The elegant Sword Light spun and leaped, twisting around Chi Lianxue's hands. The protective qi that had once been enough to burn every attack to ashes proved utterly useless. It all happened too fast. Before Chi Lianxue could react, a sharp pain shot through his wrist, and a fountain of blood burst forth, only to be evaporated midair by his own mana.
Then, he saw Wang Qi's soul-chilling gaze.
It was a gaze of absolute focus and absolute exhilaration. Wang Qi seemed not to be fighting for his life, but simply doing something perfectly natural—raising his sword calmly, then bringing it down.
"Ah!" Chi Lianxue let out a strange cry and hurriedly sprang backward. Wang Qi followed step for step, seemingly determined to fight him to the death at close quarters and deny Chi Lianxue even the slightest chance to use the Jimie Fentian Palm.
However...
"Brat... in the end, you're just a brat!" Whether Chi Lianxue was mocking Wang Qi or comforting himself, he sneered as he raised his hand and fired three blood-red flaming arrows. Then, close behind the crimson flames, he charged forward himself, actually abandoning the Jimie Fentian Palm to engage in close-range combat with one injured hand.
With a single glance, Wang Qi saw through the trajectory of the spell attack. He swept his sword horizontally and extinguished the flames. Seizing that opening, Chi Lianxue practically slammed into his embrace, driving his shoulder viciously into Wang Qi's chest. The longsword could not return in time to defend, so Wang Qi decisively swung his free left hand in a punch, striking Chi Lianxue across the back.
Two crisp smacks rang out. The two froze for an instant before Wang Qi was sent flying backward. This was a contest of pure strength. No matter how refined Wang