I looked at the little girl who was slightly smaller than I was.

I'm quite sure she's younger than Dong Yun An.

I heard many rumours about her. The youngest genius of the sect, the Qi-forming-stage midway seven-year-old (she has reached the fourth level of Qi forming), the little devil... just to name a few.

“Before you two fight. Yin Yu. Control your power.”

“Yes, master.”

“And Yun An. I know this is redundant, considering your reason. However, Yin Yu is not the same as Yin Lin or Shi Xin. You can not win against her. I won’t stop you from fighting her, but consider surrendering in mind. Prolonging the inevitable brings nothing good for you nor her.”

“This junior understands, senior.”

“You may start anytime.” With that, senior Fang Yun retreated.

“Soundless palm!”

Yin Yu unleashed a barrage of palm strikes from afar.

I struggle to dodge them. A few targeted my feet, leaving a-centimeter-deep imprints on the pavement.

She quickly concentrated qi into her rearranged knifehand. The knifehand emitted a blue colour.

“Invisible Sword!”

I barely jumped high enough to avoid the horizontal attack.

The wind pressure just passed my soles, but Yin Yu has already made another attack with her hand chop.

This technique is similar to the Lightning Slash used by her brother except one thing; Lightning Slash is a melee technique, while Invisible Sword, one of the signature move of the sect, is a range assault.

A quick tap of my right foot sent me to the side, away from the coming attack.

Closer to the audiences, I picked up their chats.

“Yin Yu plays it really safe, huh?”

“So what? Playing it safe is better than playing it dumb.” A high-pitch voice retorted. “What use is there to lose a fight when you can just win by not doing something stupid?”

I turned my body half a step.

Three tiles receive a dark cut, forming a crescent shape.

Thanks to my instinct spotting the chilling pressure, I didn’t share the fate with the pavement. Ought to focus.

Yin Yu’s Invisible Sword went on with their onslaught. She appeared to have decided to press me into a corner. The amount of qi she has expended must be sizable, but she didn't look like she would stop anytime soon. This would be problematic since I couldn’t dodge forever. My stamina was draining, while unsure about her status.

Several more attacks went by, and her assaults were letting up. The delay between the attacks was getting longer.

This situation begged the question.

Is the desperation in her eyes for real? Is this an opportunity or a feint?

There were a lot to consider. First of all, one of her titles was the little devil. Secondly, she acted cheeky and innocent to the point that it was hard to tell her thinking. Thirdly, what I just thought could have been her mind game. I couldn’t discern what her intention was because whatever my decision would be, it would be equally bad.

If it was a feint, I would fall into her trap if I try to attack. If I don’t try, I can run out of stamina before her. Even if I choose to abide, how can I tell when she is truly tired?

Only one choice seemed plausible. Let me see what she got for me.

With no mean for range attack, I reluctantly prepared to go into melee.

If something happens, let just improvise on the go then.

While steering toward her, I assured the evasion was minimal to avoid sacrificing too much speed and energy.

The moment I was eight steps from her, the cat was out of the bag.

It was subtle but her pupils dilated slightly. It was the indicator of excitement, of joy.

One big diagonal slash came down to my location. On the receiving end, I had to make use of my full body to dodge. Making such a big movement would leave me out of position to defend. She wouldn’t let this chance go to waste...

... and surely she was.

Yin Yu lunged at me. The short-range bombardment of the palm strikes landed three hits on the left side: shoulder, waist, and thigh. My facial muscles moved according to the aches.

Fortunately, this predicament could be a chance. Hopefully, I could inflict some form of damage.

My hands-to-hands exchange with her ended with me eating a kick in the face.

I decided to drop the sword. It was nothing but a stick in my hand. It can’t pierce the qi skin. It also doesn’t have weight like a staff. Even if it has more reach than my fists and kicks, I can’t do damage with it.

She punched me twice in my ribs which I repaid with three fists that actually pushed me back instead of her. She must have done something like Shi Xin did and glued her feet to the ground.

She scoffed at my attacks and balanced our score with the third punch, this one I caught her by the wrist but the power behind her hand pushed me back through the same hand that caught it.

Anyway, I made a throw like I did in two other matches. She was surprisingly less resistant than Shi Xin. Then a pain exploded on my chest, forcing me to let go of her arm while she was midair.

Being released, Yin Yu gracefully landed faraway on her feet.

Hmm. Interesting. That was a big move. Big enough that I could feel the qi rampaging across my body. Big and lasting enough that I could attempt to grab it while being forceful.

I see.

Registering for this tournament was the right thing to do. Now that I knew what I needed to do. This has become awfully simple.