The moment the dagger touched the ground, Aisnam stopped hiding her cultivation. Her gates flared with Qi, and she rushed forward with the full might of a ninth-stage Qi Gathering cultivator. It was necessary, as things would be far more difficult if her opponent started flying.

"You — you recovered," her cousin gasped in surprise, but it wasn't exactly fear. He raised his sword for a casual slash, forcing Aisnam to maintain distance. A mistake that Aisnam punished him readily. Thanks to our work, she read the clumsy attack easily, and dodged it by a hair's breadth, delivering a punishing blow, using Verdant Palm, the technique she was the most competent at.

Her opponent flared his Qi to create a shield. It was a blunt move, one that was designed to leverage the great difference in raw power.

It was a mistake, not that he knew of. The difference in raw power was indeed great, allowing him to mobilize ten times more Qi than Aisnam easily. Unfortunately for him, I was able to control his gates, which meant, I could disorient his Qi flow.

It was a small manipulation, like a twitch of a muscle. But cultivation combat arts were delicate things. Just like a twitch of a muscle could ruin the life of an acrobat, it could ruin the delivery of a cultivation art.

My momentary blockade destabilized the Qi flow for the shield, which was enough to prevent it from appearing on time. Aisnam covered the distance with a burst of speed again, and delivered another palm strike. It was once again absorbed by the armor.

"Pathetic," one of the Entsa Pavilion disciples commented. It wasn't exactly an idle comment, considering she used her Qi to enhance her voice, making sure not only the other disciples heard it, but also the people of the city. "It seems that Kartpa Valley is getting more and more pathetic, their disciples unable to fight below their realm, only holding on due to their superior armor."

Kartpa Valley disciples said nothing, but their dissatisfaction was clear in their expression even as they tried to hide it.

Disoriented by the attack, Aisnam's cousin tried to retreat, but she didn't give him a chance. She continued to attack his body repeatedly, slowly weakening his defenses. His head wasn't protected by the armor, but whenever she tried to attack there, he was able to defend.

However, he wasn't able to switch. After learning many cultivation techniques, I had long learned that very rarely, they fought in actual melee range, preferring to maintain a distance of several feet, using the reach of their techniques. The stronger the cultivator, the greater the engagement distance.

Aisnam deliberately reversed it, preventing him from using most of his techniques. Admittedly, it was not exactly a strategy without disadvantages. By locking herself to such a distance, she was also removing her biggest advantage. Most of her new techniques were useless at this distance, particularly against a superior cultivator.

Still, as I watched her, I couldn't help but admire her determination. At this point, she could have retreated a few steps before attacking the new techniques she had learned. As I watched them, I could easily come up with hundreds of combinations that would deal with him. All it would take was for her to capitalize on her technique, and her life would be saved.

Yet, she was also smart enough to know that, if she revealed the possession of multiple techniques at once, all with significant expertise, it would be very suspicious, particularly with the learning aura in the land.

I had to admit, that her determination was incredible. I had fought against a Foundation Establishment cultivator from a great distance, and even with my cheats, the pressure he brought to me had been considerable. She must have been feeling even more from point-blank range, but she kept a cool head.

She limited herself to a combination of Verdant Palm, mixing with several martial arts strikes. I recognized some Forest Dance moves I had taught her. She used the combination against her cousin, pushing him into a more troubling situation.

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Admittedly, my occasional attempts to disturb his attempts to build a Qi shield played a critical role … but then, she was holding back as well. As she fought, I could see her actually mixing a few martial arts techniques to the mix to limit her Qi consumption, relying on the raw strength brought by those techniques.

Martial arts techniques had no advantages in terms of explosive combat. Anything they could do, Qi cultivation could do better. But, there was one thing essence techniques held the advantage, and it was the endurance.

Ultimately, Aisnam's Qi was limited. Under the constraints of her strategy, even all of her reserves wouldn't have allowed her to take down her cousin. Yet, by mixing in essence techniques, she had extended her combat duration significantly.

Her cousin, unaware of that, forced himself to constantly reestablish his Qi shield. One successful attempt would have given him the necessary angle for victory. Unfortunately for him, Aisnam had no intention to do so, countering his every attempt to create some distance, regardless of the technique he used. He tried to alternate between fist, palm, and sword techniques, but all failed.

I couldn't help but feel satisfied with the result. After all, not only Aisnam was able to counter his moves, but also she was able to disguise his failure as his own competence rather than her great skill with many techniques, allowing her to read every single attack he was able to deliver.

Just as I was about to injure one of his gates that lay near the point Aisnam chose to penetrate his armor, I noticed something peculiar. Aisnam's palm strikes were gaining an ethereal quality. I failed to understand the source.

It wasn't the level of her technique. Not only it would have arrived with an accompanying glow to mark her breakthrough, but also I would have recognized the type of improvement.

I would have suspected some kind of Qi transformation, but it didn't only impact her Qi strikes, but also her martial arts abilities. But, clearly, it wasn't just her martial arts abilities either.

It was just that, every hit was somehow … more.

Whatever it was, I decided that comprehending it in the middle of everything was not exactly the safest thing. I had decided to activate the formation I buried in her cousin, temporarily disabling two of his gates, enough to interrupt his defenses. Finally, Aisnam delivered a strong hit to his head. He fell down, disoriented.

As the battle turned, I looked at the Kartpa Valley disciples, ready to intervene if they decided to ruin the duel. It would be against their martial ethics, but considering their general callous attitude, I didn't trust their honor.

I could see their disgust as their servant disciple lost, but they didn't try to intervene. Whether it was about the presence of Entsa Pavilion disciples, or it showed just how little they cared about their servant disciples, either way, they showed little concern about the impending death of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"P-please, mercy. We are family —" he gasped, which was all he was able to say as Aisnam raised her palm once more.

"You should have thought of it before killing my brother," she responded even as she attacked him with another palm. However, as she delivered that, a problem occurred. Not any sneak attack, or anything else that could actually harm Aisnam. I would have preferred it, because I had already put enough safeguards in place to save her.

No, the problem was bigger. Whatever effect that allowed her to deliver those hits with such accuracy haha suddenly intensified, allowing her attack to not only kill her cousin, but shatter the armor as well.

A shocked gasp from the Entsa Pavilion disciple confirmed whatever happened was a big deal. "Palm intent," she gasped in shock even as she tightened her grip, and pulled a communication talisman.

The disciple of the Kartpa valley recognized what was going on almost immediately, and pulled one as well. Thanks to the formations I had, I was able to intercept their messages. Both of them were informing their nearest elder about Aisnam using Palm Intent.

Whatever it was, it was a very big deal.

I immediately intercepted both messages, but didn't destroy them. The Entsa Pavilion disciples immediately moved forward, talismans in hand as they prepared to intercept, meanwhile, Kartpa Valley disciples moved back, ready for a fight.

I could see that the only thing that prevented them from attacking was the

Luckily, Aisnam was still in the arena, the formation allowing me to communicate with her. "Should we extract you, or would you prefer to go with Entsa Pavilion? Make a fist if you want to be saved. Nod if you want to go with the Entsa Pavilion," I said to her, my voice blocked from reaching the other disciples, acting like her mysterious allies.

As much as I wanted to save her, I knew that if I did so, she was likely to be hunted by two sects. It wasn't a fate I wanted to force her.

After a moment, she subtly nodded, telling me that she wanted to leave with them. Understandable, considering just how much they seemed to value Palm Intent, especially when the alternative was potentially being hunted by the two strongest sects.

So, I stopped intercepting the message from the Entsa Pavilion. Merely a minute later, a luxurious flying ship arrived, and a Golden Core cultivator appeared. Before Aisnam could even say anything, she was pulled to the flying ship ….

Then, they were gone.