Su Xiaomei looked thrilled, practically itching to have a go.
Yet she did not strike right away.
Her large eyes darted slightly, and she called out, "After you!" With that, she simply stood rooted to the spot.
For reasons unknown, Shuo Feng did not make a move either.
Instead, he also remained standing blankly in place, lingering without any sign of action.
Zhang Haobo eyed the two of them with suspicion, unable to make head or tail of what game they were playing.
After a long while, an awkward expression crept onto Shuo Feng's face. "Xiaomei, didn't you say you wanted to spar with me? Why aren't you making a move?"
Su Xiaomei replied in all seriousness, "My elder brother always taught me to respect the old and cherish the young when out in the world. You're so much older than me, so of course I have to let you strike first before I retaliate!"
Shuo Feng seemed taken aback by her words, staring blankly for a brief moment.
Then his expression turned solemn. "I appreciate your sentiment. But I am technically half a senior to you, so naturally I should yield to a junior."
"It's better if you strike first!"
"No, no, no, you go first..."
"You go first!"
...
Watching the bizarre spectacle of the two constantly deferring to each other, Zhang Haobo's expression turned decidedly peculiar.
*This man called Shuo Feng...*
Recalling how he had repeatedly provoked Shen Yurou earlier, along with that faint trace of disappointment on his face when he saw the other man had no intention of striking...
Zhang Haobo could not help feeling a flash of understanding.
"All right, looks like you've seen through it, Xiaomei. The cultivation method I practice is a bit peculiar." After another moment, seeing that the stalemate showed no sign of breaking, Shuo Feng stopped trying to hide it.
He confessed openly, "Unless I am attacked by someone else, I have no way of seizing the initiative. So please, Xiaomei, after you!"
Su Xiaomei looked thoroughly vindicated, sporting a rather smug expression.
Yet right after, her face grew stern.
A faint sheen of crimson flame surged over her body—she had deployed her Foundation Establishment wonder, the Spirit Wrath Fire, right from the opening move.
The air distorted in a blur, and in an instant, Su Xiaomei vanished from the spot.
Meanwhile, beside Shuo Feng, six identical figures materialized at the exact same time.
All of them bore Su Xiaomei's appearance, yet each wore a different expression.
Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, longing, and melancholy.
Even the flames enveloping each of them took on distinct colors.
The six clones encircled Shuo Feng, each launching a close-combat technique with a fist, palm, finger, kick, elbow, or shoulder.
Laced with a vibrant riot of colored flames, the strikes were about to crash into Shuo Feng.
"Flashy nonsense!"
Shuo Feng's voice rang out at that very moment.
A flash of white light streaked through the air.
It traced several sharp zigzags across the empty space.
*Bang!*
Without anyone realizing what had transpired, all six of Su Xiaomei's clones were struck in the blink of an eye.
They stalled in midair for a fraction of a second before a succession of sonic booms erupted, sending them hurtling backward at terrifying speed.
"Is that all..."
Before Shuo Feng could finish his sentence, the six flying bodies abruptly vanished.
They reappeared at Shuo Feng's side once more.
Moreover, their speed had not dropped in the slightest.
Only now, their trajectory was reversed, rocketing straight at Shuo Feng.
Another flare of white light flashed.
The six bodies were sent hurtling back once again.
Their speed was a notch faster than before.
Yet it was useless.
A mere moment later, Su Xiaomei's figures carried boiling flames and closed in on Shuo Feng at an even higher speed.
What greeted them was still a dazzling flash of white light.
They were knocked back once more.
...
The battle looped through this endless cycle.
The speed of Su Xiaomei's clones grew faster and faster.
And the flash of Shuo Feng's white light grew more and more frequent.
At this point, Zhang Haobo, who had been spectating for a long while, finally noticed a clue.
That white light was a sword.
A wooden sword.
Every time the white light flared, the wooden sword manifested.
Then Shuo Feng would use the flat of the blade to gently swat Su Xiaomei away.
*Such speed...* Zhang Haobo was shaken to the core.
Seeing how effortless Shuo Feng looked, he clearly was not going all out.
Even so, the power he displayed was utterly horrifying.
Zhang Haobo asked himself: if he were to swap places with Su Xiaomei right now, he would probably be defeated within just a few exchanges.
*Still, it looks like Xiaomei hasn't used her full strength either...*
In the center of the battlefield, Shuo Feng seemed to grow tired of this game of back-and-forth.
"Not bad. But it ends here!"
His expression sobered. This time, he switched to the sword's edge.
The white light blazed, sweeping across the six clones in rapid succession.
Countless silver threads burst from inside the clones' bodies.
In an instant, the clones were severed into innumerable fragments.
They scattered across the ground.
Yet neither Zhang Haobo nor Shuo Feng showed any change in expression.
"Hehe!"
"Wuwu!"
"Ah!"
...
All manner of sounds emerged from the severed fragments.
As if each possessed a consciousness of its own, they squirmed across the ground, drawing toward one another.
A moment later, they recombined back into six clones.
Following their "resurrection," the expressions on their respective faces seemed even more vivid.
"Intriguing." Besieged once again, the look on Shuo Feng's face finally grew a touch more serious.
Six identical wooden swords instantly appeared around him.
Each met one of Su Xiaomei's six clones.
While keeping the clones at bay, Shuo Feng swept his gaze across the surroundings, seemingly searching for something.
A moment later, a faint smile appeared on his face.
In the very next instant, Shuo Feng materialized sixty feet to his left, in a spot that appeared completely vacant.
Another wooden sword rested in his grasp as he swung it forward with a light flick.
A concealed figure was suddenly battered out of hiding by Shuo Feng's strike.
However, in the next second, the smile on Shuo Feng's face vanished.
For the expression on this hidden figure's face was steeped in sorrow.
It was not her true body, but the clone of melancholy!
Shattering the clone with a single slash, Shuo Feng glanced back toward where the other six clones had just been.
There, Su Xiaomei's true form playfully winked at him.
Expressionless, Shuo Feng set the six wooden swords in motion, cleanly cleaving the six bodies in two in an instant.
"Where else can you run?"
Looking at the debris of all seven figures, Shuo Feng narrowed his eyes.
"Run? I've been right here from the very beginning."
As if answering his words, Su Xiaomei's voice rang out from right behind Shuo Feng.
Her eyes turned crimson, and the fragments scattered all over the battlefield vanished in an instant, returning to her true self.
Six distinct expressions flickered rapidly across her face.
Finally, her expression locked onto fury.
Then, her aura surged dramatically as her innate divine ability was unleashed.
The crimson in her eyes spread outward, dyeing her hair blood-red.
An eightfold surge of power erupted all at once.
Su Xiaomei slammed a vicious punch right into Shuo Feng!
However...
A ripple of radiant light washed over the blue cloth robe Shuo Feng wore.
He did not budge an inch.
Only the hem of his robe fluttered slightly.
Not a single flicker of emotion crossed Shuo Feng's face.
Yet within his eyes, the phantom of a sword suddenly surfaced.
Right at that moment, Su Xiaomei let out a stream of sighs. "I'm done! This is no fun!"
Shuo Feng's movement paused slightly.
He turned his head back, looking toward the direction of Shixi Mountain where they had come from.
In an instant, heaven and earth seemed to brighten by several degrees.
A streak of sword light shot off toward the distance.
*Boom!*
It was as if it had struck something.
A distant rumble and a muffled grunt echoed faintly.
Watching a few peach blossom petals drifting slowly down in the distance, Shuo Feng gave a cold snort, closed his eyes, and recalled his sword.
...
Within the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Li Fan, who had taken in the entire battle, could not help but praise,
"Fine swordplay!"
Chapter 281