The moment Xiao Guanyin finished speaking, she lightly flicked her finger. The decorative finger guard shot toward Song Qingshu's brow like a bolt of lightning. Driven by inner force, what had once been a beautiful ornament had become a most terrifying weapon.
Song Qingshu hurriedly tilted his head aside. The finger guard struck a nearby pillar and instantly sank into it. He clicked his tongue inwardly. If that had pierced someone's head, how could they possibly survive?
"Hmm?" Xiao Guanyin had not expected her sure-kill strike to be evaded. "Who exactly are you?"
"That should be my question, Imperial Consort..." Song Qingshu understood that an Empress could not possibly possess such profound martial arts. Everything about this was exceedingly strange.
Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, Xiao Guanyin waved her hand and attacked. She had never expected an answer when she asked; she had merely wanted to distract him.
But Song Qingshu was vastly experienced. Such a petty trick could not fool him, and with his current cultivation, it made no difference even if he let her strike first.
He could have subdued her almost immediately, but in order to investigate her identity, he deliberately responded with martial arts roughly on her level, intending to use the opportunity to discern the style of her techniques.
Sure enough, after more than twenty consecutive moves proved ineffective, Xiao Guanyin could no longer hold herself back. Her hands suddenly became incomparably soft, and her martial arts style was completely different from before.
"Hmm, the Bone Softening Palm?" Song Qingshu recognized the martial art she was using and was greatly shocked.
Yet Xiao Guanyin was even more shocked than he was. "Who exactly are you? How do you recognize this technique?"
Song Qingshu studied her with a strange look as well. "And who are