"Miss Ming, was this why you lost last time? Have you found a way to deal with it this time?"
"No particular way. Just weather it."
"Hm?"
"His 'Spring Body' will take root on the Winter Sword Platform. Its Spirit Profound structure is extremely stable. At first, you're beneath the tree's shadow; later, you're enveloped by the tree. You can contend with your opponent for Spirit Profound, but you cannot contend with him for his own body," Ming Qitian said. "In the struggle over Spirit Profound, he stands undefeated."
"Then, what about swordsmanship?"
Ming Qitian nodded. "The sword is always an option. But even if you can overcome him countless times and inflict many seemingly fatal wounds, it amounts to no more than a little sap flowing from a great tree. Without abundant Spirit Profound, it's difficult to deliver truly effective damage."
Pei Ye stared. "Isn't that a dead knot, then... What about the Mindscape Realm? The Heart Sword?"
"I used it three years ago. It was 'Butterfly.' But Li Shenyi's Mindscape Realm is precisely the foundation that allows him to form the Great Chun," Ming Qitian said. "It is extremely stable and vast. He puts himself to sleep within the Great Chun. Whether the butterfly or the self is real or illusory, to him it is merely a brief rest amid long ages. That didn't work either, so I lost that match."
"Then... how will you win tomorrow, Miss Ming?"
"I'll still contend with him for Spirit Profound."
"But didn't you say you couldn't win that struggle?"
"Yes. But I can sever branches and break leaves. Those will all become my Gushe true qi. By slowly accumulating it that way... as long as I obtain roughly a tenth before he defeats me, that will be enough. With just a