The armoured maiden was confused as to why Ming Suwen was confused. Her frigid internal energy could potentially seal meridians upon contact, so Ming Suwen, who didn’t specialise in pure yang disciplines and paled in comparison when it came to internal energy potency, was at a serious disadvantage. If Ming Suwen was to have a chance, a direct confrontation was the worst strategy.
Demon Realm’s Battle God had an impressive win streak under her belt, but it was no walk in the park to dismantle Ming Suwen’s strikes without countering. The feeling was mutual. Even though Ming Suwen witnessed the armoured maiden defeat Mount Daluo’s disciples upon contact, Ming Suwen didn’t expect so much of a challenge.
“Your style is bizarre. You lack any concept of technique.” Ming Suwen showed no signs of concern; if somebody wasn’t informed, they think the two were just having a friendly sparring match.
Ming Suwen’s opponent defused all of her attacks with her bare hands, but she never countered once in Ming Suwen’s seventy-six executed moves. When Ming Suwen punched, the armoured maiden blocked with a punch. When Ming Suwen palmed, the armoured maiden denied the former with her palm. Every movement was spontaneous. Had it not been for the risk of drawing a nearby Divine Realm adept’s attention to their location, the armoured maiden could’ve squashed Ming Suwen using Enlightenment without needing to go through so many exchanges.
“You… used Moon Weaver Palms to mitigate my force, didn’t you?”
A smile bloomed on Ming Suwen’s lips. “I like the discipline. It’s non-lethal, and the name sounds nice. You want to know the story behind the discipline?”
“… I don’t like martial arts.”
“But you have to learn.”
The armoured maiden studied Ming Suwen with her eyes in detail for the first time – as if she was re-evaluating her perception of Ming Suwen. “Moon Weaver Palms is one of Mount Daluo’s advanced disciplines. In saying that, unless it’s Empty Palms that the youth in white used, there’s no way to neutralise my force.”
She chose Lian Zhuiyue as her first opponent and almost used her full power right from the get-go, saving 20% of her remaining power for the others, yet she failed to take Lian Zhuiyue down because he countered using Empty Palms.
Ming Suwen could supposedly see her opponent wondering how she was so adept at Moon Weaver Palms despite her age. “Don’t think too hard. For instance…” Ming Suwen’s voice doubled up as another spitting image of herself emerged from thin air.
“… Shadow Clone.”
Given Shadow Clone’s difficulty among even qinggong specialist, rarely did anyone ever see the skill in the flesh.
“I almost always hear people claiming the limit of Shadow Clone is halving yourself, but is it really true?” The two Ming Suwens smiled and rhetorically spoke in unison, and every word that came out of her mouth would spawn more clones.
Regardless of how she looked, the armoured maiden couldn’t identify the real Ming Suwen from the twenty-six of them.
“Techniques are a reflection of character. My choice of techniques matches my character. You’re no exception,” Ming Suwen asserted.
“You… and I are alike?”
“Not too different, I reckon.”
The armoured maiden mused for a while, then loosened her fists. “It’s my loss.”
Lian Zhuiyue couldn’t make any sense of the situation. Clearly, Ming Suwen was on course to losing.
“My nephew looks dissatisfied. Mind enlightening him?”
“You’re more skilled than I predicted. I can’t hurt you in twenty-four exchanges.”
“Defeating twenty-six people in twenty-four exchanges certainly is difficult.”
Ming Suwen’s opponent picked up a tree branch. “Not necessarily.” She created a trail of frames in the air from a whip, erasing several of Ming Suwen’s clones. “It’s not that I can’t beat you but that I can’t kill you.”
Despite feeling the heat of burning trees behind her, Ming Suwen didn’t bat an eye. “Doesn’t seem like you have any method of dismantling the formation. I’d rather die than leave. In a little while, he’ll be here. You sure you can win?”
The armoured maiden used her preferred answer once again – silence.
“Hehe, since I can’t beat you, and you won’t kill me, how about we end this skirmish here? Try again when you have a new strategy?”
“… Seems to be my only option.”
Whatever strategy she came back with, the maiden needed to bear in mind that Ming Suwen had been selling bluffs all her life.
“By the way, seeing as you surrendered, I have a question for you.”
The maiden stopped in her tracks, but she didn’t turn back.
“Are you Xue?”
The maiden turned around, unable to follow, while Ming Suwen was uncharacteristically serious.
“… Forget it. Pretend I never asked. You can’t be her; your age, appearance and fighting style don’t match. If you were her, I’d be able to tell at first glance.”
“You’re… searching for one of us.”
“Not me, but my… my man is looking for her.”
The maiden in armour repeated the name in her mind several times, then shook her head. “I don’t recognise anyone by that name.”
As the maiden flew off, Ming Suwen cupped her mouth. “Hey, what’s your name? We can get to know each other, can’t we?”
“… I have no name. People just call me Shadow Lady.”
***
“Hurry! Hurry, imbecile! Did he not feed you or something?!” Gewu wouldn’t stop badgering the white python even though he could see trees collapsing as they passed by.
Gewu’s pursuer decided the distance was perfect, so he accelerated straight past and violently parked on the white python’s head, fixing its head to the ground in addition to gusting up a sandstorm.
Flashing a corner of his white pearls, Gewu’s pursuer glued the white python’s head to the ground with one hand. “Where you off to, bug?”
