“How amusing, child! You’re just trying to kill me now, aren’t you?!” Mu Liufeng leapt back defensively in retreat. The corners of his lips curled into a disturbing smile, yet the look in his eyes remained unchanging.
“Given how kind I am, why would I want to do that!” Ling Chuxi returned his smile with one of her own as she directed her sword into even more vicious strokes towards Mu Liufeng. Ling Chuxi’s Battle Qi was drawn out to extremes by now, causing a wave of murderous intent to radiate from her and fill the space.
“Ha! To what do I owe this boldness!” Mu Liufeng wasn’t angry at the clear proclamation of Ling Chuxi’s intent, instead it made him laugh. Why, he’d never met such a brave and ignorant little sacrificial lamb before. It was interesting how unafraid she was of him. Very interesting indeed. In the midst of their exchanging of words, Mu Liufeng suddenly stilled and blocked all of Ling Chuxi’s manoeuvres with a single move. It was the slightest of motions and yet, Ling Chuxi’s attacks were halted at full strength. Before she knew it, a suppression that felt capable of ruining the heavens and destroying earth descended upon her with a force so great, it suffocated it.
Ling Chuxi struggled to breathe. What an incredibly terrifying suppression energy. At this moment, Mu Liufeng appeared to be a tall mountain she could not surpass, an ocean with depths impossible for her to guess at. This suppression was of an intensity that could make hearts nearly cease beating. Ling Chuxi was unable to move. She gasped for air desperately and in vain.
Mu Liufeng raised his sword high above his head and brought it down violently towards Ling Chuxi’s head with an evil smile. He undoubtedly intended to take her life with this final blow.
A silver glint ran across Little White’s eyes as it began to move from where it had been standing nearby. However, it stayed put when it saw Ling Chuxi begin to lift her sword once more despite the difficulty she faced in doing so.
“You… hideous man… Go to hell!” Ling Chuxi shook with fury as she determinedly summoned all her energy and let it explode forth from within her into a brutally destructive storm she wielded with her sword to counter the impact of Mu Liufeng’s blade.
Ling Chuxi’s sword flashed like the fiercest of lighting.
Her Battle Qi became one with her Luo Chen Sword and she sliced her way to Mu Liufeng with an unstoppable ferocity.
A change registered across Mu Liufeng’s face at this moment. He quickly retreated whilst yelping in surprise. In the aftermath of his narrow escape from the clutches of death, Mu Liufeng decided to stand at a distance from Ling Chuxi, staring at her with widened eyes.
“What was that you said just now?” Mu Liufeng called out to Ling Chuxi from where he stood. He sounded a little flustered.
“Go to hell?” Ling Chuxi replied flatly. She was unable to wrap her head around Mu Liufeng’s crazy antics. The attack she had launched at him earlier on had looked very undeniably vicious, but it wasn’t her killer move. It was a lead up to the real ace move she had up her sleeve. However, before she could show it off, Mu Liufeng had retreated so far back so as to discontinue the battle. He’d messed it all up!
“No, no! The sentence before that!” Mu Liufeng was even more flustered now.
“Ah. You hideous man?” Ling Chuxi repeated the words she had said earlier after some pondering to recall exactly what they were.
“How dare you… How dare you call me a hideous man?!” bellowed Mu Liufeng, brandishing his sword at Ling Chuxi from afar. “Me? A hideous man? Your eyes must lie at the bottom of your feet!” Mu Liufeng had always felt with certainty that though he might not have been the most handsome man around, he surely wasn’t ugly in any sense!
“Seeing as you’ve gone so far as to wear a mask to prevent your true features from being seen, if you aren’t a hideous man then what are you?” tossed back Ling Chuxi with disdain.
Her reply stunned Mu Liufeng. The perception in his gaze towards Ling Chuxi shifted. After he had gathered his wits about him, he slowly ventured at a question. “How did you know I was wearing a mask?” As a matter of fact, Mu Liufeng was wearing a mask. He’d been wearing one all along. It was why his alluring emotion-filled eyes didn’t match the rest of his vacant face.
“Do you really want to know?” asked Ling Chuxi with a cheeky grin.
Mu Liufeng automatically nodded without realizing he was.
“Is that so? Well then, I won’t tell you!” laughed Ling Chuxi savagely as she flailed her sword around. “Quit talking nonsense and continue with the assessment. Will you fight me, or not?”
“Tell you what, you’ve passed!” announced Mu Liufeng suddenly and concisely with a dismissive wave of his hand. He then glided over to Ling Chuxi in one smooth movement.