Li Baojun felt a chill down his neck but that comment Xue Yue made had stoked the fires within him.
"An empty decoration?! I'll show you what an empty decoration is!" he shouted.
He held his hand out, calling for the Jade Emperor Saber. The saber trembled on the ground before flying towards his hands.
"Take this! Oppressing the Lands!"
Grabbing the hand of his saber, he swung down. The sharp air of the saber gained a new quality, a domineering strike full of power. As the reciever, it was more than a saber and felt as if there was a tyrant in front of Xue Yue.
Like the wind, she was swift, attempting to parry the strike but this saber did not slow down and it sent her flying back.
Li Baojun gave chase, pushing her back. Xue Yue was forced to use both hands on Drifting Sky as she lost the initiative of the fight.
She shifted her weight, allowing the saber to slide off of Drifting Sky as she escaped the attack.
"Saber of the Unstoppable March!"
Not wanting to lose his momentum, Li Baojun turned aroung with his saber swinging. The tyrannical aura grew into a dense force. An "unstoppable march", something that could not be oppressed or defeated. It would march on, no matter the cost. The saber seemed to follow Xue Yue and if it made contact, the saber would not cut. Instead, it would feel like a massive stone boulder smashed into her. It would be as if ten thousand men rushed her at once.
Xue Yue was not perturbed by this. The soul energy within her sword slowly built it up, condensing and growing. None of it leaked out, it was all perfectly contained in Drifting Sky. She focused, slowing her breathing down, ignoring what was happening around her. She merely thought of the saber that followed her.
Perhaps the march did not need to to be stopped. Why would it matter if ten thousand men chased after her or a massive boulder was coming her way? All she needed to do was to cleave it.
One breathe was all she needed.
She turned and looked, seeing the overbearing aura of the Jade Emperor Saber. It was controlled and yet just a step from bursting out. It was a divine grade weapon but it was nothing compared to Drifting Sky.
It contained a third of her soul energy, condensed countless times into its thin blade.
Li Baojun could feel glee rising from his chest as he saw her face the attack. This was a technique that took him nearly a year to perfect. The elder of the Saber Hall saw his talent and give him a lower divine grade manual to learn from. Known as the Absolute Saber Manual, it had five techniques with three of them having made their appearance. The essence of it was in the meaning of absolute: pure, complete, universal.
What is more universal than strength? It is a principle every living being understood.
The manual suited him as it aligned with his thoughts. Li Baojun cared for nothing but power, even if it meant using those around him. But then Ming Yue appeared, throwing him off. She left a shadow in his heart, a murmuring in his mind.
What could be more universal than strength? The principle of death.
"But what does it matter?" he thought.
This girl is moments away from loss! The moment his sword meets her, she will be smashed out of the arena. Then that shadow within him will no longer exist.
However, it was only a dream, wishful thinking for him.
Xue Yue gave nothing more than a simple chop. As it met this unstoppable force, Drifting Sky divided this tyrannical energy in half. Then their blades met, there was no grinding or any sparks. There was only the sound of a clean cut as Drifting Sky cleaved the Jade Emperor Saber.
Li Baojun could not believe his eyes as half of his saber fell to the ground. It laid there, broken and unmoving.
Xue Yue returned to her normal state and looked at him, a pair playful eyes that showed nothing but contempt.
"Nothing more than an empty decoration. Though, I suppose now that its nothing more than trash, like you."
Her words stabbed into him. The shadows grew within him, the constant murmuring of "trash" became incessant. It was merely three moves and he lost just like that. The thought of it was outrageous to him. He could no longer take it, the humiliation, the defeat, the loss of his precious saber.
"I didn't lose yet. This isn't the end yet!"
The thoughts repeated in his mind, then he broke.
"You dare call me trash, you bitch? I'll show you whose trash! The Absolute Saber!" he screamed with the broken saber in his hands.
The fifth and final technique of the Absolute Saber Manual had made its appearance. He had yet to master it but in his fit of rage, he no longer cared, he would kill Ming Yue.
The saber suddenly howled as the overbearing aura exploded forth. It was everything, all of his soul energy thrust into this broken blade. It was so strong that it expanded through out the arena, grabbing the attention of everyone. Even those on the other arena's had paused for a moment.
Li Baojun held the saber up high as the howling energy gathered a formed a massive saber. Then he swung down and the gigantic saber which towered before everything, descended at a dizzying speed.
Xue Yue's face was grim.
This time, she utilized everything in her power. The two gems socketed into Drifting Sky gave off a gentle glow. The combination of her Soul Energy, the Lightning and Wind Dao, and her Quintessence Energy converged into her sword, feeding into the gems.
She struck out, producing a massive wave of azure-colored lightning.
It howled and thundered as this radiant crescent shaped attack soared up.
By now, all eyes were on this fight. The commotion caused by these two was enough to capture everyone's attention.
As this massive saber came crashing down, the wave of wind and lightning collided. Xue Yue felt her body getting crushed by the sheer power of this strike. She pushed back, stopping the saber in its tracks. So easily, she could just delay the attack and eliminate Li Baojun. But that was too simple, she wanted to suppress him fully. What was the best way to break his spirit even more than to decimate his strongest technique?
"Fucking break for me!"
She shouted as her aura exploded. Pale blue wisps of energy escaped her body as she jumped up and drove the saber back. Cracks appeared on Li Baojun's Jade Emperor Saber as it could not bear the pressure of both attacks.
Shards of jade and steel fell to the ground as his saber was no more. "The Absolute Saber" lost its strength and faded away, leaving Li Baojun with nothing.
Xue Yue gave him one look before stabbing him in the heart, sending him out of the arena.
"Well, that was certainly fun. Here you go."
Xue Yue muttered a few words before relinquishing control to Ming Yue. Her voice was quiet and showed a weary tone.
"That was very reckless!"
She couldn't help but chastise Xue Yue, who was too tired to respond. Xue Yue even used their final trump card, the ninth technique, Pale Moon. Ming Yue had hoped to save it but now there was no point. She reversed the technique and reverted to her original state before looking around. As she only used Pale Moon for a moment, the backlash was not severe.
The arena was cracked everywhere and the battle still raged on. The fight was not over yet and she made her move, going off to help the others. However, the battle was already won. Yin Zhu managed to take care of several disciples. Wenqin Yan was at a disadvantage against the enemy Inheritor but he managed to keep up with her.
At the end, they were victorious and became one of the few to have four wins and zero losses.