The monthly meeting was something that only started a few months after the training had started in earnest. It simply started with the students gathering together for a meal, but its purpose was far from establishing friendly relations.
"It's time."
The other instructors were absent, but Iyeolhan was there to conduct the main act of the monthly meeting. After finishing their meal in silence, the 11 students walked back to the training hall.
The children who no longer looked like children didn't go into the individual training halls like usual. Instead, they surrounded the large stage while Iyeolhan stood at the top. His gaze focused on Cheon Yong and Yeon before…
"Today we will start with Cheon Yong and…"
His eyes finally fell at Leo who was calmly standing beside Yeon, perhaps it was finally time to do something different.
"Cheon Baekho."
The purpose of the monthly meeting was an internal battle!
Just like the goal of escaping beating was one of the main motivators to finish the first phase, this monthly battle was started to maintain a certain degree of competitiveness. However, it wasn't unreasonable this time around, the battles were restricted by stage.
By the time the first battle was conducted, Yeon had already become a 2nd rate Martial Artist, so she didn't have any opportunity to fight. The first battle was fought between Leo and Cheon Yong to a draw before he advanced himself…
While important, monthly battles could still be skipped according to their instructor's decision. At the same time Yeon repeatedly beat Cheon Yong by close calls, Leo easily won every battle he fought in after the new students joined in. Since such battles had no importance, it was only normal that Cheon Chang pardoned him from joining till this point.
"Finally!"
However, Iyeolhan had obviously noticed Leo's advancement just like Cheon Yong did so it was different this time. As every student could only fight one battle, the head instructor decided to lay off the ever-victorious Yeon, starting the true monthly meeting with a re-match between the two!
'It's a good chance.'
As Leo climbed up the stage, he looked at the excited Cheon Yong with some anticipation. He could clearly beat Cheon Yong the first time, but he held back because he was already showing a hint of his future enthusiasm for battle. If he had won, he would probably be pestered for a rematch.
With Cheon Chang as his opponent, battling someone on Cheon Yong's level was certainly lacking up to this point, but things were different now!
"Come."
Leo held his wooden spear in stance, leaving the first move to Cheon Yong. He wasn't underestimating his opponent, but this battle was a perfect opportunity to test how he could be compared to someone on his level.
"Sure!"
Red haze sprouted out of Cheon Yong's hand as it enveloped his broadsword, his Heavenly Reign Steps came into action as he flashed before Leo. His sword was like a fire-breathing phoenix that desired to burn Leo into a crisp!
Szsz!
Black sparks consequently sprang about Leo's spear, he didn't wait for the sword to fall at him, pushing his spear to meet it midway, utilizing his stance's stability to push back Cheon Yong!
Sparks and flame flew off as the sword and spear continuously clashed, Cheon Yong was being pushed back more, but he still forced Leo to pause to block once or twice in the middle.
'Not bad.'
Cheon Yong lived up to his talent, having achieved a level of martial arts mastery similar to Leo's Black Dragon's Transformations. His sword was also on the cusp of reaching the advanced level, but…
'It's lacking.'
The Absolute Spear always kept the battle to his level, but it was far too different than this one. This wasn't a battle of strength as the Internal Energy flowing through their body and their physiques were quite similar… Cheon Yong was only lacking in skill.
Skill seemed like a tight concept, but it was actually very broad. The level of skill was having the capability to move your body in a certain way within a certain amount of time, but how to use that skill was a whole other matter.
Leo had not only confirmed his standing against other geniuses, but he had also recognized one of the few advantages he had. Having Cheon Chang as a teacher while experiencing his 'third' life was something that others couldn't duplicate.
"I knew it!"
Despite being on the losing side, the excitement on Cheon Yong's face didn't die down. Rather, it burned up even further. He was already fixing some of the holes in his fighting style during the battle. Although the battle seemed to be already decided, Cheon Yong was gaining something out of it!
Just like Leo got to experience his standing within the ranks of 'normal' geniuses, Cheon Yong was realizing the shortcomings that he couldn't see when trained under Iyeolhan. A battle on the same level was undeniably still the most effective!
Regardless of his effort to hold back at the last battle, Cheon Yong had sniffed out Leo's act. It was no wonder that he had been waiting for this rematch, even if it was in a more tame manner.
"This is it."
Leo still didn't have the ability to defeat Cheon Yong in one move, but after fighting for so long, he realized the possibilities that the mixed fighting style that he was learning would have opened. Since he got most of his targets for this battle, the black lightning on Leo's spear intensified! It was time to end this!
Through the buildup of the fight to this point, Leo's small advantage had grown to be glaringly big. Cheon Yong's footing was far from stable and so were his hands. Without further ado, Leo's spear impacted the flaming sword before springing up, tilting it off from its guarding position.
Thud!
Quickly flipping it around, the bottom of Leo's spear directly struck Cheon Yong's belly, throwing him out of the stage!
"Cheon Baekho wins."
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