The gathering grounds of the Black Dragon faction fell into a tense silence as the next duel was called. The wide stone arena still bore the scars from the previous clashes—cracked tiles, shallow craters, and streaks of burned stone where talismans and lightning had struck. Dust drifted slowly through the air, glowing faintly in the pale afternoon light.
From the edge of the arena, Lu Mao watched quietly as Chen Yuan and Yan Mei stepped toward the center.
Lu Mao narrowed his eyes slightly.
Both of them were tired. That much was obvious to anyone who knew what to look for. Their breathing was heavier than before, their movements slightly slower, and the Qi around them no longer surged wildly but instead flowed in controlled, restrained currents.
They were nearly out of Qi.
Which meant this fight would not be long.
But it would be decisive.
At the edge of the arena, Li Xian stood with her usual calm expression, silver hair shifting gently in the breeze. She looked at both fighters for a moment, then raised her hand slightly.
"Begin."
The moment her hand fell, both Chen Yuan and Yan Mei moved at the same time, leaping forward and running across the gathering grounds toward each other. Their footsteps echoed sharply against the stone as dust kicked up behind them.
Lu Mao's eyes followed Chen Yuan closely.
Something was different.
Chen Yuan slowed his steps slightly as he ran, his expression becoming unusually calm. Then, unexpectedly, he closed his eyes.
Lu Mao frowned slightly.
What is he doing?
Chen Yuan's hand rested on the hilt of his sword, but he did not draw it immediately. Instead, his entire body seemed to relax, his breathing slowing, his movements becoming smooth and almost weightless.
And then Lu Mao noticed something strange.
The dust in the air around Chen Yuan seemed to slow down.
Not actually stopping, but moving more slowly, as if the space around him had grown heavier, thicker. Even the faint wind that crossed the arena seemed to weaken near him.
It felt as if everything around Chen Yuan was being pulled into a quiet, invisible current.
A calm before a storm.
For a brief moment, the arena felt silent.
Then—
No one saw the moment he drew his sword.
One instant his blade was sheathed.
The next instant it was already in the air.
Chen Yuan slashed forward once, calmly, almost gently, as if he were simply cutting through water. The blade cut through the air without sound, without wind, without visible force.
But a thin line appeared in front of him.
A small line in the air, like a scratch on glass.
Lu Mao's eyes widened slightly.
The line stayed there for a moment, hanging in the air unnaturally, and Chen Yuan's calm voice followed.
"Heaven Splitting Slash."
The thin line trembled.
Then power surged into it.
At first, it expanded slowly, the air around it warping and distorting. Then suddenly the line expanded at incredible speed, tearing forward across the arena like a crack spreading through the sky itself. Light flickered along the line as if the sun itself were blinking on and off.
The power behind it was terrifying.
Lu Mao felt the Qi pressure from where he stood.
That attack… is not normal.
Across the arena, Yan Mei was already mid-air, her whip swirling around her as crimson Qi sparks began to gather along its length. The sparks grew brighter and brighter, turning from small flickers into arcs of red lightning that wrapped around the whip like serpents.
The flexible whip began to straighten under the pressure of Qi.
Lightning gathered along its length until it no longer looked like a whip at all.
It looked like a spear made of thunder.
Crimson lightning roared around her arm, the air turning red from the glow of her Qi as wind howled around her descending figure. Her eyes were sharp and focused as she pulled her arm back and then threw the whip forward like a spear.
The thunder spear shot forward toward Chen Yuan's Heaven Splitting Slash.
Both attacks met in the center of the arena.
The moment they collided, a sky-splitting thunderclap exploded across the gathering grounds. Wind blasted outward in all directions, dust exploding into the air as the stone floor cracked beneath the pressure.
Lu Mao raised his arm to shield his face as the shockwave hit.
The two attacks remained locked in the center, pushing against each other, lightning and sword Qi grinding and tearing at the air. The space between them twisted violently as both techniques tried to overpower the other.
For a few seconds, neither attack moved.
Then suddenly—
Chen Yuan's Heaven Splitting Slash cracked.
The long line of sword Qi split into two halves, breaking apart violently. The broken pieces of the attack shot outward in random directions like invisible blades flying across the arena.
"Watch out!" Marco shouted.
Lu Mao jumped to the side instantly as a sharp blade of Qi sliced past where he had been standing. It struck the stone wall behind him and carved a deep line into it as if it were cutting through clay.
Nearby, Bao Fu yelped loudly and dove sideways in a very ungraceful roll to avoid another flying slash.
"Hey! Hey! Control your attacks!" Bao Fu shouted while scrambling to his feet.
Another stray slash flew toward Li Xian.
She simply raised her palm and lightly tapped the air.
The sharp Qi wave changed direction instantly and shot into the sky.
Lu Mao noticed that.
She didn't block it.
She redirected it.
Meanwhile, at the center of the arena, Yan Mei's thunder spear broke through the remaining sword Qi and continued toward Chen Yuan.
Chen Yuan reacted instantly, raising his sword and shouting, "Mirror Edge Guard!"
He swung his blade in a circular motion, and a curved, reflective layer of sword Qi appeared in front of him. When the thunder spear struck it, the attack did not stop—instead, the energy bent along the curved surface and was redirected sideways into the ground.
The redirected lightning struck the stone floor and exploded, blasting a crater into the arena.
But even though he had redirected the main attack, the remaining lightning Qi still surged around him, shocking his body. His muscles stiffened, and the force threw him backward across the stone floor.
He crashed and rolled before finally stopping several meters away, breathing heavily. His robe was torn in several places, and small cuts and burn marks covered his arms.
Yan Mei landed lightly on the ground, breathing heavily as well, her whip returning to its normal shape.
Silence filled the arena for a moment.
Then Li Xian spoke calmly.
"Winner. Yan Mei."
Yan Mei nodded slightly and walked toward Chen Yuan, who was now sitting up and catching his breath.
"Your last attack was impressive," she said calmly. "Even after breaking, it was still dangerous."
Chen Yuan gave a small smile. "I tried my best. I lost… but next time I will win for sure."
She nodded once. "I'll be waiting."
They both walked back toward the edge of the arena.
And then Lu Mao realized something.
Only one duel remained.
Yan Mei vs him.
He exhaled slowly and stepped forward toward the center as Yan Mei turned back toward the arena. The wind blew lightly across the gathering grounds, lifting dust and pulling at their clothes.
Yan Mei looked tired now. Her dark vest and red-trimmed leather outfit were damaged from the earlier fights, parts of her skirt and leggings torn slightly. Her black hair moved across her face as her raven-colored eyes studied him carefully.
She still looked like a hunter.
Even exhausted, she looked dangerous.
Lu Mao stopped a few meters away from her, resting his hands near the hilts of his daggers.
Yan Mei lifted her whip and pointed it toward him.
"Lu Mao," she said calmly, "I know you still haven't made progress with your Eight Gate Qi circulation method. Even if you lack the strength to fight us directly, I still won't go easy on you. So brace yourself."
Lu Mao smiled slightly. "I understand, Yan Mei. Even if you're exhausted, I won't take any of your attacks lightly. And if you go easy on me… I might steal your glory."
Bao Fu immediately shouted from the side, "Steal it! Steal it! I support stealing!"
Chen Yuan rolled his eyes. "You support everything that isn't hard work."
Lu Mao drew both of his daggers slowly, the metal glinting faintly in the sunlight. He lowered his stance slightly, watching Yan Mei's shoulders, her feet, her grip on the whip.
He knew he couldn't beat her in strength.
He couldn't beat her in speed either.
So he would have to win in another way.
Yan Mei moved first.
She shot forward across the ground with explosive speed, her whip already swinging toward him. Lu Mao immediately threw a smoke bomb at the ground and jumped backward as fast as he could.
The smoke exploded outward, filling the space between them.
But Yan Mei did not slow down.
She blasted straight through the smoke cloud, wind bursting around her as she emerged from the other side instantly. Her whip roared like thunder as it shot forward.
The tip pierced straight through Lu Mao's shoulder as both of them were airborne.
But then—
Lu Mao's body dissolved into smoke and light.
An illusion.
Yan Mei's eyes narrowed immediately.
Phantom Double.
Suddenly, she sensed movement behind her. She turned and saw five Lu Maos rushing toward her—three on the ground attacking from different angles and two in the air as if preparing special attacks.
They were close.
Very close.
Yan Mei twisted her body smoothly, dodging two dagger strikes while her whip spun around her body and smashed through two of the illusions, causing them to shatter into smoke. She stepped forward and struck again, destroying the remaining three illusions in quick succession.
But for a brief moment—
She lost track of the real one.
And that moment was all Lu Mao needed.
From near the spectators, Li Xian suddenly moved forward toward Yan Mei with incredible speed, a dagger in her hand. Yan Mei reacted instantly and jumped back to create distance.
But in that split second, she realized something.
Li Xian was still standing behind that figure.
Which meant—
That wasn't Li Xian.
It was Lu Mao using Doppelgänger.
He had disguised himself as Li Xian and hidden near the spectators while his illusions attacked from the smoke.
Clever.
Very clever.
Now both of them were airborne again, facing each other at close distance as Lu Mao's appearance shifted back from Li Xian into his own form.
Lu Mao crossed his daggers in front of him and said quietly,
"Flash Veil."
He struck the daggers together in an X shape and then slashed them outward.
Instead of sparks—
A blinding white flash exploded across the arena.
The entire gathering ground was filled with bright white light for a moment, like a camera flash exploding directly in front of the eyes. Everyone flinched, and Yan Mei, who was looking directly at him, lost her vision completely for a brief moment.
Lu Mao moved instantly.
He closed the distance and swung his dagger toward her sleeve.
But at that exact moment, Yan Mei reacted purely on instinct. Her whip shot upward from below and struck Lu Mao directly under the chin, snapping his head back. His dagger still sliced forward, cutting through her sleeve and leaving a small scratch on her arm.
But the whip strike threw him upward into the air.
He lost control and crashed hard onto the stone floor a moment later, rolling once before stopping. He tasted blood in his mouth as he lay there staring at the sky.
Silence filled the arena again.
Li Xian's voice broke it.
"Winner. Yan Mei."
Lu Mao slowly sat up, wiping the blood from his mouth and looking toward Yan Mei, who was standing a few meters away holding her whip. She looked at the cut sleeve on her arm and then back at him.
Her eyes were bright.
Not because she had won.
But because she had understood something.
Bao Fu ran over immediately. "People call me clever, but you might be even more dangerous than me in a fight! Amazing, Brother Lu Mao!"
Marco crossed his arms and nodded. "You can't overpower us, so you change the battlefield instead. That was smart."
Chen Yuan smirked slightly. "Illusions, disguises, blinding light… You fight like a thief, not a cultivator."
Lu Mao smiled faintly. "I am a thief."
Li Xian watched him quietly for a moment, a faint glimmer passing through her eyes before her expression returned to normal.
"Today's duels are over," she said calmly. "You have all done well."
Lu Mao looked down at his daggers for a moment.
He had lost.
But he had landed a hit on Yan Mei.
And more importantly—
He had proven something.
He didn't need overwhelming strength.
He didn't need terrifying Qi.
He just needed one opening.
And he would create that opening himself.