As soon as they crossed swords, Ash felt extremely uncomfortable.
It wasn’t because his Blood Seed was continuously pumping his life energy into his opponent, nor was it because Silver Lamp’s combat power far surpassed his own.
In fact, after a day of trial rewards, Ash’s physical condition had rapidly improved. Even though he still couldn’t match the might of Silver Lamp with silver dragon blood, the gap wasn’t so large that Silver Lamp could simply trample him.
What made him uncomfortable was that Silver Lamp shared a similar level of ’senses’ with him.
Sweet words and a hidden dagger clashed with Chain Gloves, emitting a harsh, piercing sound. In that instant, Ash keenly sensed Silver Lamp’s subsequent moves, but Silver Lamp also perceived the various changes in his sword strike. Both their predictions reached the ultimate step, and then it was the clash of swords once again!
Several exchanges later, neither was wounded, but their pupils could hardly conceal their fatigue. I predict your prediction, and you predict mine; when both parties subconsciously made the optimal decisions, the battle turned into a tedious and tiring farce.
As if by an unspoken mutual understanding, they locked eyes, and brazenly entered into the most dangerous close-quarters battle! Since everyone had predictive abilities, they dragged the fight into a life-or-death quagmire of split-second decisions, using the swampy fear to affect the other’s judgment!
In a fight to the death, they both were full of confidence!
But this time, Ash didn’t abandon his sword; instead, he extended his arm, his long sword thrusting at an angle. Weiser slapped her left hand down, using the momentum to pivot and twirl, the long sword drawing an ellipse in the air and slicing again towards Weiser’s throat!
Water Moon Swordsmanship.
Even without the assistance of a Technique Spirit, Ash had distilled the essence of this miraculous technique during a dozen fights by recalling the Sword Maiden’s combat style, managing to display a defense and counterattack effect with mere human swordsmanship!
As a Truth Mage, Weiser naturally recognized the intricacies of this move. If she continued to thoroughly study this swordsmanship, perhaps she could directly summon the Water Moon Technique Spirit... However, the more exceptional Ash’s talents became, the more the killing intent boiled in her heart!
She knocked the long sword into the air and then, within two seconds, the two exchanged over a dozen attacks and defenses. Although Weiser blended various skills from the Senluo faction, Ash was grounded in Golden Level Fist Claw Faction, and indeed, he almost cried last night from the beating. But could the same moves be effective against him a second time?
Of course, they could.
Weiser wasn’t one to lazily sit by passively; if Ash could make huge strides forward in today’s trial, why couldn’t she innovate afresh?
Even without Technique Spirit and Magic Power, she was still a Truth Mage!
The long sword fell, and Ash immediately grabbed the hilt, swinging the reversed blade forward in a horizontal slash, forcing Weiser to retreat. But as Ash pressed his advantage, how could Weiser let him increase his lead? Her Chain Gloves snaked towards the blade, trying to wrest the weapon away.
What Weiser didn’t expect was that Ash would not only willingly abandon his sword but even actively thrust it into her hands, launching a fierce assault with his hands like tiger cannons.
Weiser too had a Silver Level swordsmanship Realm and instantly retaliated with blade dancing, but Ash parried her strikes barehanded, compelling her to abandon her sword to defend herself. Ash then reclaimed his sword and with two swift strikes, ripped open her clothes; if Weiser hadn’t dodged promptly, she might have been seriously wounded.
This was simply preposterous!
Weiser realized Ash was blending his Golden Level Sword Technique Faction prowess with that of the Golden Level Fist Claw Faction, capable of not only wielding the power of swordsmanship but also incorporating the agility of fist and claw into a chaotic and unpredictable maelstrom of attacks. His sword could be thrown into the air or shoved into her hands without hindering the close-quarters combat!
In other words, Ash was bullying her with his Magic Realm!
But even being at specific faction expertise didn’t mean he could freely integrate different factions. Even for a Truth Mage like Weiser, who mastered more than twenty Magic Factions, this was an extremely difficult feat.
Moreover, Ash had always been hiding behind the Sword Witch in the Void Realm, acting as nothing but a mascot. How could he possibly possess such combat genius? Weiser knew he wasn’t one to hide his power. On the contrary, he was the kind of person who’d say, ’I’ve become stronger, come and praise me.’ Therefore, his combat prowess could only be due to the trials of these past few days.
Throwing him into a trial where cries for help were unheard and unseen, and yet he made such tremendous progress?
Compared to Weiser’s shock, Ash was increasingly enjoying the fight, as if his entire being had started to float.
Even during that rainy night in Nabistin, when he single-handedly fought dozens from the Holy Domain, he vaguely felt that he was rapidly absorbing the Magic Experience shared by the witch and the Sword Maiden. However, after Liss took back the title of the First Gospel and he lost his portable enhancement, Ash naturally hit a level cap.
Forced into the trials, as his physical condition and senses improved, Ash felt the bottleneck in his level start to loosen. Now, in his private duel with Silver Lamp, facing an opponent whose fighting skills were on par with his own, Ash became braver with every move, finally fusing swordsmanship with Fist Claw into one!
Weiser accurately snatched the long sword back and cut, Ash tilting his head to dodge, yet his cheek was still grazed by the sword.
Even though he reclaimed his sword immediately, he could no longer rely on the gap in their Realms to continue extending his advantage.
The scales of battle once again balanced.
For Weiser had now anticipated all of his fighting moves.
Indeed, Ash’s skills may surpass Weiser’s, but had he achieved a crushing level of difference in their Realms? No.