(...So quickly?)
Her Fragrant Mirage Physique had never failed before.
Once her illusions entrapped soone's mind, they would wander in their deepest fears for hours, sotis days, before the strain broke them.
Yet Bai Xueqing... had shattered it within monts.
(Did I make so mistake?)
Shui Lian'er's jade-like fingers tightened slightly at her side.
She didn't think that her ability had failed, but it had been broken-either Bai Xueqing was far stronger than she imagined, or she had made so mistake.
But she had no ti to dwell.
"-You'll pay for that!"
Bai Xueqing's roar cracked the silence.
She wielded her sword, ready to strike at Shui Lian'er.
"Nine Shadows Flowing Light Sword!"
Her figure blurred-one mont standing firm, the next splitting into nine dazzling shadows that struck from every angle at once.
The stage erupted with streaks of light, each slash sharp enough to tear the air itself.
Shui Lian'er's sleeves fluttered as her body flowed like drifting mist.
Every ti a sword light descended, she slipped aside by the slimst margin,
her movents precise and anticipatory-as if she already knew where the next strike would fall.
Clang! Swish! Crack!
Steel t only empty air, grazing strands of Shui Lian'er's hair but never her body.
She moved not with speed, but with a strange inevitability-a calm lotus swaying in the current, always just beyond reach of the blade.
Slash! Slash!
As if already anticipating the strikes, she was able to dodge every single one. Bai Xueqing split into nine shadows, each flowing seamlessly into the next, every strike aid with lethal precision directly at Shui Lian'er.
It was as if countless swords were descending at once-inescapable, rciless. And yet-
Shui Lian'er's steps never faltered.
To the crowd, her movents looked impossibly graceful, like a lotus drifting through turbulent waves, always avoiding destruction at the last instant.
"Damn! I thought apart from her mysterious ability, Shui Lian'er would be easy to beat. But looks like she still has other strength to back it up."
"Hmph! Just dodging? What can she do?"
"Can it be that she can truly see the future?"
It isn't a surprise that so thought like that years ago, when Shui Lian'er fought in private matches between sects-it was said that her opponent wasn't able to land a single attack, Shui Lian'er dodging as if she already knew.
Rumors began to spread about her and her ability which is assud to be that of prediction.
Celestial Jade Hall is full of such mysterious techniques, so one couldn't be sure whether it was true or false.
But looking at her right now, it seed to be true.
Otherwise, there was no way that Shui Lian'er could dodge Bai Xueqing's attacks.
A faint glow rippled within Shui Lian'er's pupils-like the reflection of starlight across a still lake.
Fragnts of the future shimred before her mind.
A step here she saw herself slashed in half.
A turn there-her shoulder pierced clean through.
She shifted instead, flowing like water, and the fatal strike missed by a hair's breadth.
Her voice rang softly, almost like a chant.
"Spirit Art-Moonlit Reflection."
The air shimred as a faint mirage of herself split off, stepping to the side.
Bai Xueqing's sword cleaved straight through it, dispersing the afterimage into
motes of light.
Shui Lian'er raised her hand, jade fingers flicking gently.
Qi surged, condensing into a rain of crystalline lotus petals that spiraled around
her.
Each petal was sharp as a blade, yet elusive, phasing in and out of solidity.
Clang-clang-clang-!
The sword shadows clashed with the lotus petals, scattering sparks and Qi
ripples across the stage.
Bai Xueqing's eyes hardened.
"Petals and illusions won't save you!"
She swung her sword in a rising arc, the nine shadows converging into a single blinding thrust aid directly at Shui Lian'er's heart.
But Shui Lian'er had already seen it.
Her body swayed aside an instant before the blade arrived, her sleeve brushing
the sword's edge without so much as a cut.
At the sa ti, the lotus petals shifted-not randomly, but precisely into Bai Xueqing's path-forcing her to redirect her strikes or risk tearing herself apart with Qi backlash.
The audience erupted.
"She... predicted that strike!"
"No-she's reading Bai Xueqing's attacks before they even land!"
On the stage, the lotus petals converged into a glowing spear of spiritual light, thrusting forward at the exact mont Bai Xueqing's next movent left a gap in her defenses.
For the first ti in the fight-Bai Xueqing's expression flickered.
The arena pulsed with tension, every spectator holding their breath as Shui
Lian'er raised both arms.
The lotus petals swirling around her suddenly dissolved into motes of erald light, gathering high above her in a storm of dazzling radiance.
The very air quivered, suffused with a fragrance so sweet it made weaker cultivators' minds drift, their senses almost stolen away.
Her voice, calm yet ringing like jade chis, echoed across the stage:
"-Heavenly Jade Butterfly Storm."
The light condensed, shaping into thousands of luminous butterflies, each one crystalline and razor-sharp, wings shimring with destructive spiritual force.
They sward together into a spiraling tempest, blotting out the sky above the
platform.
Then-like a floodgate breaking-they descended.
The butterflies streaked downward in a storm of annihilation, covering every
path of escape, cutting off every possible retreat.
Even Shui Lian'er's foresight told her the outco: there was no surviving this.
The crowd gasped.
"Bai Xueqing is finished! This is the Celestial Jade Hall's Strongest Technique!"
"No one could dodge that-it's inescapable!"
And yet- Bai Xueqing's eyes blazed, her pale-blue irises burning like cold fire.
She did not shrink back, nor did she attempt to counter with so flashy
technique.
Instead, her body moved.
Step-twist-strike-
Her sword danced with blinding speed, shattering the butterflies that dared to
touch her path.
Her figure blurred, weaving through impossible gaps, bending low as deadly wings brushed past her hair, twisting mid-air as another swarm sought to cut
her down.
Her reaction speed was beyond belief, her agility monstrous, her instincts
sharper than foresight.
She dodged.
Not with prediction.
But with raw speed and terrifying reflexes honed in countless battles.
One by one, the Heavenly Jade Butterflies shattered against her sword light,
until the great storm above the stage collapsed into falling sparks that fizzled out against the arena floor.
The audience erupted in disbelief, so even standing to their feet.
"She dodged it! Impossible!"
On the stage, Shui Lian'er's calm finally cracked.
Her eyes widened, breath catching as she stared at Bai Xueqing, who now stood unscathed amidst the fading light.
(How...? Even I couldn't find an escape, and yet she...)
Her jade-like fingers trembled slightly before lowering at her side. Slowly, her serene expression returned-not from arrogance, but from acceptance.
"I see now," she said softly, her voice carrying even through the roaring crowd.
"No matter how refined my arts, no matter how precise my foresight... before your sheer power and will, there is no path to victory for ."
Shui Lian'er closed her eyes, exhaled deeply, and gave a graceful bow toward
Bai Xueqing.
"I concede!"
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