Seeing Ye Mo leave, Shen Xue grunted, surging with exceptional strength and swung his blade, repelling Ma Shinfei all the way back to the precipice.
Ma Shinfei twisted his body in the air, then tapped on the rock cliff with his feets, projecting himself down to the ground in front of Shen Xue.
He frowned as he looked at the palm of his enormous hand to see a small cut Shen Xue made while pushing him back, the latter directly penetrated through the volcanic rocks to deal this wound.
Through the rocks was a thin line of lava, but this cut was covered with a small layer of ice which contantly enlarged, threatening to entirely envelop his hand at a time and eventually turn Ma Shinfei into an ice statue.
This one immediately reacted and ripped a chunk off the palm of his hand then healed himself in a short time, new rocks growing at the base of his wound.
The chunk that fell on the ground quickly turned into a block of ice.
This was due to Shen Xue's sword, a peak-tier spiritual weapon.
When he attained the first place in the recruitment competition of the Tiger Martial Institute, Shen Xue was allowed entry in the armory as one of his rewards among many others. When he observed the various spiritual weapons inside and found the sword, he was instantly attracted to it and after it was picked up he didn't linger much longer.
The blade of this weapon has a special attribute as it would turn your enemies into ice if it penetrated their flesh, hence the corpses Ye Mo found in the clearing. Only a small wound was needed for the ice to grow over their whole body.
If you didn't have any countermeasures then without reacting fast, it was certain death with merely one cut.
While Ma Shinfei dealt with the wound and healed himself, Jin Hao Tian stabbed his iron spear into the cliff and slide down along it, landing not too far away.
"You want some help?" The Jin clan young master asked casually.
"Don't intervene, this is my fight!" Ma Shinfei quickly dismissed him, full of pride and planning to wash away his previous loss against Shen Xue by himself.
Shen Xue wanted to rapidly go after Ye Mo, it's not that he was obsessed with him, but no one before had taken him on and left to tell the tale without Shen Xue letting them go of his own volition.
It wasn't that no person ever survived an encounter with him, there were times in the past where he would meet Li Qiang or Yan Mei in the forest, but either they decided to distance themselves and avoid fighting each other or he would exchange a few moves with them before willingly letting them go.
Shen Xue was different from Ye Mo, even he wasn't confident he could face their clan's retribution if he killed one of the young masters so although he might defeat them, he wouldn't dare go further.
Ma Shinfei or Jin Hao Tian, he could fight the both of them at anytime, but no one should escape from him, either they are killed or allowed to live, having full control over the life and death of his opponents, there can't be any exception.
However, Ma Shinfei didn't share the same thoughts on this as his hands reverted back to their original form before he grabbed the black stick laying on his back and made a few spins around with it then rushed at Shen Xue, preventing him to chase after Ye Mo.
Ma Shinfei's stick was fierce and overwhelming giving enormous pressure to the receiver while Shen Xue's blade was sharp and fast releasing a pervading coldness that could freeze everything.
Clang clang clang!
The air rippled around them as they fought violently, striking and blocking with incredible speed.
Both end of the stick were covered in crimson flames while Shen Xue's blade released cold vapor, when they crashed against each other, the plants were pushed back and the sound resounded loudly in the area.
Five Stick Killing Strokes!
Wind Cutting Wave!
After exchanging more than a dozen moves, Shen Xue and Ma Shinfei manifested a powerful battle skill at the same time.
Ma Shinfei sent his stick forward five times so fast its shadow overlapped, each strike stronger than the precedent, the last one breaching the limits of a Qi Gathering cultivator's abilities.
Shen Xue's blade shone a pale blue, the sword launched like lightning as it met with the stick shadows.
Boom!
At the collision, a great blast occured followed by a choking haze of dust and smoke engulfing the surroundings.
However, the haze was quickly pierced by Ma Shinfei's figure cutting the air covered in following trails of fumes hugging his badly damaged garments.
He seemed unconcious as he flew through the air with eyes closed and unmoving, but right before crashing, he opened his eyes and lightly struck the ground with his stick, propeling himself higher and regaining his balance in the subsequent fall then firmly planted his stick in the earth, standing atop.
From this position he had a clear view of the surroundings and could see the smoke dispersing and Shen Xue's figure appearing unharmed.
"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Jin Hao Tian reiterated his proposition as he remained near the base of the cliff since the start, itchy to stretch his limbs against this young genius himself.
As a bystander, he watched everything unfold and could see Shen Xue didn't usurp his reputation, it was very unlikely for Ma Shinfei to win by himself if nothing changed.
"Shut up, I said I can deal with him!" Ma Shinfei immediately shouted.
Both of them were full of competitiveness and shared a passion for combats, testing themselves against strong opponents. After they joined the Tiger Martial Institute, they quickly became good friend, having this attraction for the thrill and adrenaline felt during a difficult fight, improving themselves in the midst of battles and blood.
Ma Shinfei was still in this strange position, standing on top of his stick, the edge of his feets suspended above the void, yet, he seemed accustomed to this stance.
He raised one hand and pushed forward in the air, sending a torrent of flames towards Shen Xue.
The latter was indifferent as he pointed his sword ahead, a wall of ice erupting from the ground in front of him, growing three meters tall and one meter thick.
The wave of fire entered in contact with the ice wall when a violent hiss was heard as steam billowed outward in thick, swirling clouds.
The fog quickly covered Shen Xue when this one raised his sword in the air, his eyes shining in a mild blue light, the mist suddenly being attracted and concentrating above his head as twenty icicles were formed around him.
Icicle Rain High-tier Yellow Class battle skill.
Shen Xue next silently pointed his sword at Ma Shinfei and the icicles shot out.
Pow pow pow.
Ma Shinfei jumped down his stick, taking hold of it in his descent then used both his hands to twirl it in front of him. With the tips ablaze and the stick rotating so fast, it looked like a big fire wheel shielding him.
The icicles charging at him were easily deflected by the whirling fire stick.
Shen Xue made no reaction as he kept pointing his sword at Ma Shinfei, icicles continually forming and being launched at him like an unceasing wave.
In total, more than two hundred icicles were shot, tearing through the air with a sound that chilled people's hearts.
Ma Shinfei kept rotating his stick, tightly protecting himself until the mist was exhausted and no icicle were formed anymore.
From afar he seemed fine, but if someone was beside him, they would hear Ma Shinfei's panting sounds and see his arms shivering.
He completely exhausted his stamina.
By the end of the icicle rain, the rotation of his stick had already lowered significantly, and one of the last icicles was able to pass his defense to lodge itself in his foot. A few moments later and Ma Shinfei would have crumbled.
In truth, the heart of this exchange revealed in-depth knowledge and mastery of the Icicle Rain battle skill from Shen Xue. Usually, to use this skill, Shen Xue would consume his Qi to release pale threads of cold mist from his body or his sword which he would turn into dozens of icicles at best before the consumption became too big for the result to be worth it.
However, here he made an ice wall to counter the surge of flames and created this vast amount of vapor that he directly freezed and used as a source to turn into hundreds of icicles, reducing his Qi consumption to zero while greatly empowering the Icicle Rain battle skill
In his situation, this was a comprehensive understanding of his battle skill and an expert management of his Qi, easily turning the tables with merely one ice wall and barely any loss.
Ma Shinfei made his Qi flow freely inside his body, its temperature increasing rapidly.
His face was grim as he looked at his foe, slowly realizing the difficulty of the task. He believed that with enough training and his newly acquired techniques, he could directly battle across realms and defeat Shen Xue even if he became a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Now he understood that even if he gave it his all, hope was dim. Despite everything, Ma Shinfei's battle spirit wasn't reduced one bit.
The icicle piercing his foot released vapor and quickly melted down until nothing remained of it before he started healing himself.
In the meantime, a youth left the woods and reached the plain facing the precipice, looking at the two Tiger Martial Institute' students locked in battle.
"I knew it, those waves of Qi and such a commotion spreading from one fight, it had to be Shen Xue, and it seems he is in good company." The youth smirked looking at the silver-haired swordsman.
He was tall and robust, wearing the golden robe of the Golden Martial Institute with black hair of average-length and two pangs falling down his forehead and covering the side of his deep green eyes.
His figure brimmed of assurance, and he had a certain charm to himself, giving others the sensation of a calm and reassuring presence.
He was Qiong Lieyu, the number one student of the Golden Martial Institute.
It was only a question of time for a duel of this magnitude to attract others.
Without any hesitation, Qiong Lieyu pressed forward and entered the fray of battle.