Chapter 1 A Few Moments Ago

Let's rewind time a bit...

And take a look at the entrance to Burial Heart Manor...

Back then, it was still dark.

A murderous aura filled the courtyard.

In the dim light, two peerless figures stood silently, facing each other.

Li Ruoyu, Xu Huaishang.

This was the first formal clash between the two.

Neither... wanted to lose to the other.

"To be honest, I don't want to fight you." After confronting each other for dozens of seconds, Xu Huaishang spoke first, "Because you might be stronger than Feng Bujue."

These words were not meant to weaken her opponent for tactical reasons, nor were they misleading. They were Xu Huaishang's genuine feelings.

"Likewise," Ruoyu responded concisely, her tone calm.

They both expressed their respect for their opponent, but neither concealed their killing intent.

Moreover... their hands remained firmly on their weapons.

"But since we have no choice but to fight..." As Xu Huaishang spoke, the Dou Qi (battle energy) around her intensified dramatically once more, "...then I will win."

"Understood..." Ruoyu replied, "You plan to use 'that' from the start, right?"

Hearing this, Xu Huaishang paused slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. "Yes!"

"Good." Ruoyu said, and then she slightly raised her left hand, summoning her Ling Neng (spiritual energy) weapon – [Primal Water Divine Sword]. "Then let's go straight into combat at 'that level'."

What they were talking about might not be understood by others, but that didn't really matter... because people would soon "see" what they were going to do.

Another brief silence...

About ten seconds later, suddenly!

*Chi-*

A burst of Dou Qi (battle energy) announced that a certain power within Xu Huaishang had finally broken through its boundaries.

This... was her Soul Skill – [Soul Advent].

In the "Butterfly War" of S1, Xu Huaishang had used a special item, [Yajing Xiawan Pill], to obtain this ability. But at that time, it was still a power she couldn't fully control and utilize.

However, after that match, her battle instincts had vaguely remembered and inherited part of the [Soul Advent]'s shadow.

Finally, upon reaching max level, this ability awakened as her Soul Skill...

The Soul Skill version of [Soul Advent] has two effects. First: at the moment of activation, it restores all Survival, Stamina, and Spiritual Power values. Second: for the next five minutes, she can freely use "the sword techniques of other-world swordmasters" without consuming any Stamina.

Compared to the item version, the Soul Skill version removed the invincible effect of "infinite Health, Stamina, and Spirit at activation" and changed it to a "no Stamina cost for using techniques" setting. Correspondingly, it also removed the side effect of reducing all the player's stats to 1% after Soul Advent ended. Of course, there was also one other change... it can only be activated once per script (generally, the cooldown time for this type of skill in Free Exploration mode is twenty-four hours).

In other respects... there's not much else to say. The power of this move had already been demonstrated when Xu Huaishang first fought Jue-ge (Brother Jue).

Seeing this, some might wonder, since this move also comes with the heaven-defying effect of "full stat restoration," why didn't Xu Huaishang wait to fight Li Ruoyu for a while before activating it?

The answer is simple... her intuition told her that if she didn't enter [Soul Advent] state from the start, she might not even have the chance to activate it and would be defeated.

On the other hand...

Ruoyu also activated her Soul Skill [Maximum Efficiency] at the beginning of this battle.

Moreover, this was also the first time she had used the martial arts she learned from Feng Zhihen (Wind Trace) in battle.

Feng Zhihen, the Demon Flow Sword.

Two sword styles, one calm and swift, the other wild and frenzied.

Feng Zhihen himself could create clones to use these two sword techniques, but Li Ruoyu could not.

However, Ruoyu had other methods...

After receiving guidance from Feng Zhihen in the Peerless Martial Arts Tournament, Ruoyu integrated what she had learned, combined it with the special effects of her own [Ming Yu Gong] (Bright Jade Skill) at the seventh level, and trained extensively. She finally mastered the art of using two swords... simultaneously wielding two different sword styles with her left and right hands.

Here's a side note: Ruoyu's [Ming Yu Gong] has now reached the eighth level, with the following specific effects...

[Name: Ming Yu Gong (Eighth Level)]

[Skill Card Attribute: Special Skill, Permanently Learned, Ability Improves with Cultivation]

[Skill Category: ???]

[Effect 1: Divine Skill Activated, Inner Breath Concentrated] (Stamina consumption rate decreased, can also remain active for a relatively long time in an anaerobic state)

[Effect 2: Qi Flows Through the Ren and Du Meridians, Reborn] (Basic physical skills slightly improved)

[Effect 3: Heart Like Clear Ice, Unfazed by the Collapse of the Sky] (Resistance to mental negative effects increased)

[Effect 4: Riding the Wind and Treading the Waves, Moving Like a Shadow] (Active skill, allows the player to perform a theoretically feasible extreme evasion action)

[Effect 5: Overcoming the Unyielding with Gentleness, Lifting the Heavy as Though It Were Light] (Physical damage capability increased by 1.5 times)

[Effect 6: Shifting Flowers and Connecting Jade, Invincible to Gods and Demons] (Active skill, reflects half the attack power of an active damage skill back to the caster, caster limited to players)

[Effect 7: Doing as One Pleases, State of Microscopic Insight] (Perfect control of oneself, allowing the body to make any subtle adjustments that are theoretically possible)

[Effect 8: Unending Power, Mysterious Force Like Ice] (Can add ice attribute to any attack skill)

[Learning Conditions: Female Player, Level 35 or higher, Melee Specialization A, Activate Spirit Art Specialization]

[Note: Peerless martial art of the Yihua Palace, the orthodox and supreme inner cultivation technique. Those who achieve great success in this divine skill possess unending power, mysterious force like ice, eternal youth, and are invincible in the world.]

The content in parentheses is not the skill's built-in description, but what Ruoyu gradually understood through repeated attempts and exploration.

In fact, the skill description for [Ming Yu Gong] itself only includes the first part, which is similar to Xiao Tan's [Heaven and Earth Reversal Divine Art]... just looking at the words... you have no idea what it does.

So, let's focus on explaining the special effect of the seventh level of the Ming Yu Gong: [Doing as One Pleases, State of Microscopic Insight]...

The so-called "perfect control of oneself" seems like nothing particularly difficult at first glance; because the body is originally one's own, being able to control it is a matter of course.

However, in reality, it is not so...

Indeed, each of us is the master of our own body, but the human body is not that easy to control.

For example...

Okay, I know that many people will think of some lewd things when reading this, so let me state first that I am a person with integrity and will not write those things.

So, to continue... for example...

A classic example is – people cannot open their eyes while sneezing.

There is also... rotating the right wrist clockwise and the right ankle counterclockwise; rotating the tongue clockwise in the mouth while rotating the head counterclockwise; and drawing circles with the left hand and squares with the right hand...

There are many similar examples. Some obstacles come from the physiological limitations of the nervous system, and others are due to the fact that it is difficult for the same area of the cerebral cortex to perform two tasks at the same time.

These are just the problems that ordinary people can directly experience. In addition... there are also some examples of body control that transcend common sense, such as "controlling the ears," "controlling the hair," and even "controlling the bones," "controlling the organs," and "controlling the blood," and so on.

After saying so much, it all boils down to one thing... controlling your own body is actually very difficult.

So, in a practical example, since "drawing circles with the left hand and drawing squares with the right hand" is so difficult, the difficulty of "using one set of sword techniques with the left hand and another set of sword techniques with the right hand" can be imagined.

Even Ruoyu, who had raised the [Ming Yu Gong] to the seventh level, spent a long time mastering this skill of "ambidextrous combat."

In summary, these two... both possess martial arts of the highest level, superb and exquisite, and... they have reached a consensus, abandoning all probing and directly launching the most peak competition!

...

Dawn was approaching, and the light mist gradually thickened.

Under the light, the fighting spirit surged, with two swords meeting two sabers.

There were no more words. Everything had already been clarified in the colliding Dou Qi (battle energy).

Before their weapons even made contact, the aura of the swords and sabers expanded once again, almost enveloping an area with a radius of fifty meters.

The surrounding players and NPCs could all feel this tangible power, and they were forced back more than ten zhang, away from this deadly zone.

Finally, when the Dou Qi (battle energy) of both sides reached a critical point, at the same moment, the two... moved.

Fast, unbelievably fast, too fast for the eyes to follow.

The moment the sabers and swords were drawn, the two figures almost simultaneously disappeared from people's sight.

The three members of Red Cherry could not see their movements.

Yuan Qi and the martial artists present could not see their movements either.

Hua Jian could not see their movements even more...

Among everyone present, only Wang Tanzhi... under the premise of activating [Eagle Eye Vision], could keep up with the rhythm of their fight.

*Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz-*

Amidst a blur of messy saber light and sword shadows, only dense, strange humming sounds were heard, but not a single sound of metal clashing against metal.

Only Xiao Tan understood... that was because their weapons were too strong, so strong that the energy on the surface of the weapons repelled each other, preventing them from touching.

Ruoyu's [Xuanyuan Sword] is a tangible holy sword, while her Ling Neng (spiritual energy) weapon, [Primal Water Divine Sword], is an intangible strange sword. Neither of these weapons has any special effects or attributes specifically targeting players, but their attack power is already heaven-defying. Although the [Primal Water Divine Sword], which has not yet fully matured, is inferior to the Xuanyuan Sword in terms of strength, it is still no less than any divine weapon due to its "indestructible" characteristic.

And Xu Huaishang's double sabers are also Ling Neng (spiritual energy) weapons, and they are fully matured Ling Neng (spiritual energy) weapons...

Left Saber:

[Name: Falling Blossom]

[Type: Spiritual Energy Weapon]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Attack Power: Extremely Strong]

[Attribute: None]

[Effect 1: Blossom (Deals 300% damage upon hit)]

[Effect 2: Falling Petals (Negates 60% damage upon successful block)]

[Effect 3: Falling Blossom Flying Flurry (Ultimate Technique, can only be used with double saber combination, cooldown time is four hours)]

[Note: Whereabouts of a lonely person at the end of the world are unknown.]

Right Saber:

[Name: Flying Flurry]

[Type: Spiritual Energy Weapon]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Attack Power: Extremely Strong]

[Attribute: None]

[Effect 1: Wind Flight (Increases attack speed by 100% after each hit, this effect lasts for ten seconds, can be stacked up to three times)]

[Effect 2: Flurry Fall (Increases movement speed by 50% after each successful block, this effect lasts for six seconds, can be stacked up to four times)]

[Effect 3: Falling Blossom Flying Flurry (Ultimate Technique, can only be used with double saber combination, cooldown time is four hours)]

[Note: A smile dissolves the ancient and modern sorrows of the world.]

The effects of these two weapons are quite astonishing. Whether against players or monsters... as long as it is close-quarters combat, they can exert extremely terrifying power.

If Ruoyu hadn't activated [Maximum Efficiency], it would indeed be difficult to cope.

However, Ruoyu has Maximum Efficiency, and Xu Huaishang also has Soul Advent...

After a thirty-second round of rapid offense and defense, the two realized... so far, they were evenly matched.

Ruoyu might have had the advantage in the first ten seconds, but as the two effects of [Flying Flurry] gradually stacked up, Xu Huaishang recovered the situation.

But even so... it was still impossible to determine the winner.

Ruoyu knew of the existence of [Soul Advent], so she asked "You plan to use 'that' from the start, right?" when she saw Xu Huaishang use the move.

But Xu Huaishang did not know the specific information about [Maximum Efficiency]. After all, there was no character in her team who could see through the enemy's stats, so... she did not know how long Ruoyu's "extreme" state could last, nor did she know what other changes there were.

Under these circumstances, Xu Huaishang, who could only activate Soul Advent for five minutes, would undoubtedly fight more aggressively...

So, when the battle reached the thirty-first second... Xu Huaishang changed her move first.

"Returning Dance. Heaven!"

Xu Huaishang actually likes to announce the names of her moves. In fact, the studio also has regulations in this regard... given that this behavior can increase the cool factor, the studio encourages players to announce the names of their moves in battle... if they can.

Of course, this is a matter of opinion. Some people's announcement of move names seems wild, domineering, cool, and evil... but some people's announcement makes them seem shy or even perverted.

As for the standard... I would say seven points depends on the face, and three points depends on the temperament...

In short, in a situation where regular moves were fruitless, Goddess Xu took the lead in seeking change.

Seeing this scene, Ruoyu had to show something...

"Demon Flow Sword..." Ruoyu used action to explain that she could also announce move names, "...Sword. Weeping Rain."

Even when doing such a chuuni (juvenile delinquent) thing, she could still exude a cool aura, which was really not easy.

"Feng Zhihen..." And the two sets of sword techniques in her left and right hands were still two different moves, "...Flowing Wind Changes Traces."

When the two finished speaking, their moves also intertwined together.

In that second, the colliding Dou Qi (battle energy) actually made a crackling sound like lightning running and thunder roaring.

The intertwined energy also bloomed with gorgeous streamers.

A breath later, all that could be seen was...

Two figures passed each other, separated... Up until this point in the battle, the two's figures had finally stopped for the first time.