My Clones Can Cultivate

Chapter 115

Yuexin, of course, knew for certain that the battle between her and Xueyi wouldn’t be anything easy for her to blitz through; no, scratch that, she knew for certain that this battle would be a really tough one for her to win.

Xueyi was not just strong, but she was also at the peak of the Qi Refining Realm, while Li Yuexin was only at the first stage of the Qi Refining Realm. She took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled, her blue eyes shining slightly as she took her battle stance once more.

Xueyi also took her battle stance as the two prepared to go all out against each other once again. The audience, every single one of them, waited eagerly for the second clash, as the first exchange had been nothing short of spectacular.

Of course, many of the audience members... especially the ordinary people... had not been able to properly see the battle; after all, they were not cultivators, and even the weaker cultivators struggled to keep up with the movements of the two girls whenever they clashed.

As for the common folk, they couldn’t follow their movements at all; even so, they still enjoyed the fast-paced exchanges and breathtaking collisions between the two sides.

"Go, Xueyi!"

"Go, Yuexin!"

The names of the two girls echoed throughout the arena as the crowd cheered for both of them. This time, the support was almost equal; not truly equal, however, since more people still wanted Yuexin to win, but Xueyi had gathered quite a large number of supporters as well.

Xueyi grinned before rushing forward once again. Yuexin met her halfway, and once more the two started exchanging attacks at astonishing speed. The very air whistled as strike after strike marked and scarred the battle stage.

Yuexin was skilled, and the same could be said for Xueyi as well; she was also incredibly skilled. In addition to possessing sword skills that rivaled even Yuexin’s own, she was also faster and physically stronger than Yuexin, which wasn’t surprising at all.

After all, no matter how exceptional Yuexin was, she was still only at the first stage of the Qi Refining Realm, while Xueyi had already stepped into the peak of that very realm. The gap in their cultivation wasn’t something that could simply be overlooked.

Although the two appeared to be matching each other speed for speed and strength for strength, Yuexin knew for certain that wasn’t truly the case; rather, Xueyi wasn’t fully going all out yet.

Of course, Yuexin wasn’t going all out either, but she truly didn’t believe that even if she unleashed her full strength, it would be enough to take down someone like Xueyi.

If it all came down to it, and she still couldn’t defeat her with everything she had, then she would have no other choice but to rely on the bloody side of herself. Still, she truly hoped it wouldn’t come to that; she hoped she wouldn’t be pushed that far.

After all, she still didn’t have complete control over that bloody side of herself, and if she lost control, she might do something she was never supposed to do. For Xueyi’s sake, and to avoid being disqualified, she sincerely hoped she wouldn’t be forced to call upon that other side.

The battle between the two became fiercer and fiercer as they continued to clash, their figures blurred across the battle stage, and the ground quaked and trembled beneath the force of their attacks.

The constant, razor-sharp whistle of blades cutting through the air echoed again and again, as though even the wind itself wasn’t spared beneath the relentless strikes of the two female titans battling one another.

The stage suffered more and more damage; at first, the marks carved into the stone had been nothing more than shallow scratches, not even an inch deep, but as the battle continued, those marks became deeper and deeper, longer and longer, and sharper and sharper.

Eventually, the stage looked as though it had been carved apart by a gigantic sword. But, of course, that wasn’t what had happened; instead, every scar decorating the arena had been left behind by the fierce battle between the two female warriors.

After a long while of fighting, a thunderous bang echoed throughout the arena, followed by a piercing whistle so sharp it seemed capable of splitting the air itself apart.

The two girls disengaged from one another; Yuexin landed first, her breathing beginning to grow slightly labored, and small droplets of crimson blood slowly dripped from her hand. Her blue eyes glanced at the blood trickling down before calmly lifting back toward Xueyi, who looked as though she was having the time of her life.

"Sister Yuexin, you are really strong. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought you were a late-stage expert."

She grinned as her lively eyes gleamed with a playful edge. Blood also dripped from the wound on her upper arm, but she paid it no attention; instead, she felt it was finally time to step things up. The warm-up was over. It was time to fight for real.

"You should do the same, Sister Yuexin... or else you really will lose."

Yuexin merely gave her a blank stare. She wasn’t planning to stand around idly and lose either; she had already decided, it was time to take this battle to the next stage as well. Around Li Yuexin, her refined qi exploded outward, and her body was enhanced to its absolute limit.

At the same time, her focus sharpened as she prepared to use her battle arts. There didn’t seem to be any way for her to win this battle by relying solely on her pure skills; after all, not only was Xueyi highly skilled, but she was also stronger, faster, and overall more powerful.

So she would have to make use of her combat arts now and take her down before she became even more troublesome than she already was. With that, Yuexin charged forward at an insane speed, rushing straight toward Xueyi. Xueyi raised an eyebrow in slight shock.

After all, everyone knew that their speed, strength, and every aspect of their physical abilities could be boosted by circulating qi throughout their bodies. Normally, for an ordinary gathered qi cultivator in the Qi Gathering Realm, it would only grant around a thirty percent increase in physical ability, which was already a tremendous boost.

But Qi Refining cultivators stood on an entirely different level; instead of a thirty percent increase, they could achieve up to a sixty percent enhancement in their physical capabilities, which was already a massive leap.

Yet right now, she could swear that Yuexin’s speed and overall physical ability had increased by nearly a hundred percent; it had practically doubled. That was shocking.

Yuexin’s sword flashed from her side, slashing straight toward Xueyi’s waist.

Her aim was to deliver an attack that Xueyi would have little to no way of blocking, but as always, Xueyi managed to block it. From the aura surrounding her, Yuexin knew for certain that she had also chosen to enhance her body with her refined qi.

"I thought I was the only one who received such a boost whenever I enhanced my body with qi. I have to admit, Sister Yuexin... you never fail to impress me."

Xueyi smiled softly before suddenly striking toward Yuexin’s face. Yuexin twisted her body and kicked off the ground, narrowly evading the attack before landing lightly several steps away.

But she knew she wasn’t safe, so immediately, she struck with full force, holding nothing back. Her sword arrived just in time to intercept Xueyi’s follow-up attack that had been aimed directly at her side.

"How did you know I was going to strike there?" Xueyi asked.

Yuexin pushed her back before a faint smile appeared on her face.

"Many things might have changed about you," she said as she threw a spinning kick, releasing a crescent-shaped qi strike that shot toward Xueyi.

Sensing that the attack was anything but weak, Xueyi slashed outward, shattering the incoming qi attack, but hidden behind that strike, Yuexin had already arrived. Her sword thrust forward. Xueyi barely managed to block it, but to her dismay, Yuexin had already expected that outcome.

Two sharp qi punches exploded from Yuexin’s fists almost instantly. They struck Xueyi before she could properly react, throwing her off balance.

A Gale Whip followed immediately after; although Xueyi managed to raise her daggers to block it, the immense force behind the attack blasted her backward several meters before she finally managed to steady herself. Yuexin continued calmly, "...You are still just as bratty as when we first met."

The only reason Yuexin had managed to land so many attacks in succession was because she understood Xueyi’s behavior better than almost anyone else, especially during combat.

Whenever someone struck her first, Xueyi always wanted revenge; she instinctively attacked the exact place where her opponent had attacked her. And just now, she had done exactly that. After Yuexin’s slash toward her waist had been blocked, Xueyi instinctively retaliated by aiming for Yuexin’s side. Yuexin had predicted that response perfectly.

Using that habit against her, she chained together multiple attacks in one smooth sequence. And whenever Xueyi was struck more than once in quick succession, she became tense and abandoned her usual calculated approach.

That was another habit Yuexin knew well; after all, the two of them had dueled countless times over the years. Using those little habits against her had allowed Yuexin to land several solid blows, but they were still far from enough to defeat Xueyi.

Xueyi lowered her head. Anyone seeing her at that moment would probably think she was troubled or annoyed after being outplayed twice in a row by someone from a weaker realm, or perhaps frustrated that she had been outsmarted.

But they couldn’t have been more wrong; Xueyi wasn’t frowning, nor did she wear the face of someone who was angry. In fact, she was grinning. Blood dripped slowly from the corner of her mouth as the smile on her face widened.

"This is it... I was really silly, thinking I could go easy on you... and still win."

She rose to her feet and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand before licking the remaining trace away.

"Okay... I can now affirm for certain that you are strong, Sister Yuexin. There will be no need for me to hold back anymore."

With that, her purple hair seemed to rise slightly as power exploded from her body.

Not only her hair, but every inch of her body seemed to brim with power, all of it coming from the immense amount of refined qi stored within her refined qi beads. She was circulating a considerable amount of refined qi.. far more than what Li Yuexin was currently using.

But Yuexin, of course, didn’t dare imitate her; after all, unlike herself, who possessed only one refined qi bead, Xueyi possessed ten refined qi beads. The gap between them was simply that great.

There was no way Yuexin could enhance herself with that much refined qi; if she tried, she would exhaust herself far too quickly. And now that Xueyi had decided to do this, she wouldn’t be running out of qi anytime soon, meaning Yuexin was about to enter an extremely troublesome battle.

"And I really don’t want to fight her..."

Before she could even finish that thought, Xueyi’s figure blurred. She attacked with full force, with full lethality, with absolute brutality, and with astonishing skill. Yuexin was immediately forced onto the defensive as she began struggling against the endless barrage of attacks.

Fortunately, with her exceptionally high mastery of combat, she could predict the shifts in battle, and with strength and skill that weren’t too far behind Xueyi’s own, she was able to hold her ground. One attacked; the other defended.

Yet the two performed those opposing actions with such grace and fluidity that any swordsman watching would almost be moved to tears in admiration. The two moved as though they were locked within an endless dance, every movement flowing into another through incredibly complex yet beautiful steps.

Once again, the crowd became entranced by the breathtaking display of skill shown by the two young ladies.

"When did Guan Xueyi learn to fight like that?"

Li San couldn’t help but ask as he looked toward Guan Ju. The latter stroked his beard proudly.

"I taught her, of course," he said.

"What? Are you jealous that she has surpassed your so-called number one genius in swordplay, which was supposed to be Yuexin’s greatest strength?" Guan Ju asked mockingly.

Li San merely gave him a blank stare before shaking his head.

"You truly have no shame whatsoever. We all know you suck at using the sword. Even a low-level apprentice swordsman’s skills would look like a god-level technique compared to your garbage swordsmanship."

Guan Ju opened his mouth to retort, but immediately shut it again after seeing Li San’s gaze. It clearly said, "Watch your words. I’m not in a good mood."

He swallowed every insult he had been about to throw out, because if he actually offended the already irritated Li San, he shook his head; he didn’t even want to imagine what would happen to him. So he wisely kept his mouth shut and turned his attention back toward the battle on the stage.

Of course, his earlier claim about personally teaching Xueyi was nothing but complete nonsense; he barely knew anything about swordplay, just as swordsmanship had never been the specialty of the Guan Clan. Everything Xueyi knew regarding the sword, she had learned by herself.

She was exceptionally skilled, but talent alone wasn’t the reason she had reached such a terrifying level; rather, it was because of her consistency, her relentless training.

As cute and playful as she appeared on the outside, she was, in truth, the most hardworking disciple in the entire Guan Clan. That, coupled with her monstrous talent and natural genius, had allowed her to become someone capable of rivaling even Haoran, the greatest genius ever to appear within the Guan Clan.

Guan Ju shifted his gaze toward his daughter, Guan Xiu, who was still receiving treatment. Although she looked far better than when she had first been carried away from the arena, he couldn’t help but sigh; if only his daughter possessed sword skills even half as refined as Xueyi’s, he would have been incomparably proud.

The two fighters suddenly disengaged. The battle stage where they had fought already looked as though it had been completely devastated; if before it had merely seemed as though a giant sword had slashed across it several times, now it looked as though countless gigantic swords had repeatedly struck it from every direction.

Xueyi’s cheerful voice, unchanged from the very beginning, rang across the arena:

"Sister Yuexin... let’s stop warming up and fight for real."

Her words caused the expressions of everyone watching... cultivators and ordinary people alike... to twitch violently. Their gazes shifted from the two warriors, to the battle stage that looked as though it was on the verge of falling apart from their clashes, then back toward the two girls once more.

Every single person present had the exact same thought screaming inside their minds: "How in the world can you call this... warming up?"