Alex half-heartedly fought his challenger, using Sword Intent alone to fight him. His Sword Intent was just strong enough to match Saint Soul 7th Realm fighters, so it was enough in his eyes.
Most of his attention was focused on Shan Wangjiu who had resumed his fight.
His giant silver sword glowed with Sword Intent, now stronger than ever and matching his cultivation base of Saint Soul 2nd realm.
Fighting against a Saint Soul 5th realm cultivator though was not easy even with it.
The girl used a rather unorthodox weapon. Her two hands wore two massive metal claws, each of which had 4 golden blades coming out of them.
The girl swung her hand and golden slices flew through the air.
Wangjiu prepared his sword, slicing in an arc, sending a wind slash flying in the direction of the 4 golden slices.
The attack he used was the sword technique which was the first good sword technique Alex had learned. It was the Elusive Heavenly Sword technique, which consisted of 3 different Sword slashes.
One used regular Qi, the 2nd one used weaker Wood Qi which could only be used by someone with an Inferior Wood Spiritual Root, and finally one last slash that was the most powerful of all but required one to have a Superior Wood Spiritual Root.
Shan Wangjiu had that and two more superior roots.
The wind attack struck the incoming 4 slashes at once, destroying them all. Carrying his Sword Intent along with them, the attack was strong enough so that nothing followed through.
Shan Wangjiu activated his movement technique. A burst of energy sent him propelling forward for a short distance. He had control over which direction he moved toward, but little in terms of adjustments.
He brandished his sword high above him and slashed down as he arrived next to her.
The girl moved, dodging the incoming attack, but it had been close. The speed at which her opponent moved was not something she could react to in time if she had been careless.
'So fast,' she thought. It was fortunate he made no changes to the course he moved at or she would've been hit.
She swung her claws again, sending more slashes flying toward the young man.
Shan Wangjiu struck aside the slashes before moving toward the girl at a brisk speed. He once again propelled forward in a burst of energy, and this time the distance was too close for the girl to dodge.
She placed her two claws above her, stopping the incoming slash.
Metal rang as the sword hit the 8 blades and the girl grunted. 'So heavy,' she thought in surprise. It was rarely that she met someone using such a heavy sword, and not a single one of them had been this heavy.
Her feet moved, kicking toward the young man. She kicked him in the stomach, but at the same time, lightning shocked her as well.
Wangjiu flew back, crashing onto the ash-covered land, sending it flying everywhere. He felt a burning pain in his stomach where he could feel metal Qi dissipating slowly.
The attack the girl had made had been a random one, but it showed the disparity between the two of them. She was stronger than him easily, and he had to be careful.
The girl on the other hand was hurt much less, but it was still damaged. She was furious in thought that this damage had come for her from someone 3 realms lower than her.
But it felt as if he was 2 realms lower than her. When adding on his Sword Intent, it was as if he was only a realm lower than her.
'What is wrong with these two?' she wondered, her eyes glancing at Alex who was to the side, playing with his challenger. She had joined the group after being defeated by that same man, and now he was being played with.
'We should've never come here,' she thought.
Her distraction lasted not much longer as she saw a red sword slash fly toward her. Sword Slashes were dangerous, so she focused her attention on it, ready to strike it away.
She was a little late, but not enough that she couldn't protect herself. She used her gauntlet with claws again, using the technique carved within it to send out more blade slashes.
The Fire slash struck the golden claw slashes, but this time something was different. The clash resulted in an explosion that rattled the sky. The thunderous sound of the explosion caught her off guard and she even felt a bit of force from it attack her.
'What the hell was that?' she wondered, only for a moment before panic filled her. Through the explosion, through the smoke, Shan Wangjiu propelled himself forward, arriving in front of her.
Water Qi encircled his blade and he slashed, sending a torrent of water down on the girl. The girl protected herself, but it was a little late this time.
The water struck her, sending her flying away. She only managed to stop it a distance away.
Angry, small flowers blossomed around the girl. At first, there were 2, then 4, then 8. Soon there were 16 flowers, that became 32.
More emerged, becoming 64.
Shan Wangjiu wasn't sure what was going on, but he understood somehow that this was a very strong technique.
The flowers the woman made doubled to become 128. Each one was a bellflower, opening up like an upside-down golden bell around the woman. The petals split off from each of the flowers, becoming their own thing.
Then, the girl pointed at the young man and the petals followed her finger.
Hundreds of petals, made of Metal Qi rushed toward the young man like a swarm of insects. The young man stood in the air in panic and only managed to raise his sword in time before he was struck.
Golden color filled the black sky as the torrent of flowers crushed him from all sides. The girl sent the petals until none remained. She did not hold back at all.
If the young man was injured, he would be saved by the talisman. She was sure of that.
The golden light remained in the sky for a moment before dimming, but not all light dimmed. In the lack of the golden light, one light remained.
A green, mostly transparent light that covered the young man in a bubble around him. The young man held his sword in front of him, which too glowed green right now.
The green light of the sword faded and the bubble around him disappeared. The young man looked out from the barrier, breathing heavily. He was more scared than he was hurt.
"It worked!" he shouted softly, surprised even himself. He looked at the sword in glee. "It worked! You did it!"
The sword hummed in silent response.
After refining the sword, the young man had figured out the technique carved into the sword. It was a defensive technique that could be prepared in advance and then launched in battle without having to prepare it once again.
Ever since learning that, the young man had practiced it many times, but one thing had been in his mind all that time.
If he could prepare the technique beforehand, did he have to be the one to use it? The answer had made itself clear today.
He didn't.
The Sword Spirit could use the technique as well.
