Once the capture was complete, Huohuo let out a sigh of relief. "Another Heliobus secured. Let's head back!"
She was in high spirits. Even though she hadn't done much this time, everything turned out fine, which she was happy with.
But just as she suggested leaving, Pei Guang shook his head. "You all go ahead! I can't leave yet, I've still got to duel Yanqing."
He'd already accepted the NPC's challenge, how could he possibly back down now?
Besides, it was just a PvE fight. If he were underleveled or short on skills and items, maybe he'd reconsider.
But now, with a new skill under his belt, it was the perfect time to test it out—on Yanqing, no less.
As he got ready for battle, Pei Guang suddenly fell into thought. The skill was called Waterfowl Dance, but it never actually said it had to be used with a sword.
Hearing him, Yanqing looked over with excitement. "Please, give me some advice!"
Pei Guang: "Advice's a bit much. But you better be careful: when it comes to victory, I won't be holding back…"
He got serious, gear fully equipped and consumables ready. Pei Guang was completely prepped for the fight.
Looking at Pei Guang, now resembling an Abomination, Yanqing couldn't help but comment, "Sir, every time I see your outfit, I… always get the wrong impression. But that blunt weapon of yours is particularly… unusual."
From the moment he met Pei Guang, any time the man entered battle mode, he looked like a living Abomination of Abundance.
No, worse!
Even Abominations wouldn't go around wielding a trash can as a weapon!
That's right, Pei Guang wasn't using his usual wooden sword. He was holding a trash can.
Losing to Dan Heng back then had been humiliating, but now that Yanqing had come to terms with himself, he didn't fear shame.
What he wanted was to spar with a strong opponent like Pei Guang, find his own shortcomings, and grow stronger.
Pei Guang: "Doesn't matter what people think. You know who I am, and you know we're on the same side. That's enough. Alright, if it's a duel, let's begin now!"
Yanqing: "Very well!"
The duel began.
But just as Yanqing was about to strike, he froze.
He realized Pei Guang's entire body seemed to be covered in weak points.
Head, chest, abdomen, legs, feet… every visible spot looked like a critical target.
If it were anyone else, he'd assume the opponent was just weak. But this was Pei Guang, famous and formidable. These had to be traps.
Yanqing's mind started to fill in the gaps. But unlike most people, he didn't just theorize—he acted.
His flying swords shot toward Pei Guang, and he himself followed up with sword energy to probe.
If every point was a weak spot, he'd test how Pei Guang reacted!
The flurry of attacks would've made most people break into a cold sweat. But for Pei Guang, it was still dodgeable.
What followed, though, made Yanqing grow more serious.
Pei Guang leapt into the air—and stayed there.
While hovering, he raised his trash can and aimed it at Yanqing.
At that moment, Yanqing felt a suffocating pressure. Even from this distance, it felt like death was coming for him.
As the flying swords approached Pei Guang, he moved.
He swung his weapon and dashed toward Yanqing.
Yanqing swallowed hard: Pei Guang had batted away all his swords with the trash can, and was now barreling toward him in a whirlwind of swings.
"So aggressive!"
Yanqing immediately recognized the sheer danger of Waterfowl Dance. If he got hit, it would be fatal. But he also saw the move's flaw: if Pei Guang couldn't close the gap, it was no threat.
Without hesitation, Yanqing unleashed the ultimate move he had learned from Jingliu: a massive sword formed of sword energy came crashing down from the sky, targeting the charging Pei Guang.
"Sir, I must admit your move looks powerful… but it only looks powerful. You won't be able to get close at all—"
Pei Guang was fast, but this descending greatsword was even faster. If he didn't dodge and chose to take it head-on, he would definitely get hurt. As Yanqing launched the move, he was curious to see how Pei Guang would respond.
Pei Guang's response was simple. He judged that what Yanqing had unleashed wasn't a magic attack but a physical one. Since it was a physical strike, then Waterfowl Dance continued!
But at that moment, the trash can in Pei Guang's hand transformed—it became a large shield! Pei Guang used the shield to continue performing Waterfowl Dance, and the moment he came into contact with Yanqing's technique, his shield arm instantly struck over thirty times.
These weren't offensive strikes—they were a Waterfowl Dance-style parry! As the saying goes, where there's a will, there's a way.
The first time Pei Guang saw Waterfowl Dance, he thought it was a sword skill. But after exploring freely in this world for so long, his mind had long since broken free of constraints.
The skill never said it was a sword technique, nor did it specify a weapon.
So rounding it up, doesn't that mean anything could be used?
A trash can? That's a massive-area blunt weapon flurry. A shield? That's rapid, wide-range parrying. If he had a magic staff? Wouldn't that be thirty spells cast in an instant?
Besides, the skill also didn't prohibit changing weapons mid-use. Pei Guang tested it and found his assumptions were right.
If you just used a sword to slash, Waterfowl Dance would be a pretty average move. But combined with other weapons or skills, in Pei Guang's eyes, its power level instantly skyrocketed.
Of course, this was just a friendly spar with Yanqing.
To avoid lowering Yanqing's opinion of him, Pei Guang refrained from using his wet trash weapon. He didn't even want to imagine the chaos if he used Wet Trash + Savory Truefire with Waterfowl Dance: food waste flying under the heavens, trash and flames soaring together.
He wasn't exaggerating: with this skill's attack speed, he felt like he could throw hundreds of trash bags in an instant.
Just thinking about it was a beautiful sight!
Pei Guang had already made plans: next time he ran into that Duke Inferno who tried to lay hands on Asta, he'd unleash the full combo on him.
That kind of spectacular scene should be reserved for real enemies. Allies like Yanqing shouldn't have to witness it.
Considering the opponent was a friendly unit, an allied NPC, it wouldn't be right to gross him out or hurt him. But still, a trash can strike should definitely leave some bruises, right?
Thinking this far, Pei Guang's eyes suddenly lit up.
As he charged at Yanqing, his weapon changed again: this time, it was a spicy pepper chicken dish he'd picked up from who-knows-where.
When Yanqing saw Pei Guang charging at him, he was certain he'd take damage. But as Pei Guang got close and swung his "weapon," Yanqing's expression turned serious.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
A barrage of storm-like strikes rained down on him, but his body felt no pain. Instead, he heard a chorus of countless shrieks.