Xiao Wu said nothing as she coldly stared at the many symbols surrounding Fang Lu’s body. She knew just how powerful a single one of them was. After all, she had just experienced it firsthand.

She looked up and the Purple Moon in the sky suddenly shuddered as it glowed even brighter! In the eyes of the young girl, everything the moon shone upon would slow down considerably.

While bathing in the violet light, few things escaped her notice! The veins in her eyes glowed a bright purple as her two pupils turned violet. The green irises seemed to twist as the pupils began to emit a threatening violet light.

In her left hand, Xiao Wu held the Black Dragon Aura Sword. The right hand’s fingers were nimbly operating, controlling the White Tree Shield. Meanwhile, the Black Dragon Blade, almost as if it had gained life, fiercely attacked Fang Lu.

Resembling a real life dragon as it bit the air, the blade tore through space at speeds invisible to the naked eye.

And yet…

Clang! Clang! Clang!

With loud clashes, every attack would be repelled by the strange metallic blades summoned by the floating symbols! No matter how fast the blade travelled, a symbol would light up, the sharp edge of a metallic tongue condensing into existence before shattering against Xiao Wu’s Martial Way.

On the other hand, the recoil would be enough for another symbol to light up! It had turned into a vicious cycle where the powerful Black Dragon Sword was kept at bay!

“Finally, that bloody thing is taken care of!”

A foot stepped out of the encirclement of the symbols. Fang Lu’s robes were covered in the vermillion blood gushing out from the wound on his chest. His scroll floated right beside him, emitting a powerful pressure.

Behind him, the Black Dragon Sword let out a fierce howl as it desperately threw itself against the cage of symbols. Needless to say, it was all for naught, as the powerful Martial Way found itself locked in a cage!

“Now… shall we continue?”

When he saw this, the chubby youth’s eyes gleamed with amusement:

Such a high-quality treasure… it borders the aquiral of a consciousness! In the future, I am sure it will be able grow without stopping! At that time, I fear that few Attack-Type Martial Ways would be able to rival it in strength or speed!

Still, it is too early for that! If you think mindlessly attacking now will bring any merit, you are nothing but a fool! Young one… You are wasting the potential of your Martial Way!

Fang Lu was not his usual mild and composed self. The amiable smile had long since turned into a serious expression, hatred and anger flashing deep in his eyes.

Suddenly, his pupils shrunk as he sidestepped. The sword made out of Aura passed just a hair’s breadth away from his neck.

Xiao Wu twisted her body, evading the older man’s palm. Stomping on the ground with her left foot, she twirled and once again her blade slashed towards the man’s vitals.

Whatever… this is getting annoying!

Fang Lu’s simply smiled as he lifted his hand to block the blow!

Clang!

Xiao Wu’s eyes widened in shock: this sound was the sound of metal clashing against metal!

What in the world…

As she gaped, the young girl’s expression twisted as she felt her arm flare up from the recoil. It was as if she had just used a stick to hit a concrete wall.

Lifting her gaze, her heightened sight picked up the fading symbol on the man’s palm.

“Ouch… that hurt!”

Fang Lu was waving his hand and blowing on his palms as if they were burning.

He lifted his gaze and it landed on Xiao Wu’s face. Noticing her shock, he sent a grin to his astonished opponent and explained:

“What? Although I enhanced my body, it still hurts! After all, we are talking about Aura here!”

He smiled:

“Feel free to try again!”

Xiao Wu couldn’t help but go blank for a second. Then, her mouth and eyes twitched as she gritted her teeth.

It hurts? Being hit by an object made out of Aura ‘hurts’?

Xiao Wu smiled grimly: it looked like, in the end, whether she hated it or not, she had to admit that she was way below Fang Lu in many aspects. However, deep within, the young girl was beaming with excitement:

This guy… he wants to take my attacks head-on!

Xiao Wu smiled. Her green eyes shone as she breathed in and out, in and out, ignoring the pain coming from her arm as she clenched her grip around the blade’s handle. However, this was a chance she had been waiting for a while:

Let’s see… if you will still smile after this!

Xiao Wu’s body flickered and she appeared above Fang Lu:

“Yaaagh!!!”

Following the loud battle cry, the Black Dragon Aura Sword turned into a flash of light as the young girl slashed with all her might!

If I don’t have to worry about you dodging...

Clang!

I can strike with all my might!

This time, Xiao Wu smiled as she saw a thin, crimson line appear on the chubby youth’s palm.

Fang Lu’s eyes widened: what had just happened? Xiao Wu grinned with excitement and immediately another attack followed! However, this attack was even more beautifully executed, barely leaving any room for dodging!

Fang Lu’s expression grew serious as he thought:

This girl… was she aiming for this?

He ducked and bent his body, evading the sword’s edge by an hair’s breadth. Suddenly, his eyes widened, his pupils shrinking as the sharp tip of a blade appeared just a few inches away from his pupil…

Clang!

Once again, the striking sound rang out as the chubby youth was able to put up his guard just in time. This time however, he had to use his forearm to block the blow! A golden, glowing mark sizzled as it disappeared into the air, leaving behind a long, thin, crimson line on the skin below.

Fang Lu felt cold sweat trickling down his back:

This is getting quite dangerous!

He gritted his teeth: up until a while ago, the girl’s strikes had carried a great deal of strength to them. He had to admit he had been shocked at the great increase in her cultivation, but her strikes had all been easy to dodge due to the lack of precision on the girl’s part.

Xiao Wu smiled.

The initial burst of speed had indeed shocked Fang Lu, not leaving him a chance to retaliate. However, this had been due to the fact that he had been taken by surprise from the girl’s fierce attacks and great speed.

After the Black Dragon Sword had been locked away, although it had required quite the price to do it, dodging those mindless swings didn’t bring much of a challenge. Instead, Fang Lu had used that time to recuperate, to slowly wear the girl down.

However, this time he had indeed made a mistake. Xiao Wu had seen the chance and had taken it.

After all, at the moment… her cultivation could rival the Sung stage and fight the Reverend stage! To receive a blow head-on as it carried such might, it was nothing short of foolish!

Fang Lu evaded the blade once again, this time around however, his lips had become a thin line and his whole expression was one of regret: he had been once again caught into the girl’s rhythm!

He could, of course, wait a while, enough for him to recover the spiritual energy spent on the cage of the metallic blades so he could create another one. However, he had made the choice earlier on, that this would be a challenge for him! He would not back out now! He had to see this through!

After all, since everything had been laid down so perfectly, why would he not give this new tactic of his a shot?

…

Fu Yin was carefully observing the exchange happening in between the two cultivators on the stage. He was pensive: he had done all he could to unnerve Fang Lu and to boost Xiao Wu’s performance, even if by a little.

Now, he had no more tricks up his sleeve. Unfortunately, this time around he had lost. He leaned back on his chair and sighed:

“Damn it. Looks like my luck run out. That guy is such a pain…“

Sou Rou lifted one of her eyebrows. She rolled her eyes and sighed:

“Oh, omniscient lord Fu Yin, what heaven-defying, world-shaking event might be troubling his most intelligent being?”

Fu Yin ignored the girl’s tone. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and pondered out aloud:

“I thought that he would have chosen Earth to reinforce. Who knew that he would also be proficient with Gold?”

His eyes lit up:

“Then again, Gold is closely related with Metal, so it shouldn’t amount to such a great surprise. I was just foolish to not take that into account as I was planning a way that would allow Little Wu to win this fight…”

Sou Rou stared at Fu Yin:

“Basically?”

Fu Yin snorted as he pointed at the stage:

“Basically, we have been had. Sister lost.”

Sou Rou suddenly realized the members of the audience had all gone silent. It was as if… they had lost the ability to speak!

She turned and her eyes widened in disbelief. On the stage, Fang Lu was wiping away the blood and sweat from his face. He turned to look at Lao Jianghu:

“I doubt you will have troubles dealing with gold-related stuff, right? I have no more strength right now to dispel that ability and it will harm her if we don’t hurry.”

The old man nodded and smiled at the chubby youth:

“Seriously, you young ones always find a way to keep us old people entertained!”

Lao Jianghu smiled and waved his sleeve, dispelling the golden barrier. He stepped in and smiled, waving his hands dismissively:

“Go. I will handle the young tigress.”

He walked towards the center of the stage where a golden colored fog was slowly dispersing.

There, the golden statue of a young girl had appeared out of nowhere. The child held in her hand what looked like a sword and her expression showed no trace of surprise nor shock. After all, even up to the very last moment, she had been unaware of her fate.