The next couple of days, Marilyn was getting used to the changes in her body while sparring with Ki.
Simple piercing strikes quickly followed one after another which showed that her mastery over her swordsmanship had improved a lot over the years.
However she was up against a tricky opponent who seemed to counter her at every chance that she gained to get the upper hand in the fight.
Ki's sword continued to parry her sword away putting up an almost perfect defence that continued to grow stronger each time they clashed.
When Marilyn found a gap, she would sometimes strike and other time hesitate because she knew her opponent was never so simple.
There were many times in the past where it seemed like Ki had dropped her guard for a slight moment but that was in fact an act.
The moment a person acted upon their impulse to attack, they could be caught in her trap.
Her sword would suddenly move like a snake coiling around its prey trapping it and then striking it down.
Ki had reached a very high level of mastery over her swordsmanship, so much so that it was like she was in control of her opponent at times.
She defended and parried their attacks, controlled the rhythm of the battle and then when they were tired or desperate enough to take a chance to land a hit on her she would suddenly give it to them.
However the moment they did try to break through they could only realise too late that in fact her sword style is purely not just defensive but also incorporates both defence and offence together.
Suddenly her movements seemed to incorporate a certain rhythm as her body was very relaxed, she would easily avoid the strike aimed at her after more than fifty years of experience from her previous life but also use this chance to flick her wrist and sent her sword towards the enemies throat or limbs.
However Marilyn was no pushover and had learned some of her tricks and way of fighting so she had to use her own style to get out of a difficult situation.
The speed of her sword thrusts were not the only thing that had improved but so had her battle experience and nimbleness.
She was able to block or parry Ki's attacks with the dagger in her other hand and then attempt to disarm or push back Ki with her rapier which had been quickly pulled back and sent towards Ki after failing to attack again.
Many attempts between them to land a strike went back and forth many times and each time they both showed even more improvement.
They were the perfect counter for each other but also the best opponent that they could be up against if they wished to improve their own style.
Marilyn's style focuses on piercing through the smallest weak point from a longer range while remaining flexible and quick in her attacks but her other weapon is ready to defend or strike an opponent that has gotten past her rapiers range of striking so that she can reset the fight again putting the distance between her opponent and her again.
Ki however had excellent defence and a flexible style that allows one to defend and then quickly turn her wrist to slash at her opponent using the force of her opponent back against them.
However she needed to always remain close enough so that she could land that slash on her opponent, Marilyn's style kept pushing her back or locked her sword in place with her rapier and dagger in a cross shape.
She was experienced enough to predict the path of her thrust but she continued to parry it instead of dodging to perfect her guard further.
When another thrust of the rapier came towards her, Ki increased her speed and became more relaxed easily dodging it.
She lowered how body as if losing her footing and wishing to balance herself again, making her moves seem more unpredictable.
Marilyn looked a little sad after seeing the form that Ki had taken.
When this happened the victor would soon be decided.
Ki kept moving in a chaotic manner and made some odd movements as if stumbling and revealing many weaknesses and Marilyn watched vigilantly for the changes in her pattern to try work out the trick.
However when she sent her rapier out, Ki changed her direction and form again becoming more stable as she moved out of the direction of the attack and moved in closer.
The moment this happened, Marilyn widened her eyes in surprise as the opponents sword was now at her throat so suddenly. "I lose again… "
Ki shrugged at her with a look of appreciation in her eyes. "You are beginning to make many improvements and you have quickly grasped the changes in your body very quickly so I do not think you have anything to worry about."
Ki appreciated Marilyn's talent for combat and how she was able to improve so quickly but it was a shame that her talents had been buried for so long only to bloom now.
Had Ki stuck to her usual swordsmanship then the battle would have gone on for a lot longer but after changing to her drunken style of swordsmanship, she was able to use her unpredictable movements to set many traps for Marilyn to fall into which quickly ended the fight.
Nearby was Leon, Evie, Lumi and Rayleigh who were watching their battle.
Ki spoke to Marilyn again after looking at the others for a second. "Now that you have completed this stage, I want you to continue to improve yourself so that one day you can become an Unrestrained Realm martial artist. Remember that you have many other talents chasing behind you so you have to set an example for the others."
Marilyn looked over and smiled. "Of course, I have to take up this challenge and show my might otherwise the younger generation will one day look down on me."
Ki then turned to the others and spoke to them calmly. "What you have just seen is merely a small fraction of what is possible between a battle between two transcendent martial artists. If we had used our qi with our attacks then it would become even more dangerous and fast paced so remember to never look down on your opponent as they may be hiding a trump card. Above the transcendent realm is the unrestrained realm which allows a martial artist to solidify their qi and use it with the style of combat that they have mastered. For example a master of the spear would be able to use their solidified qi with their spear arts upon breaking through but be unable to do the same with other styles of weapons so well. After that is the Bright realm or the Profound realm that you may not have heard of, this stage is an important one for you to remember. If you encounter such an opponent of this level then do not provoke them under any circumstances. Each Bright realm powerhouse has their own unique ability that is based on their martial arts, their life's experience and overall insights that are all put together to form that ability. It is believed that a person must be in the middle or near the end of their life before they have enough experiences to be able to break through this realm but some special individuals have broken through in their thirties or forties because of their genius or the support of their sect giving them lots of chances to gain more experience. An example of their abilities would be the ability to control swords near them within a certain range which would be used by someone who has high familiarity and insights with swordsmanship and has devoted their life and love towards honing their sword skills. For now I doubt any of you will run into them… but I think that I should tell you about it since for every one bright realm there will be ten unrestrained realm and for every ten of them there would be one hundred transcendent realm martial artists in the world."
She looked at them and said. "I am saying this not to scare you but to give you an idea of how small and weak we still are right now. We cannot become complacent with our recent successes, this is merely a small step forward on our path and we will continue to work hard. In the central lands it is unknown how many Bright realm powerhouses there are but I estimate it to be around ten and I would say that more than a third of them may be from the capital. That means the top one hundred known martial artists in the central lands are taken up by the martial alliances, Blood Sects, Unorthadox Alliances and the Devil Sects own Unrestrained realm martial artists and the rest will be from unaffiliated organisations or sects or may even be a rogue martial artist without any sect or connections. This also includes the top one thousand rankings that will be full of many transcendent or peak martial artists that may have made a name for themselves. This is the known information within the central lands and still does not include any hidden organisations or martial artists that do not like to be influenced by the outside world but also I have not included those from beyond our borders. The world is much bigger than you all think and much more dangerous so I hope you don't become arrogant and complacent."