Chapter 42 Fulfilling the Previous Duel

"Here! You owe me a duel. A month from now, let's fight!" Meng Yao quickly calmed down and shoved the challenge letter directly at Mo Xuan.

"No need, let's do it right now. But since you proposed it, if you lose, you must promise me one thing." Mo Xuan figured he could use this opportunity to draw Lan Bing away.

"In your current state? No way, absolutely not."

Although she knew Mo Xuan had also reached the Spirit Gathering Realm, she had no desire to spar with someone whose combat strength was incomplete.

"Then I refuse." Mo Xuan made a motion as if to tear up the challenge letter.

"Wait, wait, wait... Hmph, since you're so eager, I won't hold back." Meng Yao panicked; seeing Mo Xuan's unyielding stance, she had no choice but to agree.

To prevent Lan Bing from having any suspicions, Mo Xuan had Meng Yao play along in a setup. Though it was a staged affair to Lan Bing, the match itself was real, and Mo Xuan had deliberately emphasized it right in front of her.

Staying here would disturb Lan Bing's rest, so they decided to go to Meng Yao's residence, with Xue Yue acting as the referee.

After a moment of hesitation, Xue Yue agreed: "Very well, but it's just a spar. Stop at the touch of a weapon."

Once both parties agreed, the match began.

Instantly, a surge of fiery aura rose into the air, and intense heat permeated the surroundings.

That flame—a golden hue tinged with red and purple. Mo Xuan fell into deep thought; this flame seemed...

The fire enveloping Meng Yao was precisely of this kind.

Legend has it that there are four rare flames in the world, one of which is passed down through bloodlines, known as the Purple-Gold Heart-Burning Flame.

When the Purple-Gold burns the heart, heaven and earth return to nothingness, and all creation perishes.

According to ancient texts, this flame displayed terrifying divine might in a historic war between demons and celestials. It is said that the previous generation of the Demon God relied on the immense power of this flame to suppress ten thousand demons single-handedly, thereby preserving the mortal world.

However, the origin of this flame was never recorded, and as time passed, it was gradually forgotten.

He wondered if the flame within Meng Yao's body could be this very one.

Swish, swish, swish!

Meng Yao transformed into a blazing shadow, whistling through the air at tremendous speed as she delivered a fierce kick.

Initially lost in thought, Mo Xuan failed to dodge in time and took a direct hit to his waist.

"Ow, that hurts!" Mo Xuan rubbed his waist. "You really don't hold back!"

Meng Yao sighed helplessly. "I told you your injuries haven't fully healed, but you insisted on forcing it. Don't blame me for bullying you."

Mo Xuan waved his hand with a wry smile and quickly adjusted his mindset.

In the ensuing flurry of attacks, not a single strike managed to land on Mo Xuan. Furthermore, he didn't use any domain.

Nor did he employ any illusions; he relied entirely on his superior speed to evade every blow.

"How is this possible!" Meng Yao gathered the flames around her body once more, launching dozens of consecutive attacks, each imbued with fiery force.

Wherever her strikes missed, black burn marks scorched the ground.

Wherever her blows fell short, fissures fractured the earth.

Yet Mo Xuan dodged every single attack in the barrage. By this time, Meng Yao was visibly exhausted, breathing heavily as she tried to gather her focus for a more powerful technique.

Mo Xuan keenly caught this opening and seized the opportunity to counterattack. When it came to stamina, Meng Yao still fell quite short.

In a flash, Mo Xuan moved like lightning, striking Meng Yao's back with his palm.

Thud!

However, Mo Xuan's hand was scorched by the flames enveloping Meng Yao. "Such a formidable flame."

He immediately changed his tactics.

Swish, swish!

Two blade edges materialized in mid-air, thrusting straight toward Meng Yao.

"How can this be!" Meng Yao hurriedly spun around and slashed with her sword.

Clang!

Clang!

Mo Xuan's twin short blades were deflected.

Whether in speed or precision, Meng Yao found herself completely unable to match Mo Xuan in direct combat. She was baffled, as logic dictated that Mo Xuan shouldn't surpass her in either aspect.

"Sword Splitting!" Realizing she was constantly losing ground with basic moves, Meng Yao decided to resort to a higher-tier technique to secure victory.

Swords formed purely from spiritual energy—eight in total—shot toward Mo Xuan from different directions.

Every single sword carried the faint sound of tearing air.

Sword-control techniques were truly formidable, instantly overwhelming Mo Xuan in terms of speed.

She was forcing Mo Xuan to block head-on, but to her surprise, he still managed to dodge them all.

It was as if he had predicted the exact trajectory of her attacks beforehand.

She failed to realize that Mo Xuan's soul power was far more powerful; his spiritual sense had already mapped out the entire battle arena.

Again.

When one move failed, she launched another. She refused to believe Mo Xuan could dodge forever.

"Can you only run!" Meng Yao shouted furiously, exasperated.

"Dodge and evade is a skill in its own right," Mo Xuan said indifferently. "Besides, I've launched my attacks too—it seems you aren't able to handle them!"

"What did you say!" In a fit of anger, Meng Yao unleashed the primordial spirit of the Fiery Heart Spirit Fox. "Let's see how arrogant you are now!"

Xue Yue could no longer stand by idly. Mo Xuan had actually forced out Meng Yao's primordial spirit; if outsiders were to witness this, it would spell trouble. Consequently, she forcefully erected a barrier.

As an experienced veteran, her tactical awareness remained sharp, and naturally, she had also seen through Mo Xuan's motives.

Although Mo Xuan didn't attack often, every single strike came precisely when his opponent was at their weakest, and almost every attack hit its mark with rare exception.

As for his evasion, it was simply the result of superior soul power and faster speed, which could by no means be considered a weakness. Without these two pillars of support, such feats would have been impossible.

Subtly, this filled Xue Yue with a lingering sense of apprehension. If he could execute even low-tier techniques to such perfection, what would happen if he were ever blessed with truly precious techniques? The heavens themselves might be turned upside down.

Of course, Mo Xuan's advantages stemmed only in part from this; much of the credit belonged to that polarized cultivation technique.

Even with the primordial spirit invoked, Meng Yao still lagged behind Mo Xuan in speed, though her attack range and momentum had undeniably increased.

A golden opportunity! After unleashing four formidable sword techniques backed by her powerful primordial spirit, cold sweat began to bead on Meng Yao's forehead. Just as she was retracting her stance, Mo Xuan swept forward with his twin short blades in a horizontal slash, his speed far surpassing anything before.

"Ah..." In her panic, Meng Yao brought her sword up in front of her to form a protective shield facing Mo Xuan. Expecting to block the blow, she was stunned when, less than a centimeter away, Mo Xuan suddenly teleported behind her.

"You've lost!" Mo Xuan thrust one short blade through Meng Yao's protective primordial spirit barrier, resting the tip against her neck while pressing the back of the other short blade against the hand she used to hold her sword.

"Damn it!" The flames raging around Meng Yao grew fiercer by the second.

Before it could escalate, Xue Yue intervened and stopped her: "Yield. You have already lost!"

"No, not yet!" Meng Yao blasted Mo Xuan away, a violent flurry of fiery sword intent enveloping her entire body.

She attempted to execute her Fire Sea Sword Intent at full power to salvage the crumbling situation.

Xue Yue originally intended to intervene, but Mo Xuan signaled for them to continue.

He stepped forward and fully expanded his Three Hearts Illusion Realm. He knew that without this, Meng Yao would never accept defeat.

He had no choice but to offend her.

His Three Hearts Illusion Realm was originally a desert, so even after fusing with spiritual objects, the illusionary terrain remained a barren wasteland.

Now, however, it was a desert under the night sky, faintly twinkling with starlight.

When he defeated Lan Bing for the first time, he had used the power of heaven and earth to condense countless sword blades; thus, he used sword blades once more, as this was the move yielding the greatest destructive power in the shortest time.

Unlike Meng Yao's fiery sea of sword intent, the countless short blades of Mo Xuan ultimately converged into the twin blades in his hands.

Infused with the formidable power of heaven and earth, the two short blades suddenly expanded and elongated significantly. He brought the two blades, now brimming with cosmic energy, back together, causing a colossal short blade to materialize in mid-air.

Controlling the giant blade, Mo Xuan thrust it forward, ruthlessly cleaving a massive rift right through the sea of sword intent and flames.

It charged straight toward Meng Yao's position.

In the end, the blade brushed past Meng Yao's side, and the sea of flames was severed completely.

A lock of her hair was sheared off, and a shallow scratch appeared on her cheek.

The blazing sea she had gathered instantly dissipated into nothingness.

Meng Yao froze in place before her sword slipped from her grip, clattering to the ground. She had no choice but to concede: "I lost!"

She knew very well that had Mo Xuan not held back at the final moment, that strike would have left her severely wounded, if not dead.

In fact, ever since Mo Xuan's successful sneak attack at the beginning, Meng Yao had known that encountering such a situation in real combat would leave her without even the chance to admit defeat.

"I'm sorry, I was just being stubborn!" Meng Yao finally apologized for her rashness.

"It's fine, consider it a lesson. It was just a spar after all," Mo Xuan said indifferently.

"How did you manage to gather such immense power together? I tried before and couldn't control it at all." Instead of being disheartened by her defeat, Meng Yao immediately sought answers.

"Haha, as long as you're okay. Tired? Have some juice." Xue Yue materialized out of nowhere with cups of juice, handing them to both of them.

Mo Xuan pondered for a moment, smiled, and expressed his inability to explain: "Well, as for that... it's all thanks to Sister Bing. I don't really know how it happened either; I just followed her guidance step by step, and it ended up like this."

Meng Yao looked at Xue Yue, assuming this senior expert might know the secret.

Xue Yue placed a hand on her hip, shook her head, and said, "Don't look at me. If I knew, I would have told you long ago."

Mo Xuan hadn't lied to Meng Yao. If she hadn't forced the issue today, he wouldn't even have thought about it. His actions were purely habitual, and as for how he formed this habit or how he endured the backlash, he had no clue whatsoever.

Since it had become second nature, he never bothered to question the *why*.

"Right, you owe me a favor!" Mo Xuan said after Xue Yue stepped back.

"I want you to help me play a part in a little act."

Upon hearing this, Meng Yao let out a sigh of relief, thinking such a request was far too simple.

In truth, Mo Xuan knew his surroundings might not be safe, which was why he wanted Lan Bing to stay at Meng Yao's residence for a period of time.

Furthermore, Lan Bing was a tutor whom Meng Yao had somehow managed to "purchase."

Meng Yao likely had many questions she needed guidance on, and besides, Lan Bing and Meng Yao shared compatible personalities and got along famously.

Without asking for the underlying reasons, Meng Yao readily agreed.

Back at Mo Xuan's place!

Lan Bing was still sitting on the bed, playing with a Rubik's cube-like puzzle out of sheer boredom.

"It's over!" Lan Bing set the puzzle down and asked, "Let me guess—hmm, Mo Xuan must have won, right?"

"Ah, how did Sister Bing know?" The fact that Lan Bing guessed the outcome without a moment's hesitation made Meng Yao feel slightly uncomfortable, and a blush crept across her cheeks.