Chapter 1003: Chapter 1003: Battle With Xie Lanying and Ning Shoukai Part One
Facing high-speed attacks from two opposite sides simultaneously, Bai Xifeng remained unusually calm. Her fingers flicked forward in a blur of motion.
Six glowing, blue-tinted runes instantly shot into the air before her. The scripts began to spin rapidly, drawing moisture from the environment to form several layers of swirling, dense water shields around her body.
Boom!
Ning Shoukai’s raging flames slammed heavily against the localised watery barriers. A massive concussive explosion of white steam erupted outward instantly, blinding the centre of the clearing. However, before the thick steam could fully spread and dissipate, a sharp, whistling gust of wind suddenly pierced directly through the white cloud.
Xie Lanying had already materialised behind Bai Xifeng, her movements seamlessly exploiting the distraction.
"So fast!" Ning Shoukai exclaimed subconsciously, his eyes widening from his position.
Xie Lanying’s sword shot forward like a flash of silver, aiming directly toward Bai Xifeng’s exposed shoulder. At the very last possible second, Bai Xifeng twisted her torso sideways at an unnatural angle while simultaneously slamming another yellow talisman toward the earth.
The soil surged upward instantly in response to the command, forming a thick, reinforced mud wall.
Clang!
The steel sword struck the earthen wall instead, creating violent ripples across its dense surface but failing to pierce through. Xie Lanying quickly stepped back, utilising a fluid hop to steady her stance and reset her footing.
Bai Xifeng used that brief, precious opening to leap backwards away from them, throwing several more runes into the air consecutively with both hands. The surrounding spiritual energy of the courtyard trembled violently under her manipulation. Dozens of incredibly sharp, crystal-clear water needles rapidly formed in the pressurised air before shooting toward both of her opponents simultaneously like a hail of arrows.
Ning Shoukai immediately released another concentrated burst of elemental flames to block the incoming projectiles. The water needles evaporated rapidly upon direct contact with his fire, turning into a thick, heavy mist that quickly swallowed the entire training field, dropping visibility to near zero.
Meanwhile, Xie Lanying frowned slightly, her instincts flaring as she looked through the white haze. She knew exactly what Bai Xifeng was trying to accomplish with this setup.
"Be careful, Shoukai! She is deliberately using the environment against us again!" Xie Lanying warned loudly through the fog.
Ning Shoukai instantly became alert, his eyes darting wildly. Well, even though Ning Shoukai knew the warning was entirely valid, he could not figure out a way to prevent it from happening.
Xie Lanying had noticed a distinct shift. After watching Bai Xifeng train so diligently under Ji Yuan’s tutelage recently, she had already realised something profound. Bai Xifeng’s entire fighting style was changing at a rapid, terrifying pace. Previously, Bai Xifeng had relied almost exclusively on explosive attacks, raw power, and overwhelming force to crush her opposition. But now, she had started learning the subtle art of an Inscriber, how to manipulate, trap, and control the very battlefield itself.
The thick steam spreading across the field completely blocked their peripheral vision, turning the courtyard into a blinding white labyrinth. The wet, muddy ground beneath their leather boots heavily limited their rapid movement, making every step treacherous, while the heavy, surrounding moisture lingering in the air seemed to respond faintly to the subtle call of Bai Xifeng’s hidden runes, waiting patiently to strike.
Suddenly, Ning Shoukai felt a sharp spike of danger approaching rapidly from his left side.
"You are here!" Ning Shoukai whispered fiercely under his breath before punching his fist toward the shifting mist without a second’s hesitation.
A brilliant torrent of flame exploded from his knuckles. His aggressive attack collided directly against a spinning, localised water shield that materialised out of the fog. However, to his shock, Bai Xifeng herself was nowhere to be seen behind it. The shield was entirely unmanned. Ning Shoukai frantically looked around, his eyes darting through the vapour, searching for her hidden figure.
A second later, a few paces away, Xie Lanying’s eyes widened in realisation.
"Shoukai, look up!" Xie Lanying shouted at the top of her lungs.
Ning Shoukai instinctively snapped his head skyward. Through the thinning crown of the steam cloud, he could see that Bai Xifeng had somehow leapt high into the air. She suddenly descended from above like a falling star, while casually tossing several glowing, blue-tinted runes downward into the clearing. The runes exploded instantly upon reaching head height, and thick, pressurised chains of dense water shot toward both of them simultaneously.
Ning Shoukai reacted with commendable speed, immediately raising his spiritual energy to burn through the liquid restraints with his raw, elemental flames. Xie Lanying, however, was caught at a disadvantage. Though she parried the impact, the heavy water chains briefly slowed her movements down for a single, crucial moment.
Bai Xifeng immediately targeted that exact opening. Her agile figure flashed forward across the muddy ground like a phantom. A glowing, highly condensed rune appeared pinched between her index and middle fingers before she slammed it directly toward Xie Lanying’s defensive line.
Xie Lanying barely managed to raise the flat of her sword in time to intercept the strike.
Bang!
The heavy concussive impact still forced her to slide backwards across the wet ground, her boots carving deep, watery grooves into the dirt before she could steady herself.
Before Bai Xifeng could continue pressing her forward momentum to finish Xie Lanying off, a scorching, blinding wave of intense heat suddenly surged toward her exposed flank. Ning Shoukai had already arrived to back up his partner. Bright flames spiralled aggressively around his forearms and fists as he launched a furious, high-speed attack at close range.
This time, Bai Xifeng did not retreat or attempt to dodge. Instead, she directly activated several pre-prepared defensive runes around herself in a tight circle.
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