"Whew."
Nangong Yue stood where she was and let out a breath of turbid air.
Most of her white robe had already been torn to shreds. The bloody hole in her right shoulder was still gushing blood, and her left arm hung at an unnatural angle.
That Wuji Seal had nearly drained all her strength. The bones in her left arm had borne an unimaginable backlash the instant she unleashed it, shattering in multiple places.
Her face was so pale it was almost translucent, blood dripping nonstop from the corner of her mouth. Every breath she took carried a faint tremor.
But she was standing.
Those eyes were still fixed on Crimson Refinement in the distance, calm as ever.
"You lost."
Her voice was very soft, so soft the cultivators beyond the Arena could barely hear it.
But Crimson Refinement heard.
She lifted her head. The mad light in the one eye she had exposed was slowly going out, replaced by a complicated, indescribable calm.
"...Wuji."
Crimson Refinement coughed blood, yet the corner of her mouth tugged into a smile.
"So the end of taiji is wuji. You were hiding one more hand."
"This move is very strong."
Nangong Yue did not answer.
She slowly raised her right hand, the one she could still move, and a faint glow gathered in her palm once more.
That glow was as tiny as a bean, yet it pointed precisely at the center of Crimson Refinement's brow.
Crimson Refinement looked at that speck of light and suddenly smiled.
She smiled with complete openness, like someone who had been insane all her life had finally found some clear-headed release before death.
"Come on."
"Kill me, and you win."
"Kill me, and you can avenge the three people who died earlier."
"When that happens, you'll