The emotionless, synthesized voice echoed through the grand hall.
A colossal beam of light shot down from the apex, enveloping Moonshadow and me in its embrace, followed by a familiar, stomach-lurching sensation of weightlessness! After what felt like an age—perhaps ten seconds—the weightlessness finally receded.
My vision cleared, and I was startled to find that Moonshadow and I were no longer in the hall; instead, we stood amidst a wilderness of jagged, strange stones.
The scorching sun blazed overhead, and in the distance, one could see ranges of undulating mountains!
"Is this the Arena Battlefield?" I murmured, confusion coloring my tone.
"It is," Lan Ye confirmed. "Be advised, Moonshadow has entered combat status."
"Disengage Conscious Sharing. Disengage Force Sharing. Disengage Visual Sharing. Switch Combat System to Holy War Mode."
As Lan Ye’s gentle voice continued its recitation, the peculiar three-dimensional image in my mind quickly vanished, though her voice remained perfectly clear within my thoughts.
"Holy War System Activated."
A hazy, iridescent stream of seven-colored light suddenly enveloped Moonshadow before me! In moments, the cluster of light rapidly dissipated, leaving me gaping in astonishment at the dramatic alteration of Moonshadow's gear.
While her armor remained the Phoenix Heaven Demonic Garb, the Heaven Suppressing Greatsword that had been in her hand was now replaced by a massive, black, thick, and menacing Greatsword of Heaven-Cleaving Power!
Her entire set of equipment had shifted to golden-hued, extraordinary gear!
The design was one I knew too well; countless days and nights spent sweating profusely were dedicated to gathering precisely this set—the Star King Ensemble, the ultimate aspiration of every warrior!
The golden Star King Helm did not entirely obscure Moonshadow’s breathtaking beauty; rather, it accentuated her ethereal, dreamlike grace and transcendence, making her seem like a spirit born only of fantasy!
The Star King Chain, Star King Bracers, Star King Ring, Star King Plaque, Star King Belt, and Star King Boots shimmered with waves of uncanny, dazzling light that threatened to overwhelm the senses.
I could even distinctly feel the steady, dense fluctuations of energy emanating from her—like the vast ocean, like raging torrents, or like a volcano on the verge of eruption after reaching absolute saturation—releasing a suffocating heaviness and intense heat!
Combined with Moonshadow’s ethereal, flowing features and her cold, vacant gaze, the effect was one of profound contradiction, yet possessed a strange, captivating beauty and palpable power!
This was the Star King Ensemble! For a moment, I even forgot to breathe, staring transfixed at the vision of Moonshadow before me!
Without any warning, Moonshadow’s purple silhouette suddenly flickered and vanished into thin air! A powerful rush of air screamed past my ear as she reappeared!
"So fast," I exclaimed, deeply startled! Moonshadow truly attacked the instant she decided to! Instinctively, I leaned back and sidestepped!
Whoosh! A gust of powerful wind roared by, light flashed, and the Heaven-Cleaving Greatsword swept past like lightning, leaving me drenched in a cold sweat!
Too close!
"Moonshadow is initiating Basic Swordsmanship," Lan Ye’s gentle voice sounded in my mind. "Basic Swordsmanship consists of seven forms, encompassing the seven most fundamental sword techniques: Thrust, Slash, Parry, Lunge, Sweep, Swipe, and Block. Moonshadow will now demonstrate the standard combat swordplay for Basic Swordsmanship!"
"First Form! Thrust!" As Lan Ye finished speaking!
Afterimages flickered; even my Demonic Eye of Illusion could barely capture a streak of electric light.
The electric light was, in fact, the sun reflecting off the sword—a sword moving with unbelievable speed, a velocity so incredible that describing it as unpredictable seemed insufficient. The speed at which that arc of light struck was simply too fast.
The sword thrust horizontally, piercing through the void and then disappearing back into it—without beginning or end, only a faint glimmer, flickering like a spark of lightning, utterly incomparable and impossible to trace its precise path.
I pride myself on exquisite swordsmanship, yet I had never witnessed such a bizarrely fast and deadly strike! More terrifying was my inability to determine which precise spot this sword was aimed at!
It was a simple thrust, yet it forced me into a defensive posture that felt utterly inescapable and impossible to counter! Had I not witnessed it myself, I would never believe that such a basic 'Thrust' could put me in such a state of disarray!
Hoooowl! Having no idea where to evade, I swept my longsword outwards, unleashing three massive arcs of crescent-shaped sword energy—the 'Night Battle in Eight Directions' technique—the sword energy snaking out like an enraged dragon, tightly guarding my entire body!
Clang! Boom! Moonshadow’s impossibly fast and phantasmal strike collided head-on with the energy arcs!
Ding! Whoosh! Utilizing the force of that powerful impact, Moonshadow’s graceful figure floated strangely into the air, as weightless as a willow catkin!
"Second Form! Slash!" As Lan Ye’s voice faded!
Moonshadow, who had been rising, abruptly halted her ascent and plummeted downward like a meteorite.
The thick, dark Heaven-Cleaving Greatsword was held high above her head! It was the classic Upper Stance downward cleave! Her shadowed, empty eyes betrayed no discernible emotion or fluctuation, yet the oppressive, heavy killing intent almost crushed my lungs!
Swoosh! A sharp whistle tore through the air, sword energy raged, and faint light flashed! The Heaven-Cleaving Greatsword descended upon my head with the force of a thunderbolt!
This simple, direct downward chop again filled me with a sense of unyielding frustration, an inability to evade! Just like before, I could not judge where this strike was truly aimed!
It felt as if all my vital points were locked down by her killing aura; any evasive technique seemed pointless against her! Worse, I couldn't find even the slightest opening to counter!
Damn it! Was this truly Basic Swordsmanship?! The successive defeats were driving me close to madness, but instinct compelled me to rapidly circulate my Dou Qi, wildly swinging my longsword to whip the dense energy into a massive shield of light!
I executed the 'Horizontal Brace of the Golden Beam,' meeting the downward cleave head-on!
Clang! Boom! A dull, metallic impact! The violent surge of Dou Qi erupted in shrieking aerial whistles! It sounded like the heavens collapsing, the earth splitting, or tsunamis shattering mountains!
The terrifying kinetic force shook me uncontrollably, forcing a mouthful of blood from my lips!
My body, out of control, soared backward like a piece of paper drifting in the wind!
Ah! What terrifying force! At that moment, I finally understood: even the simplest Basic Swordsmanship, wielded by Moonshadow, carried devastating lethality. If I maintained my previous complacency, I would surely be annihilated!
Whoosh! An afterimage flickered; Moonshadow’s ghostly form flashed forward like lightning almost before I hit the ground!
"Stop right there." Gritting my teeth against the tearing pain throughout my body, I swept my Dragon Shadow Sword gently, sending four bolts of dragon-shaped lightning flashing out, aimed precisely at Moonshadow’s vital areas!
It must be noted that the speed of the Dragon Shadows was by no means inferior to bullets, and coupled with the terrifying Dou Qi energy infused within them, each shadow carried an extremely formidable impact!
Moonshadow, lunging toward me, was barely twenty meters away—precisely within the Dragon Shadows’ maximum velocity range!
Swoosh-swoosh! The Dragon Shadows shrieked, colliding with Moonshadow in a blink of an eye, faster than light or fire!
Just as Moonshadow was about to be struck squarely!