It hardly took five minutes for Mei Chao Bing to be pinned in place with one blade to his throat and the other’s tip pointing at his heart. He had already lost his own weapon and could only sigh deeply.

He hadn’t doubted the black warrior’s proficiency with the blade. No, he had believed it as soon as he mentioned it. But he also believed himself to be a talent so he had hoped that he would be able to hold himself against him at least for a moment. Clearly, he wasn’t.

Looking down at himself, there were more than a dozen cuts, most of them with just a hint of blood around the edges, showing that the blade had reached the skin. The black warrior hadn’t spared him. Although maybe that was wrong to say. No, he had obviously spared him. Because if he had wanted to, he could have killed him without him being able to do anything.

These cuts, they were merely a reminder of that, but not actually life-threatening. But if each of them had just been a bit deeper or just been a bit to the side, they would have been deadly.

"I hate to ask this question but compared to my Master, how much better are you?" He had managed to kill Qu Yijun and even though it had been quick, he was very much aware that that hadn’t been just based on his own strength.

This was something that he didn’t like to think about because it meant that the moment he was confronted with his Master, he would not be able to kill him. The fight with the black warrior had hammered that point home but he had been aware before.

The black warrior wiped the blood off his blades and put them back in his sleeves, shaking his head. "I have not fought against him so I cannot tell you. From what I heard, he is a talent. You are as well."

Mei Chao Bing sighed again. "I may be a talent of my generation, but I can’t compare to my Master who was a talent several generations ago. He … has so much more experience than me, and he was the one who taught me most of what I know. There is no way for me to win over him, is there?"

The black warrior gave a faint smile at that and then sat down where he stood.

Mei Chao Bing blinked his eyes in surprise when he realized that he was exactly at the same place where he had started, right in the middle of the platform. He raised a hand to rub the spot between his brows, feeling even more so that he hadn’t done a good job just now.

No, when fighting, he had barely been able to keep his life, don’t mention noticing where his opponent was driving him. He was afraid that his Master would be able to do precisely the same thing. And that made the future seem pretty bleak considering that there was some unknown thing that he needed from him. It made him feel like Feng Bai Xiao would be able to drive him exactly where he needed him to be so that he wouldn’t even be able to figure it out until it was too late.

The black warrior gave him a moment to think things through before he spoke up again. "I told you, my talent has always been a keen intuition. I can … feel what is going to happen in the next moment and how I need to react. I know where to turn before I need to, I know where to strike to make an impact.

"It’s not something I need to focus on either but something that naturally comes to me. In fact, sometimes, I am not doing it consciously, it just happens to me and I follow along because the impulse is so strong. It is like an instinct. And just like I have this instinct, other people will have their own talents. You have yours too and you just need to make use of that."

Mei Chao Bing took a few steps back to get down from the platform and furrowed his brows. "No matter what talents I may or may not have, I’m afraid that it still won’t be enough. I don’t know what he wants to do. I don’t know … why he’s doing all this. How can I prevent something from happening that I know anything about?"

The black warrior just smiled faintly. "You know, visions of the future can be a bit useless. It is times like these when I feel that the most. I would like to help you but I can’t. You’ll have to figure this out on your own."

Mei Chao Bing sighed but still nodded in the end. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand this. Actually, it was quite clear. This matter, he needed to deal with it on his own. He understood that.

But that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t have liked some help. And especially after seeing just how well the black warrior was able to fight, he had probably hoped for some kind of pointer that would be able to snatch him a final win even if it didn’t look like it. But it didn’t seem like he would get that. No, it seemed that he would have to figure out the way to victory on his own.

He sighed once again and then inclined his head. "Well, thank you for answering my questions. I will try to find out what I can. Maybe the Elders were able to uncover something that will shine some light on the remaining questions."

It seemed unlikely right now but this was still something that was possible. He just needed to trust that, once again, they would have some luck or that maybe they would find a way to make things better out of their own power. He wouldn’t give up hope until it was too late. He owed that to himself, to Fen’er, and to the people of the Teng Yong Sect that his Master had betrayed.