Le Tu smirked.
He wiped the blood off his cheeks.
And stared at Jin Qu Yu right in the eye.
Jin Qu Yu made a rapid gesture, turning her blade sideways, aiming to cut through his body, but Le Tu merely smiled.
His body moved at the perfect angle just to barely avoid the cut.
Jin Qu Yu frowned.
Her body flickered and moved towards Le Tu whilst her sword kept aiming at his body, but ultimately it was pointless.
No matter how ingenious her sword strikes were, Le Tu evaded her every action.
Rage appeared in her expression, growing more and more by every passing second, until suddenly.
Her previous rage vanished, turning into a wide smile.
Le Tu's eyes widened as Jin Qu Yu summoned a sword in her other arm, creating a 'scissor' with her twin blades.
Aiming to slice his body in half.
But even that proved pointless.
Le Tu's body flickered backwards, avoiding her lethal strike.
Jin Qu Yu stared at Le Tu from a distance.
"Earth Path is supposed to excel in defenses and lack mobility.
Whilst Sword Path is about overcoming those same defenses using raw cutting power, finesse, and speed to defeat such opponents.
And yet…"
She tightened her sword.
"No, I refuse to lose this easily!"
Several swords were summoned in the blink of an eye.
Aiming towards Le Tu.
But Le Tu was not a fool.
Immediately as he saw this, from his aperture, several pebbles were shot.
Those pebbles collided with the swords and deflected them.
Jin Qu Yu, however, made use of this opportunity and flickered towards him again.
With a long-extended movement that aimed at his head, she then turned her body and struck with the other blade.
In a deadly pattern, she used the two swords to try to force an opening on Le Tu.
But in one of her many moves, Le Tu opened his mouth.
He huffed and threw from his mouth a small piece of mud.
Or so it seemed.
But Jin Qu Yu instinctively felt the danger; she retreated, but before she could get completely outside the range, the piece of round mud exploded like a grenade.
And from within.
Several Clouded Thoughts emerged!
Jin Qu Yu gritted her teeth; her eyelids trembled.
She was not stupid, of course. Before facing Le Tu, she ensured to have a move to deal with Clouded Thoughts Gu, but the sheer suddenness meant that she had no time to activate it.
Or rather, whilst she managed to activate the move and isolate her brain from those Clouded Thoughts, several of them had already clung to her brain like a tumor.
Le Tu, however, had already been prepared; he also employed Sunny Thoughts to completely wipe out even the latest remnant of Clouded Thoughts Gu, his other Killer Moves failed to stop.
Followed by this.
Le Tu clapped his hands together.
The dirt beneath them suddenly rose, as if pushed by divine wind.
Creating debris and dust scattered around the area.
Jin Qu Yu chased after Le Tu, however the man quickly retreated using the dust as his cover.
…
Jin Qu Yu rapidly lost sight of him.
Her expression ugly.
The situation was rapidly turning for the worse.
But there was still hope.
She raised her blade and swung.
[Sword Wave]
Using Sword Path, she mimicked Wind Path to drive away the tides of dust.
But as the dust was scattered.
She realized that four Le Tu were rushing towards her from south, north, east, and west.
"Who is the real one?"
Jin Qu Yu asked herself this question whilst evading nimbly in the air.
One of the Le Tu chased after her, his body shining brightly.
Another remained at a distance, shooting several pebbles towards her, which rapidly grew in size.
Another summoned several rock snakes whilst keeping himself safe, whilst the last one tried to close her pathways, summoning earth walls to trap her.
Jin Qu Yu's brain spun.
Who was the real one?
She decisively moved towards the one summoning rock snakes.
But as soon as she did, the other three clones changed their strategy completely and began to protect it decisively.
"Are they protecting the main body, or is this a bluff?" Her mind wandered even as she collided with the four Le Tu's.
In one of the many exchanges, one of the clones faltered, and she decisively beheaded it!
But just as she did.
The body exploded to reveal several Clouded Thoughts Gu.
This time, she was prepared; her mind grew hazy, but she held on.
The other three Le Tu struck from all angles, each shooting a mud dragon towards her.
But she avoided them all.
But then.
From an unseen angle.
A singular pebble was shot from seemingly nowhere.
The pebble rapidly grew in size to become as large as a meteor.
Instinctively, she raised her sword, aiming at the center of the attack, but as the meteor was struck, it revealed that its texture was surprisingly muddy and wet, as if somebody had walked into it.
It splashed in all directions.
The mud covered her body like a mantle, and as this happened.
Her every move was restricted.
Jin Qu Yu observed from a distance the real Le Tu, who had hidden far away whilst the remaining three clones dissipated into nothingness.
Finally, she understood.
"Neither of the four was the real body." She sighed.
Before helplessly adding.
"I surrender."
Countless people who were observing this, especially the mortals, roared in excitement.
The fight had been thrilling, so full of turns, and yet it never seemed to escape from Le Tu's grasp.
And this was his second victory in a row.
The audience cheered.
"Le Tu!" "Le Tu!" "Le Tu!"
But Le Tu merely sighed and shook his head.
In comparison to the actual powerhouses that were here, he was nothing.
Speaking of which.
Two figures stood on opposite sides.
Gu Sha Ju and Qin Kon Jian.
Whilst they had technically already participated in several bouts, all their opponents had surrendered almost instantaneously.
They were at the end, Rank 7 Immortals.
Gu Sha Ju stood with his arms crossed, smiling widely.
Revealing his pointy white teeth.
The man had no nose, and he had something akin to a tail beneath his lumbar vertebrae alongside quills, as well as a faint blue skin.
On the other side, there was somebody who looked completely ordinary, apart from looking rather handsome.
But that too was common for Immortals.
But the sensation he gave changed completely once you heard him walking.
He stood with his arms crossed behind his back.
His every move subtle.
Yet.
With every step, it felt like a gigantic elephant was running at full speed; the ground quaked, trembled.
As the man finally arrived to meet the other, he sighed softly.
And the wind howled.
While nothing of what he had done seemed impressive, the thing was, he was not showing off.
Not using Gu Worms to reinforce himself to create such an air of invincibility, the effects were but a side effect of his every action.
"I am grateful. It has been so long…" His body and muscles trembled.
"So long since I am allowed to cut loose and show the world my true form." There were cracking sounds spreading from his skeleton, and the tremors grew worse and worse and worse.
The man's body rapidly expanded.
Growing larger and larger still, seemingly intent on reaching towards the white clouds above.
Until finally.
Three hundred meters above the ground, it stopped.
An intense roar was heard coming from his mouth.
The mortal Gu Masters who were at the scene were scared witless by the immense figure.
While the epic battle finally took hold.
Hui Gui Yu's gaze remained fixated on the two.
"Gu Sha Ju. You know what to do, right? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you, don't miss it."
Gu Sha Ju chuckled; his smile seemed taunting towards his opponent, but also towards Hui Gui Yu, who was staring from a distance.
"What do you think I will back out now?"
Then he paused.
"Heh. Heh. But what if I do?"
"???" Hui Gui Yu's expression changed.
"The offer of Uru Tan He is rather generous, you know? Besides, so far, I have seen no proof that you are actually doing something, and not playing me like a fiddle.
For all I know, once I jump into the sea, I may find out it's actually a puddle, and I may break my legs.
How sad would that be? To die in such a meaningless way, wouldn't you agree?" Gu Sha Ju spoke dramatically.
Hui Gui Yu's expression darkened.
"So, what do you want?"
"Show some sincerity, and then I will do my part."
Hui Gui Yu sighed. "And how do you expect me to do that?"
"I will create an opening for you to exploit during my fight. You damn better not miss it. Or else the deal's off." Gu Sha Ju replied coarsely.
As he said those words, he cut the transmission and focused completely on his fight.
To meet the titan, he too changed of shape.
Turning into a large shark.
The shark opened its jaw and charged towards the titan.
…
Meanwhile.
Kao Dao Ji's eyes gleamed with excitement.
"This? I can actually complete the Killer Move like this..." He muttered.
"No, I am not sure yet. I need to verify the hypothesis before I try the Killer Move."
"But how do I do it? I mean, while I could still tweak with my physique is too expensive! The bodies of Immortals are surrounded by several Dao Marks which protect them, and I don't know what other weird protections and restrictions I have as a Land Spirit."
But then his expression changed.
"Wait. Why don't I test the hypothesis first in a mortal? That ought to be cheaper, then if it is a success, I can complete the final steps in my own."
As he thought of this, his gaze locked into a Gu Master from his Aperture.
And so, he took flight.
Soon enough.
He entered the home of Kao Qian Hangse and shamelessly shouted.
"Kao Qian Hangse, what a pleasant surprise." He replied in the friendliest tone he could manage.
Perhaps his greetings would have been received more properly had Kao Qian Hangse been awake before he said them.
The aura of several Gu's surged in his body as he muttered under his breath.
"Damn fucker, who do you think you are by coming onto my home in the middle of the-" Kao Qian Hangse's expression changed rapidly upon noticing who it was.
Immediately, he lifted himself out of the bed and bowed humbly towards him.
"M-My apologies, my lord. Why have you come here?"
Kao Dao Ji chuckled.
"Relax. Is nothing too serious, I am just here to do another experiment. It should be safe. Most likely. Don't worry, I can fix any mistake I make…" He spoke reassuringly, but the more he talked, the more anxious Kao Qian Hangse became.
"Okay. This is not working, so let us try another approach." Kao Dao Ji suddenly muttered.
From his aperture, he summoned a random Rank 4 Gu.
"You follow my orders; I give you this. Do you agree?"
Kao Qian Hangse nodded rapidly.
"I will do whatever you please."
"Ugh…Do not speak like that, it sounds weird." Kao Dao Ji replied a bit awkwardly.
"Anyway. Just remain still. Keep your breathing steady, and keep your thoughts in check. Do not try to use Gu's, or this operation may go horribly wrong."
Kao Qian Hangse nodded rapidly once more, but inwardly thought.
"Could you just shut up already? Every word you say is only making me feel worse."
Suddenly.
A black energy flickered out of Kao Dao Ji's palm.
And flew towards Kao Qian Hangse's body.
The black energy began to spiral around his abdomen.
Kao Qian Hangse felt a sharp pain in his body.
His body twitched greatly, and he could not help but let out a scream.
But his eyes widened as he realized this scream was not his.
It sounded more like one of a-
He lowered his gaze.
And observed his body.
"L-Lord did you…Did you turn me into a woman?" Her eyelids twitched as she said those words.
Kao Dao Ji stared at the body fervently, which only made Kao Qian Hangse more uncomfortable.
Subconsciously, he covered his breath with her hands, whilst Kao Dao Ji muttered to himself.
"As I thought, this idea can actually work! After all, the logic of Extreme Yin/Yang seems to apply to Human Path too, so there is no reason why it should not apply to Heaven Path.
Hell, it happened even more efficiently than I thought.
Then again, I guess it was because Human Path lacks a lot of the friction other Paths have and-"
"Lord." Kao Qian Hangse suddenly spoke, and Kao Dao Ji snapped out of his thoughts and stared at her.
"What's up?"
"So…Huh? Are you going to switch me back?"
Kao Dao Ji shook his head.
"It is not necessary. The excessive Yin Qi should leave your body in a couple of days, and the transformation should revert."
Kao Qian Hangse's eyelids trembled.
"A couple of days????" Kao Qian Hangse froze in the spot.
It took him a while to regain his composure, and by the time he had, Kao Dao Ji had already opened the door and left.
His eyelids trembled as he observed the figure of Kao Dao Ji several kilometers away.
"…"