, who had followed Jiang Lin to the swordsmanship classroom, was equally dazed.

Based on its investigation, the talent of the girl before them was countless times higher than that of its own bargain-bin Pope. To think she would actually seek him out for a spar and even gift him so many good things.

'Could it be... she’s a believer of the Pleasure Cult?'

A flash of world-shaking wisdom crossed Little Black’s eyes.

However, when it looked at Anya’s eyes, which were burning with an intense fighting spirit, it became confused again.

'Not a single trace of romantic interest, only a desire for battle?'

'What is going on here?'

Jiang Lin froze for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"Thank you for your generosity. It is an honor to fight you! I will give it my twelve-tenths to face you!!"

As he spoke, a thick battle lust also welled up in his eyes.

He rubbed his hands together with some excitement and took the gold coins and combat technique.

When he learned that it was actually a high-level technique, he almost asked Anya who she wanted him to kill.

You had to know that the value of a high-level technique was worth far more than just a single gold coin.

Without Temple discounts or other benefits, a high-level technique could sell for hundreds or even thousands of gold coins on the open market!

Although Anya was only lending it to him to learn, the qualification to learn it was equally precious!

"Come! When do we start?"

Jiang Lin raised his wooden training sword and assumed a basic opening stance.

Seeing Jiang Lin’s impatient look, Anya was also momentarily stunned.

She hadn't expected the other party to become so enthusiastic just because she gave him some gold coins.

But this was exactly what she wanted.

She pulled out a necklace and put it on.

In the next moment, her original aura rapidly declined, dropping down to the level of rank 3.

"This is a Sealing Necklace I borrowed from my family's swordsmanship instructor. It can thoroughly suppress all my attributes to rank 3. This way, I can compete with you fairly—a clash of pure technique. I won't take advantage of you with my physical stats."

As she spoke, she assumed the same opening stance.

'A family swordsmanship instructor... She really is a rich girl...' Jiang Lin marveled internally.

At the same time, he took a large stride and charged forward.

Seeing Jiang Lin rush over, Anya’s pupils slightly constricted.

'This speed... it seems to have increased by a huge margin compared to yesterday?!'

She didn't dare be careless and quickly moved to parry.

Swish!

Jiang Lin’s slash arrived at a tricky angle, aiming directly for a gap in Anya’s defense.

'How did his speed get so much faster!!'

Anya was shocked.

Simultaneously, she hurriedly shifted the direction of her wooden sword's defense.

However, seeing her response, Jiang Lin’s original slash actually changed its trajectory mid-swing, bypassing her defense and striking toward her wrist.

Clack.

The wooden sword tapped lightly against her wrist, flicking the wooden sword out of her hand.

Under the shocked gazes of Anya and the surrounding students, the wooden sword hit the ground with a thud.

With his nerve reflex speed doubled, Jiang Lin’s reaction time and speed in the same rank could already be described as unbeatable. Unless the opponent possessed special combat techniques or belonged to an assassin-type class, it was very difficult to defend against him.

"With my reaction speed and strength, you won't be able to defeat me at the same rank. Take off the necklace."

After a brief test, Jiang Lin had a rough understanding of his current practical combat capability.

'How is this possible?! How could he have this kind of reaction speed?!!'

Anya, however, was still in a state of shock.

At that moment, she recalled what Jiang Lin had said to her yesterday.

'Genius requires time to accumulate...'

'Could it be that the reason he hasn't raised his level is to gain higher base attributes?!'

'But a rank 3 paladin shouldn't be able to have this kind of reaction power no matter what, right?'

'Even if I removed my limits, my reaction power probably wouldn't keep up!'

'Could it be... that this is a true genius?'

For a moment, Anya began to doubt herself.

'Am I really considered a genius?'

At the same time, she thought back to yesterday’s battle.

'So he was taking it easy on me yesterday...'

'Otherwise, it would have been absolutely impossible for me to fight him for so long...'

Thinking of this, Anya secretly gritted her teeth.

However, she did not remove the necklace. Instead, she asked again:

"Can you let me use a skill?"

"Hmm?" Jiang Lin was puzzled. "What skill?"

"【Super-speed Thinking】. It can enhance my reaction capabilities. Even if I remove the level restriction, my reaction power isn't as good as yours," she stated frankly.

At the same time, the flames of unyielding fighting spirit ignited in her eyes.

"Sure, no problem."

Only when both parties had similar reaction speeds could they truly spar in technique.

Otherwise, the faster side could easily seize the opponent's infinite flaws, making a real fight impossible.

In the next moment, a blue light lit up within Anya’s golden eyes as she activated 【Super-speed Thinking】.

This time, she took the initiative to attack, engaging Jiang Lin in battle.

She stepped forward boldly, her wooden sword carrying an unstoppable momentum. The wind whistled as the blade closed in on Jiang Lin’s chest.

Jiang Lin responded quickly. At this distance, dodging was impossible; he could only parry. With a bang, the two wooden swords collided once again after a day’s interval.

"Eh?"

A massive force traveled from the tip of the sword, fifty percent stronger than Anya had estimated.

'His strength has grown too?!'

'Is this... a breakthrough after long accumulation??'

Anya was shocked once more. The boy was bringing her too many surprises today.

However, they were currently in the middle of a fight. She couldn't afford to be distracted and continued to clash with Jiang Lin.

In an instant, the wooden swords in their hands collided repeatedly. The sound of slashes rang out through the swordsmanship classroom like raindrops falling on a roof.

Originally standard sword moves seemed to come alive in their hands, with various techniques being executed flexibly as they clashed.

This scene left the surrounding group of underperforming students utterly stunned.

"How are they so fast?"

"What exactly is the deal with this guy Jiang Lin?"

Even the swordsmanship teacher Monsa, who had just arrived for class, was a bit dazed.

'This kid Jiang Lin... how can he have such fast nerve reflex speed?!'

'And his sword moves are natural and flawless. If I were at the same rank, I probably wouldn't be able to win either.'

Meanwhile, Jiang Lin was also secretly surprised during the fight.

'The boost from this skill is that big?'

It seemed that the skill 【Super-speed Thinking】 was also worth learning.

Jiang Lin couldn't imagine how miserable his end would have been if he hadn't boosted his nerve reflex speed yesterday and had faced Anya in this state. Even with his mastery of 【Basic Swordsmanship】 at the superlative level, he would have definitely been thrashed.

However, now that both of their reaction speeds were at the same level, the competition came down to their understanding of swordsmanship techniques.

And in this aspect, Jiang Lin still held a crushing advantage.

After only a dozen or so moves, Jiang Lin seized a momentary mistake by Anya and pointed his wooden sword directly at her snow-white neck.

The wooden sword cut through the air, stopping less than a centimeter from Anya’s neck. The air displaced by the blade brushed against her skin.

This scene caused Little Black’s jaw to nearly hit the floor:

'What the hell?! This loser actually has such strong combat ability??!!'