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Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
Lu Ye accepted the request and chose the terrain. Both man and tiger disappeared as the Heavens’ invisible power descended from the skies.
As usual, his choice of terrain was the arena that was only a hundred meters in radius. He waited for the white light to disappear before looking opposite him.
On the other side of the arena was a woman in purple clothes. She was a tall, slender woman with an angelic face and a devilish figure. She also exuded a kind of elegance and tranquility.
Perhaps it was intentional, but Lan Zi Yi was wearing a purple dress just like her name. It was fitting if nothing else.
Lu Ye focused his gaze and raised his eyebrows imperceptibly. Lan Zi Yi was observing him as well. They were both the strongest cultivators of their respective factions. They were watching one another not because they appreciated the other person’s existence—if anything, they would love to see their opponent dead—but because it was just natural to observe your opponent before a big battle.
Lan Zi Yi didn’t look like she was carrying a Spirit Artifact. Lu Ye wondered if this meant that she was a spell cultivator.
On the other hand, her outfit did not seem to match that description.
In any case, all he needed to do to find out was to fight her.
There was a buzz as nine flying weapons exited his Weapon Holder like ferocious tigers. They crossed over half the distance in the blink of an eye.
Lan Zi Yi raised her hand and pointed. A stream of refined Spiritual Power joined together to form a thread before shooting toward the flying weapons.
It wasn’t a spell. It was just Lan Zi Yi’s Spiritual Power being manifested outside her body and controlled very precisely. However, it was on par with most spells in terms of power.
What was even more surprising was the fact that it split into nine threads in mid-air. They flew toward the flying weapons and blocked them all.
That wasn’t all. More lines of Spiritual Power were shooting out of her hand until they formed what looked like a giant web. It then sailed toward Lu Ye and threatened to catch him.
The web of Spiritual Power was massive. There was no way he could dodge it even with Windwalk.
He unsheathed the Inviolable and swung at the web. His fiery red Spiritual Power instantly tore a hole in it. At the same time, Lu Ye launched himself toward Lan Zi Yi like an arrow.
It looked like his opponent was a spell cultivator, so the natural course of action here was to fight her at close range. Only then could he maximize his own advantage.
Lu Ye had just taken off when the sound of metal ringing reached his ears. The next moment, he saw a dozen or so auras flying toward him. They were flying swords!
[A spell cultivator that uses swords as their flying weapon? That’s rare.]
Lu Ye remained calm and sent his own flying weapons after the enemy’s. He never stopped running toward Lan Zi Yi during this time.
Sparks flew everywhere as metal clashed against metal. In the blink of an eye, Lu Ye had gotten within forty meters of Lan Zi Yi. Flames flickered around the Inviolable’s blade as his killing intent exploded.
Finally, Lan Zi Yi decided it was time for action. She made a grabbing motion and pulled out what looked like a massive sword out of thin air. It happened so fast that even Lu Ye had missed the movement.
Lan Zi Yi’s weapon was a two-handed greatsword. It was obviously bigger, thicker and heavier than the average sword. Suffice to say, it was quite something to see a woman wielding such a weapon.
She grabbed the weapon with both hands before lifting it to meet Lu Ye’s attack!
BOOM…
Shockwaves rippled across the arena as Spiritual Power clashed against Spiritual Power. The impact shook Lu Ye shook a bit but that was it. Lan Zi Yi was bending back a little, but she did not take a single step back either.
Lu Ye was honestly surprised. Without exaggeration, there had never been a Spirit Creek Realm cultivator who clashed blades with him and did not take a step backward. It was a feat that would’ve balked even a Heaven Nine body-tempering cultivator, and yet the woman in front of him had done it.
[There’s no way she’s a spell cultivator!]
What concerned him even more was the fact that the woman had been wearing a small smile on her face this whole time. It felt like he was being looked down on by a superior.
Han Tiejun was right. She was playful, and she was treating this battle like it was just a game.
There was a brief stalemate as they stood less than three meters away from each other. They stared into each other’s eyes as red and blue Spiritual Power clashed fiercely in the middle.
[This is a good opportunity to use Radiance…]
Aura swept across the Inviolable’s blade before erupting like a million suns. Suddenly, Lu Ye felt a tremendous force that pushed him ten or so meters away from his opponent.
Lan Zi Yi was also backing away with her eyes closed.
Clink clank, clink clank…
Their flying weapons were still clashing against one another. They hadn’t stopped once since the beginning of the battle.
It took a powerful mind to fight another cultivator both physically and telekinetically. Lu Ye could handle this because his Divine Soul was baptized by the Pool of Divine Purification, not to mention that he had consumed an enviable amount of Soul Cleansing Water later on.
However, Lan Zi Yi’s mind turned out to be just as strong as his. This should not be possible.
As the two combatants backed away from each other, one flying sword successfully slipped past Lu Ye’s flying weapons and swung down on him.
Lu Ye’s feet weren’t on the ground yet, but he did not need to look to defend himself. He hit the flying sword so hard that its aura dimmed, and it was thrown all the way to the edge of the battlefield.
Unfortunately, the Radiance that had caught even a Real Lake Realm champion off guard hadn’t worked this time. Lan Zi Yi’s reaction was just too fast. She had pushed him away and closed her eyes the instant she noticed something was wrong.
By the time the light had faded, they were dashing toward one another and clashing in the middle once more. It was like two mountains slamming into one another. Wreathed in auras of contrasting color, the greatsword and the saber clashed again and again.
Lu Ye narrowed his eyes a little. He had noticed this when he was pushed away earlier, but the woman’s strength was ridiculous. Every time they clashed blades, his weapon arm would shake a little from the impact. His hand was slowly but surely turning numb in his grip.
He could hardly believe what was happening. He was actually losing to a woman in a contest of strength!
No matter how he looked at her, her vitality did not match the level of strength she was displaying. It should be impossible for her to have such explosive strength.
It was then a possibility entered Lu Ye’s mind. He immediately constructed an Insight in his eyes.
His suspicion was spot on. Lan Zi Yi’s vitality was definitely weaker than his, but she was an expert in the Blood Shifting technique. Every time she swung her great sword, she was able to unleash her maximum strength. That was how she managed to outmuscle him.
Unfortunately, this was one area Lu Ye could not hope to surpass her at the moment. He had just started practicing the Blood Shifting technique a few days ago, while his opponent probably had years of training.
To make a comparison, if Lu Ye’s strength was equal to one hundred points, then Lan Zi Yi’s was seventy or eighty points at most. However, Lu Ye could only execute half of his true strength without using the Blood Shifting technique, while Lan Zi Yi could output her maximum strength all the time.
He could match her strength if he used the Blood Shifting technique, but it was an unfamiliar technique to him at best. The battle had just begun, and he was nowhere close to figuring out her true strength. It was exceptionally unwise to use his finishing move without figuring out what his enemy was capable of.
A finishing move was called a finishing move for a reason. You were supposed to use it to end a fight, not to go even against an enemy.
Lu Ye might not be able to outmuscle his opponent, but he had a hundred and one Glyphs up his proverbial sleeves. He managed to catch Lan Zi Yi off guard multiple times by using Windwalk, Gravity Well, Sharp Edge and more. For now, neither of them held the upper hand.
Amber was roaming the edges of the battlefield, and Yi Yi was hiding underground. They did not get involved in this battle because they knew how rare it was for Lu Ye to encounter someone who could give him a good fight. They could win if they swarmed Lan Zi Yi together, but it would also make this battle meaningless.
The flying weapons in the air clashed less and less until finally, they ceased fighting altogether. Both Lu Ye and Lan Zi Yi had pulled them back upon realizing that their opponent was too powerful to risk splitting their concentration.
There was a fierce clash when Gravity Well forced Lan Zi Yi into an unnatural position and nearly pushed her to her knees. While his opponent was distracted, Lu Ye immediately channeled his vitality to his right arm. At that moment, his right arm grew an entire size, and his skin turned as red as boiled lobster.
Not only that, he imbued the Inviolable with two Sharp Edges.
Flash!
[It’s over!]
The blade hit Lan Zi Yi squarely in the waist. There was no one at the Spirit Creek Realm level who could possibly withstand the finishing move that was empowered by two Sharp Edges, his Spiritual Power and his vitality. The best case scenario for Lan Zi Yi was the blade cutting through her effortlessly and killing her. The worst case scenario would be the attack pulverizing her into a shower of broken flesh, blood and bones.
Neither of Lu Ye’s predictions came true, however. While the finishing move had definitely struck Lan Zi Yi, he clearly saw a thick barrier surrounding her entire body right before the blade would make contact.
The powerful attack sent her flying across the air for a very long time.She even rolled a number of times in the air before she finally landed.
It looked like the exchange was completely in Lu Ye’s favor even though he had failed to kill her. In reality, his abdomen was leaking blood from a deep wound. Right before he sent his opponent flying, she had raised his greatsword and stabbed three inches into his stomach. She could’ve run him through if he had failed to launch her away!
It should not need to be said how bad the situation would be if she had succeeded in skewering him with the greatsword.
Lu Ye staggered a few steps backward as blood poured out of the wound. He hurriedly constructed a Bloodrage on his chest so that the blood wouldn’t be wasted.
While taking a moment to catch a breather, Lu Ye stared at Lan Zi Yi with a deep frown.
He did not think there existed a barrier at the Spirit Creek Realm level that could block his Flash. That was before mentioning that the finishing move had been empowered by two Sharp Edges and his Blood Shifting technique!
He did not see Lan Zi Yi activating a Spirit Artifact. This meant that the barrier was probably her ability.
[This is bad. How am I going to kill her if I can’t even breach her defense?]
On the other side, Lan Zi Yi was half-crouched on the ground. She was supporting herself using the greatsword. Her feet had plowed a pair of deep lines across the arena floor, but she barely avoided collapsing on her feet.
While she had avoided being cut in half by Lu Ye’s finishing move, there was no neutralizing the violent force that was transmitted throughout her body. That was why the inside of her mouth tasted of iron, and blood was dripping out of the corners of her lips.
She slowly straightened herself as she examined Lu Ye curiously. It looked as if she was seeing him in a new light.
Mutant savant, like that firebird chick?
Random new character completely outshining the already OP main character has to be one of my least favourite tropes.