The next morning, Jiang Yi woke up and went straight to the front courtyard.
"Teacher, I practiced until midnight yesterday, and I got up to practice again before dawn today, but I still don't feel confident enough to defeat the swordsman from Dongmeng Prefecture!"
Natasha's delicate eyebrows furrowed.
"You have to believe in yourself!"
Jiang Yi smiled, "Let's go, it's about time for the competition!"
"Okay!"
Natasha nodded and got into the car with Jiang Yi.
Jiang Yi drove the car away from the castle.
Natasha sat in the passenger seat, a trace of worry on her face.
She was afraid of losing today's competition, as she was representing Ximeng Prefecture. If they lost, it would mean losing face for the entire Ximeng Prefecture.
Moreover, losing would also be embarrassing for Jiang Yi.
At this moment, Natasha had no confidence at all.
Two hours later, Jiang Yi and Natasha arrived at the Ximeng Prefecture Central Plaza, where today's competition was to be held.
The plaza was bustling with activity, and the crowd was a dense sea of people.
"You must be Jiang Yi. I am the Grand Governor's secretary. The Grand Governor wants you to take the young lady to see him!"
A man wearing glasses walked over.
"Alright!"
Jiang Yi nodded and followed him.
Upon reaching the balcony of a tall building next to the plaza, Jiang Yi saw Grand Governor Barray sitting on a chair, drinking red wine!
Besides Grand Governor Barray, there were over a dozen nobles.
Bill and Ike were also present; they had arrived a long time ago.
At this moment, all of them wore solemn expressions.
"We won't win this competition!"
Grand Governor Barray took a deep breath.
"I believe Natasha can win!"
Jiang Yi said.
"You know that Dongmeng Prefecture has sent their top swordsman, Gavin,"
Grand Governor Barray said with a frown.
Jiang Yi smiled slightly, not taking it to heart.
However, Natasha, who was standing beside him, immediately became serious.
"Teacher, I definitely can't win this competition!"
"Gavin is the strongest swordsman among the four or five prefectures in the north. His rapier technique is incredibly powerful, and no one in the north can match him."
"Dongmeng Prefecture invited him to participate not just to defeat Ximeng Prefecture; their ultimate goal is the national championship!"
Natasha said with a wry smile.
"For today's competition, you and Bill should participate! Natasha should not!"
"You two participating is the only way to have a chance to win today's match!"
Grand Governor Barray looked at Jiang Yi.
"Grand Governor Barray, I told you, I will not participate in this kind of competition. You should trust Natasha; she will surely create a miracle!"
Jiang Yi said with a gentle smile.
Seeing Jiang Yi's unwillingness to step forward, Grand Governor Barray's face darkened.
"Grand Governor Barray, if Natasha loses the match today, I will bear all the consequences!"
Jiang Yi stated directly.
"Fine, I'll trust you this once!"
Grand Governor Barray took a deep breath.
Since Jiang Yi was unwilling to compete, Grand Governor Barray could not force him. He couldn't possibly tie Jiang Yi up and compel him to participate.
"Teacher, can I really defeat Gavin?"
Natasha asked Jiang Yi.
"Of course!"
Jiang Yi smiled, "Although you've only learned the sword techniques I taught you for one day, you are now enough to deal with some experts! What you lack is confidence; you must believe in yourself!"
"Okay!"
Natasha gritted her teeth and nodded.
Natasha was now determined to give it her all, no matter what, she had to win this match.
Seeing that the competition time was approaching, Natasha said goodbye to Jiang Yi and headed to the plaza!
Bill also followed.
Bill would also be participating in today's competition.
Grand Governor Barray's gaze never left Natasha on the plaza; he was very worried about her.
Jiang Yi appeared calm.
"If Natasha loses, I will never forgive you!"
The Grand Governor of Ximeng stared at Jiang Yi.
Jiang Yi smiled and remained silent.
Soon, an hour passed, and it was twelve noon.
"Now, we invite the contestants from Ximeng Prefecture and Dongmeng Prefecture to the stage. Both sides can only send two contestants!"
The host said into the microphone.
Natasha and Bill stepped onto the high platform simultaneously!
A moment later, a middle-aged man around forty years old walked up from below the stage.
This was Gavin, the top swordsman in the northern region of the Eagle Country.
After ascending the high platform, Gavin glanced at Bill and Natasha, a look of disdain on his face, as if he were looking at two weak ants.
"Mr. Gavin, may I ask where Dongmeng Prefecture's other contestant is?"
The host asked with confusion, "Why are you the only one participating in the competition!"
"I alone am enough to defeat all the top swordsmen of Ximeng Prefecture!"
"The swordsmen of Ximeng Prefecture are all useless trash, not worth mentioning in front of me!"
"I am not only here to win the competition today, but I also want to challenge all the top swordsmen of Ximeng Prefecture. Send as many people as you want from Ximeng Prefecture; I can defeat all your swordsmen by myself!"
Gavin declared.
As soon as these words were uttered, everyone in the audience gritted their teeth in anger.
Even Grand Governor Barray gnashed his teeth in fury.
"You can all come at me together!"
Gavin looked at Bill and Natasha with disdain.
"I can teach you a lesson all by myself!"
Bill drew his rapier and stared at Gavin, saying, "Come on, let me show you how good I am!"
"I've heard of you. You're Karl, the so-called number one swordsman of Ximeng Prefecture, right?"
Gavin looked at Bill.
"That's right, I am the number one swordsman of Ximeng Prefecture. You can still concede now!"
Bill said.
"Hahaha..."
Gavin burst into laughter.
"Your skills are insignificant in front of me. Let me show you what true swordsmanship is!"
With that, Gavin also drew his rapier.
"Whoosh!"
Bill's rapier lunged directly towards Gavin.
What happened next was something no one had expected. Gavin easily deflected Bill's attack and then, with extreme speed, kicked Bill in the chest.
Bill fell directly to the ground.
The vast plaza was silent, and everyone watched Gavin with expressions of disbelief.
"My god, Gavin is even more formidable than the legends say! Bill is the number one swordsman of our Ximeng Prefecture, and he couldn't even last five seconds. How can we possibly win this!"
"Our Ximeng Prefecture is doomed to lose!"
The crowd below began to murmur.
"I haven't lost!"
Bill shouted, then got up from the ground and continued to attack Gavin.
As a result, Bill fared even worse this time. He was struck by Gavin from the high platform and fell to the ground below, sustaining a deep wound on his arm.
Bill was utterly outmatched.
Seeing how miserably Bill had lost, everyone had even less hope for Natasha.