Can't Beat Her?

After Yun Ying was grabbed by the back of her collar by the girl, she was lifted completely off the ground, her feet kicking wildly in midair. The collar of her battle suit tightened around her neck, and her throat constricted, nearly suffocating her.

"Fuck—let go—"

She struggled and flung her hand out. She had only meant to feint a slap to scare the purple-eyed girl into releasing her, and she had not even used much force when she swung her wrist. But the other girl stood motionless, her black-purple high ponytail hanging over one shoulder. The fire in her violet eyes had not faded; it had deepened instead, like flames burning atop ice.

Slap!

Yun Ying's palm landed squarely across her left cheek.

The air fell silent for half a second.

Yun Ying landed and staggered back two steps, her heel striking a tree root. Xie Xie had rammed into her waist earlier, and it was throbbing again now. She bared her teeth and sucked in a breath. Damn it, now I've made an enemy.

The black-purple-haired girl tilted her head and brushed her cheekbone with a fingertip. A faint red handprint surfaced on her fair skin. She lowered her hand and looked down at Yun Ying with violet eyes. Coldness spread from her body, and the morning dew on the grass instantly froze into a thin layer of frost.

"...Finished?" Those violet eyes were deeper than night, quieter than night—so still it was as if moonlight had been tempered into a blade's edge. She held out her palm, elemental power flowing freely over it. Orange-red soul power rolled into a solid fireball, hovering inches before her fingers. The heatwave even swept the ends of Yun Ying's brown ponytail backward.

"Fireball?" Yun Ying widened her eyes. "Your martial soul uses elements?"

The girl did not answer. With a flick of her wrist, the fireball came screaming toward her.

Yun Ying cursed, "Playing with fire in front of me?" She hooked her heel, and the Flame-Reaver Spear rose from the corner by the wall with a hum. Its phantom crystal patterns lit up, orange and blue streams of light racing up the shaft and into the blade veins. Her fingers closed around empty air, and the moment the spear landed in her hand, the soreness in her lower back was suppressed by surging battle intent.

The Flame-Reaver Spear rose into motion.

She planted its tip against the ground and moved with the spear. The first strike, Cease War, began stacking: every hit on the same target increased the next strike's power by thirty percent, and two stacks became Citybreaker. Yesterday, she had bragged at the dinner table that her spear moved like a dragon. Today, it truly was a dragon.

The first thrust pierced the outer layer of the fireball with a muffled blast like thunder. The second slashed upward along the fire core, tearing open an orange-red rift. On the third strike, crystalline blue-purple light exploded from the spear tip and hit the fire core dead on—

BOOM!!!

The fireball was detonated by three consecutive thrusts, the shockwave no weaker than an attack from a Soul Emperor. A ring of turf was thrown into the air, and the tree trunk shook hard enough to scatter leaves like a rainstorm. Yun Ying withdrew her spear and retreated three steps through the smoke. Her brown ponytail was blown behind her by the blast as she opened her eyes and looked across—

The girl was still standing where she had been.

The orange-red embers from the explosion went out before they came within half a foot of her. Not a strand of her black-purple high ponytail was out of place, and not even ash had touched the shoulders of her training uniform. She raised a hand and brushed the handprint on her cheek, looking through the smoke at Yun Ying with violet eyes as though she were watching an insignificant patch of mist.

Yun Ying froze.

"Is she a ghost..." Her throat bobbed, sweat forming in the web between her thumb and forefinger as she gripped her spear. By all rights, her three Citybreaker strikes should have at least shattered a layer of soul power from someone much stronger than her. Even Three-Word Battle Armor should have been dented. But this girl—she was completely unharmed?

In that instant of distraction, the air gave a soft sound.

The girl was already in front of her.

It was not a sideways slide or a burst of speed. It was as if space had folded, and she had folded from three meters away to the tip of Yun Ying's spear. Her violet eyes lowered, and her voice was so calm it carried no fluctuation. "It's not good to lose focus during a fight."

Yun Ying's pupils contracted. She was already too late to bring her spear across to block—

A heavy, agonizing pain sank into her abdomen, as though a meteorite iron weight had smashed into her dantian. She doubled over with a grunt and flew backward off the ground, her back crashing into an open trash can nearby. Fortunately, there was no trash inside—only a few fallen leaves and half a flyer. She tumbled in along with her spear. The trash can toppled over with a clang and rolled twice before stopping.

Yun Ying lay draped over the edge of the trash can, her stomach churning. Her waist hurt, her abdomen hurt, and her brown ponytail stuck out of the opening like an upside-down broom.

Over by Xie Xie, that tuft of blond hair sticking up on his head practically stood straight on end. When he pulled his hands out of his pockets, even his fingertips were trembling—he was so scared he nearly pissed himself. The phrase had popped into his own head because he had never seen anyone take Yun Ying's three Citybreaker strikes like candy, then appear in front of her the next instant and stuff her into a trash can.

Tang Wulin was stunned as well, still half-crouched in his fighting stance. For the first time, a blank expression of What the hell is going on? appeared on his gentle face. He instinctively took half a step forward, then stopped—the girl's presence was so overwhelming that even he did not dare interfere lightly.

Yun Ying pushed herself out of the trash can. A red mark had formed on her forehead, and the orange trim of her battle suit was smeared with dust. She pointed at the girl, her voice hoarse. "You... who exactly are you?"

Xie Xie could not hold it in. His voice came out even before hers did. "Y-you... who exactly are you?" His blond hair trembled in the morning wind, its dawn-gold brown now looking like grass that had been struck by lightning.

The girl stood where she was, her black-purple high ponytail swaying faintly in the corner of the training ground as the smoke dissipated. She withdrew the hand that had struck Yun Ying's abdomen. Her violet eyes swept over Xie Xie, then Tang Wulin, before finally returning to Yun Ying's face. The handprint on her cheek was still faintly red.

She spoke, her voice still calm, as if reciting a word that required no explanation:

"Gu Yue."