(Bu Cai POV)

"Let the fight begin!"

...

As soon as I heard those words, I put my sword up in a defensive stance to prepare for Song Ju's dffence.

As expected...

She blinked in front of me and without pause she sent a hail of slashes at me.

As I tried my hardest to block and dodge, my mind was in Chaos.

How?

After minutes that felt like hours, I realised that i wasn't able to counter attack at all...

I felt powerless.

Every couple of slashes, one got through my defense and landed a shallow cut on me.

Blood flowed out the fresh wounds without stop.

Am I really just going to lose pathetically?

A grin appeared on my face.

Impossible!

...

(Third Person POV)

Song Ju kept slashing her beautiful sword with huge momentum.

Her sword swerved and curved at different angles each time it was swung, and Bu Cai's defense couldn't keep up at all.

Her face hadn't changed at all, from her usual emotionless face, during the fight.

Her eyes expressed a severe her lack of interest as she dominated her opponent completely.

It showed that she knew that she would win however she didn't seem excited or proud of it, instead she seemed bored and unimpressed.

Mean whilst, Bu Cai's body was covered in cuts from which blood flowed out of without restraint.

His eyes expressed dismay as he tried his utmost to block the barrage of swings raining down on him.

His white robe had long been dyed a deep red, due to his blood staining it.

However, even in this terrible situation, Bu Cai seemed to be...

Smiling?

Although his eyes contained dismay; they also reflected an incredible will.

A will to fight until the end!

...

(Bu Cai POV)

*Huff* ,*Huff*

For a brief minute we have separated and I can finally catch a bit of my breath.

During this long exchange,

Not once...

Have I had an opportunity to counter attack!

My body is riddled with cuts, gashes and slashes from which my own crimson blood is flowing out of.

My legs and arms are starting to go numb, and I can feel the combination of sweat and blood drench me.

Even though I am being completely destroyed,

I AM NOT GIVING THIS FUCKING FIGHT UP!

Unless I slash that bitch, at least once, I'm not falling down.

My Family's Fate, my Sect's fate, my friend's fate, all rest on the outcome of this match.

Most importantly,

MY OWN FATE IS ON THE LINE!

After once again realising the stakes, I change my sword stance as a bold idea appears.

Then I close my eyes and briefly recall all the attacks my body received.

The slashes and stabs.

All of her different types of swings and their rhythm.

...

I GET IT!

...

I quickly open my eyes and instantly shift my body to the right.

The sword that was about to end me. Misses.

I instinctively respond with an upwards slash, that grazes Song Ju's cheek!

GET SHIT ON, YOU OP CRICKET!

A huge smile appears on my bloodied face.

I must be looking super badass right now!

----------------------------------------------------------

(Song Ju POV)

Hm.

Although this fight is just once again mundane, as always, something is making me restless about this boy.

Why won't he just fall like everyone else?

He is someone clearly inferior to me?

He should know he will never be able to bridge the gap between us.

So why isn't he falling?

...

I begin to feel slight curiosity towards this weakling.

So I give him a chance to catch his breath; to see if it was due to a lack of breath that he is unable to clearly see his hopeless situation, hence I back off for a bit.

...

What?

Instead of declaring his eminent loss and ending this meaningless stand of desperation; he has instead shifted to an unorthodox sword stance whilst closing his eyes?

I respect him for his perseverance in this, therefore i will teach him a lesson on understanding his limits and teach him to not be so absurd.

Therefore, I once again execute my family's [Mortal Footsteps] and appear in front of him instantaneously.

I let out a strike that has the intent of critically injuring him.

*Sigh*, Finally this boring and idiotic fight is ov-

Out of nowhere, a sword can be seen slashing upwards approaching me, I instinctively move away using [Mortal Footsteps],

However I suddenly feel a slight tinge of pain on my cheek.

I lift one hand to my cheek and bring it back down to look it, and what I see causes my eyes to slightly widen.

On my hand...

Blood can be seen staining my palm.

W-What?

I was actually injured?!

I look at the weakl- No.

I look at Bu Cai properly this time, and see a large grin on his bloodied face.

...

...Interesting.

-------------------------------------

(Third Person POV)

After the shocking collision between the two, were Bu Cai could actually injure Song Ju.

The crowd was in an uproar!

However, once again, Song Ju approached him and rained down a multitude of slashes without mercy; similarly to previously, just with more power.

But Bu Cai could block them this time!

He even responded a couple times through the torrents of slashes, however he couldn't land anything either.

After five minutes of intense slashes, Bu Cai's body started to give in from all the lost blood, as he seemed to block weaker and react slower.

Soon he made a very bold move...

------------------------------------------

(Bu Cai POV)

Is this the end?

My whole body feels incredibly weak and numb.

I am starting to get light-headed.

FUCK.

Although I reached my goal... I still wanted to aim higher!

Thinking like this, I decide to do something that could turn out stupid. However If I am going down, I'll be going down with a bang.

Therefore, I wait until her sword is at a very specific position.

However due to the speed this is very hard.

One miss, two misses...ten misses...

NOW!

As it comes to slash down on me, I parry that shit with all my strength and her sword that was originally going for my head bounced backward and she was left wide open.

The perfect chance to inflict damage appeared!

I began to follow the momentum and swing downwards with my arm.

Just as the blade of my sword is about to slice her...

I begin to collapse on to the cold ground.

SO CLOSE, YET SO F...

*Thud*