?Before Wong hit the ground, a thin soft light enveloped his body. When he was supposed to be dead after the powerful impact, his HP shot back up instead. This took Long aback. Long then sensed someone coming at him fast.
Long flapped his wings again and he shot away just as a mace swung into the space where he had been earlier.
"Grace. Thank you," Domon told the person who had just saved Wong.
Wong stood back up without a word. Both Domon and he had their HP refilled. Grace used Generosity of Hope once she saw that Wong almost died when she arrived.
"Little girl, this is not the place for you to play," Long said to Grace.
Grace glanced at Murong who was still fighting the Celestial Lindworm. She had summoned her companion, Oswald when she arrived. Oswald was currently helping Murong fight the lindworm. With the two working together, they shouldn't be in any danger.
Grace came here because of Muilan. After spending some time together inside the Space-time Chamber, the two martial sisters had become rather close.?Muilan wore the Amulet of Rebirth so she didn't have to wait half an hour before reviving. After returning to life, she sent a message to Grace informing her about the situation. The battle at the wall wasn't pressing. They were winning, so she disengaged from there and flew over to see if Domon and the others needed help. It turned out they did.
Grace twirled her mace and said, "I will also be your opponent!"
"Hehe. Very well. If I kill you, perhaps it will piss your boyfriend enough to make him fight me seriously," Long said.
"From what I heard, you've already died in his hands once," Grace returned.
"Hmph! He was simply relying on his three classes."
"While you are relying on your two classes. Even if you win, it doesn't prove that you are a better martial artist than either Master Domon or Master Wong."
Long's face was slightly contorted. This was the first time his condescending face showed a different expression. "You are as maddening as your boyfriend. Very well then. Since you insist, I will gladly kill you!"
Long charged forward with the comet fist again. That skill was one with a short cooldown.
Grace activated Armor of Ego. She then executed the Mace of Selfishness. An image of a giant mace came slamming at Long from above. Long canceled his comet fist and swerved to the side. Eighteen eastern dragons appeared as he resumed his advance after dodging the mace.
Grace's mace split into two. She swung her twin maces using the Phantom Beating Sticks. Her legendary-grade weapon produced a shockwave with each swing. When her mace collided with Long's Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, she didn't lose.
Explosions of energy occurred around the two as they clashed. The shockwaves prevented the others from approaching.
Though their power appeared equal, Long was a better expert. One of his palms sneaked through an opening and landed on Grace.
*PANG!*
She was thrown back violently from the hit. Despite the look, she didn't lose much HP from the hit. Her legendary-grade armor enhanced by the Armor of Ego greatly mitigated the resulting damage.
Long grunted with dissatisfaction at the result. He knew from the exchange just now he wouldn't be able to defeat Grace as easily as he expected.
Domon and Wong came at his two opposite sides. Long used Twin Dragon Palms to receive the two's assault. Domon redirected the palm and struck back, while Wong forcefully caught the palm and counterattacked.
Grace spread her legendary-grade wings tool and sent herself whirling forward. She cast Chain Lightning while advancing. Being pinned by Domon and Wong from two sides, Long couldn't dodge the spell. He was still protected by chaos armor, though, so he wasn't paralyzed.
Grace arrived in an instant before Long and her two maces again struck with ferocity. When Long was fighting Domon, Wong, and Murong, he could still afford to take it easy. It was not so with Grace in the mix. Grace's damage power was high due to her legendary-grade weapon. The weapon also caused shockwaves that disrupted his balance. It was difficult for him to maintain his rhythm.
Domon adjusted his style to compliment Grace. While she provided the muscle, he covered her weakness and protected her when Long tried to counterattack. Wong, on the other hand, just brute force his way through.
With the three's coordination, Long ended up on the back foot. He continued to receive hits. If not for his chaos armor, he would have been defeated some time ago.
"Very good, you, insect!!" Long exclaimed. His body ignited with the Nine Yang Restoration. His HP recovered again. At the same time, he let their attacks hit his body while he took a stance. His joined palms burst into flames. He then made a wide swing using the Nine Yang Scorching Blade.
Long's execution of the ancient art was very fast. Out of the three, only Domon managed to counter with Power Strike but he lost in strength. Grace and Wong only had the time to parry. Grace parried using her mace while Wong used his arms reinforced by the iron hand technique. The three were thrown in three different directions from the impact.
Wong lost the most HP in the clash. If Long wanted to resume his intention of defeating Wong, now would be a good chance. But instead, Long dashed in Grace's direction.
"You, trash! Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you barge into this fight? You are nothing…!!!" Long shouted as he accumulated mana into his fist. Nine little suns were formed and they revolved around his arm.
Long considered Domon, Wong, and Murong as worthy adversaries. They were big names in the martial arts community. But who was Grace? She was a nobody. For her to fight him as if they were equal, hurt his pride. He intended to finish her quickly, just like that little girl he wasted earlier, so he could go back to play with the three old martial arts grandmasters here.
"Grace!" Domon called with worry. Grace's position was too far for him to reach.
Domon used Ki Wave. He was hoping it would dissuade Long from carrying out his attack, but Long just let the Ki Wave hit him without batting an eye. Long's chaos armor reduced much of the damage from the ki wave.
Grace didn't seem flustered, though. She stared at the incoming flaming fist. When the nine suns crashed into each other as they were heading toward her, she put her hand in their path. Long's flaming fist crashed into her opened palm. While Long's fist was flaring with intense fire, her palm was swirling with cold dark mist.
