Cheng Xiu stabbed her sword into the ground and stopped her descent into the Earth.
She slashed the hand of the puppet.
Ting!
The sword hit the puppet's body and reflected.
Cheng Xiu frowned and tried to kick the thing's hand off her ankles.
The grip tightened.
Cheng Xiu flinched.
She glared at the offending appendage.
"Ghost Flame!"
The black flame burned the puppet's hand off.
Cheng Xiu bent to the side, avoiding a gust of wind that was aimed at her face.
She looked around, unsure.
Cheng Xiu thought about what she should do for a moment. The wind puppet, true to its nature seemed to be invisible but still felt.
Her instincts told her that it was watching her, her Qi told her it was near her, even the Enlightenment technique couldn't really pinpoint where the thing was, like it was in the very air around her.
Cheng Xiu tried to sense out her enemy again using Qi.
She felt the slight shift in movement in the space in front of her.
Cheng Xiu jumped away, just as a hand came out of the ground to grab her legs again.
The Earth puppet.
Cheng Xiu realised what was happening. The two puppets were working together to bring her down instead of separately trying to face her.
She felt a bit of pride rise in her heart at that thought. These were Elemental puppets used by someone far superior to her in level, but once the field was evened, once they were at the same level, she was someone these experts had to take seriously.
She tried to suppress the giddiness that came with that thought. To be considered a worthy opponent, to be considered as someone who should be fought against with sincerity...Cheng Xiu hadn't felt this feeling in a long time. Not since Him.
And now, she was the named enemy of Level 70 experts. It occurred to Cheng Xiu, finally, that what she was experiencing was a once in a lifetime adventure.
Until then. she was still a bit stuck in survival mode. EverHill's fight did bring out the joy of fighting but this fight made Cheng Xiu really realise that she did have an edge. That she was a formidable opponent.
None of these experts was looking at her as an easy win. They weren't going to let their guard down.
That brought Cheng Xiu an inexplicable joy.
Cheng Xiu tried to clear her mind. She couldn't let her excitement jinx her mind, and her luck.
She tried to think of a way to get around the two puppets.
Her eyes went to the baby puppets around them. They were there almost like a decoration. Now that she thought of it...why would Crow keep the baby puppets out even though they were doing nothing.
Could they have a purpose in this fight with the Elemental puppets?
Cheng Xiu raised her sword and aimed to slash at the baby puppet to her left.
A gust of wind was aimed at her chest.
Cheng Xiu twisted away.
Her right arm got a bit caught in the wind and was shredded to the bone at the part.
Cheng Xiu choked at the pain that attack brought her.
It was a smart thing to have moved away from that attacks instead of trying to deflect them. She didn't want to think of the consequences of that action.
Cheng Xiu used Qi Absorption to heal herself.
She felt the Earth Element move towards her underground. She could now recognise the Qi signature of the Earth element. It had a sense of stability and calmness to it that the other Qi signatures didn't have.
Cheng Xiu jumped into the air.
It was confirmed. The baby puppets served a purpose. A purpose that made the wind Element puppet and Earth Element puppet nervous when she got near any of them.
She tried to see what the purpose of these puppets was through the Qi around them and aimed her sword for the closest baby puppet.
As her sword pierced through the wooden creature, Cheng Xiu finally realised what their purpose was.
The puppet turned to dust and she felt the Qi in the Earth Puppet lose a fraction of its power.
Qi Suppliers.