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Thousand Feather Crane and Yun Sushang were shocked, and they were too late to stop what was in motion.
Angia was a top Earl. Even they didn't think they could beat him. Yun Suyi had only just become an Earl, so it was highly unlikely she'd win.
Fortunately, this was Sky Palace. Even if she lost, her life wouldn't be in danger.
Yun Sushang still felt sick, though. She knew Yun Suyi could not stand ill words being said about Han Sen, and that was why she was stepping forward.
Angia watched the elegantly dressed lady walk towards him. He looked surprised. He smiled and said, "Sister Yun must have only just become an Earl. If I remember correctly, the Yun family specializes in swords. I would feel terrible if I defeated you."
"The Yun family's swordskills are strong, so it would not be all that impressive if I used swordskills to win. I have, however, learned a few knifeskills from Han Sen. I wager that will be enough," Yun Suyi said coldly. Then she drew Ice Knife.
Angia frowned. He knew Yun Suyi was Yun Changkong's daughter, and it would be bad for him to offend her. But the Feathers had prepared the Blood Feather Knife for the third elder, so he couldn't hand it over to Yun Suyi instead. Yun Suyi had just become an Earl, too. If he lost to her, it would actually damage his own reputation. People would think he had deliberately thrown a match just to please a woman. It'd look terrible.
Angia raced to think of a way out, but Yun Suyi had already drawn her knife. He couldn't tell her he wasn't going to fight. So, after a moment of thought, Angia concocted a new scheme.
"If Sister Yun is this interested, then I will agree to the contest. Please..." Angia pulled out a jade knife as he smiled to her.
He planned to only block her attacks in order to make her feel her inferiority. If she refused to quit, he would concede. That way, people would simply think he was a gentleman who wouldn't fight a woman.
Yun Suyi bowed with her Ice Knife, and then she slashed. She used the knifeskill Under the Sky.
Yun Suyi could not withstand Angia's mocking of Han Sen, but she knew that she hadn't mastered Under the Sky yet.
After all, not many people would use Under the Sky to fight. All her experience with it had come from Han Sen himself. Han Sen told her she had finished learning it, though, and all she had to do was keep practicing with it. She had no idea how powerfully she might be able to use it in a real contest.
And when Yun Suyi attacked, Angia's face changed. His plan vanished in a puff of smoke as he saw a woman that looked like a ravenous wolf coming for him. He immediately became tense.
It was just one slash, but Angia could feel wisps of a most dangerous presence rising from that skill.
Angia was careful, and so he responded seriously. He started to cast Judgment Knife to retaliate, and he looked more serious now than he had when beating down Strong Cow.
After Yun Suyi slashed once, she was on the move. Before the knife air completed its attack, she slashed another two times.
Angia lifted his knife and retreated. He used his knifeskills to fight back.
Thousand Feather Crane and Yun Sushang were frozen. They had seen Under the Sky before, as the Yun family had created and developed it. But they knew not many people made use of it, due to how fatal its flaws could be. If an opponent caught wind of the technique's flaw during a fight, it could lead to an opening and the subsequent death of the user.
But Yun Suyi's Under the Sky seemed very different to Thousand Feather Crane and Yun Sushang. They could not tell what had changed, but it was obvious that the biggest problems of the skill had vanished under Yun Suyi's casting.
How strong was Under the Sky? This question had an answer in Yun Suyi.
In the beginning, Yun Suyi was nervous and her movements were unnatural. She soon noticed that, after using the skill, Angia was following her lead. It was just like how she practiced, and now she felt safe.
Yun Suyi remembered Han Sen told her that unless the opponent was much stronger than her, as long as she pulled off the first strike, none could beat her. The first strike was not random; it would home in on the opponent's weakness. That was how Under the Sky began.
Once the opponent blocked the first strike, Under the Sky would keep on coming. It was like a target-lock on the opposing fighter that would trap them in the skill.
Unless the opponent's mind could see through destiny, they could not escape the trap that was Under the Sky. They would end up like a puppet, locked into following Under the Sky until they were completely trapped.
Yun Suyi usually fought Han Sen, and she knew Han Sen's knifemind was only one step away from being deified.
The pressure Han Sen put upon Yun Suyi was nothing like fighting Angia. She was used to Han Sen's strength, and dealing with Angia was easy, by comparison. The pressure was nowhere near on the same level.
Thousand Feather Crane and the other students looked upon Yun Suyi in shock as she kept swinging her Ice Knife. Her attacks seemed almost carefree. And in front of her was Angia, who now looked awfully grim. His forehead was dripping with sweat as he tried to escape her onslaught.
Angia was like a puppet now. He couldn't cast any knifeskills anymore. Every time he tried to, Yun Suyi interrupted him halfway through with a perfectly placed attack. So, he would end up falling back again.
Angia prepared to use a skill that would injure them both, but then, he noticed he couldn't even do that. Yun Suyi was striking before he could cast a single thing. He began to feel like there was some invisible wire tangling him up, and it was getting tighter and tighter. So much so that he couldn't use his talents. He wanted to start coughing up blood.
If Angia had been someone like Lone Bamboo, who could put his knife away before destiny, then he might have been able to escape Under the Sky. But he wasn't that strong.
The entire arena was frozen. No one expected Yun Suyi to be this strong. Even Thousand Feather Crane and Yun Sushang were frozen in disbelief.
"How is that possible? Her Under the Sky has no flaw!" Thousand Feather Crane mumbled to himself.
It was very shocking to see a fixed version of Under the Sky being used perfectly. This was something that was going to shock everyone from the elders to the leader himself.