Mu Lingxi had already believed her attack would 100% connect.
But Yang Wei simply used the quickest sidestep she'd ever witnessed in order to evade her palm strike.
Frustrated, Mu Lingxi threw her head back and let out a piercing scream.
In an instant, she transformed into a blur of pure light, her body streaking through the air.
She unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks, aiming punches, kicks, palm strikes, and chops at her opponent, Yang Wei.
Yang Wei used his [Celestial Alacrity] to effortlessly dodge each and every attack.
With a fluid grace, he maneuvered his body with precision, his arms calmly tucked behind his back.
His movements weren't simply born from superhuman reflexes and immeasurable speed, no, it went beyond that. The manner with which he moved wasn't action born of the mind nor the body's will, it was an action born of the soul. Yang Wei's movements could only be described as one thing,
An art.
Not only did he seamlessly dodge Mu Lingxi's punches, but also the powerful shockwaves that came with it— shockwaves that progressively punctured spatial holes all across its area of effect.
Yang Wei's hair, as white as snow, swayed elegantly from side to side with each evasive motion.
Amidst the chaotic flurry of punches and kicks, Yang Wei smirked.
"This is quite fun, but I have a feeling you can move even faster."
His voice was confident, as if he had already anticipated her every move.
Mu Lingxi quickly used her Structural Immemorial Divergent Boundary.
Instantly, she phased in and out of their reality.
Her body entered her four-dimensional space that only she could access.
Within this space, she accelerated her speed to unimaginable levels, fusing with the very fabric of space itself.
Returning to the present reality, Mu Lingxi's body carried the momentum and precision of her time in the four-dimensional space.
This time, her attack bypassed the physical-attack resistance layer of Yang Wei, managing to cut a single strand of his hair.
"Interesting," Yang Wei murmured, eyeing the small strand that fell to the ground.
Emboldened by her partial success, Mu Lingxi phased out of reality once more, reentering her four-dimensional space to accelerate even further.
With a swift transition, she phased back into the present reality as she drew upon the power of her Great Emperor's Harmonic Resonance, a technique that granted her spatial manipulation.
Ready to cut through space itself, she concentrated an invisible energy at her finger tips.
Moments after, she slashed her index and middle fingers through the air, aiming to rend Yang Wei's very being asunder.
To her surprise, instead of slicing through Yang Wei, the force of her attack curved past him and carved through several mountains and rock formations, creating a massive rift in space. However, as the rift slowly closed up, it became apparent that Yang Wei remained unscathed.
Not a single mark marred his person.
After all, his spatial-attack resistance layer was active. The advanced dimensional manipulation of this layer effectively distorted space to deflect spatial attacks like teleportation disruption or spatial distortions.
Frustration welled up within Mu Lingxi as she exclaimed, "How is that possible?!"
Yang Wei gently shook his head. "It'll take more than brute force to defeat me. Now, it's my turn."
The Magic Emperor's main goal was speaking to the leader of the Dragon Blossom Sect.
However, he desired to test her limits.
"I guess I could play a little rough."
Yang Wei placed his hands together and intertwined his fingers to form a hand seal.
Green particles of energy began to gather before him.
And he simply grinned mischievously.
His eyes never left Mu Lingxi's figure.
The particles continued to converge, compressing themselves into a massive spherical shape that emitted an intense, pulsating aura.
Mu Lingxi who had initially prepared to counter with an equally powerful attack, paused out of uncertainty.
There was something peculiar about this energy... It devoured the natural qi that flowed in its surroundings. Just like white blood cells fighting off invading viruses within the body, the green sphere eradicated any traces of qi within its reach.
Caught off guard by this unexpected twist, Mu Lingxi struggled to formulate a countermeasure.
Sensing her confusion, Yang Wei taunted her, "Don't look so shocked, my dear. You were the one tearing rifts in space just moments ago."
Without a moment's hesitation, Yang Wei used,
[Jade Magic, Jade Emperor's Moon].
In an instant, Mu Lingxi vanished, dissolving into thin air.
She had phased out of their current reality and reappeared in her unique 4-dimensional space where she believed no attack could touch her.
And she was right, no attack could harm her from there.
Yang Wei only grinned as he saw her phase out of their current reality.
I knew it... Given how cautious she is, she'd obviously go for such a cheap action. Her isolated space, it's beyond three dimensions, that goes without saying. And although my [Jade Magic] is perfect against non-physical matter, the paradoxical nature of her space existing and not existing within this reality complicated straightforward destruction. I don't know the complete properties of her dimension so byassing her space isn't the best idea...
The contradictory nature of Mu Lingxi's 4-dimensional space being connected and disconnected simultaneously could potentially create a safeguard against conventional destruction, as it didn't conform with the rules of the normal reality.
Therefore,
On a basic level, no one could affect her space unless they had superior spatial control, but simply having it didn't guarantee success in affecting her isolated space. They'd also have to be accurate enough to be able to affect her Structural Immemorial Divergent Boundary.
But Yang Wei wasn't no one.
The dual nature of her space is exploitable. Heh~ this is fun... Since [Jade Magic] specifically targets non-physical matter and the paradoxical nature of her space makes it partly non-existent within the boundaries of this reality, I can destabilize the already tenuous connection between her higher dimensional and this reality. All I have to do is focus my [Jade Magic] on the points of connection or the areas where the paradox manifests.
He was positive that it might disrupt the delicate balance, potentially causing a collapse or fragmentation of her space.
Yang Wei chuckled menacingly.
"Now you've really impressed me, Cultivator."
In her secluded sanctuary, floating among ethereal spirits, Mu Lingxi contemplated her next move.
However, her moment of peace was shattered by an unexpected turn of events.
Yang Wei's malicious voice cut through the silence, "Jade Magic, leak..."
Suddenly, the green sphere shot upwards, ascending to dizzying heights before expanding rapidly.
It blanketed a thirty-meter radius, engulfing the Dragon Blossom Sect's sacred courtyard.
From a distance, cultivators of the sect shouted in confusion. "What in the world is happening?!"
There was only one answer,
A display of absolutely overwhelming power.
Mu Lingxi was trapped.
She couldn't catch a break.
There was no moment.
Not to think.
Not to breathe.
Not to do anything.
And then, a voice rang in her head.
It was Yang Wei.
"It's over now."
Before she could even process his words, her dimension began to tremble, cracks forming in every direction. The four-dimensional space birthed from her Structural Immemorial Divergent Boundary, rapidly crumbled before her eyes. The spirits that inhabited the dimension dissipated into particles, vanishing into nothingness.
In an instant, the very fabric of her domain ceased to exist.
Effectively deleted.
Back in their initial reality, the effects of Yang Wei's devastating [Jade Magic] became apparent.
A vacuum of qi engulfed the area, erasing any trace of its previous existence.
It was as though all the qi within the affected region had never been there in the first place.
Finally, the chaos settled.
Yang Wei relaxed his grip on the hand seals he had formed, causing the swirling green sphere in the sky to dissipate into thin air.
A satisfied yawn escaped his lips as he cracked his knuckles.
"That was cool."
But then, his gaze fell upon Mu Lingxi, who somehow managed to survive the onslaught.
The price of her survival was obvious. Her left arm had disintegrated entirely, while her right hand suffered a similar fate. Blood stained her lips as she spat it out, her body covered with numerous scratches. Despite her wounds, they slowly began to mend, thanks to her regenerative abilities.
Yang Wei raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"Bravo."
He clapped.
"I'm impressed. Even with all the temporal displacement and spatial lags, you managed to phase back into this reality. How fast are you, really?"
Mu Lingxi panted heavily as she struggled to catch her breath.
Her exhaustion was not only physical but also mental and spiritual, as the [Jade Magic] had taken its toll on her very soul.
After all, Yang Wei's destruction of her dimension had eradicated the foundation on which she existed.
Yet, she defied the odds, returning to this reality despite the odds and her scattered presence across different points in time.
Even if she was in the inaugral stages of 2nd Path Cultivation, she managed what she had.
In the end, it wasn't enough.