701 Lou Cheng’s Speed

Tang Zexun held her sword's hilt in reverse, injected qi into it, and pulled her wrist back towards her opponent in a piercing move. The sword's ray she had created before smashed across.

Before the era of information exploded, countless martial artists and swordsmen had died under this Double Dragon Takedown. However, things were different now. As long as one didn't panic when facing it and made mental preparations, they could most likely defend themselves against it.

As expected, Lou Cheng moved his left arm back. His fist crossed his chest and hammered across as he hit the blade awkwardly.

Bam! Bam! Two consecutive collisions sounded and the bright lights from the strike dissipated. Tang Zexun's double strikes were firmly blocked.

However, her mind was like a dried up well, and she wasn't affected at all. There wasn't a shred of disappointment in her, as though she had already foreseen the situation.

Zheng!

She bent her right elbow and opened up as the longsword flashed over her like a bolt of lightning. The edge of the sword was so sharp it could cut through bone. Wherever it crossed, the atmospheric air condensed into water droplets as clouds seemed to form.

This was the weakened version of the most profound move of Xinzhai Sect, Flying Bird Takedown. However, when Tang Zexun used it now, it was almost as fast as her Flying Dragon Takedown when she had first fought Lou Cheng. The attack struck almost as fast as the speed of sound.

Rumble!

Lou Cheng straightened his elbow and took it on with a heavy punch. He hit the body of the sword accurately and tainted it with a layer of crimson red.

The current Lou Cheng was much different than before!

Rumble!

Tang Zexun's sword scabbard struck soon after. The connection was so fluid and her speed so fast that it perfectly demonstrated her violent momentum. This completely contradicted her beautiful, serene appearance.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Tang Zexun injected her qi into each strike as she alternated between using Fugumaru and her sword scabbard. Each slashing strike was heavier than the one before, making Yan Xiaoling and the rest, who were watching on their screens, hold their breaths with heavily-thumping hearts.

Triple Aerial Ace, quadruple Aerial Ace, quintuple Aerial Ace! Tang Zexun exceeded her previous limits without expending much effort. The glow from the sword compounded with each attack as it grew indiscernible from the afterimages.

Lou Cheng lifted both of his arms and covered his fists with purple flames. He was like a finely calibrated machine as he made perfect, consecutive blocks. Using Blizzard Blast, which was the Physical Invulnerability predecessor of Twenty-Four Blizzard Strikes, his movement became faster and fiercer with each block. The temperature around him was climbing rapidly.

Previously, he had lost to her quadruple Aerial Ace. However, now, he was't even shaken by her quintuple Aerial Ace, sextuple Aerial Ace, or septuple Aerial Ace.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

The glow from Tang Zexun's attacks was consistent, and her Aerial Ace seemed able to last forever until her opponent collapsed.

Septuple Aerial Ace, octuple Aerial Ace, nonuple Aerial Ace. On her tenth strike, Tang Zexun changed direction suddenly as her scabbard smashed down on the space between Lou Cheng and her.

Bam! Air shocks spread outwards. The entire region had sunk into a vacuum-like condition. Using the pressure created from the imbalance, she pulled everything around her towards the middle as Lou Cheng suddenly leaned forward.

Xinzhai Sect, Vacuum Takedown!

Creak! Tang Zexun's right hand, which held on to the sword, paused for a moment. After which, a vague compression sound could be heard.

Flying Dragon Takedown followed by Vacuum Takedown was the ultimate killer move of the Xinzhai Sect!

A ray of white light surfaced and cut through the skies. Behind it, the air was split in half as the strike landed on Lou Cheng at a speed impossible for humans to dodge.

Lou Cheng's figure distorted and shattered like a broken mirror. Seeing this, Tang Zexun's eyes suddenly turned desperate.

Had he already dodged and left his afterimage behind when Vacuum Takedown took effect?

How did he manage to fool my Heart's Eye?

Rumble!

At that moment, the sound of the sword cutting through the air finally reached the surroundings. The sound waves created huge air shocks that spread outwards violently from where Tang Zexun struck.

As the remote controlled surveillance camera shook violently, faint purple flames formed a wall and burned towards Tang Zexun along the ground.

Tang Zexun suddenly noticed that the temperature was extremely high and everything she saw was distorted like a mirage. Simply breathing in this place would burn one's air pipes and cause injury.

As the thought flashed through her mind, she understood how she was fooled.

Unknowingly, Lou Cheng had already leveraged on the environment of his home ground and completed the setup for Fire Sect's eighth move, Mirage, Suffocating Hell. Using physical and mental interference to disrupt her, Tang Zexun was then unable to see through the mirage.

Shuffling her feet, Tang Zexun dodged to the side to avoid the burning faint purple flames.

As she stabilized herself, the high temperature suddenly deformed as a figure in navy blue martial arts suit surfaced hazily. Lou Cheng pulled back his shoulders and threw out his punch like a bullet. As his fist rubbed against the space, purple flames ignited and smashed heavily onto his opponent's right shoulder.

Tang Zexun didn't panic. She threw the scabbard in her left hand diagonally which devoured the long sword. After which, she released her right hand and used the momentum to strike Lou Cheng's left fist from below.

Zheng!

The sword returned to the scabbard tightly as it knocked Lou Cheng's fist away in an explosion.

Using this opportunity, Tang Zexun twisted her waist and grabbed onto the sword's hilt with her right hand once again.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

She pulled her sword out of the scabbard, changed her steps, and slashed towards Lou Cheng consecutively at high speed. Eight rays of bright light slashed towards Lou Cheng from the left, right, front, and back like a huge snake with eight snake children biting on a rampage.

Xinzhai Sect's secret arts, Yamata no Orochi!

At this moment, Lou Cheng was surrounded by a blooming lotus flower made of light, whose layers of petals were closing in rapidly. Tang Zexun's attacks weren't finished. After executing Yamata no Orochi, she jumped into the air. With both hands on her sword, she slashed down against the wind. Using her qi, she triggered a blinding brilliant light that sealed the last possible route of escape for her opponent. With her momentum, she seemed capable of slashing anything in her way into two.

This was the most basic and simple move in Japan's kendo, Slashing through the Winds. Using it here was perfect and appropriate.

Lou Cheng was calm and unshaken. From the glow in his eyes, he seemed interested to give his moves a try. When Yamata no Orochi swept towards him, he closed both of his palms, which were burning with faint purple flames. All the flames were quickly compressed into a tiny dot.

Bam!

When he opened his palms, flames erupted with the momentum of a forest fire. With incredible heat and shockwaves, they gradually wore down the eight sword strikes.

Fire Sect's first move, Prairie Burning Starry Flames!

Dang! Lou Cheng lifted his hand and closed his palms once again. This time, he stopped Tang Zexun's smashing sword by pressing it between his palms. It was as accurate as if he had practiced hundreds of times.

Poof poof poof! The lingering eight sword strikes landed on Lou Cheng. However, there was barely any strength left in them. They were only able to cut Lou Cheng's clothing, as his contracted muscles and tendons easily neutralized them.

Weng weng weng! With her longsword being held, Tang Zexun shook her wrists rapidly to make the sword vibrate like an electric saw.

At the same time, she exerted strength from her back as she kicked out blade-like strikes from her legs towards Lou Cheng's chest.

However, Lou Cheng flicked Fugumaru back the moment he caught it. As a result, Tang Zexun, who couldn't exert force mid-air, flew backwards. Her vibrating sword could only cut through the air while the blade thrown out by her legs landed on nothing.

Lou Cheng didn't give chase immediately. At his own pace, he created scorching red, faint purple, and dazzling white fireballs around him.

Tang Zexun was afraid of being attacked mid-air. She turned elegantly in the air to change direction and landed several tens of meters away.

Just as both of her legs landed on the floor, Lou Cheng suddenly strode forward and stomped his leg heavily.

Her Heart's Eye detected something, and she rolled quickly to the side.

Bam!

At the place where she had stood, the ground split and lava erupted like a fountain.

This was the combination of home ground advantage and a Physical Invulnerability expert's ability to connect with heaven and earth.

Seeing that Tang Zexun wasn't hit, Lou Cheng tensed his left and stepped forward to connect with the lava underground.

Still in motion, Tang Zexun couldn't avoid it. She plunged her sword into the space in front of her and injected her own qi.

Light emanated and the ground shook. Soon, the ground recovered its peace and the lava stopped.

Xinzhai Sect, Earth Treasury Takedown!

By now, Lou Cheng had already reached Tang Zexun. Light blue and golden fireballs had formed around him as he completed his Five Flames.

Clenching his fist tightly, he slammed down violently. The five fireballs gathered and revolved around Lou Cheng.

Tang Zexun's pupils contracted, and she didn't dare face it head-on, but instead did a backflip. While doing so, she drew her longsword as she slashed upwards towards Lou Cheng.

Lou cheng straightened his back. Using the ignition of Fire force within his body, he took two steps backwards as he accurately avoided the sword strike.

His attempt to combine the five fireballs into one was only a decoy. Scorching red, gold and light blue fireballs flew out one after another towards Tang Zexun, who was still flipping backwards.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

Tang Zexun expended all of her abilities and executed consecutive shukuchi techniques before barely avoiding the incessant cannon firing. However, her senses were affected by the thick smoke, and her windpipes were injured by the high-temperature air flow as she almost coughed.

At this moment, she heard a stern and ancient Chinese voice,

"Formation!"

The surrounding air flow solidified. Tang Zexun, who was limited while dodging, was trapped within this invisible cage. She looked on helplessly as the dazzling light and faint purple flames behind Lou Cheng flew towards her.

Gritting her teeth, she gripped her right hand a little tighter.

Creak! After a soft sound, a white ray of light split the cage and cut the dazzling white and faint purple fireballs into two as they fell on either side of her.

Rumble!

The sword ray couldn't land on Lou Cheng, who had made his dodging maneuver in advance. The only thing to be seen was the deep cut Tang Zexun delivered before the sounds erupted.

Tang Zexun escaped the perilous situation and changed her direction. Just as the sound and shock waves of the explosion erupted, she discovered that Lou Cheng was following her like her own shadow. She heard another mysterious ancient voice.

"Confrontation!"

With her will to fight dissipated, Tang Zexun felt as though she was back in the Xinzhai Sect dojo, as though she was arranging flowers or making tea, as though she was looking at a Buddha statue that calmed her soul.

She paused in her steps and seemed unable to draw her sword.

However, this mental state strengthened her typical training. The effects of Heart's Eye were magnified as her opponent was clearly reflected.

This is an opportunity… Without killing intent, his premonitions should be a little slower. Tang Zexun maintained her calm and composed condition. Slowly and silently, she compressed her qi and contracted her muscles and tendons.

She wanted to ambush her opponent with Flying Dragon Takedown, which could decide the outcome of the match in one move.

After using the Confrontation Formula, Lou Cheng changed his hand seal slightly. The ancient word was modified as he shouted in a low voice,

"Forwarding!"

Following which, his back and legs spit out light blue flames as he appeared at the vicinity of Tang Zexun with speed close to Shunpo.

Forwarding Formula, Counter Jet Spray!

Pa! Lou Cheng extended his right hand and pressed down on Tang Zexun's sword hilt as he cancelled her ability to use Flying Dragon Takedown.

Pa!

While Tang Zexun was in shock, Lou Cheng threw a punch with his left hand and connected on the sword's hilt and arm of his opponent.

After using Fire Force for some time, his balance teetered on the edge of losing control. Chilling Cold flooded out rapidly and sealed Tang Zexun within the transparent wall block.

Although this was quickly melted by the high temperatures, it still caused Tang Zexun to lag a little.

Among Physical Invulnerability experts, a moment was enough to decide the match. Lou Cheng swung his left elbow, threw a punch, and stopped right in front of her forehead.

Tang Zexun was still in a daze. She couldn't understand the language, but knew the name that came after,

"Lou Cheng wins!"