"Grats." Lazily praising him with curled lips, Mu Xi smacked Xie Xie on the back heavily. What he had done wasn't exactly 'ethical' but Xie Xie had one very quickly so she'd let it slide. In this case, victory meant more than a few bad rumors.
"Did you watch the same fight as me?" Rolling his eyes, Xie Xie took a seat as the five minute break between matches appeared on the television on the wall. All he had done was teleport in front of Yan Wei and stab him in the chest while in the reverse world.
It was a brutal and cheap way of fighting, one that didn't deserve much praise. That was the assassination esque fighting style Xie Xie had chosen to pursue the limits of. He wasn't aiming to be famous, he just wanted to make sure he didn't die. Compared to living, what was a bad reputation?
"You've gotten better." Offhandedly complimenting Xie Xie, Gu Yuena pondered what she had just seen. In theory, it was extremely simple, he just had to use the reverse world as a basis to strike his spiritual sea rather than the physical body. In practice though, it may as well have been trying to paint on thin air. It was quite close to the realm of the divine.
Wearing a mask of stoicism as best he could, Xie Xie didn't fool anyone. He was ecstatic, extremely ecstatic. Gu Yuena rarely gave praise, especially to him for whatever reason, so even a fairly lame thing like this sent him over the moon.
"I'm heading out. Watch and learn, Teach. I'll show you how a proper blacksmith fights." My Xi wore a cheeky smile as she pointed at Wulin, an amused smile on his face. Mu Xi was strong but she was a blacksmith first and soul master second. Meanwhile, he was the exact opposite.
"Give them hell." Motioning for her to go, Wulin's crimson eyes glowed with amusement. He had high expectations because despite being good at blacksmithing he wasn't a good smith. Rather, he had practically made a mockery of the craft by coasting by with talent alone.
Smirking provocatively, Mu Xi stepped into the stadium where the atmosphere was vastly different than previously. If before the stadium was fairly confident in their defeat, now a seed of doubt had begun to germinate.
'It's my job to make that budding seed flourish.' Scoffing at the task given to her, Mu Xi wasn't one for such flowery language. If she were to put it her own way, she would bash her presence through the skull of anyone who dared stand in her way.
Summoning her hammer into her hand, faint flames danced around her fingertips. It was an incidental result of her training, her affinity for flames increasing so quickly that her control had fallen out of balance. It wouldn't take long to fix it but in the meantime it would hinder her forging greatly. Forging was all about delicate flame control after all.
'Of course, that idiot teacher of mine doesn't seem to care about that.' Rolling her eyes, Mu Xi couldn't help but remember the form of her teacher cloaked in nine colored sparks. He was a monster, a talent that stood on the pinnacle of existence just by existing. That was how she saw him at first.
And to be honest, it wasn't that far off. He was so talented that he made everything look easy, so talented that even somebody as talented as Xie Xie could only hide in his shadow. He made all her efforts to reach the pinnacle seem effortless, trivial even.
'But it isn't just talent that took him this far.' Looking at her opponent as he climbed the stairs to the arena, Mu Xi narrowed her eyes. Wulin was a monster of hard work just as much as he was a monster of talent. It would be a lie to say she didn't resent his talent but it was hard to feel that way for long after seeing him work himself to the bone while he could barely walk.
Mu Xi was an arrogant woman and she wouldn't submit to just anyone. But Wulin was an exception, the only exception. As somebody who decided to follow him, she had to ensure that he stood atop this world as an unrivaled legend for thousands of years.
"Tang Shen, teacher of the Outer Court. Please guide me." Standing as sturdy as a mountain with a large shining silver hammer in hand, Tang Shen didn't even need to introduce himself for Mu Xi to know what clan he hailed from.
'The Clear Sky Hammer…' Glancing down at the hammer in her hand, Mu Xi smirked confidently. "Sure, I'll guide you. Just don't throw a tantrum when you don't understand something."
Nodding his head serenely at her clear attempt at provocation, Tang Shen raised his hammer unphased. His hammer was far different from her forging hammer, the size was obvious considering it was a war hammer he wielded but its aura was far more impactful as well.
Rather than the immense aura of power one would expect from a hammer so large, his martial soul almost seemed soft. In his hand, it seemed weightless and swift and its aura reflected that. An odd sense of unnaturalness followed the weapon as though its weightlessness was nothing more than a mirage.
"Please take care." An oddly distorted voice came from behind her, the Tang Shen she was looking at was gone in an instant. It wasn't a movement, there was no visual trace of such a thing, and yet he had certainly moved. The subtle cracks in the ground from where he propelled himself made that clear enough.
Turning around Mu Xi swung her hammer powerfully, the small hammer crashing against the heavy martial soul powerfully. An explosion of wind forced the two back a few meters, the two opponents looking each other down solemnly.
'A time aligned martial soul, huh?' Looking at her opponent, Mu Xi wasn't concerned despite her opponent having the monstrous physical prowess of the Clear Sky Hammer and the ability to control time. After all, each of those traits fell short compared to her peers.
She couldn't lose to a person like Tang Shen even if she wanted to. Her recent trip had elevated her to such a level of power that defeat was impossible when beneath that golden sun illuminating the world. When it hung at the highest point in the sky, she was invincible.
For these few moments, she could stand toe to toe with her teacher.
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Hey there, hope you liked the chapter.
I feel like I've sidelined Mu Xi a bit after pretty much brute forcing her addition into the cast so hopefully these next few chapters will help shed some light on her character. Well, not that she's a very in depth character. She's not the type to suffer in silence after all.
If you want more chapters, head to patre*on.com/TrapOverlord for up to 25 extra chapters. It isn't required but it'd be much appreciated.