Swift as a Startled Swan

"Thirty-fourth level agility-attack type, Martial Soul: Gale Falcon." Wind Shadow spoke in a low, hoarse voice. "Please enlighten me."

Zhou Qiubai unslung the White Clothes Sword. The blade hung lightly at his side. He did not release his Soul Rings, merely giving a slight nod. "Twenty-third level. Sword."

Less than a month, and he had risen two levels, even while compressing his Soul Power.

A murmur rose from the stands.

"He still isn't releasing his Soul Rings?"

"Isn't he being too arrogant?"

"Maybe he's afraid of embarrassing himself. His Soul Rings might be too low-level..."

The referee glanced at Zhou Qiubai without asking further questions, then raised his right hand. "Match, begin!"

The instant his words fell, Wind Shadow shot forward like an arrow.

He did not charge in a straight line. Instead, he vanished in an instant, his cyan figure leaving an afterimage across the arena. In the blink of an eye, he appeared three zhang to Zhou Qiubai's left. He was so fast that ordinary eyes could barely catch him.

He was a little faster than Zhou Qiubai had expected.

Only a little.

Beyond the wind and breathing, there was also that nearly imperceptible whistle of something cutting through the air.

The instant the wind blade stabbed out...

He turned, shifted his footing, and drew his sword.

Clang!

The sword tip struck the side of the wind blade with perfect precision, knocking the thrust aside.

A blade formed from elemental energy had been knocked away by a physical attack?

This was an expert.

A flicker of surprise passed through Wind Shadow's eyes, but he did not stop. The cyan wings behind his back beat once, and he vanished again. The next moment, he appeared on Zhou Qiubai's right, his wind blade sweeping across once more.

Zhou Qiubai curled his blade back, winding it around the wind blade like a nimble serpent.

Wind Shadow sped up again. The wind blade withdrew the instant it touched the sword, changing moves in the next instant.

His cyan figure flickered in and out across the arena. Every appearance came with a fierce stab, slash, or chop.

His attacks came in an unending torrent, like a violent storm.

Cries of alarm rang out from the stands.

"Too fast! I can't see anything at all!"

"That kid blocked all of that?"

"His soul skill is truly strange. It's like he can predict every attack..."

Zhou Qiubai was indeed predicting him.

He could catch the wind stirred up by Wind Shadow's movements, the rhythm of his breathing, even the faint sounds of his muscles exerting force.

So when Wind Shadow launched another frontal assault, Zhou Qiubai's footwork abruptly changed.

He no longer moved defensively. Instead, he cut in aggressively.

He charged straight at Wind Shadow, his figure drifting like flowing clouds. Every step landed in the gaps between Wind Shadow's attacks.

The distance between them rapidly closed.

A ruthless gleam flashed through Wind Shadow's eyes as his first Soul Ring lit up.

"First Soul Skill, Gale Thrust!"

A cyan vortex gathered at the tip of the wind blade, increasing the speed of the thrust by thirty percent.

The strike was as fast as lightning, aimed straight for Zhou Qiubai's throat.

But this was precisely the moment Zhou Qiubai had been waiting for.

As the wind blade neared his throat, he leaned backward, narrowly letting its tip pass.

At the same time, the White Clothes Sword struck upward like a venomous snake shooting out its tongue, its tip aimed directly at Wind Shadow's wrist.

Wind Shadow tried to pull back, but it was already too late.

The sword tip struck his wrist bone with unerring accuracy, and a sharp pain shot through him.

He gave a muffled grunt.

Using the recoil, Zhou Qiubai drifted three zhang backward and swiftly opened the distance.

The first exchange ended in a draw.

Thunderous applause erupted from the stands.

There was no helping it.

This was one of the conditions.

It was an exhibition match. The fight had to be exciting, and the spectacle had to be impressive.

Otherwise, it should have ended just now.

Wind Shadow rubbed his wrist, his expression growing ever more solemn.

He had thought it was all exaggeration. He had not expected this kid's battle instincts to be so terrifyingly sharp.

"Interesting." He spoke softly as his second Soul Ring lit up beneath his feet. "Second Soul Skill, Wind Wings!"

The phantom of cyan wings behind his back solidified, their span growing another half zhang.

With a beat of his wings, he rose three chi off the ground and hovered in midair.

The ability to fly.

The stands erupted in uproar.

"He can fly? How is anyone supposed to fight that?"

"Isn't that unfair?"

"The Soul Fighting Arena never banned flying..."

Zhou Qiubai glanced at him.

He had wasted a soul skill.

Wasn't flight an instinct for a flying-type Soul Master?

Still, with the other man holding the advantage in the air, his attack angles became far more varied, while Zhou Qiubai found it difficult to counterattack.

But Wind Shadow gave him no time to think. His wings beat again, and he dived.

The wind blade let out a shrill howl as it stabbed straight at the crown of Zhou Qiubai's head.

Zhou Qiubai dodged to the side.

Yet Wind Shadow turned sharply in midair and pursued him again, faster than before and even fiercer in his assault.

The wind blade turned into cyan light filling the sky, pouring down like a rainstorm.

Zhou Qiubai's figure drifted unpredictably across the arena, while the White Clothes Sword became a curtain of jade-white light, knocking aside each incoming attack.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The dense collisions came in a tight rhythm, leaving everyone breathless.

The stands fell silent, and everyone held their breath.

The battle's pace was too fast, too intense.

One side swept forward like a raging gale, while the other stood firm like an immovable boulder.

Every exchange happened in a flash. One careless mistake meant defeat or death.

After thirty exchanges, Zhou Qiubai's expression remained unchanged.

But defending endlessly was not a solution.

He had to win, and he had to make it exciting.

His gaze sharpened. When Wind Shadow dived at him once more, he stopped dodging and met him head-on.

The distance between them rapidly closed.

Wind Shadow thrust his wind blade forward, while Zhou Qiubai slashed sideways with the White Clothes Sword.

Just as they were about to collide...

The White Clothes Sword's slashing path suddenly bent at an unnatural angle in midair. The blade curved around the wind blade like a nimble serpent, striking straight for Wind Shadow's right hand.

Wind Shadow was startled. It was already too late to change moves.

He could only abandon offense for defense, pulling his wind blade back to block.

But...

That strike had been a feint.

Just as the sword blade was about to crash into the wind blade, it suddenly softened and wrapped around Wind Shadow's wrist like a ribbon.

Wind Shadow tried to pull his hand away, but the blade wrapped around it too quickly, binding it tight in an instant. Zhou Qiubai flicked his wrist, and a supple force burst forth!

Wind Shadow felt an eerie force travel from his wrist. His entire arm went numb in an instant, and the wind blade dispersed.

Cries of alarm erupted from the stands.

Wind Shadow's face turned pale, but he reacted swiftly.

The wings on his back beat fiercely as he tried to pull away.

But he had no chance.

The instant the wind blade dispersed, Zhou Qiubai closed in. The White Clothes Sword followed him like a shadow, its tip aimed directly at Wind Shadow's throat.

Wind Shadow's third Soul Ring abruptly lit up beneath his feet.

"Third Soul Skill, Wild Wind Dance!"

Centered on him, a violent cyan vortex exploded outward.

Wind blades sliced indiscriminately through everything around them.

This was an area attack. There was nowhere to evade.

The referee was already preparing to intervene.

But the White Clothes Sword in Zhou Qiubai's hand suddenly began to tremble at a strange frequency.

The air around the blade began to distort. When the incoming wind blades entered within three chi of the sword, it was as though they had struck a resilient wall. Their trajectories shifted, and their power greatly diminished.

The incoming energy was swept aside.

Wind Shadow's pupils contracted sharply.

What kind of soul skill was this?

It could actually withstand his thousand-year soul skill head-on?

And in the instant his mind was shaken, the White Clothes Sword turned into a streak of jade-white light and stabbed straight at Wind Shadow's chest.

Swift as a startled swan.

Wind Shadow tried to dodge, but his body was still stiff from unleashing his soul skill. He had no time to react.

The sword tip stopped three cun before his chest.

It stopped.

Zhou Qiubai did not thrust it in.