After a lengthy buildup of power in the center of the Training Ground, Thousand Jun Douluo launched another flurry of strikes with shorter intervals between them. The staff afterimages did not immediately disperse, instead forming a continuous, crisscrossing veil around him.
Amid the fierce assault, Xiao Yun swung his sword faster, shortening each stroke to execute perfect parries. Throughout the subsequent strikes, the points of contact between staff and blade barely shifted, and his blade rotated in the same direction as the staff's movement.
Thousand Jun Douluo sustained his offensive longer than before. While maintaining the veil of staff afterimages, he occasionally adjusted his angle of attack, tilting a strike aimed at Xiao Yun's shoulder to test whether it would force him to change his footing. Yet Xiao Yun's adjustments remained within the same narrow range, with no significant deviation or retreat in response to those changes.
Thousand Jun Douluo slowed his staff in the center of the Training Ground. Once he confirmed that every attack had been blocked, he prepared to change his pace and continue attacking.
By the time Thousand Jun Douluo finished that round of attacks, Xiao Yun had already brought his blade back into position.
His spiritual power condensed inside the blade into an exceptionally fine edge, extending forward along its spine.
Once the sword qi had condensed to a certain degree, it began spreading outward along the blade's curve, forming a thin coating around it.
He took a step forward and thrust his sword at a relatively level angle, allowing that strand of sword qi to pierce through the shaft of the Coiling Dragon Staff in an instant upon contact.
A clean cut appeared where the sword qi touched the Coiling Dragon Staff. Its edges were smooth, without splinters or burrs, as though a uniformly