Li Shuyi had no desire to talk to the Shadowblade Sword Saint, so she threw a packet of Bone-Softening Powder at him.
It was one of the White Phoenix Team's gains from the Sword Song Plane, a poison powder specially made by Poison-Hand Guanyin Ji Mingjue. Scattered over an enemy, it sapped their strength, reduced it by 15%, and increased their stamina consumption by an additional 50%!
Li Shuyi's strength bonus was gone, but the Shadowblade Sword Saint was affected by Bone-Softening Powder again, and his strength plunged by 10 points. With the four stacks of the Oni Warrior passive she had already built up, her boosted strength was now no weaker than his!
With their strength evenly matched, Li Shuyi's advantage in Advanced Swordsmanship came into play.
What was more, she had thrown the Bone-Softening Powder just as the Shadowblade Sword Saint charged in to clash with her. Caught off guard, he took two more strikes from Li Shuyi before retreating with his anger bottled up, trying to widen the distance again.
Li Shuyi pursued him relentlessly. After all, every move the Shadowblade Sword Saint made now consumed more stamina!
Stamina was crucial in a duel between experts. Two evenly matched fighters could spend the early stages parrying and blocking to their hearts' content, with neither losing much health aside from minor recoil damage. But later, if one fighter's stamina fell too far, their movements would falter. Their opponent could seize the opening to deal massive damage or even finish them off.
Stamina was affected by the three primary attributes, but the relationship was not exact. Nor did the Spirit Realm Rules quantify stamina as strictly as they did mental power.
Li Shuyi kept up the pursuit throughout the Bone-Softening Powder's forty-five-second duration.
Their weapons clashed again and again.