Naked Sword Art

"Are you ready?"

.

.

.

In the attempt to scare Xiao Fang, Gao Liwen gave him a brief preview of how powerful her cultivation weapon was. However, Xiao Fang didn't react to it at all. She couldn't tell if he was really blind or just paralyzed with fear. Thinking about the latter made her smirk.

"Gao Liwen, do you have no shame!?" Ye Ming suddenly shouted.

Unlike the whips Gao Liwen used against Ye Ming earlier, the one she was carrying now was not made of Qi, it was instead a high-grade cultivation weapon.

"Shame? Wouldn't I be going easy on him otherwise? I have a lot to lose here you know," Gao Liwen said sarcastically. "Besides, you saw the way he cut my whip earlier. If anything, this just makes us even. Wouldn't you agree, Long Wang?" she asked.

She smiled at him innocently as if she was doing nothing wrong, but Xiao Fang didn't care.

"When do we begin," he replied.

"The time starts... now," Gao Liwen said as she winded her whips back.

With her golden whip in hand, she wasted no time in attacking Xiao Fang. At the same time, 50 illusions of the Golden Whip suddenly appeared.

Seeing all the whips in the air, Yan Mei and Ye Ming quickly closed their eyes in fear. However, Xiao Fang stood his ground and waited for them to come.

[ Spirit Perception ]

His violet eyes turned blue as he could see all the Qi in front of him through his blindfold, and what he saw was Gao Liwen's [ Golden Whip ] shining in gold, while all her illusions glowed in white.

Although he could win without it, he continued to use the technique for safe measure since she was also a Profound realm cultivator like him.

The illusionary whips rained down on them, but they immediately dissipated back into Illusory Qi the moment they hit the ground. When the real whips finally came, Xiao Fang finally raised his sword.

Tzzzzs~

The sound of metal on metal sounded out as Xiao Fang raised his sword, and what followed was the sound of Gao Liwen shock.

"What!?" Gao Liwen said in disbelief.

Yan Mei and Ye Ming both opened their eyes when they heard Gao Liwen's voice. Although they could tell that Xiao Fang had successfully blocked her attack, that wasn't the reason Gao Liwen was so surprised.

Gao Liwen only paused for a fraction of a second before she winded her whip back again, but Xiao Fang blocked the next attack just the same.

Yan Mei and Ye Ming finally gasped in shock when they realized what happened. Xiao Fang was not only blocking her attacks, he did so without flinching to any of her illusions. If they weren't here to witness it themselves, they never would've believed it.

Gao Liwen continued to attack him faster and faster, as she gradually added more strength into her swings. She didn't want to use more than 30% of her strength against since she believed he was only in the Core realm, but the more he blocked her attacks the less she worried about holding back.

'It's almost like he can't see any of my illusions. Could this be why Chen Li was so interested in him,' Gao Liwen thought.

...

"Look at it go!"

"Her whip is so strong"

"Unbelievable."

Gao Liwen's underlings said. They rarely ever seen Gao Liwen use her high-grade spirit whip, so they couldn't take their eyes off it. Gao Zexian, however, couldn't stop staring at Xiao Fang as a single thought echoed in her head.

'It was him.'

...

Only 5 seconds had gone by since they started, but neither of them had taken a single step. Despite not moving their legs, Xiao Fang had still blocked over 20 of Gao Liwen's attacks.

'Did he really just come from the Outer Court this year?' Gao Liwen thought.

Whether that was true or not didn't really matter now. It was about time she ended this.

Gao Liwen suddenly began to move in an acrobatic fashion. Seeing that she was taking it a bit more seriously, Xiao Fang slightly adjusted his footing.

'Striking Snake!' Gao Liwen's underlings thought with excitement when they recognized the technique.

To their surprise, Xiao Fang still deflected the attack, but it didn't end there. Before Xiao Fang could even notice, the whip quickly wrapped around his sword.

"This-"

~crack~

Seeing the blade crack, Xiao Fang quickly let go of Ye Ming's sword, letting Gao Liwen pull it away and throw it off to the side.

Seeing Ye Ming's sword stuck in the ground, Xiao Fang quickly dashed towards it. However, that was exactly what Gao Liwen was hoping for.

With a smirk on her face, more spirit Qi flowed from her body to her whip as she prepared to execute the 2nd level of her [ Striking Snake ] technique. After performing the same acrobatic movements, Gao Liwen's whip shot straight for Xiao Fang again, but this time strands of Qi in the shape of snakes also accompanied it.

Xiao Fang attempted to dodge them, but he wasn't a very nimble person.

[ Illusory Clone ]

Xiao Fang immediately created 3 Illusory Clones, but they didn't last long against all the snake-like Qi shooting at him like arrows.

The moment one of the snakes hit his body, he grunted in pain as it pushed him back. Despite how small they were, they certainly packed a punch. Xiao Fang didn't expect it at all.

Although he dodged her whip, the snake-like strands of Qi still bruised his skin and pushed him back.

Gao Liwen's brows suddenly became knitted. The strands of Qi that hit him were not weak. They each contained her Profound Qi, so unless he was also in the Profound realm, he shouldn't even be able to stand.

If she attacked him at full strength, she feared that she might accidentally kill him. The amount of trouble she would be in if she did was not worth it. So she did her best to hold back against him. However, if he was really in the Profound realm like her, then that changes everything.

'Could he really be a Profound realm cultivator? He's not even giving off any aura,' she thought in frustration.

"5 seconds left," Xiao Fang reminded her with a smirk.