Lin Xue took the initiative to request a Blood Feud, which had long been within Le Yu's expectations.
Or rather, Lin Xue's Blood Feud was actually part of the plan set by Le Yu and Yin Yinyin.
As society changed, the number of Blood Feuds happening had actually been decreasing. Even though the Blood Feud was a legitimate opportunity for revenge, in reality, it wasn't very practical, since it contained two requirements: First, you had to know who your main enemy was, and second, you had to be able to beat them.
"Don't think those two things are so simple. Most cases were handled by the Imprisonment Department or the Statistical Department as a squad, so how the hell can you find out who your enemy is? The whole department?"
"If the plaintiff happened to be maliciously framing someone, then you could find an enemy, but the plaintiff's not an idiot either. Unless they're absolutely sure they're safe from a Blood Feud, no one would risk making false accusations."
"Plus, even if you knew who your main enemy was, whether you could beat them was another question. In the Lin Jinyao case, for example, the real enemy for Lin Xue and the rest wasn't Qian Yuliu—it was Lan Yan."
But they couldn't even get close to Lan Yan, let alone step inside the Statistical Department. And they weren't stupid either. Forget a deathmatch—if they all ganged up, they'd still only end up being butchered by Lan Yan.
Lin Xue and the others definitely didn't plan on a Blood Feud at first—there was no need. Their beef with the Statistical Department was political, a battle of ideology. There was zero room for compromise—there was no way a mere "Blood Feud" could cut it. This was a winner-takes-all fight for survival. Only when one side was wiped out was it over.
However, Yin Yinyin's plan was to egg Lin Xue and friends into challenging Qian Yuliu to a Blood Feud.
He, posing as a White Night Walker, made this requirement to Lin Jinyao's relatives and disciples, "Only those who can defeat Qian Yuliu and force an apology during the Blood Feud may inherit Lin Jinyao's will, join White Night, this warm family devoted to overthrowing the Glory regime, and be qualified to set up a White Night chapter in Star Engraving County."
But on the flip side, if no one could beat Qian Yuliu in a Blood Feud, then they didn't have the right to inherit Lin Jinyao's will, and obviously couldn't join the White Night chapter.
Back then, Le Yu cursed that Yin Yinyin was making shit up just to make things harder and take away their right to join.
Yin Yinyin told Le Yu he had no common sense: stripping away their qualifications was punishment, but issuing a challenge was a reward. And this requirement was totally reasonable—since Qian Yuliu killed Lin Jinyao, Lin Xue and company had every cause to demand closure through Qian Yuliu.
"Technically, even though Lin Xue and the others should inherit Lin Jinyao's cause and build the White Night chapter, they actually didn't have the credentials and were lacking in experience points—kinda like if your cousin, in the middle of playing a game, suddenly had to go shit. You'd have to let the other little cousin take over, but if your cousin's teammates needed to approve him, the little cousin had to show off some skills."
"Letting Lin Xue's group take on Qian Yuliu, like fighting an elite monster for experience, was perfectly logical."
But there was just a tiny problem: Lin Xue's group didn't stand a chance against Qian Yuliu.
It wasn't just Le Yu hyping up this "vehicle" called Qian Yuliu—Qian Yuliu really was a supercar. Among his peers, only Li Shijie from Yanjing could surpass him.
But Li Shijie had already become a giant spectacle—dead as hell.
So even if Lin Xue tried a group attack, he'd just get stomped by Le Yu, unless…
"Unless there's a traitor. The traitor, eager to join the chapter, would definitely seize this chance and use the resources of the Statistical Department to defeat you."
That was Yin Yinyin's conclusion.
But he had a follow-up, "If none of them are traitors, then have them stay clear of all the White Night and Star Engraving County drama for a while—if they can't even beat you, they're not fit to join White Night."
In short, White Night was always the good guy, and Le Yu got stuck as the villain.
But Le Yu didn't care; opportunities like this one to totally stomp some newbies didn't come often.
"Please."
Le Yu waved at Lin Xue and said, "Could the Patrol Execution Guard please witness this for me? If I'm late for work, it's due to unavoidable circumstances, not my fault, okay?"
Since Le Yu put it like that, the Patrol Execution Guard stopped interfering and drove off the crowd to give them some space to fight.
"Qian Yuliu, I'll make you see—even now, with Mr. Lin gone, I'm still here, Gao Jin! Star Engraving County isn't some playground for you to run wild in!"
The first to step up against Le Yu was student council president Gao Jin.
He raised the standard military academy long sword, unsheathing it with a flourish. The blade sang through the air, its point aimed straight at Le Yu, with a ruthless killing intent that made Le Yu's forehead twinge with pain.
Gao Jin's sword blade was unsharpened. Common folks could carry swords around on the street, but they weren't allowed to sharpen them. Swords were basically seen as decorative or fitness tools.
"Most swordsmen stuck to that rule—if they wanted to kill, it didn't matter if the blade was sharp or not."
In this world, if a swordsman needed a razor-sharp blade just to kill, it was an embarrassment for them.
The two stood at either end. At that moment, the light was perfect: sunlight broke through the clouds, bathing the world in warmth.
"Come on!"
Le Yu took up the Biting Battle Technique stance. No chit-chat—he opened straight with Desolate Bite, light bursting like a reverse Milky Way, striking straight at Gao Jin!
Le Yu didn't forget his main purpose—he was here to flush out the traitor!
Was Gao Jin the traitor?
Did he volunteer to challenge Le Yu first to try and beat Qian Yuliu before anyone else, win Lin Jinyao's successor spot, and get the White Night roster?
Was all his loud talk just to cover up his nerves?
Did he always act holier-than-thou just because he was full of crap?
"That's why Le Yu's assault had to be as brutal as a jackhammer. He wanted Gao Jin completely on the defensive, to force out his trump card! If Gao Jin really was the traitor, he would be sure to use support from the Statistical Department and suddenly hit Le Yu with someone else's power!"
Clang! Clang!
Explosions of light rippled through the air. Within moments, they clashed several times and then separated. Gao Jin backed off to a good distance, flicked his wrist, gathered light on the tip of his sword, bellowed, and thrust the sword at Le Yu, sending sword-light hurtling several meters!
Combat Technique—Sword Hold: Forward Charge!
Le Yu's body shook, his left hand sweeping diagonally, expelling a shockwave of light that shattered the sword-light!
Biting Battle Technique—Flood Spit!
But Gao Jin had already lunged in with his sword-light, though his real kill move wasn't with his right hand's unsharpened sword—it was the left hand's scabbard!
He gripped tight and swept the scabbard horizontally toward Le Yu, yanking sword-light from the scabbard's mouth. In a mere split second, he'd drawn several meters of sword-light, vibrating as if solid, threatening to slice Le Yu in half at the waist!
That was the combat technique Gao Jin specialized in—Sword Hold Technique!
The secret of Sword Hold Technique wasn't the sword, but the scabbard!
"From the moment Gao Jin unsheathed his sword, his scabbard started soaking up light, storing it inside. He couldn't keep it up for long, and it needed to be done in sync with the blade, since every blast of light released with the sword carried Gao Jin's Spiritual Power—what they called Sword Intent."
That power imbued with Sword Intent was high-octane fuel for Sword Hold. The longer Gao Jin fought, the more Sword Intent his scabbard stored, and the more explosive it became when unleashed!"
Simply put, Sword Hold played like a game where each direct hit charged up a crit meter—fight to charge it, and the scabbard was your weapon!"
"Combat Technique—Sword Hold: Forward Charge. The sword-light up front looked scary, but the scabbard after was the real killer hit!"
On a side note, in the world of Combat Technique cards, the Sword Hold deck's main feature was that every direct hit cranked up the Crit damage bonus.
'Not bad at all…'
Seeing himself surrounded by Gao Jin's sword and scabbard-light from both sides, Le Yu kept his cool, not a ripple in his mind.
"The Residual Blood Physique let Le Yu—just an ordinary guy who'd never even killed a chicken—stay calm while staring down danger that close."
'But it's still too weak.'
Biting Battle Technique—Flood Spit: Universe Chant!
Le Yu's left hand traced a circle, locking onto Gao Jin's unsharpened blade, twisting to catch hold of his wrist!
Then with his right hand shaped into a blade, he struck right into the center of the incoming scabbard-light and blasted it with a shock of energy!
Even though Gao Jin's scabbard-light looked legit, it was all show and no substance, flashy outside but empty inside!
"Shattered with a slap!"
Sword Hold Technique was actually suited for group warfare, with huge potential, since the longer range meant one guy could hold off an army. But Gao Jin hadn't mastered it yet—his extra-long attacks were a fatal weakness. The longer the range, the more power his light attacks lost!"
"A silver spear, but a candle's flame."
Le Yu grabbed his right wrist and yanked, then rammed his knee into Gao Jin's stomach, making him cough up a mouthful of blood.
'Is this what it feels like to crush newbies? Boring as hell. Just plain dull.' Le Yu slid behind Gao Jin, twisted his right arm behind his back, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck like a kitten, and smirked. He said, "It's over."
"Not yet!"
Gao Jin reversed grip on his scabbard with his left hand and stabbed backward with all his might!
Le Yu ducked away from that weak, desperate stab, but suddenly felt a strange pain in his kidney, like it was about to be punctured any second!
To his shock, Gao Jin's scabbard could also fire off a blast of blue light, even twisting mid-air to track Le Yu!
Damn!
He was actually gunning for my kidney… Gao Jin, are you the traitor!?