Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Rather than go on the offensive like before, Ling Cai Yun walked forward slowly. Her shield was raised up high.

Without her armor, it would be much easier to take her out but her calmness was a bit unnerving to Ming Yue.

"You may have broken my Revolving Fist Technique but I still have other cards, that I can use", she said.

Ming Yue could feel Cai Yun's energy rising, with each step her energy grew. However, she would not let it happen so easily. Running forward, she formed numerous small needles of wind, sending them off. They shot forward before bending, avoiding the shield and heading straight for Cai Yun's body.

She was not troubled by this move, bringing her fist up, she parried each one, sending them to the ground. She then used the energy from the attacks to punch forward, sending off a blast of power at Ming Yue. But Cai Yun did not stop there, the energy that welled up inside of her suddenly burst forth. Her whole body encased in power. Then it concentrated towards her right foot, with one step she launched forward like a spring.

It was a casual step, ordinary, something anyone could do.

But it took not even a second for her to reach Ming Yue in that step, a distance of thirty feet. In that span of time, the energy moved towards her shield arm, which she thrust forth. The giant shield moved forward with an immense amount of momentum.

Ming Yue had no choice but to take the hit, blocking the initial impact with her sword before leaping away.

Her arm had gone numb from that frightening power. But Cai Yun was not done, the same ball of energy went back to her feet again and she sprung away.

"That other technique was something I had devised not too long ago. Some I combined with the fist techniques that I learned here. But this one is different. I call it the "Erupting Body Technique", where I condense my force into one entity and have it launch towards which ever part of the body I wish it to go. This one is not as destructive as the other, but I can guarantee that you will have a much harder time dealing with it."

This was true. The pace at which the energy moved was much faster, requiring a precise strike no slower than the blink of an eye to break it. It bounced around her body with speed and without much effort. Without the armor, Cai Yun moved at a much faster speed.

With the power in her feet, she circled around Ming Yue, kicking up dust. Her body was already quick enough to form afterimages.

But this match was already over, in terms of speed, Ming Yue was still faster. She kept up with Cai Yun, exchanging numerous moves with each other.

Small cracks began forming on the platform, the impact of Cai Yun's steps were strong and explosive. But the softness of her energy was anything but brutal, its destructive power was controlled, moving like water in a river, flowing through her body.

Cai Yun's fist flickered about, giving Ming Yue little space to move freely. It was a flurry of blows, each one seemed ordinary but the strength they contained was strong enough to knock out Ming Yue.

At the center of the arena, their weapons clashed again. Sword against shield, Cai Yun punched again, targeting Ming Yue's chest.

Ming Yue dodged the punch, leaning to the right where her shield arm was.

The energy from Cai Yun's fist left, instead rushing towards her shield arm. The switch was quick and suddenly it was her shield that was thrust forth.

Ming Yue had expected the strike, this time, she made an upward slash causing a powerful gust of wind to come from the ground and erupt into the sky. The attack had lifted the shield, taking Cai Yun by surprise. Without thinking, she pulled the shield down to which Ming Yue responded by jumping up and slamming her sword onto the shield. The sword, encased with wind, fell upon the shield like a boulder.

The shield dropped to the ground and found itself wedged into the cracks.

Before Cai Yun could pull it out, Ming Yue already had her sword on Cai Yun's neck.

This was Ming Yue's victory!

The disciples who glued their eyes to the fight found themselves to be astonished. One of the best fighters of the outer disciples, set to become a core disciple in several months had lost to an outsider.

What they did not know was that it would've been her loss even if they fought any longer.

The reason being was her endurance. Breaking Revolving Fist Technique had caused a fair amount of damage to Cai Yun's body. Even if she grows stronger as the fight continued, her body would not have been able to hold out for much longer. If the fight was drawn out, she would have lost due to exhaustion.

Ling Cai Yun was not very surprised, knowing her body she could only keep up for another teno or so minutes. Afterwards, her mind would be too fatigued to maintain the state of the "Erupting Body".

"It is my lost", she said, smiling a little. She let go of her shield and stood up.

Moving towards Ming Yue's ear, she whispered, "Be careful of Kuang Li."

After giving her a warning, Cai Yun took her shield out from the ground and left the arena.

One of the judges flew to the ground announcing Ming Yue's victory and calling for a short break to give her some rest.

The next three duels had given Ming Yue all sorts of ideas. The way softness was perceived by her opponents was enlightening. Cai Yun's concept of pliancy had made it possible for her to fight with explosive power but with the gentleness of her energy.

Her next duel was with an assassin.

This was a rather quick fight that ended in Ming Yue's victory. The silent steps of the assassin was certainly imperceptible. Her main weapons was a set of 36 knives which she used to throw. Other than those daggers, she used numerous hidden weapons that proved to be quite a headache. Ultimately, Ming Yue's experience in actual combat was what decided the result, having assassinated people before.

It was quite an annoying fight as those weapons were well aimed, she was constantly peppered with needles and darts. Ming Yue had few chances to attack. She ended the fight with a small tornado that threw the assassin off balance. She pinned her to the ground, ending the fight,

The third was a musician who used a flute.

The music she made was beautiful. Sadness, happiness, She created these wonderful songs that symbolized the many emotions of people. Her Dao of Music influenced the mind greatly, forming illusions and thoughts that were not Ming Yue's.

This fight was a loss for Ming Yue. She found herself unable to break out of them. They were carefully formed and interwoven like a large web. After breaking one, she found herself within another. From the facade of a happy life to one of riches, it felt like an unending chain.

The fourth was a sword user.

This one was a bit arrogant. Constantly attempting to provoke Ming Yue with insults and gloating, her sword skills were quite good. Many of Ming Yue's strikes were quickly dealt with, parrying and countering. Fighting blow for blow, this was quite a drawn out fight.

She moved swiftly and gracefully like a dancer but ultimately lost to Ming Yue. She did not have as much stamina as Ming Yue and could barely deal with her attack speed. Unable to keep up, she slipped, giving the opportunity for Ming Yue to attack.

Now, it was three wins and one loss for Ming Yue. By now, no one had doubted her ability as a fighter, rather many of them would like it if they did not have to fight her in battle. Ming Yue was quick and decisive, there was no hesitation in her attacks. Not to mention, the way she fought would already give many of them a headache. Quick and controlled, they came from any direction at any angle, even though her opponents were able to keep up, they were barely able to.

But now, it was the final fight against Kuang Li!