EverHill looked at her in excitement.
Cheng Xiu hummed.
She didn't know who that was.
"Oh. Good for you!" She said in a squeaky voice.
EverHill smiled. "So?"
"The answer is still no."
"Oh." EverHill sighed. "Alright then."
He spun one the javelin around again.
"No hard feelings?" Cheng Xiu asked with a grin as she spread her footing wider.
EverHill raised an eyebrow. "How can that be? You have disgraced me, I have to avenge my honour!"
"So dramatic?"
"One of us has to be," EverHill said. He was hoping to distract her with his talk but her eyes were mostly on his footwork and the javelins.
"I'm not great enough to be worthy of your grand guild," Cheng Xiu said with a grin. "Nor am I foolish enough to fall for such distraction tactics."
EverHill sighed. He charged forward, jabbing and thrusting his RynHeart wherever he could which wasn't much.
Usually, when a swordsman fought with someone with a spear or the like they tended to not just keep their distance, they would also try to move so close to his body that his spears couldn't hurt them.
That was why he used two instead of just one and also why he learned the summoning enchantment and the banishing spell. He didn't want to be left in a situation where, fighting with a quicker opponent meant he would lose easily.
He observed the girl in front of him.
She was more economical with her movements than many were at her level. Her awareness of his presence was scary as she moved away or came like she was his mirror.
As he studied her, he found an opening.
It was such an obvious opening that he guessed it might be a trap but he had to try it.
EverHill jumped back.
Cheng Xiu stepped forward.
He summoned his spear as well as his other javelin.
He threw the javelin at her, forcing her to step back and then thrust at her with the spear in his hand.
"Sword Dance!"
Two swords appeared in front of her and blocked the incoming sharp point.
EverHill stepped back to gain space as the swords dashed towards him.
He ducked and tried to get closer to Cheng Xiu again.
"Sword Dance!"
Another pair of sword copies appeared in front of her.
EverHill ducked as he felt the hair on the back of his neck raise.
"Shouldn't you be conserving your Qi?" EverHill asked.
"Why should I? You are clearly not going to use any big Qi skills!"
EverHill frowned. The girl was not that careless that she would decide to fight with Qi at this point. She had a plan, but what was it?
He didn't know much about her skill sets except for the ones that she showed during her fight with Lotus or WenXian, even then, her powers evolved with each battle. She understood her own fighting skills better and gained things from the Arena market.
He could guess that she had a trick up her sleeve specifically for him, but what that could be was a mystery.
There was only her past battles that could help him. He felt like his mind was going round and round regarding this matter. His instincts told him that the key to her sudden attacks were in the previous matches he watched.
Was it the Sword Shield?
No, a Sword Shield would only be a temporary solution to his attacks and they would leave her weaker, with how much of Qi a barrier of that sort would take. And the rules of the Qi in the Other World was similar to that of the real world. The more Qi you used the more tired you will feel. The body needed that energy to function in peek formation.
Was it that Sword weaving that she did with WenXian then? He looked at the six swords floating over her in a circle and thought maybe that was it.
But the Six swords did not make a move unless he got too close.
This match would end in a stalemate if this went on for a long time.
He looked at the burning desire to win her eyes and decided that it was not that.
No. Her plan was something that would ensure her victory; not a stalemate.
His mind went to the two skills that she last used on WenXian. That black flame and that golden root.
Which one would she use?
Which one would work better against him?
EverHill's eyes widened and he looked down to his feet. There was nothing there.
He looked up in confusion to find that the six swords were flying towards him at high speed.
EverHill gritted his teeth and summoned the two spears from his storage space.
"You are not the only one who knows how to Weave weapons!" he said.
The two spears floated to the sky and met the six swords in the air.
The movements of the spears were faster and smoother than the swords. When the two fought, it felt like a talented preteen fighting against an expert Martial Artist. One stumbled their way through the steps while the other expertly did difficult maneuvers like the were as easy as walking.
Over at the side, many of the experts were on their feet, gaping.
"So that's why I felt her skill was so familiar!" Long Hei shouted. "As it turned out, it was the sword version of that weird thing EverHill does!"
"What do you mean weird?" Star Phoenix asked.
"Well, I think it is weird!" Long Hei said. Long Hei blinked. "Wait! I thought that EverHill's skill came from his Qi Manifestation in the real world! Don't tell me that she has the same power too!"
Yue shook her head. "They are different. Brother EverHill is naturally good at it but SelaXiu is not. See how clumsy her swords' movements look in comparison? There are certain skills that you can recreate in the Other world if you put your mind to it but all you need is an understanding of it. She must have got the knowledge of Weapon Weaving from that Carp Sword but she is only going to be able to reach a certain level."
"I disagree," Frost said. Yue glared. "What you said might have been the case before but not any more."
"What?" Long Hei asked.
"She is learning from him, isn't she?" Star Phoenix asked with a sigh.
"Mm," Frost nodded.
Cheng Xiu's sword movements were becoming more proficient.
"How is she doing that?" Long Hei asked in frustration. "There is no way that it is natural for any one to learn a technique so quickly!"
Everyone raised an eyebrow as he made an 'aha!' sound.
"I got it! I know why she can learn things so easily!" Long Hei said.
"Well, that realization was quick," Star Phoenix deadpanned.
The others nodded.
Long Hei glared. "Listen to me!"
"We are," Star Phoenix said.
"Her Qi Manifestation is Big Brain!" Long Hei said in excitement.
Yue sighed.
The others looked at him with disdain.
"I don't know about her," Star Phoenix said to him, his face full of pity. "But you definitely have Tiny Brain as your Qi Manifestation."
Crow nodded. "I knew this from the beginning!"
"This…" Long Hei looked around him with a betrayed expression.
"I think Brother Long might be right," Frost said. Everyone looked at her in shock, even Long Hei did. Frost kept her face neutral. "she must have a Qi manifestation that allows her mind to learn things faster than others."
"That makes more sense than his Big Brian comment," WuQi said.
"I said the same think, you daggering wench!" Long Hei said.
WuQi glared at him and took out a small dagger form her side pocket. "Want to repeat that?"
"Have something to add, little San?" Star Phoenix suddenly asked the contemplative San Zhe behind him.
San Zhe started and then shook his head.
"It's alright! Just say what you want to say!" Long Hei said to him.
"You already know that she is smart, so why is it surprising that she learned Immortal EverHill's technique so quickly? especially when she was already using it so well before?" San Zhe asked Star Phoenix. Out of all the Immortals present, he seemed like the least likely one to harm him for no good reason.
Star Phoenix raised an eyebrow. "because what EverHill is using is his Qi Manifestation."
San Zhe looked at him in confusion.
Star Phoenix seemed to realize something as he looked at San Zhe's expression. Everyone with Qi would know what he meant. It was something they all would instinctively know after they awakened their Qi.
For San Zhe to not know this…
His eyes fell on the thin form of SelaXiu and turned to San Zhe again.
"So that's why the two of you can't be together," Star Phoenix said in realization.
"A Qiless," Long Hei whispered. His eyes flitted to Yue who was so concentrated on the fight that she was not paying attention to their conversation.
San Zhe froze before them in fear and shame.