枪与剑 here is metaphorical, referring to 丹枫 and 镜流 respectively. But also 争锋 isn't a duel/spar. That's bad translation. 争锋 means side-by-side competition, like a race. So this is a case of mistranslation.
Edit to add: 争锋 can be thought of as like
A: "I can hit a target from 100 paces."
B: "Well I can hit it from 200 paces."
And that type of competition also makes more sense than sparring, since 镜流 would probably not want to accidentally hurt the 龙尊 in a friendly duel and have to explain how this happened to her superiors. The fact that what convinces 丹枫 of 镜流's superiority is her "cutting a wave in half"... Ain't no way she was doing that in a spar where both sides hold back from going all out.
Also, if the writers actually wanted to describe a spar, that would've been 过招 or 切磋.
Edit 2: 争锋 is also a more "hidden" (隐晦) style of competition, with the extended meaning 争风吃醋, a non-direct competition .
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Ah, ok, I see. Original Chinese:
枪与剑 here is metaphorical, referring to 丹枫 and 镜流 respectively. But also 争锋 isn't a duel/spar. That's bad translation. 争锋 means side-by-side competition, like a race. So this is a case of mistranslation.
Edit to add: 争锋 can be thought of as like
A: "I can hit a target from 100 paces."
B: "Well I can hit it from 200 paces."
And that type of competition also makes more sense than sparring, since 镜流 would probably not want to accidentally hurt the 龙尊 in a friendly duel and have to explain how this happened to her superiors. The fact that what convinces 丹枫 of 镜流's superiority is her "cutting a wave in half"... Ain't no way she was doing that in a spar where both sides hold back from going all out.
Also, if the writers actually wanted to describe a spar, that would've been 过招 or 切磋.
Edit 2: 争锋 is also a more "hidden" (隐晦) style of competition, with the extended meaning 争风吃醋, a non-direct competition .