Opening his eyes, Samuel found the world around him having lost colour. Looking up, he saw Shi Mei charging towards him, a dazzling ball of bright amber-red hues swirling around her palm. However, the girl herself and everything around her had turned to a world of near monochrome, as if someone bleached the world of all colours.

Around the girl, multiple moats of red hue floated towards the girl like grains of sand in the air, forming what looked like a small stream that poured into the amber-red ball in the girl’s hand and caused it to grow larger, akin to multiple rivers converging into a lake, aiming to forming a vast sea.

From the girl’s direction, the boy saw a blade piercing through the air, heading towards him.

Yet, to Samuel, it seemed as slow as a child running towards him. All of a sudden, he had a daring thought. With a smile playing on his face, he sidestepped the incoming blade before reaching his hand out and grabbing at its hilt, aiming to grab it in a reverse grip.

“Aah!” Samuel shrieked. His eyes went wide as soon as he touched the hilt.

A heavy force sprained his arm backwards. The friction between the hilt and the skin atop his palm caused the latter to tear off, as if someone ripped it apart. As for the blade, it spun a few rounds in the air before lodging itself into the ground.

Staring down at his palm with its skin ripped off, Samuel couldn’t help but furrow his brows. ‘Just what is going on? What’s up with these weird colours everywhere? And why does everything feel so… slow?’

On the other side, Shi Mei’s brows furrowed as well. Seeing Samuel dodge her attack with seeming ease, her heart filled with unease. Still, without releasing her spell, she swung her sword towards Samuel’s head.

However, to the latter, the sword seemed slow. He sidestepped. The attack missed, leaving Shi Mei with a wide opening. Reaching out and grabbing her wrist, holding the sword.

The girl’s eyes flashed. She made the sword dance around her fingers by its hilt to gain momentum. A few moments later, she released it, causing it to spin in an arc as it shot forward to hit Samuel’s forearm.

Samuel’s brows rose as he nodded in admiration. However, that was it. To counter her skillful throw, the boy clenched his claw before reaching out with his injured hand and grabbing the sword by its edge, this time prepared for the force behind the seemingly slow weapon while making sure its edge didn’t cut through his palm.

Shi Mei’s brows rose in shock.

‘How is he doing all this?! Just a moment ago, he clearly wasn’t as fast. Then…’ Shi Mei wracked her brains to no avail. In the end, she came to a swift decision. ‘All or nothing.’

Within Samuel’s view, her caught hand glowed with a dull grey light before she jerked it, producing a large force.

The boy’s grip faltered, causing the arm to be free once again. Immediately, a solid impact struck his foot. Throwing the sword to the side, he hastily grabbed his foot on instinct.

Looking down, he saw a dull grey light fading out of the girl’s foot as she removed it from atop his own. In that instant, Samuel came to a sudden realisation. His heart shivered. ‘So she wasn’t using Ki before this?! Just how strong is she!?’

He couldn’t help but shift his gaze towards Yuan Mo standing in the distance, observing the fight.

However, before he could continue his train of thought, his surroundings began shifting forward. An instant later, pain wracked his chest, making his stomach churn.

Swallowing the contents of his stomach back down, Samuel took a deep breath before using his feet to stop his momentum.

Looking at Shi Mei, he saw her stare at him coldly.

At the same time, an unknown sense of crisis filled him, the source of which he couldn’t identify. A sense of unease which he couldn’t figure out filled his heart.

But before he could ponder over it, Shi Mei charged towards him before punching out.

Instinctually, Samuel raised his arm to block.

As soon as his arm met the fist, Samuel’s arm went numb. His body trembled. ‘Why is she so damn strong?!’

Even though he felt like cursing at the unfairness of it all, he grit his teeth and grin through it as he punched towards her.

She met her punch with one of her own. The sound of bones creaking rang out as Samuel almost shrieked. However, this time he noticed that the instant just before the girl’s fist contacted his own, it flashed with a dull grey hue reminiscent of Ki.

Looking at Shi Mei’s fist, he couldn’t help but think, ‘I remember reading that Ki Arts users can use Ki to strengthen their bodies. Is it because of that? But I don’t know how. It was just too short of—’

Before he could continue thinking, a kick flew towards his head, which he blocked with his other arm, losing all feeling in it for a few moments as a result.

Shaking his head, he gave up on thinking over the matter, instead focusing on saving his hide. While exchanging one blow after another with Shi Mei, he felt his desire to fight burning brighter than ever.

Like a bar of hot iron under the bombardment of a hammer, he used the opportunity to refine his techniques, learning from the girl’s attacks and bettering himself.

All of a sudden, he spotted an opening, but before he could take advantage of it, he rolled to the side to dodge an incoming attack.

The more he fought, the more and more he could spot openings in the girl’s movements. But before he could take advantage of one, the girl backed out of his attack range, making him click his tongue.

Taking the respite for a breather, he took a vigilant look around. Immediately, his eyes widened. He noticed the streams of red hues no longer followed the girl. Instead, they converged below his feet.

His heart froze. ‘A trap?! This is bad. I gotta—’

Before he could say a word, the ground below his feet began melting. He sucked in an icy breath. However, all it did was cause pain in his chest, as if he was being roasted from within.

His eyes almost popped out of his sockets a moment later. The air around him began catching fire, burning as if it were oil instead.

Despite the intense heat around him, he felt a chill run down his spine. His body shivered. His eyes widened in horror. ‘Is she roasting me alive?!’

Through the flames surrounding him, his gaze landed on the girl, who had her hands clasped together as she chanted, as if praying.