The instant Mae vanished, Ryu reacted and pierced forward. He acted with a swift motion and his blood boiled. Rather than shocking him, Mae's true cultivation being just a single major realm apart from him actually filled him with untold excitement.
He was at the pinnacle of the Path Extinction Realm, and she was at the Lower Dao Pedestal Realm. For the first time in a long while, someone so close to his cultivation actually put so much pressure on him, and it made him feel alive.
BANG!
Ryu took a step back as their blades collided. His raw strength, despite the recultivation of his Body Realm, was actually a step behind.
Ryu laughed, the position of his great swordstaff shifting in his hand as he parried the blow to the side, deflecting the rest of its power and piercing his second blade toward Mae's throat.
Despite the sheer size of the blade, in Mae's eyes, she felt like she was facing the illusion of a fine spear tip. Ryu fluidly changed between weapon styles so completely and entirely without the slightest pause.
The moment he realized he lost out in strength, his skill began to take precedence, closing the gap in the blink of an eye. He flitted around like a shadow, matching strength with speed, and speed with strength.
His senses enveloped the entirety of the battlefield. Every twitch of Mae's muscles, every slight feint and intention, every shuddering weakness, was immediately grasped by him.
However, Mae, after releasing a large number of her shackles, felt suddenly far more relaxed. Her skill in the saber was far inferior to Ryu's. Although this shocked her, she didn't allow it to weaken her battle style. In fact, it spurred her on.
Her qi manipulation could only be said to be the best that Ryu had ever seen outside of Aika. Every time she attacked, her qi would become like sparkling shards of crimson glass, splintering around Ryu's blade and attacking him directly with its sharp edges.
Ryu could only best describe it as splash damage.
Every time these shards of qi rebounded upon his skin, his Trembling Star Qi would waver, dimming somewhat before coming back with a greater and greater force.
Mae retreated slightly, tossing one of her sabers into the air and forming a great number of hand seals in the blink of an eye before snagging it out of the air once more.
A fluttering array of black and crimson feathers appeared behind her, condensing into masses of dense qi before slicing through the air toward Ryu.
At that moment, Ryu had the illusion that he was facing an array of sabers and whips. Sometimes they would be vicious and without restraint, but at other times they would be flexible and illusive before suddenly bursting with a sudden speed.
Ryu suddenly realized right then that Mae's use of a whip wasn't just to hide her true strength, but she managed to apply her comprehensions in other facets.
A suffocating aura descended and Ryu's gaze flickered. He didn't even get the chance to think about how he would deal with this flurry of attacks when there was a sudden change once again, this one just as shocking as the Mystical Grade Dao Charm technique that Mae had yet to use.
'Small Realm.'
Ryu's gaze flashed.
He couldn't immediately tell what Mae had reached the Monarch Realm in, but he soon realized that he wouldn't have to guess because she would make it very obvious very quickly.
The surroundings were filled with rivers of flowing black and red. The moment they appeared, the strength of Mae's array of feathers exploded forward, appearing around Ryu with every intention of shredding him to pieces.
Ryu's smile widened. Every time Mae showed him something new, he would feel excitement to the deepest depths of his soul. He didn't even care to use the full strength of his Soul Nature. Since Mae was fighting with restraints, so would he.
No techniques and talents above the Sovereign Grade? Fine!
"Monarch!"
Wild ripples spread out from Ryu's body, a Small Realm of Lightning and Fire appearing at once, layering atop of one another.
They clashed against Mae's variant Water Small Realm. Ryu was enveloped with arcs of lightning and pillars of fire. He didn't seem to care about anything else at that moment, his entire beign focused on fighting to his heart's content.
One blade wreathed in flames, the other sparking with blue arcs of divine judgment, he circulated [Whispering Petals] to Great Circle of Perfection and appeared before her in the blink of an eye.
The two clashed wildly, sparks flying in all directions.
Shock waves shook the room, however their strength didn't so much as cause a single crack, let alone disrupt the jades that still sat in silence. Even so, the two didn't seem to care, completely immersed in their battle.
[Rending Stars].
All the light in the world seemed to vanish, leaving nothing more than Ryu's blade. He seemed to want to sunder the skies and split the world, even planets and stars couldn't stand in his path.
Mae's gaze glowed with a fierce crimson light.
[Asura's Wings].
This time, Ryu's Trembling Star Qi was ripped apart by her momentum, completely unable to suppress the technique.
She swung her saber upward to meet Ryu's downward trajectory.
The momentum of their techniques were so fierce that their blades couldn't connect, blocked by fierce torrential winds and tsunami-like currents of qi.
The two roared, one sounding like a dragon soaring through the skies and the other akin to an asura ripping a path out of the earth with their claws and hands.
BOOM!
The two shot backward, their blood rolling and rumbling within their bodies.
Their gazes met across the void, sparks flying.
In that instant, the two acted at once, raising their blades out to their sides as their auras continued to climb.
"Spread your wings and soar!"
"Take form and conquer the world!"
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