The Relay Race

The same opening stance, but the final moves were worlds apart.

This was beyond a simple variation of a form. The unexpected change was so drastic that even Gu Chu couldn't react in time.

By the time he realized what was happening, both of their attacks had already reached their targets. Fu Hua had deliberately shifted her position to avoid their attacks canceling each other out.

He could have dodged. He had the ability to dodge.

But within the rules he had set for himself, he couldn't!

Sky-Render merely tore the heavens.

But Heaven-Opener?

It sundered heaven and earth!

Even the ever-composed Fu Hua let out a low growl, the speed of her Xuanyuan Sword increasing by another fraction.

A violent gale erupted from between them, kicking up a cloud of dust before dissipating into the distance.

Their bodies froze in front of each other, like two statues.

Blood... dripped onto the ground. It was the first blood either of them had shed in all six rounds.

Gu Chu's expression was one of shock. He glanced sideways at his own cheek. At the very edge of his peripheral vision, he could see a startling flash of crimson.

He raised a hand and gently touched his cheek. A sharp sting shot through his face, and his fingers came away stained with blood.

He had ultimately chosen not to dodge because he wanted to personally experience the final killing blow Fu Hua had hidden for so long, a move she had gone so far as to feed him all the other Taixu Sword Qi forms, as if teaching him, just to conceal.

There were only twenty-one forms that Taixu Sword Qi could produce. He didn't know their names, but he had already mastered them all through his own deductions and speculation.

So, after she had fought him with the other twenty forms like a textbook demonstration, he had naturally assumed her final gambit would be the one form she hadn't used.

Had he been suspicious? Of course, he had.

But Fu Hua's acting was superb. Her faltering confidence that led her to switch from defense to offense, the frustration of her failed attacks, and that final, desperate gamble...

Unintentional? How could it be?

He knew all too well how similar Sky-Render was to this move of hers. It was a change that had almost caught even him off guard.

"Heh heh... A stratagem..." Gu Chu's lips curled into a smile, his whole body trembling with laughter. "You really are something else..."

"You underestimated the very move you created..." Gu Chu's expression turned cold. He pulled his hand from Fu Hua's chest. Blood sprayed from the wound. Fu Hua coughed up a mouthful of blood, her body losing its support and slumping limply to the ground.

Gu Chu lowered his gaze, silently looking at Fu Hua at his feet. Suddenly, he felt a twinge of regret.

Should he have held back? He had found himself captivated by Fu Hua's ability to always pull out something new and unexpected at the last second.

So when he saw her fall, Gu Chu even wondered if she would pull out some miraculous technique to force herself back to her feet and continue fighting.

He waited quietly for three seconds. Unfortunately, nothing happened.

He scratched his head in frustration, then flicked the blood from his hand.

Holding back was something he didn't do, in every sense of the word.

He had come here with the intent to either kill or be killed. Holding back would be a sign of disrespect to himself.

And to Fu Hua? If she wasn't so strong, Gu Chu wouldn't have given her a second glance.

Gu Chu couldn't quite understand why Fu Hua had made that choice. After canceling out Sky-Render, the follow-up damage from Heaven-Opener might not have been enough to wound him so severely, perhaps not even enough to meet his threshold for defeat. In fact, it might have...

Gu Chu's eyebrow twitched.

So, she had no other moves left? That was her last resort, so she gambled that he would retreat to protect himself and concede?

Gu Chu couldn't help but touch the cut on his face again. Only a faint bloodstain remained; the tiny wound had already healed.

Unfortunately, his curiosity had killed Fu Hua.

"Placing your hopes in others... that is your tragedy..." Gu Chu let out a long sigh, a sense of anticlimactic loss washing over him.

He had been pleasantly surprised. Taixu Sword Qi had given him so many unexpected gifts.

But in the end, this was all just him "learning" with a lowered stance. What he truly craved was...

Gu Chu's brow furrowed slightly. He looked toward the distant sky. A familiar flash of ice-blue light was rapidly approaching.

In this longest of nights, that icy-blue radiance was like a shooting star, heading straight for him...

And falling!

There's another master?!

A smile returned to Gu Chu's face. He glanced at the fallen Fu Hua, then with a casual wave of his hand, a gale swept her body out of the arena he had created.

The next moment, he planted his feet firmly and took his stance.

Sword-Guarding Form - Green Pine!

A blue light shone, descending from the sky like a fallen star and crashing down squarely on Gu Chu!

The immense pressure shattered the ground beneath Gu Chu's feet. He braced against the tremendous force with one hand, but he didn't immediately push it back.

The force was immense, even stronger than Fu Hua's Heaven-Opener!

This strike was wild, chaotic, yet possessed a raw, primal power!

Gu Chu's eyes widened, trying to see just what... or who... was attacking him.

The menacing armor and sharp horns made Gu Chu blink. What was this half-human, half-beast thing in front of him?

A sharp roar suddenly erupted. Gu Chu's eyebrow twitched. He whipped his head around and raised his other hand just in time to block Bianka's spinning kick.

And to Gu Chu's surprise, the force of this kick was even stronger than her descent from the heavens!

Caught off guard and holding back his strength, Gu Chu was sent flying sideways.

He only stumbled back two steps before landing firmly on the ground. A tremor ran through his body, dissipating the remaining force. He immediately raised a hand and snatched the dark blue, clawed hand that was lunging for his face.

Bianka's charge came to an abrupt halt. A flicker of confusion crossed her savage face. She struggled twice but couldn't break free from Gu Chu's one-handed grip.

"You are..." Gu Chu began to speak, but Bianka suddenly launched herself into the air, aiming a kick at his head.

Interrupted, Gu Chu's face darkened. His other hand shot out and grabbed Bianka's ankle, pinning her in place before him.

"You..."

SLAP—

A crisp sound echoed. Gu Chu's head snapped to the side in disbelief, a red mark appearing on his cheek.

In his field of vision, there was only a thick, swinging tail.

A tail?

A vein bulged on Gu Chu's forehead.

"Who the hell are you?!" he roared, forcefully flinging Bianka away, nearly tossing her out of his dueling grounds as he demanded an answer.