"Tsk." Li Xue clicked her tongue. When she was about to unleash the second swing to kill her target, Xiao Jun had reached her position.
Clink!
Li Xue had no choice but to swing her sword at Xiao Jun, blocking his attack. As expected, Xiao Jun unleashed all the strength he could muster in this one swing.
The powerful force coming from his martial art made Li Xue's hand numb before knocking her away.
Li Xue repeated the thing she did earlier. While getting pushed back, she took a glance at her back as if she worried about something.
"!!!" Xiao Jun noticed that glance and followed her. He swung his sword downwards so as to pin her to the ground.
However, Li Xue leaped to the side and actually passed two trees, specifically the gap between them before turning around after the second tree.
"Do you think I will fall for your trick again?" Xiao Jun roared as he changed the direction of his sword. As a 9-Star Cultivator, Xiao Jun had no trouble in cutting down trees.
Hence, he diagonally cut the two trees, his sword was covered with a dense Spiritual Qi that caused a dim glow of blue light.
"…" Li Xue furrowed her eyebrows. The two trees fell to the side, one blocking the gap she passed earlier and the other caused a ruckus on the further side.
Noticing Li Xue's change of expression, Xiao Jun stepped on the trunk he created earlier and jumped straight toward Li Xue. "You're not going anywhere this time!"
Li Xue panicked for a split second. On the one hand, she should be able to put up some fights against them. On the other hand, it wouldn't last long.
She had to find another trick that could fool Xiao Jun and harm him like the other one. And if she wasn't fast, the other cultivator would recover and help Xiao Jun.
However, the moment her eyes turned to the other cultivator, she couldn't help but get shocked by what she saw.
Xiao Jun misunderstood it, thinking Li Xue was scared that they would both chase after her.
"Do you think you can run away? You are too useless. If you have killed him earlier, you wouldn't have to worry about two people. This is the difference between us!" Xiao Jun roared and rushed to her.
Li Xue noticed the misunderstanding and didn't need to confirm it. She continued running in the same direction while parrying Xiao Jun's sword.
She said, "If you think you're great, then you are not. After all, I have seen people greater than you despite having lower cultivation. You think you are sitting on a throne after getting the favor from Elder Biao?"
"At the very least, my situation is better than yours. You should give me the inheritances you've got and become my woman. That's the only way I can forgive you and let you stay alive."
"Leave sleep talking when you are asleep. I believe I'm more talented than you. I'll eventually return to the sect and clear my name." Li Xue snorted.
"Impossible. After all, you will be confronting Elder Biao. If you feel so great with your current power, then I'll let you taste how it feels to be powerless!" Xiao Jun roared and increased his speed.
In an instant, he reached Li Xue's position and swung his sword.
Li Xue did the same, covering her sword with Spiritual Qi.
"Flowing Sword." Li Xue shouted, letting out her frustration.
Unfortunately, the moment their swords clashed, Li Xue's hand became numb. The force almost knocked her sword out of her hand.
"Your Flowing Sword is useless against my Tiger Sword. The line between women and men might not exist once you've reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, but right now, Qi Gathering Experts are just slightly stronger than mortals. In other words, the build of a man is still stronger than a woman!" Xiao Jun laughed as he overpowered her.
"Is that so?" Li Xue surprisingly didn't get angry despite being looked down upon. After all, she had seen a mortal, who didn't have even ten percent of their strength, killed more cultivators than her.
If a cultivator was that great, there was no way a mortal could do that.
Since Li Xue's sword was overpowered to the ground, she spun her body to escape. She tried to use this spin to pass Xiao Jun from the side and go back toward the other cultivator.
"I won't let you!" Xiao Jun hurriedly struck her, but Li Xue managed to stabilize her posture and stopped his blade at the last moment.
She used the momentum of that strike to complete her spin and pass Xiao Jun completely.
Shocked, Xiao Jun reacted a tad too late as Li Xue rushed toward the other cultivator, who seemed to be trying to recover from his injuries. The bleeding was almost stopped, so the cultivator might use the time Xiao Jun bought to completely stop the bleeding before helping him.
However, it seemed that Xiao Jun forgot that Li Xue could actually bypass him and focus on the injured one instead.
"What? Lan Qing!" Xiao Jun shouted, alarming the injured cultivator.
"!!!" Lan Qing hurriedly opened his eyes, seeing Li Xue not far from him. He clicked his tongue and grabbed the sword next to him.
Xiao Jun also followed Li Xue from behind. As soon as Li Xue failed to kill Lan Qing, he would strike her down from behind.
Unbeknownst to them, this was what Li Xue wanted. As soon as Xiao Jun moved at a high enough speed that changing direction was impossible, she stomped on the ground and bent down.
"Huh?!" Xiao Jun's body shook, his instinct was telling him that he was in danger.
"I'm not trying to kill you. My target is always you." Li Xue smiled. "People's harmony, huh…"
Xiao Jun tried to throw his body to the side, but it was too late. Li Xue had made a complete stop and waved her blade, cutting him.
"Kh…" Xiao Jun gritted his teeth, trying his best to avoid his death. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, he actually chose to jump instead of swinging his body, causing Li Xue's sword to hit his left leg as well as a portion of his right leg.
The left leg fell off right away, and Xiao Jun shouldn't be able to use his right leg after that injury. His body was thrown toward Lan Qing's direction as the hunter became the hunted.
Li Xue smiled, "People who think they are going to win indeed lower their guards a big time…"
What Li Xue did was nothing special. She actually understood Hao Yu's plan a bit more and turned the battle from a physical fight to a psychological one.