Time Law!
Her eyes shifted slightly, and she couldn't help glancing at Li Yilin again.
He stood there quietly. At least the silly grin had disappeared from his face.
And he'd grasped the Time Law?
Yuanji—or, more accurately, Xinaya—looked at Li Yilin, her eyes full of doubt.
Just what had he done to manage that?
"Hello. May I begin?" He hadn't moved at all, and Li Yilin, ever the gentleman, felt awkward about making the first move.
But standing around with someone you barely knew was undeniably awkward.
"How did you comprehend the Time Law?" Xinaya couldn't help asking.
"The Time Law?" Li Yilin blinked and looked at her innocently. "I don't know. I never actually tried to comprehend it. Somehow, I just did."
Somehow, indeed.
Xinaya laughed in anger and raised the sword in her hand. With a boom, she shot toward Li Yilin at dozens of times the speed of sound. The Light Domain unfurled, and the light around them warped.
"Whoosh!"
Xinaya swung her sword. Several blades of sword energy appeared from thin air in every direction, all aimed at Li Yilin.
Li Yilin's expression didn't change. Purple Lightning flashed, and when he appeared again, he was in a different position. At the same time, he swept the War Blade behind him.
"Clang!"
The crisp clash of metal rang out. Xinaya had used the Domain's concealment to sneak up beside him.
"Are you really that angry? You must be pretty hung up on not having comprehended the Time Law." Li Yilin blinked, a smile on his face, but his words were venomous, striking straight at her sore spots.
"Using only your Domain won't let you touch me." Li Yilin kept swinging his blade, blocking Xinaya's attacks one after another.
Xinaya didn't reply. She simply continued her assault.
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang-clang-clang!"
The crisp clashes of weapons rang pleasantly as their attacks grew faster and more devious.
"Are you toying with me?" Xinaya tilted her head, a cold glint flashing in her red eyes.
She could see it: Li Yilin was only defending. He had no intention of attacking.
The fight looked exhilarating, but it was almost too easy—like a teacher guiding a student.
As if the teacher knew the student couldn't hurt him, no matter how they attacked, and wanted them to use more substantial strikes to test their progress.
When had she ever put up with this kind of humiliation?
"No. I'm just defending." Li Yilin shook his head and said seriously, "Defense is also a means of attack. They just approach things from different angles!
"Just like your light. It looks like it's attacking, but it's actually defending, too." Xinaya's attack faltered.
Defense was a kind of offense, and offense could also be defense?
It made some sense.
But—
Who didn't know such simple truths?
That lofty, lecturing tone—as if he could fool her!
Xinaya gritted her teeth in resentment. "I refuse to believe I can't break through your shell."
The longsword slipped through her hand like a water snake. From a distance, the blade light was completely engulfed by the sword's shadow, making it seem as if she had the upper hand.
But Xinaya knew that was an illusion.
Her sword was fast, but not one strike landed on Li Yilin.
Li Yilin, meanwhile, seemed to swing his blade less often, yet he precisely blocked every thrust aimed at him, leaving her sword to cut through empty air.
His combat instincts were incredibly precise.
It was as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
Even though her attacks, under the Domain's influence, didn't stir the air at all, the slightest shifts in the light let him detect something amiss and react instantly.
"Too slow, too slow!" Li Yilin taunted her. He twisted his wrist, using the War Blade like a pointer as he tapped Xinaya's sword-wielding wrist now and then.
"If I were you just now, I wouldn't have thought about striking here. I'd have retreated.
"One attack, thirteen openings. If I'd been ruthless, you'd already have been cut in half.
"The system says you've comprehended the Light Law deeply. I don't see what's so profound about it. Your use of the Law is even clumsier than mine.
"I haven't used the Time Law, and I haven't even used all of the Lightning Law. Just half a month ago, an elder gave me some pointers and thought my use of the Laws was a complete mess," Li Yilin said.
"You're worse than me. I'm a rookie, and you're a complete amateur. Heh heh heh—" Li Yilin laughed like an evil villain. Xinaya was dressed in black, but even she couldn't match his sinister, wicked grin. It made her grit her teeth in hatred.
A mess?
This was a mess?
Xinaya gritted her teeth, fury flooding her. She couldn't think about anything else. All she wanted was to cleave the man before her in two.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh-whoosh!
Fast!
Faster!
So close!
Why was she just a little short? How could she get any faster?
Xinaya's eyes were wide, filled with blazing light.
Her figure grew increasingly indistinct, as if she might vanish at any moment. Yet her attacks grew faster and more decisive, the Light Law flowing into every strike. Each blow brought a stormy surge, as if it could swallow everything.
The warped light tugged at the void. Countless changes collided within it, producing subtle shifts.
What was that?
Why was that thread of light moving faster?
Xinaya keenly sensed the change and narrowed her eyes, her thoughts spreading out in an instant.
What could make light move faster than the speed of light?
Why had it sped up?
No, the light itself hadn't sped up. Something had affected that thread of light.
What was it?
The Time Law?
Xinaya desperately tried to investigate. She vaguely felt she'd touched the thing she desired most, but a thin veil stood between them. It seemed delicate, yet she couldn't find her way through it.
"It's changing." As if he'd noticed Xinaya's confusion, Li Yilin spoke up.
He suddenly recalled the description of the Time Law in the cultivation secret art, Thunder Dragon Step. It had only been one sentence.
"The difference between time and space is that time changes."
It changes!
Changes!
Change?
Xinaya's eyes narrowed. She swung her sword again. A streak of sword light appeared alongside several black rays, blocking one of Li Yilin's attacks. Then she flew backward, blending into the Light Domain and vanishing from sight.
Xinaya closed her eyes. Her consciousness latched onto that thread of change, following it as she pondered.
In her mind, she clearly saw the light swirling around within the Domain. The rays seemed indistinguishable. No—there was a difference.
Several rays of light that she hadn't restrained seemed to be moving according to some kind of pattern.
Those patterns—
Her mind jolted.
A sudden realization dawned on her.
If time could be understood through change—
Could it be understood this way?
To get from one point to another, under normal circumstances, it would take one second. But if a stretched spring connected the two points, and the spring contracted faster than normal, would that be equivalent to accelerating time?
No. What if the spring's contraction speed was normal?
Would it still be acceleration?
How could you tell what counted as acceleration?
As long as there was speed, time would pass in between.
Why did it pass?
Couldn't it be paused?
As Xinaya pondered, a strange fluctuation of Law gradually rose around her. It seemed subtle, but to those familiar with such things, it was unmistakable.
Li Yilin's eyes narrowed. He swung his blade, and the blade light flashed past. Xinaya instinctively raised her sword to block.
The fierce sword shadows had changed somehow.
What was this?
Xinaya's eyes lit up. Before she could celebrate, she felt a chill at her neck.
The scene before her eyes spun, then quickly faded into darkness.
Yuanji, battle 3207: Defeat!
Before you continue