I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 25 Discussion
In the courtyard, there were only two spectators, Guan Peng and Zhuang Xiaotian. After Chen Ming and Deng Ziyang started fighting, they watched intently, afraid of missing a single detail.

They had seen Deng Ziyang demonstrate his swordsmanship; it was light, graceful, and incredibly swift, making them feel that he was quite formidable.

Now, when actually used to fight against enemies, its performance is rather disappointing.

It is light and agile, but lacks power.

Although it was fast, it could not cause any damage.

Guan Peng only watched for a short while before he figured out Deng Ziyang's swordsmanship. He thought to himself: I thought my brother's swordsmanship was very powerful, but I didn't expect it to be so good-looking but useless.

Zhuang Xiaotian felt the same way.

Deng Ziyang himself was extremely upset, feeling powerless and frustrated.

After more than thirty moves, his swordplay began to scatter his enemies. Suddenly, he stopped, exhaled a breath of stale air, and said with a wry smile, "Senior brother's swordsmanship is superb; I am no match for him."

You defeated a level 10 enemy and gained 50 experience points.

Chen Ming cupped his hands and said, "Brother Deng's swordsmanship is also quite exquisite, but he lacks combat experience, which is why I was able to suppress him."

Deng Ziyang thought he was just saying that to be polite, and felt even more bitter inside. He had practiced this sword technique for so many years, and he thought his strength must be considerable, but he never expected that he couldn't even beat Chen Ming, who had just broken through.

This battle almost destroyed his confidence.

He suddenly understood Guan Peng from yesterday. The intense sense of shame he felt made him want to leave immediately and hide somewhere where no one was around.

However, he held back.

……

The second match was between Zhuang Xiaotian and Chen Ming.

He suggested, "Brother Chen, I am not skilled with swords. How about we have a hand-to-hand combat contest?"

Chen Ming readily agreed.

So the two started punching and kicking each other in the yard.

Deng Ziyang often watched Chen Ming spar with his men and was used to his "Three Talents Fist" so he didn't think much of it.

At this moment, he was fighting Zhuang Xiaotian, and he was still as at ease as usual.

That posture was exactly the same as when he fought Qi Jun and the others.

"He's letting his third brother have his way!"

Deng Ziyang suddenly realized this, and a storm of emotions surged within him.

This wasn't a friendly sparring match at all; it was practically feeding Zhuang Xiaotian his moves!

"Was he just giving me some pointers?"

Do not!
impossible!
He just broke through to the ninth rank, how could that be?
Deng Ziyang didn't want to think about it anymore.

After several dozen moves, Chen Ming narrowly won in one move.

Zhuang Xiaotian said in admiration, "Brother Chen's boxing skills are exquisite, I admire them."

……

In the third match, it was Guan Peng's turn.

Although he had just suffered a crushing defeat at Chen Ming's hands yesterday, his fighting spirit remained high. Having learned from yesterday's lesson, he was confident that he would not be defeated so easily this time.

"please."

Chen Ming gestured for him to proceed.

Guan Peng immediately made his move; at that moment, all he could think about was how to defeat his opponent.

As soon as the two clashed, Deng Ziyang and Zhuang Xiaotian, who were watching from the sidelines, could clearly feel the change in him; his swordplay became even sharper.

They were surprised that Guan Peng had made such significant progress in just one day.
Even so, Chen Ming handled it with ease.

After watching carefully for a while, Deng Ziyang noticed something amiss. Chen Ming seemed to be giving Guan Peng some pointers. The way the two fought was almost identical to what happened yesterday.

Ultimately, unsurprisingly, after several dozen moves, Chen Ming narrowly won another move.

He looked at Chen Ming and said seriously, "Brother Guan has really made rapid progress. I only won by a narrow margin." For a moment, he felt a mix of emotions.

……

You have defeated another level 11 enemy, gaining 50 experience points.

Chen Ming was overjoyed when he saw this notification.

Even if you defeat someone one level higher than him a second time, you still get 50 points.

Seeing that all three had their heads down and the atmosphere was somewhat somber, he realized that they were feeling defeated and their pride was hurt.

They were all young and ambitious men, at the age when they were eager to compete. Losing like that was too damaging to their pride.

This is not good.

Chen Ming thought to himself, if this continues, and they lose a few more times, they probably won't want to spar with him anymore. He's completely destroyed their confidence.

I need to think of a way... I've got it!

Chen Ming said, "You two probably haven't sparred before, so why don't you take this opportunity to have a match?"

This suggestion caused all three of them to exchange glances and their expressions to shift.

"Yeah, if I can't beat Chen Ming, can't I beat the two of them?" The three of them had this thought almost at the same time.

While watching the match, they all felt that the other two were not that strong, with very obvious weaknesses, and could be easily defeated.

Perfect, I can regain some confidence by looking at them.

"it is good!"

"good idea."

"Just to my liking."

The three of them agreed in unison.

……

After some back and forth, Deng Ziyang decided to have a match with Guan Peng first.

Both were full of confidence, but once they started fighting, they suddenly realized that things were not as they had imagined.

How can his knife be so fast?

Deng Ziyang was surprised. Guan Peng's knife looked heavy, but it was actually quite fast. Although it was not as fast as his sword, it was by no means clumsy.

This put him under tremendous pressure.

They were nothing like the slow and clumsy players they had been watching earlier.

"How can his swordsmanship be so sharp?"

Guan Peng was equally surprised, feeling that Deng Ziyang's swordsmanship was not only fast, but also specifically targeted his weak points, forcing him to be on high alert. If he was not careful, he would be defeated on the spot.

Both of them felt that the other was acting, so they put aside their contempt and focused on dealing with the situation, not daring to relax for a moment.

Zhuang Xiaotian, who was watching from the sidelines, felt that the two were like completely different people. Their sword and saber techniques were so impressive that he was shocked and found it hard to believe. "How did they suddenly become so powerful?"

The two exchanged dozens of blows, neither able to gain the upper hand.

Towards the end, they were both exhausted and stopped playing in perfect unison, calling it a draw.

Due to excessive energy expenditure, the next sparring session will be postponed until tomorrow.

Soon, they dispersed and returned to their own courtyards to practice their skills.

After this battle, the three of them realized that it wasn't that their sworn brothers were too weak, but rather that Chen Ming was too strong, making their weaknesses stand out. In reality, the three of them were evenly matched.

……

A month has passed in the blink of an eye.

That morning, when Chen Ming pushed open the door, he felt a chill. Looking up, he saw that it was dark and the yard was covered with fallen leaves.

He took a breath of the desolate air and thought, "Winter is almost here."

By the time he finished washing up, there were already more than twenty little boys standing in the yard, the oldest being thirteen or fourteen and the youngest nine. They were all children from nearby families who had come to him to learn martial arts.

Chen Ming naturally wouldn't refuse; the more the merrier. If he taught ten people this way, he could teach ten more in the same way.

The news of his becoming a martial artist still spread.

When my elder brother went to pay his respects to our parents in heaven that day, my sister-in-law overheard him.

Then, Xiao Hong, the maidservant beside the eldest sister-in-law, inadvertently revealed the matter, and it quickly spread.

Therefore, more and more people are sending their children here, hoping they can learn some martial arts. Even if they can't learn any, it would be good to be able to establish some connection with the Chen family.

This is probably the thinking of families who send their children here to learn martial arts.

As usual, Chen Ming taught for an hour before going to have breakfast. He found only his sister-in-law, Wei Shi, and his young nephew at the table and asked, "Where's my elder brother?"

"Your older brother didn't come home last night."

"What happened?"

"It seems there's been a problem with the medicinal herbs we brought in." Madam Wei only knew the general idea, so she wasn't too worried. Now that Erlang was at home, she naturally felt more confident. Unlike before, she didn't panic at the slightest thing.

"Ah."

Chen Ming didn't say anything, but he knew in his heart that this trouble was probably quite serious.

My older brother is a very family-oriented person and never goes to places of ill repute. The last time he stayed overnight at a pharmacy was when he was in prison.

"Erlang, your courtyard can't always be left unattended. Now that more and more people are coming to you to learn martial arts, you need someone to help you. I've found two clever ones, would you like to meet them?"

"Sister-in-law, you can make the decision."

Chen Ming didn't care much about it.

(End of this chapter)