Hearing Pei Guang's voice, Yanqing, who was currently confronting a group of people, lit up. "It's you? What are you doing here? I'm here to subdue the Heliobus, same as you."
Pei Guang: "Yeah! Yanqing, why don't you step aside and let us handle this one? We just formed a team, and we want to try our hand at this first."
Listening to Pei Guang spout slang like a delinquent, Yanqing wasn't sure how to respond. After a moment's thought, he nodded. "Alright, I understand."
Yanqing didn't say anything more and simply took a few steps back. Ever since meeting Pei Guang, Yanqing felt like his worldview had been greatly expanded.
This time, he was curious to see what method Pei Guang would use to defeat the Heliobus.
From the books he'd read, Heliobi were powerful adversaries. He looked forward to fighting them, but even more, he was curious about how Pei Guang would handle it.
Pei Guang looked at the group in front of them. The woman standing at the front was clearly radiating Heliobus energy: it was obvious this was the real thing.
Considering there were two newbies in the group who hadn't fought a Heliobus yet, Pei Guang turned to Huohuo.
"Huohuo, how about you take this one? Let our rookie babies see how it's done. Oh, and use your transformation device too: let them see how it works. Once we catch a few more Heliobi and get enough materials to make two devices, they'll be ready to fight on their own."
Huohuo: "Okay!"
Huohuo nodded. Against such a weak Heliobus, she felt like she didn't even need to transform.
She pulled out her flag, crouched down, and, in front of everyone, crept behind the lead figure.
From Huohuo's point of view, this was a tactical sneak attack. But to everyone else, she had just pulled out what looked like a toilet plunger, crouched down, and snuck behind the leader… then jammed it straight onto their backside!
Nobody had any idea what Huohuo was doing. From their perspective, she just circled behind the person possessed by the Heliobus, then plunged a toilet plunger onto their rear.
Accompanied by a blood-curdling scream loud enough for the whole Exalting Sanctum plaza to hear, a Heliobus flew out of the person's body. As it did, Huohuo thrust her flag upward, and with that, the Heliobus was captured.
Watching Huohuo's smooth and fluid movements, everyone except Pei Guang and Stelle stood there slack-jawed. If Hanya had been present, she definitely would've had something to say about Huohuo's actions.
Over the past few days, since Pei Guang had steered her down this odd path, Huohuo had been diligently practicing everything he taught—especially the stealth ambush combo, which had already taken down quite a few unruly Heliobi in Fyxestroll Garden.
Now, having successfully captured the chess-ghost Heliobus, Huohuo proudly waved her flag and showed off to everyone. "Ah Guang! Stelle! Look, I can catch Heliobi like a pro now!"
Pei Guang: "Nice work! That sneak attack was smooth as silk: better than I was back then!"
Stelle: "Not a hint of hesitation, and the moves were clean and precise. So strong! That's our Huohuo, time to celebrate!"
In contrast, Yanqing stood there quietly, his expression reflective. He remembered that day: the day the former High Elder did something outrageous.
It was also the day he witnessed a fighting style that made him question everything he knew…
He lowered his head to look at the sword in his hand. The sword, sensing Yanqing's gaze, gave a clear rejection. Although the move he was considering was extremely powerful, the sword itself knew that after using it, it might be unusable altogether.
After all, while Huohuo's sneak attack looked like a backstab, she was targeting the Heliobus, not a person, so nothing actually got pierced. But he was wielding a sword, meant for piercing people, not Heliobi.
If he used it, he didn't even want to imagine what the result would be.
It wasn't just the sword: Yanqing himself also wanted to refuse. But watching a little girl so smoothly, easily, and effortlessly deal with a Heliobus made a bit of doubt creep into his heart.
Compared to Yanqing, Guinaifen was even more surprised. "That Heliobus… got handled that easily?"
Pei Guang spread his hands. "Yeah! Otherwise, why do you think catching just one Heliobus only gives that small amount of points? These kinds of missions are basically just warm-ups.
Don't worry, once I go back to Fyxestroll Garden and catch a few unconscious Heliobi, I'll make you all some transformation devices. With those, once you've gathered enough energy, you guys will be able to catch Heliobi yourselves."
But watching all this, Sushang suddenly asked, "Isn't… this kind of fighting a little… inappropriate?"
Pei Guang replied, "What's wrong with it? Let me ask you, did we win?"
Sushang: "We did."
Pei Guang: "And did we save people? Did we keep the damage to a minimum? From your point of view, Huohuo just rudely poked someone in the butt. But in reality, she infiltrated and ambushed, using her own methods to quickly and efficiently take down the Heliobi.
What's embarrassing about that? On the contrary, we should learn from Huohuo! Learn to think about how to best face an enemy based on your own situation."
Hearing Pei Guang praise her, Huohuo shyly said, "Um… that's because you taught me well, Ah Guang. I learned it all from you."
Following Pei Guang's logic, Sushang looked at the possessed person Huohuo had stabbed. Since Huohuo had aimed specifically at the Heliobus, the person didn't suffer any physical injury.
Damn! That plunger really only works on Heliobi: how miraculous is that? Pretty amazing, right?
Then she looked at the Heliobus stuck on Huohuo's plunger. Judging by how listless it looked, it clearly didn't have the strength to do anything else.
Sushang nodded. "We saved more people, minimized the damage, and it was fast and efficient. It even…"
Pei Guang cut in, "We took down a tough enemy and saved more people. So what's wrong with this way of fighting? You learn swordsmanship and tactics so you can defeat enemies more effectively, right?
When facing something like an Abomination of Abundance, your technique might look ridiculous, but if it can save countless Cloud Knights, will you still do it?"
Sushang: "Yes!"
Pei Guang: "There you go. Fighting and dueling are two different things. In battle, results matter most. You go all out, use your intelligence and strength to take down the enemy while minimizing your own losses, then turn them into materials to enhance yourself.
Whether it's ambushes, head-on assaults, poison, or overpowering them, as long as it kills the enemy efficiently, it's a good method. But if it's a duel, then you agree to terms, set rules, and follow them. A duel is like playing a game with a friend: winning or losing doesn't matter, what matters is the process."
At that moment, Sushang had an epiphany.
Even though she felt like something about the logic was a little off, she couldn't help but feel that Pei Guang was right. Her martial skills seemed to have leveled up just from understanding this.
Meanwhile, Yanqing, who had been quietly listening, felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head—completely awakening him.
Suddenly, a lot of things became clear.
He finally understood why, when learning his master's techniques, his form resembled it, but the spirit did not.
At that moment, it wasn't just Sushang who had an epiphany: Yanqing did too!