Alyss could see the minute changes within Qiu Qiu's attack.
That arrogance had disappeared and in return, there was a newfound calmness within her attack.
A smile appeared on her face as Alyss replied in kind.
As their swords clashed, both fighters were sent sliding back.
"Not bad!" Alyss laughed.
Now that they had their Sigils returned, their strength had multiplied significantly!
Just a single clash caused the ground beneath them to crack apart as Qiu Qiu immediately followed up with the next attack.
She was not overjoyed by the praise. In fact, she didn't feel anything.
Her mind was entirely focused on the next attack, the next gap in the defence.
She could see exactly how strong Alyss was.
The countless false openings, the way she shifted her foot in order to anticipate the next move.
How Alyss's eye scanned her body, observing the muscle movements.
'She's stronger than I thought.' Qiu Qiu thought to herself, following up with Soul Chaser.
Since Alyss wasn't showing a proper opening, she had to create one herself.
Seeing the focus in Qiu Qiu's eyes, Alyss didn't banter any longer.
Her body flickered into three movements.
"!!!" Qiu Qiu's eyes darted across the after images, she had to find the real one and soon!
"Took too long." Alyss's voice rang out behind her.
Quickly raising her guard, she was barely able to block a kick before rolling across the ground.
Recovering her stance, she tried to reactive her offensive Zone but it was a tad too late.
The biggest downside with this all offensive zone was defence!
Once the offence is broken, it was hard to recover.
'Don't panic, observe.' Qiu Qiu forced herself to calm down.
Win or lose, it didn't matter.
What mattered was the next move, the next attack.
How can she apply herself to create the biggest annoyance for Alyss? How can she attack in a way that causes her opponent to lose their footing?
Just as Alyss was about to release a stab move, Qiu Qiu immediately dropped her centre of gravity to the point she was practically laying on the floor.
However, her posture wasn't broken!
This instant drop was anticipated by Alyss thanks to the Absolute Zone but it was still surprising to see.
The speed of which Qiu Qiu was able to relax her entire body deserved praise as Alyss adjusted her attack.
Kicking up with her foot, Qiu Qiu was barely able to fend off the attack as the two jumped back, created some distance between them and returning the state of the battle to zero.
Seeing this rapid intense exchange, the crowd was now less worried about Alyss's identity and more enraptured by the battle itself.
Some of them even recognised Qiu Qiu's fighting style and discovered who she was.
Once Qiu Qiu's identity came to light, they started to think that this was more of a performance for the festival rather than a wanted person crashing the event.
However, their cheers didn't effected Qiu Qiu.
Taking a deep breath, she calmed her breathing and entered an offensive stance once more.
Meanwhile, Alyss decided to take this a little more seriously. Right now, Qiu Qiu was in a state of extreme focus.
All of the outside noise was simply ignored.
The perfect state to learn and make adjustments. And the best way to do that was to force Qiu Qiu to trust her instincts!
Break apart her Zone, expose the weakness and make her aware. Force her to understand the gaps and make her amend it!
Only then, would it become a passive Zone, granting her defensive movement.
Activating her fastest movement, Alyss immediately closed the gap, causing Qiu Qiu to widen her eyes in shock.
Now that her Sigils have been returned, her perception was boosted greatly. Yet it was still unable to fully capture Alyss's movements.
An upward cleave to break the guard, forcing Qiu Qiu to take a step back in an attempt to recover.
Forcing another step back, Alyss released a horizontal sweep to break her guard once more.
Gritting her teeth, Qiu Qiu needed to adjust her grip on the sword.
Right now, the guard was being broken too easily. With the gap in power, the offensive Zone was actually causing a detriment to her!
Discard what you don't need!
Deactivating the offensive Zone, Qiu Qiu decided to fight back using Killing Arc.
But in doing so, Qiu Qiu's attention was too focused on Alyss's weapon and forgot to take into account of her footwork.
A leg sweep from behind broke Qiu Qiu's stance.
As she was falling back, Alyss grabbed her arm, giving her a smile before tossing her over the head, allowing her to recover.
She needed to bridge this gap between them.
Her form shifted to one that Alyss was familiar with.
Ghostly flames manifested next to her while bandages appeared around her body.
Qiu Qiu's body turned into a blur but Alyss was unphased.
There was a glaring gap in this charge.
Widening her eyes in pain, Qiu Qiu's slash was cut short as Alyss interrupted her attack, kicking her in the stomach.
"Not every attack needs to be fully carried out. Adjust and adapt, make changes depending on your situation." Alyss smiled, twisting her body and performing a round house kick to push Qiu Qiu back.
Sliding across the arena, Qiu Qiu took the lesson to heart as she sheathed her blade.
Taking a heavy step forward, her energy burst out as she activated her second Resonance!
She didn't care that all of her trump cards were being shown to the people around her right now.
What she cared about was becoming stronger than before. To pick apart her fighting style with Alyss and discard the unnecessary parts.
Six realms five desires!
Seeing Qiu Qiu using her second Resonance, Alyss smiled as she rested her blade on her shoulder.
If it was before, Qiu Qiu would've thought that Alyss was holding back or mocking her.
But now, she wasn't phased. She knew that Alyss wasn't the kind to drop her guard.
In fact, she could sense the surging energy converging towards her location!
Activating her own resonance, Alyss's form shifted.
As two souls sharing one body, her resonance was somewhat different to Alice's resonance that caused the spider lilies to blossom.
A graveyard manifested around her with countless blackened limbs breaking out from the ground, wrapping around her body.
Destroying the limbs, Alyss's form came into view. Crackling violet flames soon transformed into a strange pale blue fire.
The instant Alyss activated her resonance, Qiu Qiu saw death.
Or rather, the overwhelming ways that Alyss could attack her. A net of inescapable attacks blocked her vision, causing her entire body to freeze up.
One moment, one decision.
Run away or fight the raging current.
Once again, Qiu Qiu felt a familiar sensation open its doors to her.
The delicate balance and point between life and death.
A smile appeared on her face as she sheathed her blade and tightened her grip around the handle.
The boundary of her Zone expanded in an instant, clashing against Alyss's Zone.
Instant Draw – Transcendent Samsara!
Wheels behind her began to spin before stopping around the Deva path and Desire of Form.
Her figure turned into a blur with Alyss revealing a smirk.
Narrowing her gaze, dismissed her blade and aimed her palm towards Qiu Qiu.
A skill that she created during the arena fight in Caethis.
An attack to destroy the 'core', whether that be in weapons, attacks or the human body. At this moment, all Alyss could see was glaring red where weakness was spotted.
Using her fastest footwork, Alyss appeared before Qiu Qiu and pulled back her arm.
The flames roared and condensed into a layer of energy around her as she punched forward directly into Qiu Qiu's blade.
Identifying the weak point of the weapon, her punch shattered the blade in an instant, forcefully breaking Qiu Qiu's attack before slamming into her chest.
Widening her eyes, Qiu Qiu's body crashed back into the wall as blood seeped from her mouth.
Her strongest attack in her strongest state was broken but a smile could be seen on her face.
As the last vestiges of her resonance shattered apart, she collapsed on the ground in satisfaction.
After all, she saw it.
Even though her final attack lost the contest of power, it wounded Alyss's arm.
A blade aura so sharp that a cut could be seen travelling up Alyss's arm, bypassing the protective layer of energy.
While it wasn't enough to kill, being able to land a blow against someone as strong as Alyss gave Qiu Qiu a different sense of pride.
But more than that, she gained more ideas on how to modify her strongest move.
The weakness became glaring and it was going to be hard to adjust. However, she could now see the path forward.
Shaking her arm, Alyss watched as the wound regenerated with an impressed smile on her face.
'She'll make a fine rival for Jin.' She concluded with Alice folding her arms in agreement.
But now that Alyss has had her fill, it was her turn to test out her casting.
Swapping positions with Alyss, Alice glanced up at Sect Leader Jian with a knowing smile.
He could see it in her eyes.
She was far from done.
'Dear ancestors what did I even do to deserve this?'