A warm breeze crossed the summit and at the center, the two combatants were watching each other’s movements closely. The tension surrounding them was different than before as if though a great battle was about to erupt.
Elaine was the first to move. Her steps were light, and she quickly appeared in front of Relic. Her movements were so quick it was enough to catch others off guard but to him, he never underestimated her for a second. His spear shot out to meet her but this time, it played differently than their last fight.
Sparks flew as their two weapons clashed and as he tried to retract his spear, the edges were caught by her sword.
She already figured out the distance of my attack. No wonder they call her a genius.
He flicked his wrist and like rubber, the metal spear whipped out of place, and he retracted his spear as he fell back. However, taking a page our of his book, she wouldn’t let him have space to breathe.
With a burst of speed, she caught up to him and slashed diagonally from the side.
He quickly raised his spear, and it was from here he would learn the disparity between the strength of a cultivator and one of a mortal. Her attack was heavy and lifted him several inches off the ground. The sheer force numbed his hand and he grit his teeth as he fell back.
However, her onslaught only began as she appeared in front of him again and struck down.
Pang!
Pang!
Pang!
His spear jostled from side to side with each strike as he found it hard to stabilize and find proper footing. Yet, despite her overwhelming strength, he did not lose his composure.
He suddenly closed his eyes which caught Elaine by surprise, wondering what he was doing. Yet, her sword continued and swung down. It seemed guaranteed to connect with his head only for him to move at the last moment, dodging the attack by a hair.
Elaine looked a little stunned, but a smile soon emerged on her face. “You’re quite amazing.” Never had she sparred with anyone quite like him.
Having trained in the darkness since he was young, his other senses had been honed far greater than others. Cultivators were essentially superhuman and did not suffer the same shortcomings of non-cultivators. The usage of qi could overcome most limitations of mortals and yet, for one who never falters on their path, a mortal could train to be more than that of even cultivators.
Relic moved, wasting no movements, and always dodging at the perfect time. The moment his sight disappeared, everything else seemed ‘clearer’, He could hear the swing of her sword, the motions of the swings, the sound of her steps.
Pah!
Pah!
Pah!
Their weapons connected thrice.
His ears suddenly twitched, and he retracted his spear all the way to the base of the spear head. This was a style of his own which allowed him to attack against an opponent too close to attack regularly.
He immediately pivoted and jabbed to his left only to sigh moments after. He opened his eyes and there was no one in front of him yet, a blade held against his neck to his right.
“I could’ve sworn I heard you on the left.” He said with a short laugh.
Elaine removed her blade and chuckled: “It was a good strategy but any one with a decent movement technique would be able to throw sound to the wind.” Though it was true what she said, Relic was certain it wasn’t something many other disciples could do as perfect as she did it.
“It is my lost, you are indeed the greatest genius of the sect.”
“Was that ever a question?” Iris chimed in with a sneer. ”Ahh-, isn’t it embarrassing, your own disciple couldn’t even last more than a couple breathes of time. Though, I suppose a disciple doesn’t stray too far behind their master,” she laughed sharply.
Relic grasped his spear tightly when Elaine suddenly stepped forth.
"Master, we have yet to truly spar."
Iris' expression immediately dropped, and she asked coldly: "What are you talking about?"
Though the anger coming from her master was palpable, Elaine’s conviction was steadfast as she continued: "Fellow disciple Relic and I were taking turns to show case our moves as a warmup so the winner has yet to be decided. Master, our next battle will be the true fight, please watch with anticipation!"
"What nonsense!" Iris shouted. "Why are you wasting time with this trash? You are obviously much stronger, why are you even humoring him?"
Elaine bowed and said: "Master, please allow me to do this. I understand now that simply cultivating by myself does not yield the best results. Through our warmups, fellow disciple Relic has taught me that I have still much to learn. Please allow us to finish our match."
Iris clicked her tongue in annoyance but didn't say anymore while Pascal was much more surprised and was even somewhat amused.
It was a silent approval.
Elaine turned to Relic and gave him a wink.
Relic, somewhat stunned, smiled and said, "Fellow disciple Elaine is praising me too much. I'm afraid I don't have much more to offer in terms of a spar."
"I find that hard to believe when you have yet to use your real weapon."
Relic raised his brow in surprise.
"So you noticed?"
"It was easy to tell from the first clash of our weapons that your spear is weighted. You are already able to wield this spear with such quickness and control. I'm curious how much different it would be fighting you with that wooden spear behind you."
He gave it a brief thought before agreeing: "Since fellow disciple Elaine insists so much, I will be happy to oblige."
"Just call me Elaine, no need to be so formal."
He stopped briefly but nodded and said: “You can also refer to me the same.”
He turned and returned to Pascal.
"Master," Relic bowed slightly.
"Mn, you did not disappoint. You did well," she said proudly. He had already exceeded her expectations and was even noticed by the sect's genius.
"Thank you, master!"
At this point, the swelling in his hand grown worse. She took his hand and began to circulate her qi.
“You really shouldn’t take it so far. Destroying your hand like this will only lead to further complications in the future.”
"Disciple understands!"
She nodded and as the swelling finally decreased, she gave him one final piece of advice. “Make sure to give it your all. Even if you can’t win, you would have at least gained some sort of insight on where to improve."
"Don’t worry master, I will definitely give it everything I have!” He bowed again before switching his metal spear for his wooden one.
He returned to the center of the summit where Elaine slid into a fighting stance.
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"Wait, could you give me a moment?" He suddenly asked.
"Eh, what for?" she asked curiously.
"I need to prepare a little if I'm to give you a proper fight." He removed his top layer of clothes and threw it to the ground, revealing them to be weighted as well. From there, her eyes widened as she saw the outline of his well toned muscles through the thin layer undershirt as well as the defined muscle that weren’t hidden behind any cloth. With his clothes on, no one would even bat an eye but with his outer layers off, she could see every part of his body which were trained to the utmost.
For cultivators, cultivation always came first and the body second. Increasing one’s cultivation was the same as increasing one’s strength, both spiritually and physically. While already strong, the muscles of cultivator’s were simply not as profound as those from one who trains their body everyday.
Though she herself didn’t notice, even she had been drawn in.
He then took out a qi bead which further confused her. His eyes closed and the qi entered into his body and a short moment after, he drew a long slow breath in before exhaling in a equally paced rhythm. He did this in a repeating pattern with every breath lasting longer than previous.
As Elaine curiously watched Relic performing his breathing exercises, she slowly noticed something begin to change around him.
Why does it seem like I can't really sense him anymore? I can see him, but my spirit sense is having a hard time picking him up. It's almost like he has become a part of the scenery.
While Elaine was perplexed, Iris looked on in shock and angrily shouted: "What sort of trick is your disciple employing? He is just a mortal but has already reached the state of becoming one with the world? Did winning this spar mean so much that you had to give him a tool to cheat?
Pascal immediately scrunched her brow as she retorted: "He hasn't reached the stare of being one with the world nor is he using some sort of tool. This is a technique bestowed to him by his benefactor which is capable of improving his growth many folds in a single session while also helping draw out his natural abilities."
Astonished by her words, she could confer from her words that this technique could draw out latent ability and promote exponential growth. Even within the Divine continent, such techniques were hard to come by and where most first-class sects did not have access to even one.
"Father would be quite disappointed to see the sect raised such an ungrateful daughter. Not only did you not report the findings of such a technique, but wholly monopolized it for your useless disciple," she snarked.
Pascal shook her head.
"It is outside of my control. I'm under a spirit contract to not disclose the contents of this technique to anyone but my disciple. I can testify under the seat of elders on this if you wish."
Seeing the look on her face, Iris knew she was likely telling the truth. Spirit contracts were unbreakable and attempting to breach it would result in heavy backlash for the offender. Even if she was forced to speak there was no guarantees the secret would reveal at all.
She snorted and paid no further attention to it, turning her head back to the fight about to begin.
At this point, Relic just finished taking in his last breath and this time he no longer exhaled. He had a solemn stare and simply stretched into a fighting stance, spear in hand.
For some reason, Elaine found her heart hasten slightly, her breathing turns shallow, and her hands quiver slightly. She found herself feeling something different for the first time since they began. Was it nervousness, excitement, fear? She wasn't quite sure what it was, but she knew one thing and that was she was eager to fight!
Her battle spirit shone through her smile and eyes. Though she could not out right sense his presence anymore, her own intuition told her she was facing a dangerous opponent.
The breeze turned cool and as it blew between them, they both dashed towards each other simultaneously. His spear was the first to engage as it shot out at breakneck speeds.
Fast!
She dodged the spear, but it still managed to graze her on the cheek. Like in their initial fight, she watched as the spear retracted at a similar speed but by the time she turned her head, a second spear attack was already fast approaching.
[Swift Stream]
Her figure seemingly disappeared from the spot and the spear hit nothing but the air. She appeared behind and her blade slashed down sharply only to be blocked by the shaft of the spear. It was only a simple block but from her perspective, his spear had instantly retracted all the way back and blocked her sword at a speed comparable to her! For a cultivator around her level, this sort of thing was normal, but the fact was that he was pretty much a mortal and was also using a spear. Spears were fast but their main draw back was their inflexibility. What she witnessed was something which shouldn’t even be possible!
Relic immediately pushed her back and the two quickly clashed in a head on brawl.
She matched his speed as they exchanged blow per blow. His thrusts were much lighter compared to before but almost twice times as fast. Yet, she no longer underestimated him and was able to meet every attack. Their attacks were almost like a blur.
Though fast, his attacks operated in a pattern of which she could easily read. It took only several seconds before she begun overwhelming him and he was forced in a more defensive state. He suddenly pivoted to the side and retracted his spear so that his hand met the base of the spear head. He twisted his body and swung his spear towards her.
She raised her sword to meet the attack but with a flick of the wrist, he was able to change the direction of the spear in an instant. It bypassed her blade and aimed straight at her. However, she had already seen this trick.
Her sword swept in an arc, forcing the spear away. His spear was flung upwards as was his arm, leaving him defenseless. Relic tried to back away, but she was quick to lunge his sword towards him. His spear, the base pointing down, collapsed down, blocking the sword at the nick of time.
"Good spear!" she exclaimed. Though she wasn't using her true strength, the spear was still holding steady despite her blows. Had this been the metal spear, it would already be full of marks and cuts.
She quickly glanced at his face. Since the start, his expression had not changed. No sweat could be found, and no breath was heaved from his body. He looked like a still statue, unmoving and since the fight began, only 10 seconds had passed.
He raised his spear and pointed it towards her. She took his invitation and charged forward however, just as she was about to enter his range of attack, she suddenly stopped and pulled back.
A sense of danger unlike before spurred her thoughts into questions.
Why did I suddenly back away? Why does it seem like he became more dangerous? I've watch many of those in the higher realm fight within the battle grounds, but it never gave me the same feeling as now. Is it because...?
It came to her all at once. She was smart enough to guess that those who sparred in the battle grounds had only ever used it to test out their abilities, theatrics for others to see their accomplishments.
Since the start, Relic held no notion of showing off and was serious as there was no one to impress but their masters. However, from what she saw, he moved as if he was staking his very life to win. For her, it wasn't something she was used to seeing. However, much more than that, she found herself looking at him as every bit her equal. It was not a fight between a cultivator and a mortal, but one between two disciples of equal standing.
She griped her sword tightly and no longer hesitated. “I can’t keep underestimating him or I will really lose. Since he is giving his all I will too!” Though she would not use he qi, she would stop limiting herself to the strength of a mortal expert.
She leaped into his range of his attack and the moment she did, his spear appeared in front of her. It was even quicker than before but she already anticipated it.
She parried it away as her sword sliced through the wind sharply. A gleam of sharpness coated the blade.
Her attack was soft as it flashed across his spear. It made no noticeable impact but a deep mark appeared on the shaft, a third of the way deep. It was an incredibly sharp move which could cleanly slice rock as if it were mud!
“She already learned how to use sword intent to cover her sword?” Pascal worriedly thought. Elaine was a genius in terms of cultivating with lightning qi and had greater affinity to the essence of lightning to that of even her master and Pascal. Yet, it seemed not only was she was genius in cultivating, but of using the sword as well. “Disciple, please be careful.”
Relic went back on the defensive as Elaine chased after him.
Three more attacks were barely blocked by his spear with one attack almost cutting through the wooden body entirely. Three breaths of time passed when his movements changed again.
He stopped retreated as he retracted his spear further back. Believing she had seen everything he had to offer, she took the chance to appear from the side and struck down.
However, his spear shot out and almost like a dream, she watched as if the straight spear bend upwards. It completely slipped passed her sword and aimed for her head.
She quickly jumped in the air and flipped back, cold sweat dripping down her face.
He got faster again?!
It wasn't a difference one could see immediately if they were merely spectating but as one directly facing his fast spears, she couldn't help but continue to be shocked.
How much faster is he going to get?
This was beyond what mortals should be capable and she could already tell in terms of purely weapon skill, he would match those in the spirit realm. Before the foundation realm, one was still categorized as being a mortal and in terms of talent, Relic had no talent whatsoever. However, what he did have was diligence and conviction, practicing one move to perfection. It wasn't something many were capable of.
The longer she dragged the fight the more dangerous she felt the situation became.
She took a deep breath and began a set movement as her sword swished through the air.
Recognizing this, Pascal hurriedly shouted: “Be careful, she’s using that technique!”
The air around Elaine became electrified as sparks popped from her sword. It wasn’t a matter of her using her qi or utilizing some sort of technique. The essences were naturally drawn to her, and the sword technique uniquely belonged to the essence of lightning. Only she could draw the essences of lightning to her like this without using her qi.
Her sword flashed with light.
Another 10 seconds passed, and Relic was at his limit. He charged forward and thrust his spear forward but it would hit nothing.
She had disappeared. He quickly shifted his spear to the side but again hit nothing. He scanned his surrounding and was only barely catching her trail. He swung around before quickly adjusting his shaft against his back where he was struck heavily. He stumbled forward and before he knew it, she was completely gone.
However, as if an urge overtook him, he looked up and saw her several meters in the sky. Her body twisted and her blade pointed to the sky, she looked at him sharply before diving down at incredible speed! There was no way to dodge, he could only raise his spear. The wind whistled in the air as she slashed downwards with everything she had!
[Zephyr Thunder Blade!]
A Thunderous boom resounded through the mountain and dust upheaved into the air.
As the dust settled, a sword could be seen against Relic's neck.