Chen Yue spread out his right hand, and in his palm lay a metal ball quietly.

  "By the way, let's test the strength of this protective ball." Chen Yue thought to himself. Anyway, there were as many as three of them. It wouldn't be a pity to waste one. More importantly, it was used for defense, and there was no danger in testing it.

  Looking rather solemnly at the palm of his hand, Chen Yue shook his arm, and the metal ball suddenly flew up. When it was halfway through the flight, two fingers stretched out suddenly, clamped it firmly, and then squeezed it.

  "Crack." With a crisp sound, as if a water bubble had been crushed, a silver light shield suddenly expanded and enveloped Chen Yue inside.

  "So this is the so-called protective ball." Chen Yue frowned slightly. It was easy to break the protective ball by squeezing it. Moreover, its activation didn't require fighting spirit or magic, which was very suitable for apostles to use. However, he didn't know how strong it was.

  "Zhu'er." Chen Yue beckoned to the somewhat dazed Ling Zhu'er beside him, "Attack this light shield with all your strength."

  Ling Zhu'er nodded.

  "Clang." With a heavy sword strike on the side of the protective shield, Ling Zhu'er felt as if she had chopped on an impregnable wall. Her hands ached faintly. The light shield dimmed a little, and even some cracks appeared, but it didn't break.

  Having failed with one sword strike, Ling Zhu'er lowered her head in shame.

  "Again." Chen Yue said in a deep voice.

  "Clang, clang, clang." After three consecutive attacks, the protective shield was already on the verge of collapse and basically had little effect. Just when Ling Yue'er wanted to deliver the final blow, Chen Yue stopped her.

  Looking at Chen Yue with puzzlement, Ling Yue'er didn't voice any doubts and quietly stepped back.

  "Ice Rabbit, use the ice breath."

  "Whoosh!" Without hesitation, the Ice Rabbit sprayed a mouthful of freezing air onto the protective shield.

  The protective shield immediately shattered into countless pieces.

  "It takes four attacks from a second-order fighter to break it. Moreover, it can defend against both martial and magical attacks." Chen Yue quickly calculated in his mind. Although he was comparable to a fourth-order fighter, he mainly relied on skills. His pure strength could just break the light shield. In other words, to hurt someone, at least a second strike would be needed.

  Fortunately, he didn't give Wolf the chance to use it. Otherwise, there would have been many more variables.

  The powerful effect of the protective shield surprised Chen Yue a little. He had indeed overlooked many things.

  Points!

  This thing could actually be exchanged for such practical items.

  Unconsciously rubbing his apostle badge with his fingers, Chen Yue understood that he had still underestimated the Apostle Association.

  Actually, it couldn't be blamed on his carelessness. Since he joined the Apostle Association, he had been running around. When he returned to the association, he was also in seclusion all day to break through. He hadn't paid attention to these external things at all. Ordinary apostles would only obtain these points and start to understand all this a year after joining.

  However, Chen Yue was different.

  Now that he thought about it, Mo Ye's guess was actually incorrect. Chen Yue had points, and the amount was not small. Otherwise, where did the points deducted by the teleportation device come from?

  When he first registered, Vinia gave him two things. One was the request, which he had already used, and the other was points, a full 100 points.

  At that time, Wolf strongly objected, which showed that the amount of these points was not small.

  Unfortunately, he had forgotten about it.

  "However, it may not necessarily be a bad thing." Taking a deep breath, Chen Yue instead showed a look of joy.

  Having learned about the wonderful use of points early, he wouldn't be so passive in the trial ground five months later.

  In his heart, that gambling fight was the most important thing.

  The life-and-death duel with Wolf didn't give him the chance to use items. However, West was different.

  West was a second-order apostle himself, and he had the support of Klesno behind him. If Chen Yue had no idea about the points at all, his chance of winning would be very slim.

  Now it was different. Even if he couldn't exchange for powerful items, he could still check them. After knowing the functions of these items, it would be much easier whether to break through or defend against them.

  Although Vinia was also very likely to remind him, Chen Yue, who had witnessed Vinia's terrible sense of direction, had already had a certain understanding of her careless character and didn't really have much hope. Even for her act of going out to look for "Elemental Crystals", Chen Yue didn't have much confidence. Who knew if she, with such a poor sense of direction, could return before the gambling fight started...

  "Sir, are you okay?" Seeing that the protective shield had broken and Chen Yue had lowered his head without any reaction, and now he was showing an unusual look of joy, Ling Zhu'er felt a bit creepy. Could his brain have been frozen by the freezing air...

  Chen Yue was stunned when he heard this. He gave Ling Zhu'er an annoyed glare and coughed heavily a few times before getting to the main topic: "Zhu'er, I found that although you are already at the second order, you lack practical combat skills, seriously lack them, and you can't bring out your full strength at all."

  He deliberately emphasized the word "lack".

  "What do you know about close combat skills?" Ling Zhu'er curled her lips with a bit of disdain. Of course, it was in private.

  "Don't believe it?" How could Chen Yue not see her little thoughts? "When you swung your sword just now, your posture was wrong. You wasted too much strength, and the attack efficiency wasn't high. Try it like this..."

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  Although she didn't quite believe that Chen Yue, an apostle, even understood sword skills, but considering that she was his follower, Ling Zhu'er reluctantly stabbed out a few swords according to his instructions.

  "Swish, swish." Sharp sounds of breaking through the air rang out. Ling Zhu'er still maintained the posture of swinging her sword, but her small mouth had already opened wider and wider.

  "How is this possible?" An extremely shocked expression appeared on her small face. Ling Zhu'er couldn't figure out how these seemingly crude skills were actually quite practical. Although they didn't increase her attack power, they greatly reduced her own consumption, which undoubtedly could greatly enhance her continuous combat ability.

  However, wasn't he just an apostle?

  Ignoring her shock and confusion, Chen Yue slightly raised his forehead and narrowed his eyes to explain a few more of her wrong places.

  Ling Zhu'er tried them one by one and became more and more surprised. Chen Yue was actually completely right.

  "There is actually an apostle who is more proficient in close combat skills than a fighter..." Ling Zhu'er was already speechless. Originally, Chen Yue summoning a two-star summoned beast had already shocked her a lot, but after all, it didn't have a direct connection with her, so she could still control her emotions. But now...

  Ling Zhu'er looked at Chen Yue as if she were looking at a prehistoric dinosaur.

  As if it wasn't enough to stimulate Ling Zhu'er, Chen Yue picked up a branch on the ground, removed the twigs, and assumed a defensive stance.

  "Only in actual combat can there be progress. Come on, Zhu'er, attack me with all your strength."

  Ling Zhu'er was dumbfounded and looked at him with a look that seemed to say, "Are you tired of living?"

  As everyone knew, an apostle's body was only a little stronger than a magician's. But now, there was actually a guy who didn't know his own limits and gave up his biggest advantage to play close combat with a fighter. Well, Ling Zhu'er admitted that he had very rich knowledge, but that didn't mean he had equally powerful strength. Most importantly, his weapon was actually a branch...

  "What are you hesitating for?" Chen Yue said calmly. His simple words seemed to carry great power, making people feel solemn and respectful.

  You asked for it. Ling Zhu'er closed her eyes in anger and stabbed out a sword obliquely. She didn't fully listen to Chen Yue and only used half of her strength.

  "Bang." A huge force came from the sword. Ling Zhu'er exclaimed, and the long sword slipped out of her hand. At the same time, she felt a chill on her waist, and a cold object was pressed against her vital part.

  "If this were a life-and-death battle, you would be dead." Slowly withdrawing the branch, Chen Yue said coldly, without showing any expression on his face.

  Right under her eyes, the branch swayed slowly, as if mocking Ling Zhu'er's incompetence.

  Lowering her head deeply, when she raised it again, Ling Zhu'er's dark eyes seemed to be burning.

  "Swish." She stabbed a extremely fierce sword at Chen Yue's chest.

  The corners of Chen Yue's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a silent faint smile. However, his cold voice still kept ringing.

  "You're impatient. You're dead."

  "Where's your posture? Your leg is broken."

  "Would others stupidly wait here for you to stab? You're dead again."

  ...

  This process of "teaching", oh no, "fighting", was far from intense. The gap between Ling Zhu'er's strength and Chen Yue's was too great. Not to mention, she was extremely lacking in actual combat experience.

  She tried to launch attacks again and again, but was ruthlessly defeated time and time again, shattering the girl's pride.

  And Chen Yue's repeated words of "You're dead" pierced her heart full of holes.

  Tears glistened in her bright big eyes, but Ling Zhu'er forced herself not to let them fall.

  "I can't be looked down upon by him." Deep in her heart, Ling Zhu'er kept telling herself over and over again.

  "Don't cry." She stabbed out with her sword.

  "I can do it." She stabbed out an even more lethal sword.

  ...

  "Chen Yue, you bastard."

  ...

  She was easily defeated time and time again, but she attacked again and again.

  The girl with her actions.

  Slowly, Ling Zhu'er's skills became more and more mature. When she swung her sword, it became more and more fierce. One was willing to teach, and the other was desperate to learn. Her sword skills had changed dramatically and were no longer as clumsy as before. If someone who knew Ling Zhu'er was present, they definitely wouldn't recognize that the effortless swordsman was her.

  However, even though she had made great progress, Ling Zhu'er didn't have any realization. Because, no matter how hard she tried, how desperately she fought, Chen Yue could always easily press the branch against her vital part.

  A sense of frustration kept growing in her heart, shaking her will. Gradually, she felt that the long sword was getting heavier and heavier, and her hands were getting weaker and weaker.

  Once again, Chen Yue pressed the somewhat smoother branch against her vital part. Ignoring Ling Zhu'er's eyes that seemed to be spitting fire, Chen Yue threw the branch away: "Alright, that's it for today."

  Only then did Ling Zhu'er realize that it was already getting late without her noticing.

  She could only put aside her anger and unwillingness for the time being.

  "By the way." As if it wasn't enough to make Ling Zhu'er hate him more, Chen Yue added another sentence: "I forgot to tell you something. You don't need to be on guard tonight. I've already dealt with Wolf and Omar."

  As if he were talking about a trivial matter, Chen Yue's tone was extremely calm.

  "Clang." With her mood violently shaken, Ling Zhu'er couldn't hold the long sword in her hand anymore. She pointed at Chen Yue angrily and was too angry to speak: "You, you..."

  Looking at her calmly, Chen Yue didn't say much.

  Ling Zhu'er was as if struck by lightning, and Chen Yue's words kept echoing in her mind.

  Why did he lie to her and secretly go to deal with the other party?

  "Is there even a need to ask? Ling Zhu'er, in his eyes, you're just a waste, a burden. Didn't the training in the afternoon make you realize this?" A voice kept echoing in her mind, getting louder and louder.

  "Waste, waste, you're just a waste."

  ...

  "Wow." Covering her face with her hands, Ling Zhu'er ran away without looking back. One could vaguely see her crystal-clear tears falling like jade.

  "Seems like the stimulation was too much. Could it be that I was wrong? She isn't that strong after all?" Looking at the little girl running away with some confusion, Chen Yue felt a headache.

  If she really wasn't up to standard, he would have to explain it properly. Otherwise, if Ling Yue'er knew how he had treated her sister, he probably wouldn't have an easy time.

  Suddenly, Chen Yue's expression became solemn. He tilted his head to listen.

  Faintly, some sounds came from the direction where Ling Zhu'er had run.

  "... Bastard."

  "Chen Yue,... Bastard."

  ...

  Embarrassed, Chen Yue's expression was a bit strange.

  Ling Zhu'er didn't return to the teleportation point until very late. Obviously, she had gone through a fierce ideological struggle. At this time, there was no longer any abnormal look on her face. Her eyes were terrifyingly calm, and what was revealed between her eyebrows was a kind of firmness after being reborn from the ashes.

  The next day, just at dawn, she came to Chen Yue with a long sword in her hand.

  Instead of starting to "teach" her right away, Chen Yue raised his eyebrows and asked a question instead: "Zhu'er, have you ever seen iron being forged?"

  Ling Zhu'er showed a thoughtful look on her small face. After a moment, she bowed deeply: "Only by going through countless hammering and refining can iron be turned into steel. I understand. Thank you for your guidance, Lord Chen Yue."

  At this time, the last trace of resentment in her eyes disappeared, and all that remained was firmness.