In another 5 days, I was able to perform the Repelling Sword Strike, but I wasn't satisfied. I had an inkling of a potential method to use my two techniques in combination, so I decided to study the scroll for Spirit Arrow some more. It didn't take me long to realize what I was looking for.
The next day, I went straight to the grounds for testing melee weapon techniques. There were two dozen spaces, but there were also a lot more disciples wanting to test techniques, so I had to wait 3 hours for my first turn. For an hour, I practiced the Repelling Sword Strike alone. Once I was satisfied with that, I moved to the archery technique training ground to get the hang of what I had in mind: Conjuring Spirit Arrows and using them without actually firing them from my bow. The idea was, first I would knock an opponent off-balance with Repelling Sword Strike, then follow up with a Spirit Arrow.
It sounded simple and elegant in theory, and would surely look it when it succeeded, but once I got the hang of "throwing" conjured Spirit Arrows instead of shooting them, which was definitely much more effective than using a physical arrow without a bow, I projected that likely, training conditions wouldn't be enough for me to use both techniques in a combo.
The obvious problem was that due to many factors, the distance Repelling Sword Strike pushed back the opponent was highly variable. Even a training puppet didn't get pushed back the same amount, it usually varying by more than a foot. This was something I'd have to work on in actual battles. For now, I settled for getting the speed right while still controlling the Spirit Arrow enough that I wouldn't accidentally fire it into onlookers. If the elder overseeing the archery technique range had questions about why I hadn't even aimed at the training puppet or a stationary target for 20 minutes, he kept them to himself.
The next morning, I headed straight for the dueling courts. These were further split into two sections, one for general duels and a smaller one, more scrutinized by elders, for ranked matches, dispute matches, and matches with wagers. The rings for general duels were run on a "winner stays" basis—as long as a disciple kept winning, they could fight as many times as they wanted. This area of the training fields was the most popular, so even going there at the crack of dawn, I had to wait for over an hour before my turn.
According to the Library Guide, normal matches were limited to 5 minutes, treasures were not allowed, and killing your opponent was strictly forbidden. You could win by knockout, but disarming your opponent, knocking them down for 5 seconds, or knocking them out of the ring for 10 seconds were also win conditions.
Other than that, the rules favored a "champion"—if a match went for the full five minutes, the newcomer would only be declared the winner if they were in obviously better shape than the previous winner. If there was no previous winner, a timeout was supposed to result in a draw and a coin flip or other random method used to determine who would stay, though sometimes one or the other would browbeat the match-caller, who usually wasn't an elder in the normal courts, into giving it to them.
Finally, if you won ten times in a row, you earned the right to challenge a disciple to enter into the top 1,000. The opponent would be selected somewhat randomly by an elder from the bottom 100 of the ranks. However, your challenges for the session would stop. This ensured that no disciples hogged a dueling court for hours.
Once I stepped up, the way things went led me to conclude that not only my virtual fighting experience from my old life, but the Academy's teachings had given me advantages that I'd underestimated quite a bit. Over nine matches, I certainly saw a variety of techniques, and to give credit where due, barely a majority fought me with a sword. But every time, they tried simply to overwhelm me.
With technique as unrefined as Senyu Quan's but lacking his skillful relentlessness, and with my cultivation base at the 2nd stage of the 8th Earth Realm, already at the minimum requirement to try for the Inner Court when most of them were in the 6th and 7th Realm, it proved an impossible task. I'd spend about a minute each time fending them off and practicing my combo attack. I found that if I placed the blast from a Spirit Arrow the right way, I could knock an opponent back towards me a little, potentially leaving them open for a direct strike. After a few tries each, I'd knock their weapons out of their hands, or in the case of two disciples who fought bare-handed, I encouraged them to stay down after receiving my Spirit Arrow blasts.
I'd call this trial a success. There's no reason to attempt to become ranked yet. I'll keep laying low for a little while longer. Maybe until I learn the Ninefold Shot and use it with Spirit Arrows. I should be powerful enough with that…
I was about to begin moving off of the ring when the 10th person to step up called out. "Where are you going? Don't tell me you're leaving before you try to earn a ranking match."
"I was going to prepare more before seriously getting established in the rankings."
"This is likely your first time in the dueling courts, right? Yet you've taken down all comers without breaking a sweat. You've used only two techniques the entire time, which makes it likely those are your only ones. Going from that, you haven't been here long, which combined with your abnormally high skill level, unorthodox use of an archery technique, and confidence leads me to conclude that you're the new A Rank disciple who's been rumored to have recently joined the Library."
I tried to tune out the murmurs that started with this. "Quite a chain of reasoning," I said, "I suppose if senior brother wishes to challenge me, knowing how easily I won nine times in a row, it would be rude to refuse. But you know so much about me, I feel at a disadvantage. May I ask your name?"
"Hou Lu. Remember it well."
"Xu Zuhui. Show me if you can fight as well as you can investigate someone!"