The sword pierced an afterimage.
Some technique akin to a substitution jutsu, or perhaps a king's exchange, shifted Yu Zhiwei's body elsewhere. Her form vanished, then reappeared a dozen meters away. But the instant she raised her scepter again, a dense wave of icy mist erupted outward from Valentina.
"The weapon is called Willow Leaf White Garden. Depending on which elemental crystal you load into it, it can unleash different types of elemental power. And you just said that if only you can see it and feel it, then you can kill it, right?"
Her voice came from within the icy mist.
It came from every corner of the mist.
The icy mist had the special properties of distorting vision and interfering with perception. It spread rapidly, surging in every direction.
A burst of light flared from between Yu Zhiwei's brows. The next moment, the icy mist closing in around her abruptly retreated in a ring. Dozens of slashing sounds of varying pitches burst through the air. Clearly, the invisible blades of telekinetic force she wielded were sweeping through the area.
She missed.
The air around her twisted abruptly.
Valentina's form appeared close to Yu Zhiwei with a speed comparable to telekinetic force. Her whispered words accompanied the thrust of her sword.
"Looks like your Mystic Eyes of Death Perception aren't enough to kill the icy mist as a whole."
Her gaze was fixed, her eyes sharp as a hawk's.
An invisible slash appeared at her chest, yet she neither dodged nor flinched.
"Sorry about that." Yu Zhiwei showed no fear. "But how did you suddenly speed up?"
Her weakness had been exposed the moment she revealed how she had been enhanced. No matter how powerful the instant-kill effect of her Death Perception was, it could only target one point at a time. Against something like multiple layers of shields, she could only dismantle them one by one instead of forcing her way through all at once. And even if there was only one layer, she still needed a second strike to injure the person protected beneath it!
An invisible field of energy split open around Valentina. But the thrust of her rapier touched Yu Zhiwei between the brows at that very instant. Even though Yu Zhiwei did everything she could to turn her head aside, half her brow bone was sliced away, and one delicate eyeball was directly gouged out, shattering into ice crystals in midair.
That must have hurt.
But a fearless smile still tugged at Yu Zhiwei's lips.
The second thrust of Willow Leaf White Garden stopped an inch from piercing her throat. The vast stream of telekinetic force, so immense that it had taken on a substantial form, halted the sword's further advance.
The fierce glint in Valentina's eyes slowly faded.
"For the first time, I let my guard down in front of a 'teammate.' And you taught me a good lesson. Thank you, Ms. Yu Zhiwei."
"Maybe that's the difference between an amicable breakup and a fight to the death." Yu Zhiwei kept watching her with her one good eye. "If you're still upset, you can stab me a few more times. But if you want to kill me, I'll fight back with everything I have."
Valentina merely pulled out her sword with a look of disgust and walked away from her.
"Just thinking about having to work with someone like you makes me feel worse. Don't let me catch you doing that again. I can afford a mere thousand reward points."
She took two steps, then stopped.
"I had a 'Qian-Ti' Type 5 Sandevistan installed in my spine. It can accelerate my body by up to ten times, in theory, for a limited period. Don't say I didn't warn you before our next tactical clash."
She walked away.
But not very far.
A golden light descended, and a chair appeared for Valentina, along with a tea table laden with pastries. She sat down there with effortless elegance.
Si Ming looked at Jacob, then at Song Tian.
He realized the other men were reacting much the same way he was.
How to put it... Watching women fight was certainly entertaining. But now that the women were done, the men who hadn't had a chance to throw a punch looked a little awkward, didn't they?
"I personally don't mind sparring a little more. We could make it a team tradition for the Celestial Team." Si Ming shrugged. He didn't actually feel that awkward.
"Let's establish that tradition another time." Jacob gave a somewhat strained smile and waved a hand. "The mood's off. There'd be no fun in fighting now. We can't fight just for the sake of fighting."
So Si Ming looked at Song Tian.
Song Tian was looking at him, too.
"You say you're a necromancer, but there's a warrior's presence about you. I can feel it. It's powerful."
"I told you, I also have some close-combat abilities and techniques." Si Ming raised a hand, and a dusk-colored Battle Qi wavered in his palm. Its aura was dim yet scorching, and its quality was extraordinary. "I call it Night Battle Qi. I trained this power myself. But in most situations, I take the field as a summoning-type caster."
Song Tian gave the Battle Qi a long look. A pure aura interwoven with five colors suddenly appeared around him. It was as sharp as a blade, and in an instant, it all gathered into the great sword in Song Tian's hand.
That sword was sharp.
"The sword is Snow Drink, and the technique is the Great Five Elements Divine Art. I learned the Great Five Elements Divine Blade recorded in the manual. It's all I know."
Snow Drinker Blade came from the Wind and Cloud series. Even a cheap version would cost at least a B-rank price. And as for the Great Five Elements Divine Blade, which sounded intimidating just from the name...
--[Great Five Elements Divine Art—Originating from the 'Blade Shadow and Jade Maiden' setting, this is a secret technique of the Five Elements Sect. It allows one to condense Five Elements True Qi within the body. Once the cycle is complete, the true qi can flow endlessly. By reversing its flow, one can also manifest the principle of the Five Elements overcoming one another. Anything caught within the cycle of the Five Elements will be suppressed by the Five Elements True Qi.] --[Purchasing this enhancement requires one A-rank side-mission reward and 6,000 reward points. The buyer must also possess at least B-rank internal energy, or an equivalent 'qi'-type enhancement, as a prerequisite.]
So that was it. Something like the A-rank Primordial Unity Art. Its origin was obscure, but the fact that it was listed for purchase from the Main God meant it had power and potential to match its rank. Considering Song Tian had said he learned the matching Great Five Elements Divine Blade from a manual, he had probably first enhanced his internal energy to at most C-rank, then bought the manual. And from what Si Ming could sense, the total amount of true qi in Song Tian's body was already at least B+ rank.
"If we get the chance, we can find a time to spar." Si Ming nodded at Song Tian. "I have quite a variety of summons, so it won't be easy to force out my close-combat skills."
"Why wait? Let's do it now," Song Tian said gravely. He was clearly the sort who didn't feel awkward, either.
So the two of them turned to Jacob.
The young man from West Asia, clad in white robes, gave a melancholy sigh.
"If I just say no now, will I seem like a nuisance? Like I don't fit in?"
Song Tian didn't answer, perhaps taking that as a yes.
"I don't mind fighting or not fighting." Si Ming shrugged. He saw Yu Zhiwei, her head missing half its brow and blood still running from the wound, approach Valentina, who looked thoroughly resistant. It was hard to imagine the two women had been fighting to the death just minutes ago. But from the way things looked, they might even become friends after their clash.
Women were hard to understand.
He sighed.
"Anyway, the mood's already like this. I can't even enjoy a Macragge specialty like Coconut Heart Pastry. So let's fight. I'm fine with a free-for-all or taking on two at once."
He tossed the ball back to Jacob. He could tell that Mr. Jacob wasn't much better at socializing. The Celestial Team's founding members were all such difficult people. It was almost laughable.
So Jacob raised his hands in surrender.
"All right, all right. I'll join in." He lifted a hand, and the tears in his clothes were silently repaired, just like the wounds on Song Tian's arm. A powerful holy energy then welled up from within Jacob and gathered behind him into a warm glow, its shape vaguely resembling a great wheel.
"My bloodline enhancement started out as a Priest, then became a Profane Priest. And now, the power of the God of Justice, Tyr, resides within me."
The glow gradually filled his eyes, and the threat he posed in Si Ming's perception rose accordingly. The Divinity Particles within Si Ming, fused with his Necrotic Aura, trembled faintly. His power was greater in quality, but the other man had the advantage in quantity.
A natural enemy. The kind whose attributes were inherently opposed.
"You seem to possess a power that completely opposes Tyr's, yet is much purer than the lesser divine power I have. Mr. Si Ming, perhaps that's why Miss Yu Zhiwei couldn't see through your weaknesses. Still, even though the divine power within me is inferior in quality, this Holy Shroud enhances its effects. If you're not careful, you'll be in for a rough time."
So that was it.
A Profane Priest, Tyr, the Holy Shroud... No wonder Jacob couldn't stay with the Sandbar Team. This was well beyond heresy. It was practically the sort of thing that put him in the devil category.
But... that was fine.
Because with that, Si Ming had already achieved his original goal: getting a general idea of everyone's enhancements, personalities, and approximate combat strength to ensure they could get along in the future. And the Coconut Heart Pastry he had made as the first to step forward had been shoved into Yu Zhiwei's mouth after all her antics.
That was pretty good.
The Profaned Greatsword appeared in Si Ming's hand, and Song Tian gripped the Snow Drinker Blade. Pure, holy light began to spread in all directions from beneath Jacob's feet.
One second, two seconds.
Twenty enhanced skeleton soldiers appeared out of thin air around Si Ming. Before they could take any action, and before Jacob and Song Tian could respond, he clenched his fist first.
"Explode!"
Before you continue