Fang Yimu sent out a single sword slash, not meant to do anything but just pry and see how strong Alex was.
Alex didn't do anything until the slash came right next to him and destroyed it when it was right on top of it. It was weak enough that he didn't have to worry about its strength even without using much of his already constrained strength.
"Not bad," Fang Yimu said, sending a slightly stronger sword slash this time, one that contained her Sword Qi as well.
Alex's sword was covered with a white outline this time before he destroyed the attack. 'Saint Soul 4th realm,' Alex said with a bit of a surprise. She had managed to improve her sword by 2 realms since the last time, making it become just as strong as her cultivation base.
'Together she might just have a Saint Soul 5th realm equivalent attack,' he thought.
She was equally surprised to see Alex defeat it so easily and got a little more serious this time around. She moved, her swift movement technique taking her closer to Alex while he was unprepared.
When she was close enough, she sent a sword slash that was as strong as she could make without using any technique. The close proximity and the suddenness of the attack was certainly going to cause Alex some problem.
Or so she thought.
Alex's sword went from having just white outlines to entirely being covered with white light before he swung it at the incoming attack, destroying it so easily that nothing remained in the air.
The girl moved back, shock clear in her eyes. "Your Majesty," she said meekly, not knowing what else to say. "How did you…"
"Practice," Alex said, almost hearing her inner thoughts about what she wanted to ask about.
The girl couldn't believe it at first and thought Alex was joking somehow, but then she remembered the reports of him being able to fight people high above his level.
"You're stronger now, Your Majesty," the girl said. "It seems you're no longer as weak as you appear to be."
Alex gave her a grin. "I never was."
He sent out the attack this time, a single sword slash that contained just Sword Qi. But the strength it contained was around Saint Soul 5th realm.
He had held back a little.
The girl panicked, dodging to the side. The slash vanished into the distance.
Alex looked in the direction it went. 'If only I could make them hone in on the target somehow,' he thought. He would have to work hard if he wanted to make that happen.
He noticed the girl sending out a technique while he was barely distracted. 10 different illusory swords formed in front of her, each an image of the girl's green sword.
He remembered her forming this the last time they fought as well. The stabbing motion required to form these swords was quite unique among the various battles he fought.
The 10 swords flew toward him at once, each holding a strength of Saint Soul 5th realm. That was of no real threat to Alex at all.
He swung his sword, sending out a large Sword Qi slash that devoured all 10 flying swords and continued toward the girl on top of that.
The girl hadn't expected that and had to fight off the attack before it landed on her. She was panting slightly, half out of surprise, half out of fear.
"Were you…" she asked slowly. "Were you this strong the last time we fought as well?"
"With just the sword? No," Alex shook his head. "I hadn't held back anything when we fought that time."
"Then… it really is all progress," the girl said. "Dear god… how is that possible? That's… over 5 realms in just a little more than a year, isn't it?"
"You forget I was training all day and night," Alex said softly. "For 6 whole months, I only got about 50 days free in total without battle after battle."
The surrounding watched made some murmurs as they talked amongst themselves, but none spoke anything aloud. They were getting curious as to how strong Alex was now.
Fang Yimu thought for a bit and nodded. "You're very strong then, Your Majesty," the girl said. "It seems I have to get serious as well."
Suddenly her sword glowed bright red as she poured Fire Qi into it and swung toward Alex.
Alex thought he saw a small image of a sun form behind her when she attacked. He couldn't be sure if it was there or if it was an illusion. The attack wasn't one, so he focused on it for the moment.
He got ready to receive the attack when he suddenly felt something try and bore into his mind. A wave of slight nausea hit him as he realized that the girl was using some sort of Spiritual technique against him.
Her spiritual sense was focused on him as much as the sword was. Still, it wasn't strong enough to stop him from doing what he must.
Alex swung his sword, destroying the incoming flaming slash as his own sword slash flew toward the girl.
Fang Yimu prepared to handle his attack when she suddenly felt a reversal in power as Alex sent out a Heaven's Impact targeting directly at her. He had a stronger attack, but it was reserved for multiple people, instead of just one.
The girl felt the attack coming, and even as it did, she did something. Heaven's Impact landed on her, but it was blocked by something. She suffered some damage to her spiritual sea, but not enough to faint.
She only managed to get a hang of herself when the sword slash appeared in front of her. She blocked it, barely in time before it hit her.
However, in her panic and desperation, she hadn't noticed that Alex had already sent another attack.
This she could not dodge, and in the end was shot down from the sky, losing the duel.
