Yang Kai ran at Yang Bin again. Unlike the previous time, Yang Kai was much faster, and his gaze was focused. He swung his sword at Yang Bin, precise and sharp without any flashy moves.
Swish! Swish!
Numerous cuts flew through the air headed towards Yang Bin. Despite looking weak and fragile, each one contained the power to split rocks.
This is dangerous! Yang Bin was greatly alarmed. The sword was so fast that it looked blurry even with his Mystic Pupils. His instincts warned him that the thin wooden sword was more dangerous than the fangs of the wolves he fought. He was forced to retreat over and over with Phantom Tracks in order to dodge the attack.
"Interesting footwork!" Yang Kai exclaimed. "But you aren't the only one with a movement technique!" Saying that, he dashed forwards and was in front of Yang Bin in a blink of an eye.
Yang Bin widened. He has a movement technique as well! In a panic, he awkwardly sidestepped, causing him to briefly lose his balance.
Noticing this, Yang Kai immediately pounced on the opportunity, pressing the attack .
Due to that one stumble, Yang Bin wasn't able to dodge the following slashes as well, resulting in receiving small cuts all over his arm. Feeling the stinging pain of the nicks, Yang Bin's anxiety bubbled. No! This can't go on. I need to stabilize.
Yang Bin glanced at the sword in Yang Kai's hand. He was swinging it with one hand, making it look light and insubstantial. It's just a wooden sword. Yang Bin thought. Let's see how durable it is against iron! Anchoring himself, a silvery-white sheen appeared on his palm, as he activated Iron Palms and directed the strike towards the incoming sword.
Smiling, as if Yang Kai had expected Yang Bin to aim for his sword, he didn't pull back or change directions. Instead, he increased the force behind his diagonal swing.
Pak!
A loud and high pitched metallic sound rang out at the instance of collision, and in that one moment, both Yang Bin's and Yang Kai's expressions changed.
Yang Kai had underestimated Yang Bin's strength, and the consequences weren't light. His sword flew out of his grasp, as he stumbled back a few steps. The sharp pain in his wrist told him that the ligaments were torn. His right hand was no longer usable.
On the other hand, Yang Bin wasn't faring so great either. He underestimated the sharpness and sturdiness of the blade. Falling back as well, he felt a searing pain on his palm. Yang Bin looked down and, to his horror, saw a long red line running across his palm.
"How!?" Yang Bin exclaimed incredulously. Iron Palms made his palm as strong as iron, but that wasn't enough to protect him.
"Surprised?" Yang Kai asked. He snatched up his sword from the ground with his left hand and assumed a battle stance. "This sword of mine was made using the branch of a 500 year Vitalis Titanwood. Its toughness is harder than most common metals, and inscribed on a simple sharpness rune, ordinary steel doesn't stand a chance."
Yang Bin's expression hardened. His opponent's sword was much stronger than he had imagined. Even though he had a greater variety of techniques, the opponent's overpowered weapon easily reversed the odds. His chances of victory were very low.
Wait! Then Mengyao… Fearing that the other two were just like Yang Kai, he hurriedly looked towards his sister's direction.
Surrounded by two enemies, Yang Mengyao was engaged in an intense and chaotic fight. However, none of them had weapons, so punches and jabs were thrown left and right. A dull thud was heard every so often, signaling that an attack hand landed, but who's attack remained unclear to Yang Bin.
"You dare look away when your opponent is right in front of you?" Yang Kai lunged forward.
In an instant, he was in front of Yang Bin again, but unlike last time, the speed of his swing was slower. Even though it wasn't slower by much, in front of Yang Bin's Mystic Pupils, it was a lot more predictable. Evidently, Yang Kai wasn't as proficient with his left hand as his right.
"Hmph, too prediable." Yang Bin scoffed. Side stepping the attack, he prepared a counter, but as he clenched his fist to perform his unique technique, Iron Fist, his nails dug into his cut and a sharp pain flared out.
"Ah!" Yang Bin cried in pain. Wincing, he hastily backed up.
Seeing this, Yang Kai laughed and ridiculed him, "Now that your right hand is injured, you're powerless." Without another word, he launched himself towards Yang Bin again.
"Hmph! Bring it on." Yang Bin charged forwards as well, and the skirmish began.
Yang Kai would aggressively attack Yang Bin, constantly going on the offense. Meanwhile, Yang Bin spent more time dodging, as he wasn't used to using his left hand. It was a tense stalemate, but with each passing second, Yang Bin's expression became uglier.
It was clear that, unlike Yang Bin, Yang Kai trained with both hands. The longer the fight grew, the sharper and faster his attacks became. It was as if he was slowly getting warmed up. At first, Yang Bin could see Yang Kai's sword clearly. After a minute, he was seeing blurs again.
Just then, a loud thud and groan caught their attention.
"Hurry up boss! We can't stall her for much longer!" One of the boys cried urgently. Grimacing in pain, he was hunched over holding his stomach.
The other boy, who was still fighting Yang Mengyao, was clearly under a great deal of pressure; beads of sweat rolled down from his forehead, and arms wildly flailed. He was doing his best to harass her while avoiding all her attacks.
Comparatively, Yang Mengyao's situation was a lot better. Her clothes were wrinkled, and hair slightly disheveled, but that was it. There wasn't even sweat on her unsmiling face, as she continued to unsympathetically beat down the boy.
Yang Kai frowned and swiftly replied, "Hang on for a bit longer! I'll defeat him in a minute!"
The boy, who was doubled over, hesitated. Hints of worry and doubt were present on his face, but in the end, he chose to trust his leader. After giving an unwilling nod, he joined up with his partner. "Fine! We'll try to hold out for one more minute!"
"Defeat me in a minute? How laughable." There was a mocking grin on Yang Bin's face.
His mood improved considerably, when he realized that Yang Mengyao had the upper hand against her two opponents. Originally, he was afraid that the other two were just as skillful and wealthy as Yang Kai, but with how the situation turned out, all the worrying was for nought.
"Let's see if you can still laugh after this." Yang Kai dashed forward at a speed faster than before.
Smirking, Yang Bin immediately activated Phantom Steps to evade his attacks. All his attention was now focused on dodging and stalling.
Since Yang Mengyao was able to suppress her opponents, the advantage she has now will only get bigger, eventually leading to her victory. Knowing this, Yang Bin no longer felt the pressure to triumph over Yang Kai. However, he did need to keep Yang Kai's attention on him.
"Haha! Are you a turtle? Why are you moving so slowly?" Yang Bin taunted. He made sure to stay just barely outside of Yang Kai's range, so that his attention was always on him, going as far as intentionally getting his clothes cut and taking small scratches.
And it worked perfectly. Provoked by Yang Bin's taunting and tricked into thinking that he was on the verge of victory, Yang Kai eagerly continued to chase him.
"You'll never catch up to me!"
"Your attacks are too obvious!"
"My fish can swing a sword better than you!"
The last insult was so creative that made Yang Kai pause for a bit. "How is that even logical?" He snarled. "We're in the middle of the woods, where would you find a fish to keep as a pet?"
Yang Bin eyed him strangely. "You idiot!" He yelled back.
"It was bought from the city of course!"
Yang Kai slowly nodded in understanding, before resuming his barrage of attacks.
There was an issue with Yang Bin's tactics though: it was impossible for him to keep it up permanently. The act was placing a huge toll on his mind and body. Underneath the facade, he was anxiously waiting for Yang Mengyao to finish her battle.
The longer it went, the greater the chances of a mistake, and a mistake did occur. Accidently getting closer than he wanted, Yang Bin ended up with a long gnash on his forearm.
Hissing in pain, Yang Bin retreated with a burst of speed.
"Ha! I got you now!" Yang Kai promptly followed up. But as he was dashing, a white light suddenly enveloped him, and he was gone.