As the Black Dragon Aura Sword clashed against Fang Lu’s palm, the symbol on the youth’s skin turned into mist and then dissipated. However, just as the girl sent out another powerful slash, the chubby young man’s skin would glow once again and a new symbol would reappear, as if nothing had happened.

This event brought no surprise to Xiao Wu, as she had already witnessed it happen numerous times in the last few moments of their duel. However, she could feel that each time she struck down upon the symbol, her opponent’s spiritual energy would greatly decrease!

If this exchange kept going, she would emerge victorious! However, she did not allow her excitement to interfere with her judgement. She still kept under her notice both the cage of Metal Marks, as she had come to dub them, as well as the youth’s spiritual energy consumption.

If Fang Lu were to decide to break off the encirclement on the Martial Way and attack her directly, she would only have to resist for a single breath. Within that time, her Black Dragon Sword would without a doubt be able to cut down Fang Lu’s figure.

She was sure that she would succeed. With the aid of her White Tree Shield, she was confident of being able to block the onslaught of the metallic blades… long enough for her own attack to reach her opponent, that was.

After witnessing first-hand just how powerful each of those Marks were, she knew she would only be able to hold them off temporarily. After all, a single attack had been enough to send her flying!

However, what was troubling her the most had been none other than Fang Lu’s crazy energy consumption! At first, his spiritual energy had greatly decreased due to him having summoned so many Metal Marks.

At that time, his reserve had been basically sucked dry.

Thanks to his great battle skills however, he was able to recover a little by dodging her own attacks without enhancing his body. However, that had ceased not too long ago.

It had ceased exactly when Fang Lu had stopped to dodge her blows. Instead, for some reason, he had decided to take them all on, blocking the fierce blows of the Aura Sword with his bare body… not.

Xiao Wu had long since noticed the fading symbols thanks to her heightened senses.

The Purple Moon in the sky wasn’t just for show: the purplish moonlight shone down upon the battlefield. Each ray would then bounce off the surface and carry within them information regarding the object.

Then, these rays of purple light would be arranged and absorbed by those cultivating Purple Moon Scripture. The information contained within would be dismantled and assembled until a complete picture, or, more accurately, a bird’s eye view of one’s surroundings was created in the cultivator’s head, together with the sound and the smell of each and every object.

If one focused, he would also be able to enhance his taste and even his sense of touch. It was similar to the way a bat used sound waves to ‘see’ the three dimensional map of its surroundings, except this technique used the much more efficient light as a vessel.

As it could be deduced, using such a technique would bring great strain to the mind, as it required one to process an enormous amount of information. It was a double-edged sword, but the sharper side of the blade would without a doubt be the one directed towards the sides of the shortcomings.

It was simply that efficient in battle that, within the Xiao Clan, the users of such a technique were treated with the utmost respect. After all, these users made up the strongest of the three Halls of the Xiao Clan, the Purple Hall!

Back to the heated duel, the two contestants were engaged in a beautiful dance: in a single breath, countless flashes would tear through space as the Black Dragon Aura Sword executed countless flawless slashes; on the other side, meeting the fierce attacks of the Aura weapon, Fang Lu’s body would light up with mysterious symbols and silently endure the girl’s onslaught.

However, something was slowly changing. It was as if something was about to happen, the sixth senses of some of the members in the audience were all tingling. Something was underway. They could feel it. Yet, they couldn’t notice anything unusual, let alone come to any conclusion other than it being nothing but a vague sensation.

After all, how could Fang Lu possibly turn this around? His spiritual energy would be completely exhausted in a few breaths, the winner of this battle had already been decided! However by thinking that, they were gravely mistaken!

Just as the black blade descended once more, searching for the finishing blow, and Fang Lu’s lifted up his trembling, wounded arm to block, his spiritual energy all but gone, his tired body completely covered in long, thin cuts, his robes reduced to rags… the unthinkable happened.

Whoosh!

A blinding, golden light! Each of them a beautiful golden color, coming in all sizes and intensities, countless mysterious Marks had suddenly appeared on Xiao Wu’s body, completely concealing her figure! Covering her from head to toe, it was as if they had always been there!

In such a short frame of time that few had the chance to process it, these golden symbols suddenly seemed to solidify as they adhered to the skin and turned into a sparkly, golden substance...

Leaving but two holes beneath the nostrils, the young girl had completely turned into a golden statue!

The audience stared in astonishment as Fang Lu exchanged a few words with the esteemed First Protector, Lao Jianghu, and then walked, or more accurately, limped, towards the stalls, heading for his master.

“Now, now… look what we have here! A beaten-up brat who is arrogant enough to think that he would be able to defeat his opponent without using his most powerful weapon!”

Mu Gu scoffed and waved his hands: an illusory tree appeared and inglobated Fang Lu within. The young boy said nothing as his gaze fell on his battered body. Under the recovery effect of his master’s sensed Qi, the World Tree, his wounds were healing at speeds visible to the naked eye.

Fang Lu smiled bitterly as the last wound closed, leaving behind a faint, white mark that also disappeared soon thereafter.

Leave it to the annoying old man… I will never cease to be amazed at your healing ability! As long as I am still alive, let alone a missing limb, this old man would probably be able to heal me even if I was cleaved in half at the waist!

“Little Lu… you should never, ever underestimate your opponents. Not because it will most likely bring you to your demise someday, but because it will affect those that depend on you as well! And that day may come sooner than you might think...”

Mu Gu’s serious tone shook Fang Lu awake. The chubby youth tilted his head and showed a confused expression on his face:

“What are you talking about, Master? I have always been a lone wolf, why should anybody depend on me?”

Mu Gu didn’t answer, however, deep in his sharp, penetrating eyes a hint of some unknown emotion flashed by for a single moment…

My disciple… in this world where there is no limit to the power one can gain, only the wicked reign on top of a pyramid of corpses. Do you wish to slay countless and be remembered as a murderer… or to save even more and be recognized as a hero?

You will soon come to understand, that the true winners aren’t those that walk upon corpses to rise higher. That is the path of evil, and evil will always be purged by those that are good.

A true winner… is one that kills when needed, that saves whenever he has the ability to. One that does not need countless corpses to rise, and instead, is lifted by the sturdy arms of his allies, people that he knows he can count on and that will never let go.

A pyramid, like all buildings, is bound to collapse with time, whether it be build with stones, bricks or corpses. It is only the love between brothers, people that have undergone the harshest of trials and come out victorious together, that shall reign eternal.

And that love is what shall build steps to a stairway that shall never fall. A stairway so sturdy that won’t collapse even in death!