He started swinging the lightning blade, slicing through her ice shards as if they were made of dumplings.

Seeing this, Yan Yu reconsidered her opinion. His control over his lightning technique was flawless. The lightning seemed fluid, able to grow longer and shorter at will. With this blade, he successfully deflected attacks coming from the front and right directions.

Was Yan Yu underestimating this sect disciple, or was this guy actually talented? Whatever the case, Yan Yu now wanted to defeat this guy. She was not only annoyed but also wanted to test her full power.

"What's your name?" Yan Yu asked.

The man, now swinging his blade like a whip, answered, "The man who owns that cave is named Liu Xing!"

Yan Yu felt a vein in her forehead twitch. Was this cave special?

"Whatever," she murmured.

She started cycling her qi in a different rhythm. Now, instead of shards, she materialized ice in the form of arrows. With this shape, her attack would be faster, although the drawback was the ice's fragility.

A swarm of ice arrows flew toward her enemy like a swarm of swallows. Liu Xing swung his lightning blade, destroying some of her arrows, but Yan Yu controlled some arrows manually, making them curve and dodge his attacks.

She materialized and attacked. Liu Xing dodged or destroyed her arrows. The exchange continued for several minutes: Yan Yu materialized and attacked, Liu Xing dodged or destroyed her arrows. The battle remained evenly matched, but Yan Yu remained patient, knowing that sooner or later, he would make a mistake.

Moments later, he made a mistake. He missed one of her arrows, and it moved past his shoulder. Yan Yu controlled that arrow directly, making it turn around and fly toward the back of his head.

When the arrow was only centimeters away from its target and Yan Yu thought the battle was over, an arc of electricity suddenly coated his entire body, and with movements as fast as lightning, he struck the arrow with a lightning blade.

So he still had a trump card? Whatever it was, Yan Yu was confident she would win. Since the electricity coated his entire body and some strands of lightning flew around him, Yan Yu knew this was an enhancement technique. This type of technique burned through qi like fire burning a candle, which meant if she could hold him off, he would soon run out of qi.

Then, before she could think further, Liu Xing suddenly vanished.

For a second, Yan Yu thought the man simply vanished like an illusion coming undone, but the next instant, all her ice arrows exploded, turning into ice powder, starting from the farthest away to the closest to her.

Yan Yu tried to catch what was happening, and with strained eyes, she saw a flash of lightning moving here and there, like real lightning, striking each and every ice arrow she conjured.

Instantly, the clearing around her was full of remains of ice arrows, creating a thin mist that made the temperature drop rapidly. Despite the cold, Yan Yu realized she had bitten off more than she could chew. This man was probably a hidden genius, and the technique he used was likely Earth grade or even Heaven grade.

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After several moments, the sound of ice breaking ceased, and Yan Yu strained her eyes to check her surroundings. Liu Xing had vanished like a ghost. He could be anywhere.

"Below you."

Yan Yu instantly looked down, and there was Liu Xing, crouching right below her.

Her eyes widened, and before she could react, his foot flew through the air and hit her square in the jaw.

Instantly, her brain rattled and she was sent into the air. Yan Yu tried to regain her bearings and looked below her. The ground grew farther away with each passing second. Liu Xing was still crouching, lightning coating his entire body, his eyes locked on her.

When he jumped, she noticed a flash of light before a strong kick struck her in the back, sending her plummeting to the ground like a meteor.

From that point onward, Yan Yu felt like a sandbag. Liu Xing relentlessly punched and kicked her, not giving her a chance to land her feet on the ground. When she soared into the sky, Liu Xing appeared behind her and made her fall. When she flew like a cannonball, he caught up to her and sent her flying in the opposite direction.

Yan Yu felt her heartbeat quicken. Fear struck her heart like a hammer striking an iron ingot. Amidst the spinning world, she remembered the same feeling from her fight when that bastard outclassed her in everything before pinning her to the ground and stabbing her heart.

Is she going to die here and now, with some random disciple on this random mountain because of a damn cave? She didn't want to die. She didn't want to die!

Yan Yu flew like a cannonball. In the distance, Liu Xing stood motionless, electricity surrounding his body. His black eyes were fixed on her, his feet poised to kick the ground and deliver a killing blow.

When Liu Xing vanished, Yan Yu instantly gathered ice in front of her, creating a wall of ice that glittered under the sunlight. This wall was created with all her might. Liu Xing couldn't punch through it.

And indeed he didn't need to, because Yan Yu heard his voice beside her.

"Find a new place."

He caught her hands and threw her. Yan Yu flew through the air, feeling the wind against her cheeks and her undone hair fluttering.

Blinking several times, she hadn't expected his last attack to simply throw her away. Reflecting on it, her body felt... surprisingly alright. Considering the relentless nature of his attacks, her bones should have been shattered, yet apart from a stinging pain in her chin, she felt fine.

Yan Yu started to fall. She looked below and saw a blue and tranquil river. She fell into the water, submerged for a moment, and then resurfaced. She then floated in the water like a fallen leaf, a gentle stream carrying her away.

"What's happening?" She thought she would be dead, but instead, she had just been kicked away.

Yan Yu reconsidered what had actually happened. That man, Liu Xing, from start to finish, didn't try to kill her.

His lightning technique was strong enough to pierce her defense. Yet, while he punched and kicked her, he didn't try to kill her or even fatally wound her. He just wanted his cave back.

Yan Yu took a deep breath, trying to organize her jumbled thoughts. After a moment, she walked to the riverbank.

She tried to remember the name Liu Xing from her past life but came up with nothing. Perhaps, when Yan Yu had enough power and influence, Liu Xing had already died, either in the first invasion or the war after it.

Whatever it was, Yan Yu now realized that she couldn't underestimate people just because she hadn't heard their names in her past life.

When Yan Yu found a path, she thought back to her fight with Liu Xing.

"How shameful."

Her oversight made her realize how shortsighted she had been. And most importantly, how weak she was right now. She needed to become stronger, much stronger than in her past life. And perhaps, just perhaps, she needed to build connections so that when the Era of Chaos knocked on the door, she wouldn't be alone again.