There were several battles taking place on the stone stage at the moment, it was more than large enough to accommodate several groups of combatants. But with Yin Long, and more important Xiao Yin Yu, hopping onto one of the corners of the stage, how could they not draw the attention of the remaining spectators?

Even the battles that were currently taking place quieted down somewhat as the two stepped onto the stage. One was ranked second out of all the participants while the other was an enigma that constantly surprised everyone, they had yet to duke it out in this competition, so how could people not be curious about what would unfold? They received quite a few stares, but neither of them seemed affected by them, cupping their hands and exchanging the appropriate greetings.

"Xiao Yin Yu from the Mountain Hermit's Abode, please provide me with guidance."

"Yin Long, wanderer, please provide me with guidance."

The two were already at an appropriate distance while they exchanged their pleasantries, so the simple greeting also served as the signal to start the battle. Yin Long was already holding his white sword, Yin Yu's green sword appearing from her interspatial ring.

Her sword looked much like Yin Long's, an unadorned Jian. But Yin Long had personally seen her sword extend in a strange manner, even bending occasionally, so it was most definitely not a normal Jian. Yin Yu held the sword and started slowly approaching Yin Long, her body not radiating an ounce of aura. He could quite easily tell what she was planning, but that realization only made him shake his head.

"You should use your Qi. A battle without it will be too short for either of us to learn anything."

Arrogance, that was perhaps the only word that could be used to describe the meaning behind Yin Long's words. But in truth, it really hadn't been anything close to it, Yin Long simply wanted a battle that he could learn something from. Yin Yu also didn't seem to be offended by his unintentional arrogance, the corners of her lips simply pulling up slightly.

"Oh? We won't know that until we try, will we?"

She got within range the moment she finished uttering the last word, the sound of her blade cutting through the air interrupting the final questioning tones. Her sword had been held at her side in a lowered manner as she walked, so the quickest attack to launch from that position was an upwards slash delivered with all her might.

It was very simple and straightforward, rising in a vertical line that aimed to bisect Yin Long from the groin and up. But that simplicity and straightforwardness, when pointed at a person like Yin Long, could only be counted as a mockery of his abilities.

His sword flashed sideways, the flat side of his blade colliding with the tip of Yin Yu's sword. From there, he slid it forward while pushing his arm to the side, pushing her ascending slash to the side without even giving her blade a chance to properly bend due to the way he slid his own sword alongside hers.

But Yin Long had always been someone who incorporated his attack into his defence so there was no way he would let things end at that. He flicked his wrist slightly just as his sword was about to reach the hilt of Yin Yu's weapon, bending his elbow at the same time. His blade hopped over her weapon's handle and rose upwards at the same time, drawing a line through the air that went from her abdomen all the way up to her throat.

Yin Long had held his arm back a bit, so the sword hadn't actually touched her robe, much less left a cut in it. But the result was obvious, the intent was obvious. Yin Long simply lowered his blade after finishing the motion and took a few casual steps backwards, his still calm gaze flickering with flashes of excitement.

"Now, your Qi?"

Some might be able to describe his earlier statement as not arrogance, but there was no way they could try it with this one. It was such an exceedingly statement but coupled with its context it became a bare-faced arrogance. Not even Xiao Yin Yu, the second-ranked person in this competition, could compete with him when it came to just sword techniques, a single exchange proved that she wasn't worthy.

Yin Yu's pupils were slightly lowered, tracing the path that Yin Long's blade had cut through the air. It hadn't touched her, but she could still feel the sharpness in it, a merciless sharpness honed through years of earnest, relentless, and painful training. It had been a simple motion really, push aside and then slash up, but it had left even her flexible blade unable to bend, and her body unable to react in time. So no matter what she wanted to say, no matter what her pride may dictate, there was a truth she had to admit, and it was one that she admitted with a slight curve of her lips.

"Alright, yeah, that one was my loss, wholeheartedly. When it comes to un-aided sword techniques, I'm inferior to you. So let's kick it up, I'm looking forward to seeing how you'll deal with this..."

Xiao Yin Yu's Qi started to surge after she spoke, her body seemingly sucking in the surrounding wind while azure lightning started to arc out from her body. Having excellent technique was great, but it wouldn't matter in the slightest when you faced overwhelming power, so you had to make sure to have enough power to balance things out.

Yin Yu bent her knees slightly and then shot forward like an indistinct blur, the only indicator of her position being the lightning that trailed behind her. But Yin Long was not someone who needed to rely on his eyes to spot his enemy, his senses were so connected with the surrounding space that not even Yin Yu's greatly enhanced speed could truly hide her from him.

And so, he took a step forward and slashed out with his sword, his own Qi surging out to enhance his speed and strength. His sword rose in an arch, colliding with Yin Yu's descending slash and pushing it aside. But as was to be expected due to their difference in cultivation, Yin Long found his strength somewhat lacking to go through with the full deflect.

But that didn't mean that he was out of options, the blood within the veins of his right arm speeding up and gushing out power, power which it drew from the other parts of his body. His arm temporarily received a boost in power, allowing Yin Long's arm to complete the arching rise and push Yin Yu's sword to the side so that it slashed down at his side.

But there was no way that things would just be that easy. Xiao Yin Yu's sword bent as it slashed down at his side, the tip moving like the head of a snake as it locked onto the side of Yin Long's chest. Yin Long wasn't one to be outdone either, his right foot stepping forward as he turned his body sideways.

Suddenly it was the front of his chest that was facing Yin Yu's incoming sword tip, his right shoulder almost perpendicular to Yin Yu's left shoulder. He lightly kicked off with his toes to put a step of distance between him and Yin Yu, the right arm that had just barely finished its earlier arching motion slashing out in a horizontal manner towards Yin Yu's throat.

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But the tip of her blade was still coming right for him, so his left hand opened slightly as a bit of his soul surged out. It latched onto the surrounding space and air, forcing them under control and forming a transparent yet slightly cyan sword in his hand. He slashed the newly formed sword upwards, the tip colliding with Yin Yu's incoming stab.

But the sword seemed to come alive, coiling around his blade and slithering forwards, the tip relentless as it chased after Yin Long's chest. And now that it had stretched out like this, he got a better look at how the weapon had been forged. It was a mixture of segmented parts and malleable metal, each segment was about three centimetres long and seemed like it could extend almost ten times that length thanks to the malleable metal.

And when that wasn't enough, each segment was connected by a nearly invisible thread strengthened by Qi, and it looked like she could control both the threads and the separate segments by infusing them with her Qi. And that was just what Yin Long was able to see by using his eyes and his senses! It was something Yin Long could scarcely imagine, the skill required to forge a weapon like this was something that was likely hard to find even in the Lang clan when it was at its peak.

Yin Yu didn't even bother trying to dodge Yin Long's incoming slash, she knew that the tip of her sword would reach him before his blade reached her. After all, her attack was supported by the law of lightning, his wasn't supported by any law at all.

But what she hadn't expected was for him to just let go of both his weapons at once. His left arm had just delivered an ascending slash to block her incoming stab, so it was raised a bit above her blade. And Yin Long took advantage of this fact, a bit of his soul surging out once more to hijack the surrounding space.

A greatsword was formed in his grasp, Yin Long taking advantage of the sheer weight of it to increase the speed at which it came slamming down. The weapon was held horizontally and was large enough that it would also smash against Yin Yu's outstretched hand once it completed its descent, it would push her flexible weapon down while also smashing her hand in the process.

But if that was all that Yin Long had planned, then he wouldn't have let go of both his weapons. A bit more of his soul surged out, the wind around his right hand getting pulled in and forced into the shape of a rapier, one he held in a backwards grip, the tip pointed at Yin Yu.

She started to step back the moment the weapon formed, otherwise, the tip would stab her face when it finished forming. But the rapier extended to chase after her as she stepped back, her own weapon stretching out to maintain its bent stabbing motion as she stepped back.

In the end, she realized that it wouldn't be advisable to continue dodging back since she didn't know exactly how far the rapier could stretch. So her other hand shot upwards, mimicking Yin Long's actions and smashing into the rapier's blade from below. Lightning and wind coated her hand so that she wouldn't be cut even if the weapon had a sharp edge, but little did she expect that this would just dig her own grave deeper.

The moment her hand made contact with the rapier, the weapon bent and coiled around her hand, perfectly mimicking her own whip-like sword. It didn't cut her thanks to the defensive layer she coated her hand with, but it momentarily tied up her other hand, leaving both her hands occupied. And this was an opening, one that Yin Long was loath to miss.

He once again let go of both his weapons, his feet kicking off the ground as he jumped to the side and bent his knees. His right hand grabbed hold of the white sword that was in the process of falling to the ground, a new sword forming in his other hand. And both weapons were slashed sideways at Yin Yu, one aiming at her abdomen while the other was aimed at her shins, mimicking the cage-like way that Fang Yau used his twin swords to attack.

Xiao Yin Yu glanced down at Yin Long's incoming attacks, her expression turning a bit downcast as a sigh escaped her lips. Lightning burst out from her body, one of her feet shooting forward at a speed far greater than any of her previous attacks. The foot slipped through the opening between Yin Long's blades, her entire body twisting so that she could bend her foot enough to smash it into Yin Long's chest.

He had no way to respond to that speed so he couldn't block the kick, his entire body getting launched back like an arrow that was set loose. But before he could fly too far, a few gusts of wind brushed against him from the direction he was going, slowing his speed and correcting his position so that he ended up in a standing position.

The other swords he had formed had all dissipated as a result of the kick, but he was still holding onto his white sword. His left hand couldn't help but rub his chest, it ached a bit, but Yin Yu had definitely held back a lot, otherwise, he would have ended up with some pretty serious injuries.

Yin Long flipped his hand and stored his sword back into his interspatial rings, fluidly going from that motion into holding his hands out at his side while shrugging his shoulders.

"It's my loss, things would have ended much worse if you hadn't held back there. I still need to work on my initiative, speed, and my defence isn't airtight yet, there's plenty of room for improvement."

Yin Long carefreely and openly admitted his loss and stated the faults he had found in his own techniques. They weren't things he was ashamed of, they were things he would eagerly look for so that he could use them to improve. The moment Xiao Yin Yu used her actual speed, he was left with no recourse, and she could easily take advantage of the opening left in his defence by his attack.

There was also the matter of initiative, most of his combat style was focused on reacting to the enemy's attack, he wasn't terribly good at being the one to launch the first attack. But of course, him seeing things like that didn't mean that everyone else saw them like that.

"Your loss, really? I had to use my stronger Qi to burst forth with more power and speed than you, who may I remind, sit an entire cultivation level beneath me? I couldn't even force you to use your laws, it's downright humiliating."

Xiao Yin Yu had reached the 7th Earthen Door while Yin Long was only at the 4th Immortal Door, it was actually more than an entire realm beneath her. But even so, she had been forced to rely on the speciality of her law and the greater strength brought about by her abundant Qi to beat him back. But once again, you seeing something in one way didn't mean that everyone else saw it in that same manner.

"What's wrong with using the fact that you have stronger Qi? It's part of your ability, part of your weapon, much like how I continuously just made new swords. I wasn't able to handle the difference, which means that I lost to your ability, plain and simple. And don't consider this a normal battle where not drawing out your opponent's law is a loss. I don't use my weapon to enhance my laws as you do, I use my laws to enhance my weapon, nothing more. So whether or not I start using my laws, the end result wouldn't change terribly much."

Everything Yin Long had was used to improve his weapon, every law used to fuel a technique or a skill. He could use his law of blood to interfere with his opponent's movements, or he could use his law of space to attack them from blind spots, but what did he gain from that? What part of that would improve his sword and his techniques? It was perfectly fine for killing, but not for a match like this, where his goal was to learn. But there was one skill he hadn't mentioned, one that Yin Yu locked onto straight away.

"What about your elemental swords then? I've seen you use a stone sword and an earthen sword, both that could stop my lightning from having full effect. I've also seen you use a wind sword and a sword made from your lion's strange swallowing force, both could have been used to counteract the wind I use for my fluid motions and flexible sword."

This was the first time Yin Yu had fought against Yin Long, and there was only one word she could use to describe it, suffocating. It was as if no matter what you did, he would have a response, a way to deflect and attack at the same time. It wasn't an airtight defence, but rather a flexible adaptability that made sure that he always had a sword aimed at your throat.

And he hadn't even brought out the strange elemental swords he had used to counteract his earlier opponents, those would only make his battle-style all the more suffocating and oppressive. Yin Yu's eyes were slightly narrowed as she posed her question, but Yin Long simply smiled casually while shrugging his shoulders, hopping down from the stage while turning his back and waving.

"What's the point in bringing those out? The goal was to learn, not to win, and using those doesn't facilitate any learning. I'll come to find you again a few times, I'm very interested in that flexible sword of yours so I hope you'll teach me a few tricks."