The retreating figures slowly came to a halt. The forms of Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran finally appeared clearly within everyone's view. Watching their appearance, no one present showed the slightest hint of surprise.
At this moment, Xiao Yan was already panting for breath. His body was covered in crisscrossing sword marks, and beneath the deep wounds, crimson blood could be faintly seen. Clearly, he had not gained the slightest advantage in the previous frenzied close-quarters battle.
Nalan Yanran, however, remained relaxed and comfortable; only her originally neat moon-white dress had become slightly disheveled due to the battle.
A gentle breeze blew across the plaza, causing their robes to sway with the wind and their dark hair to flutter.
Xiao Yan had always been extremely proud of his close-combat ability. In his view, he had experienced true sweat and hardship—having even been pursued and penetrated by apes while suffering from diarrhea—which was far beyond the pampered and cautious Cultivate methods of Nalan Yanran. Therefore, when facing Nalan Yanran, he had always had the confidence to fight above his Rank.
However, Nalan Yanran was far stronger than he had imagined. The close-quarters battle had been turned into a war of attrition by Nalan Yanran, who utilized the speed characteristics of her wind-attribute Dou Qi. This was the last thing Xiao Yan wanted to see.
Because he lacked the Green Lotus Core Flame and the accompanying purple crystal source, even after the Fusion of dozens or hundreds of Beast Fire, the Rank of his Flame Mantra had only barely managed to improve to the Profound Rank low level, which was far inferior to the original work.
This led to a significant decrease in the thickness and endurance of Xiao Yan's Dou Qi. After a great battle with Nalan Yanran, his Dou Qi consumption was severe, and while maintaining a fierce offensive, he gradually began to lack staying power.
Conversely, Nalan Yanran not only had a higher Dou Qi cultivation level than Xiao Yan, but her Cultivation Technique also reached the Earth Rank low level, so her thickness and endurance were naturally beyond question.
With one declining and the other growing, Xiao Yan found himself in an increasingly difficult position in the contest with Nalan Yanran.
Xiao Yan looked at Nalan Yanran opposite him with slightly complex dark eyes. Compared to his disheveled and astonished state, Nalan Yanran was much more composed. Her beautiful cheeks still held a calm expression. The oncoming breeze blew her three thousand strands of dark hair, which reached her delicate hips, causing them to flutter slowly. As the hem of her skirt fluttered, it faintly revealed the perfect silhouette of the young girl. Set against the mist of Yun Lan Mountain, it added three parts of beauty to the girl dressed in light white robes.
However, Xiao Yan had no heart to appreciate this, because this beautiful woman was the one who had trampled on his dignity and brought him shame.
Xiao Yan closed his eyes, and an infinite aura of ferocity instantly surged within his heart. At this moment, he felt as if he had returned to the humiliating moment from three years ago. His hand gripping the handle of the ruler increased its force, and under that great strength, the joints of his fingers even turned slightly white.
"Nalan Yanran, for what comes next, let us decide the victor!"
His dark, angry eyes suddenly snapped open. Gray-white flames shot out from his pupils. The majestic aura radiating from Xiao Yan's body suddenly soared, abruptly reaching the level of a seven-star Great Dou Master from a three-star Great Dou Master.
Both hands gripped the xuan heavy ruler. Gray-white flames swirled up around it. A thunderous roar echoed in Xiao Yan's heart. He swung the xuan heavy ruler, unleashing a scorching ruler-glow with the force of an overturning sea, striking heavily toward Nalan Yanran in front of him.
"Heavenly Flame Three Mysterious Transformations, First Layer: Beast Fire Transformation."
The oncoming ruler-glow caused a trace of emotion to flash across Nalan Yanran's calm, pretty face. After a brief moment of emotion, it was replaced by boredom.
A seven-star Great Dou Master; his strength had soared by four stars in a short time.
If this was Xiao Yan's true strength, then it was all too boring.
"A secret technique to increase strength?" Whispering, Nalan Yanran changed her previous style of meeting moves and dismantling them. Her beautiful red lips slightly curled into a lovely, mocking arc. The green light on the long sword in her hand surged, and she swung out a sword-glow that was not inferior to Xiao Yan's.
The sword-glow and ruler-glow intersected, held for a moment, and then exploded in the Void Realm, causing the water molecules in the air to evaporate and kicking up a sky full of water mist.
Xiao Yan's gaze was stunned. He had not expected that even after using the Heavenly Flame Three Mysterious Transformations, he still could not do anything to Nalan Yanran.
Just at this moment, a long sword flickering with a dim light thrust out from the water mist, and Xiao Yan subconsciously lowered his head, narrowly dodging it. At the same time, he clenched his right fist, the veins on his arm bulging, and carrying a powerful, air-breaking force, he fiercely smashed it toward the owner of the blade, launching a counterattack at the first opportunity.
"Eight Extremities Collapse!"
The powerful, air-breaking force blew away the water mist, revealing Nalan Yanran's stunningly beautiful figure.
Facing Xiao Yan's counterattack, Nalan Yanran still easily dodged it by relying on her own speed, but in passing, she slightly shifted her long sword downward.
Two figures, one gray-white and one light cyan, crossed each other. A bundle of black ponytail, resembling straw, was tossed into the high air. Under the blowing of the clear breeze, it slowly landed, falling between the two.
"Pfft. Hahaha."
Seeing this scene, the corners of everyone's mouths present first twitched, and then they burst into roars of laughter. Even Yun Yun, who was usually unsmiling in front of outsiders, couldn't help but slightly raise the corners of her mouth.
The one who laughed the loudest was Chen, the head of the Mu Family in the Imperial Capital. While patting Nalan Jie on the shoulder, he laughed out loud, "Hahaha. What kind of battle is this? I say, old friend, your granddaughter is too mischievous. When fighting, just fight properly; how can you cut someone's hair? But come to think of it, I'm afraid that in this world, only young friend Xiao Yan is suitable for this strange hairstyle."
Hearing this, Nalan Jie's face twitched. Although he also wanted to laugh, he still had to show guilt toward his old friend's grandson in front of outsiders, so he could not laugh.
Nalan Yanran flicked the long sword in her hand, turned around, and looked at Xiao Yan with some distress, unable to help but laugh, "Oops, sorry, I accidentally didn't control my strength well and cut the wrong place. But this handsome hairstyle is quite suitable for you. It's much better than that messy ponytail of yours."
The oncoming breeze blew, and at this moment, Xiao Yan only felt his head was cool. He turned around, looked at the black ponytail scattered on the ground, and then touched his smooth, bare head, which reflected a dazzling white light under the sunlight.
His hair had been cut by Nalan Yanran's sword into a landing strip.
Listening to the mocking laughter rising and falling all around, Xiao Yan's already stiff face turned green and then flushed to the color of liver, his handsome image that he was most satisfied with after his Rebirth had been destroyed.
The strange atmosphere lasted for a while before the laughter finally ended. Xiao Yan tore off a corner of his black robe and wrapped his bald head with it. Then, the Dou Qi in his body, like boiling water, poured desperately into the xuan heavy ruler. As his Dou Qi surged, the pitch-black ruler body suddenly turned fiery red. The strange special patterns on the ruler's surface began to emit fiery red light, and the energy between heaven and earth began to stir, faintly resonating with the black ruler that had become as fiery red as the setting sun.
"Flame Splitting Tsunami Ruler!"
(End of Chapter)
[Get +50 Extra Chapters on - P@tr3on "RinBlaze"]
[Every 15 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]