Mira's expression changed when she noticed Nova charging up an attack she wasn't ready for. She hastily created a shield of ice, but it was already too late.
"Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"
A beam of fire shot out of Nova's spear into the ice shield in front of Mira, but it didn't stop there.
*Tssss*
The fire melted through the ice and smashed into Mira's body!
It burnt all the way through the outer layer of her skin before it stopped, leaving a coin-sized burn on her abdomen.
Fortunately, she has a strong body, or else that shot might have put a hole through her stomach!
'What? What happened?' Mira wondered.
She had no idea how Nova's attack was so powerful as it was clearly within the limits of a 5th Stage Core Formation Realm cultivator.
However, she didn't have time to ponder as Nova had already prepared another shot!
"Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"
A fire beam shot toward her at a speed that left her unable to dodge, so Mira created another ice shield, much bigger and denser.
*Tsssss*
Still, the fire burned through it like paper and still carried enough power to do significant damage to her body.
Thus, another coin-sized wound appeared on her body.
Mira grimaced, not at the pain, but because she didn't understand how her ice was so weak to Nova's flame. On the surface, it didn't look like anything special. She added no extra power to her attacks, and they were still well within the range of what a 5th Stage Core Formation Realm cultivator is capable of.
It was such an average attack that Mira was at a loss for words.
"Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"
"Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"
"Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"
"Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot!"
…
Nova kept using the same move over and over again, but Mira still didn't quite understand what was happening.
She tried coating her whole body in armor, along with an added shield on the outside, but that didn't work. Though, she was able to lessen the damage because of that. Still, she used too much Qi just to be able to stop a basic attack.
She could have dodged many of them, but she didn't see a point in doing so. Doing that could allow her to take less damage and stay in the fight longer, but it wouldn't solve the root of the problem.
That's also why she didn't use her tails, abilities, or techniques. What Nova was doing seemed very basic, and she felt it would be disingenuous to the battle if she tried to overpower her opponent's attack with brute force.
Plus, her taking the hits head-on, without changing her expression, would at least prove her extraordinary tenacity, courage, and pain resistance, if nothing else.
However, after taking 15 shots head-on, Mira understood a few things about the attack.
One, the sphere at the end of Nova's spear, was like a power conductor. It stored Qi that Nova could use whenever she wanted.
Two, the fire beam wasn't actually a beam of fire. It was actually a highly concentrated bolt, like a bullet with a sharp tip, that left a stream of fire in its wake.
Three, Nova uses the strength of her spear thrust to boost the penetrating power and speed of the projectile.
Four, the projectile explodes when it can't penetrate her skin, similar to a hollow-point bullet.
Five, Nova can shoot these projectiles in rapid succession and use up hardly any Qi.
Six, the only thing that could reliably stop the projectiles was her scythe.
Mira couldn't help but marvel at the ingenuity of this technique. It was simple, fast, powerful, efficient, and effective. Combined with the power of Nova's flames, it was near perfect!
If it weren't for Mira's strong body, she'd be littered with holes right now!
'So, how should I go about counteracting this attack? I could strengthen my ice shields, but I feel like the cost-to-efficiency ratio would make this approach not worth it.' Mira pondered.
Of course, one answer is just to tank the hits with her body since she's strong enough to resist them, but that isn't sustainable long-term, nor is it intelligent.
"Is that all you got? If so, I'd be severely disappointed," Nova's indifferent voice rang out, snapping Mira out of her thoughts.
"..." Mira didn't respond; truthfully, there wasn't much to say. She had many abilities, but none could compare to Nova's technique. She had her Paragon Wings, Elemental Missiles, and Atmospheric Slash (the closest thing to it), but the former used a shit load of Qi, the middle wasn't nearly as powerful as Nova's attack, and the latter wasn't complete.
'Well, I guess my Atmospheric Slash is similar, but looking at those flame beams, I feel it's incomplete.' Still, she decided to use it to see how Nova would handle it.
"This is a technique I just created a few months ago. It's incomplete, but it shouldn't fall too far behind your flaming spear shot," Mira said, readying her scythe.
However, her words shocked the crowd, including Nova and the Sect Master!
'What?! Did she just say she created her own technique? At such a young age?'
They couldn't help but grow skeptical; the same goes for Nova.
'Although my Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot is a technique specifically created for me, I wasn't the only one working on it. The Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot was based on another technique in the Sect's library, and along with the help of my Master, the Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot was born!' Nova shook her head, noticing Mira was about to attack.
Mira raised her scythe and swung, releasing a slash that cut through the air, using the surrounding Qi to empower it.
Everyone's eyes widened in awe at what Mira just did!
Nova was also impressed, but she didn't feel any danger. She pulled her hands to the middle of her spear, inserted Qi into it, and twirled.
"Sunfire Spear Sphere!"
A ball of fire surrounded her spear as she twirled it, and Mira's Atmospheric Slash fizzled out when the two collided.
Elder Irene, Nova's Master, facepalmed at the name once again, as she genuinely hated it, and she wasn't the only one.
Although her names made sense, they were too difficult to say!
Mira was surprised that Nova so easily canceled her attack, but she didn't let up. She twirled her scythe, and with every rotation, another Atmospheric Slash was released, but none could reach Nova as she kept her Sunfire Spear Sphere active.
"I must say, that attack is very impressive and would be enough to defeat me in terms of power, but it's too simple and blunt. It lacks versatility, and all those elements you have in there have dulled its edge. As you can see, this simple defense technique of mine can ruin it. If you can improve upon these points, this will be a wonderful attack you can use in the future, more than you could think," Nova sincerely advised, as her respect toward Mira went up a notch.
It's not easy to create a technique; she knew that. In fact, everyone in this room knew that. Thus, they had to give credit where credit was due. Mira created something that was outside their expectations.
However, that was it! Other than that, Nova could see that Mira lacked in many ways, and they hadn't even begun fighting like people in the Core Formation Realm and above generally fight: in the air.
'Though, her biggest flaw, from what I've seen, is just a lack of creativity and versatility. She didn't figure out a way to stop my Sunfire Sphere Spear Shot, and that slash is way too easy to predict.' Nova concluded, but she wasn't completely dissatisfied with this.
Considering Mira's background and age, the fact that she can compete with her like this, to begin with, is already amazing.
'But that's not enough. Eighty years ago, I would've happily conceded the position of Prime Disciple to her. She's like a blank slate right now, a very powerful blank slate. However, the time it will take to train her to a suitable level is too short.' Nova and many others thought.
Shaking her head, Nova stopped using the Sunfire Spear Sphere and shot a few more Sunfire Sphere Spear Shots, but this time, instead of making a shield or taking them head-on, Mira did something different.
She created a small ice bowl around the size of a palm with a spike in the middle made of her Yin Magma.
That way, when then the projectile hit, the Yin Magma spike would absorb some of the force and cause the projectile to blow up. Then, the ice bowl would catch the fragments, ensuring she wasn't hurt.
At least, that was the theory. But the Sunfire Sphere Spear Shots still ended up puncturing her as the durability of her Yin Magma spike wasn't high enough.
Nova raised an eyebrow at this, and her respect for Mira went up another notch, 'So, she accurately gauged where the shot was going to land and attempted to create a suitable defense to counter it. While it didn't work, I can see the potential… How interesting…'
