Chapter 39: Battle of Wits
All the surrounding crystals surged toward Xi, and in an instant, these crystals attached themselves to the two double rapiers in her hands.
The two rapiers became more ornate, yet puzzlingly, Xi released her grip on them, letting them float in midair.
Hum~
A wave of energy spread, and Xi visibly relaxed. But at that moment, a long blade slashed toward her neck—Su Xiao wasn’t about to give her time to activate her ability.
With a swish, the long blade passed through Xi’s neck, but there was no sensation of striking a solid body.
Su Xiao frowned slightly, leaping back a few meters while slashing repeatedly.
Pale blue slashes filled the air, shattering the crystals surging toward him, sending fragments flying in all directions.
Rumble~
The ground began to tremble. Xi extended her arms, and a massive sheet of crystal suddenly appeared, spreading toward Su Xiao with lightning speed.
Su Xiao was instantly enveloped in crystal. Xi clenched her fist, and the vast crystal formation exploded into a sphere, continuously compressing.
Crack, crack~
A terrifying crushing sound came from within the crystal sphere. The sphere crashed to the ground, creating a massive crater.
“Hah~”
Xi exhaled a turbid breath. Burning her life force to form crystal flames placed a tremendous burden on her, but without it, she couldn’t possibly face Su Xiao.
Crack~
A brittle sound, like a nightmare, echoed as the massive crystal sphere split open. Seeing this, Xi clasped her hands together, preparing to inflict secondary damage on Su Xiao inside.
Pfft.
A long blade pierced through flesh. The tip of Dragon-Slaying Flash emerged from Xi’s chest, stained with blood.
Xi’s pupils trembled. She couldn’t understand—just moments ago, she had clearly sensed Su Xiao’s aura inside the crystal sphere.
Blood dripped from the blade tip. Meanwhile, on the crystal sphere not far away, a wisp of blood aura drifted out through the cracks.
In reality, Xi’s crystal hadn’t engulfed Su Xiao at all. Before being swallowed by that massive crystal wave, he had used his Dragon Shadow Flash ability to escape, and just before doing so, he had formed a humanoid figure from a large amount of blood aura.
As for Su Xiao himself, he relied on his speed and the rising dust to circle around to Xi’s blind spot, completely concealing his aura.
Xi wasn’t a perception-type. As for Mi Tang, who could sense Su Xiao, she dared not show herself. Just moments ago, she had nearly been taken out by Baha—given the chance, Baha could assassinate a perception-type in an instant.
Su Xiao stood behind Xi, his long blade piercing through her back, but it failed to strike her heart—Xi had crystallized her heart.
At this point, Su Xiao felt this was Xi’s most troublesome ability: partially or fully crystallizing her body. Unlike the elementalization of a Demon Fruit, when Xi crystallized her body, she still took damage, but it wasn’t fatal, and she had an incredibly fast self-healing rate.
After Xi’s crystallized body was injured, before returning to normal, the crystallized part would heal at high speed, helping her negate the injury.
Su Xiao’s long blade slashed upward, shattering Xi’s body. But the next moment, the shattered crystals reversed, restoring her form.
Xi hovered in midair, waving her arm, sending three crystal spikes flying toward Su Xiao.
Mid-charge, Su Xiao slightly sidestepped, but then his movement paused. His gaze flicked to the two rapiers in the distance—they were pulling at him.
Thud, thud.
Two crystal spikes struck him—one pierced his lower abdomen, the other his left shoulder.
Xi landed a dozen meters away. She had taken one slash from Su Xiao, and he had taken two of her crystal spikes. Yet somehow, Xi felt she had come out at a loss, a huge loss. Her enemy was a melee fighter, with survivability rivaling—or even surpassing—a tank.
Xi crouched, one hand pressing on the wound on her chest. She had only managed to crystallize her heart in time. Though the injury wasn’t too severe, it wasn’t light either.
Su Xiao pinched the crystal spike in his left shoulder and calmly pulled it out. As soon as it was removed, the wound began to show signs of clotting.
Seeing this, Xi felt a bit speechless. What an incredibly robust physique. His true stamina attribute was conservatively estimated at over 135 points, plus a host of abilities boosting his vitality.
Now Xi faced an even more troublesome problem: Su Xiao had already closed in.
Crystals spread, blade aura crisscrossed. Su Xiao shattered the surging crystal waves.
The sensation of cutting through crystal transmitted through the hilt to Su Xiao’s hand. After two slashes, he sidestepped as three crystal spears flew past him.
Xi was just over a dozen meters away, and the area around Su Xiao was completely enveloped in crystal. Unfortunately for her, with Su Xiao’s blade skills, her crystal couldn’t trap him.
Swish—a blade aura slashed past Xi’s side. She tilted her head as a bloodstain appeared on her cheek. Xi paid it no mind, silently calculating something in her mind.
Crystals kept spreading toward Su Xiao. He slashed continuously, advancing quickly. When he delivered the final slash, Xi appeared just a few meters in front of him.
Xi gritted her teeth, clenched her fist, and her silver hair fluttered.
Boom!
All the nearby crystals exploded, forming a crystal-clear mushroom cloud. After being taught a lesson by Apollo, Xi had been developing explosive abilities, and Crystal Flame Burst was the result.
When the mushroom cloud dissipated, a massive crater appeared. Xi stood at its edge, bent over, panting heavily. She had been within the blast range too but had avoided it by crystallizing herself.
A blade light cut through the air, slashing straight at Xi. She immediately leaned back, but Su Xiao’s strikes weren’t so easy to dodge.
The long blade thrust forward. The earlier slash hadn’t been Dragon-Slaying Flash at all—it was a blade aura Su Xiao had released in advance.
Pfft!
Dragon-Slaying Flash pierced through Xi’s throat, pinning her crystallized body to the ground. A bloodstained hand pressed against her face.
With a crash, Xi fell to the ground, the blade still through her throat. Su Xiao was nearly straddling her, one hand gripping the hilt, the other pressing down on her head.
Blood dripped from Su Xiao’s chin onto Xi’s face. He had withstood the explosion—he could take it.
Xi grabbed Su Xiao’s left arm. Crystal spread up his arm, but just as it reached his shoulder, pale blue arcs of electricity flickered across his body, shattering the crystal layer.
Crack!
Su Xiao crushed Xi’s crystallized head. His long blade slashed sideways, sending droplets of blood flying. Xi couldn’t maintain crystallization indefinitely—Su Xiao had already figured that out.
Crystal spread instantly, then exploded. Su Xiao leaped backward. This explosion was small and hasty, failing to catch him in its range.
As soon as he landed, Su Xiao crouched and lunged forward.
Midair, he raised his blade for a thrusting strike. The inspiration came from Alexander, and the timing was perfect now.
Xi had just gotten up when Su Xiao thrust toward her. For a moment, she was puzzled—it seemed like the enemy was asking for death.
Xi extended her palm forward, and a blue crystal flame ignited in her hand.
“Soul Burn.”
Boom! The blue crystal flame erupted.
Xi was nearly all-around. She had some melee capability, mid-range was her main combat style, and due to the nature of her crystal, almost all her abilities had some control effect. Crystallization gave her exceptional survivability.
The soul-burning crystal flame spread in front of Xi. Before she could relax, a sound of breaking air came from behind her. Now, it was the Blade Grandmaster’s turn to take the stage.