# Chapter 271: Meteor
Nan Ke's expression was proud and aloof, her gaze focused and serious as she looked at Xu Yourong, like two sharp awls. Her speech was not slow, but her tone had no ups and downs, appearing exceptionally indifferent. Though she looked like a little girl, she gave off the feeling of looking down upon all living beings from a high place, exuding powerful confidence.
The two most noble and most powerful bloodlines among the younger generation of humans and demons finally met atop the summit of Mu Valley. This could be called fate, or it could be seen as the manifestation of their mutual will. This battle, destined to be recorded in the annals of history, naturally required a corresponding sense of ceremony before it began. Nan Ke performed a salute, the white-clad girl returned the gesture, and then they began to speak.
"You are Xu Yourong."
The night wind atop the mountain was somewhat strong, making it impossible to hear clearly whether the white-clad girl had answered with those two words, but... yes, she was Xu Yourong.
She was the reincarnated Heavenly Phoenix, the most promising young expert on the continent, the next generation's Southern Saintess, the most beloved junior of the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress, and the most admired and respected junior sister of Autumn Mountain Lord. And now, she had gained another identity known throughout the world—the fiancée of National Academy Dean Chen Changsheng.
Nan Ke looked at her, sizing her up, her slender brows slowly rising. A look of displeasure and disappointment appeared on her indifferent little face: "Those mediocre and ignorant fools often compare you with me. I couldn't help but be somewhat curious about you. I never expected that meeting you today would be so disappointing."
Xu Yourong's eyelashes fluttered slightly, her eyes bright. She asked with some curiosity: "What about me disappoints you?"
Nan Ke raised her finger and pointed at her, saying: "Even this curious look of yours right now is very disappointing. Your bearing and mannerisms are not at all grand, like a little wife. You're not tall either... I really don't know what humans admire about you, that even my elder brother regards you as a treasure."
That the Demon Prince liked the Heavenly Phoenix Xu Yourong was no secret across the entire continent, even though the Demon Prince had certainly never seen her. Interestingly, although humans cursed the Demon Prince harshly, they weren't really angry about it. Instead, they felt some inexplicable pride and joy—and this was precisely what Nan Ke found contemptible.
Being described as a little wife, Xu Yourong was not angry. She only found it somewhat novel, and thought to herself, you little country girl who gathers pigweed every day, how are you like the terrifying Nan Ke of the rumors?
But some of the content in Nan Ke's words displeased her greatly—Nan Ke said she wasn't tall. Because her figure was indeed not very tall, especially wearing the wide white ceremonial robes, she looked even smaller, mostly cute.
Xu Yourong thought for a moment, looked at Nan Ke and said with a smile: "But I'm taller than you."
Although she said this with a smile, her tone was very serious.
Hearing this, Nan Ke's expression also became more serious, the dullness in her eyes replaced by anger.
Especially since Xu Yourong slightly raised her head, appearing very proud.
Indeed, it was worth being proud of. Where was the lack of grandeur?
Nan Ke's gaze moved downward from her face, landing on her chest. After a moment of silence, she said: "Shameless, aren't you afraid of defiling the blood in your body?"
Xu Yourong smiled with slight shyness and did not respond.
Nan Ke grew even angrier, saying: "You disappoint me too much. On what basis are you considered my equal?"
As she spoke, her black hair danced wildly in the night, even suppressing the darkness of the night itself.
In the human world, the name Nan Ke was very unfamiliar. Only important figures like the Pope and the Holy Empress knew who she was, or young people like Zhes Xiu who often dealt with demons. But in the demon realm, this name represented power and tyranny.
Nan Ke was one of the Demon Lord's youngest daughters, but that wasn't the key point. Because in his long life, the Demon Lord had had too many companions, with dozens of children recorded in the genealogies. The reason her name was so fearsome in Snow Old City was most critically because her bloodline was very powerful, and she was the only disciple of the Black Robe.
"You only broke through to Tongyou this year. I succeeded last year, and I'm younger than you, so obviously, I'm stronger than you." Nan Ke looked at Xu Yourong expressionlessly and said: "Come, let us fight fairly, let me prove your weakness, let the entire continent know who among us can fly the highest."
Xu Yourong was calm and silent. As the challenged party, she naturally exuded a certain bearing and confidence.
The old zither player had been silently observing from the side. He dared not oppose the princess Nan Ke's request. Seeing this, even he, who had lived for hundreds of years, felt somewhat stunned. This destined battle that would surely shake the entire continent—from beginning to end, it seemed like two inexperienced little girls bickering?
Of course, this could not be the entirety of the battle. The battle would ultimately have to be decided by fighting, by life and death, and then victory and defeat would be seen.
Atop Mu Valley's summit, wind suddenly rose. The night was thrown into chaos. Nan Ke drifted up, borrowing the wind to dart forward. Her sword was already in hand, thrusting through the air toward Xu Yourong!
Nan Ke's sword showed no particular peculiarity on the surface, but in fact, it was very peculiar.
This sword was very thin, but absolutely not delicate, because this sword was very long—abnormally exaggeratedly long, even longer than the ancient locust trees at the foot of the mountain!
The sword technique Nan Ke used also showed no particular peculiarity, appearing as a simple straight thrust. But because of its simplicity, it possessed unimaginable power.
The night wind instantly became violent and frenzied, circling the cliff platform with terrifying roars.
Hundreds of zhang above the summit, a bright arc suddenly appeared in the air.
Several dozen zhang below the cliff, in the abyss, a relatively dim arc also appeared.
That was the edge of the illusory realm constructed by the old zither player's music.
Such a sublime illusory realm, one that even Xu Yourong had to temporarily remain within, was actually forced out by the sword intent of her seemingly simple thrust!
What a tyrannical sword momentum!
A sword thrust from hundreds of zhang away, yet arriving head-on!
Looking at this sword, Xu Yourong's face showed no sign of shock, nor any hint of vigilance. Instead, she found it very natural.
Because she knew how strong she was, so she knew how strong Nan Ke should be, and she had long been mentally prepared for this sword.
The moment Nan Ke thrust her sword, she unstrapped her longbow from behind and stood it before her.
Perhaps because the sword came too fast, she didn't have time to draw an arrow from her quiver, so the bowstring was empty.
She pressed two delicate fingers together, gently and firmly pulled the bowstring, then released.
The entire movement was as smooth as flowing clouds and water, yet exceptionally simple and clear, as if you could see each individual frame.
The old zither player had long stopped plucking the strings; the zither music in the cliff had ceased.
Now, she plucked the bowstring, and so another zither sound appeared in the cliff.
A clear and prolonged sound... hum!
Across hundreds of zhang, Xu Yourong drew her bow and shot at Nan Ke!
But with no arrow on the bowstring, how could she shoot?
Just as the sound of the bowstring arose, an arrow's cry rang out in the night sky.
This arrow cry was clear, even more prolonged, as if it had been sounding silently in the night sky for a long time, only now letting the world hear it!
An arrow came from the depths of the night sky, like lightning, shooting between Nan Ke's eyes!
Where did this arrow come from?
This was the arrow Xu Yourong had fired after long calculation beside the lone tree earlier!
Everyone thought that due to the interference of the illusory realm, this arrow had vanished among the cliffs. Who could have imagined that this arrow had been flying in the night sky all along, only now letting the world see it!
One arrow beside the lone tree, launched moments ago, landing at this moment!
Boom! A tremendous sound!
Gravel rolled violently atop Mu Valley's summit. Fierce energy splashed everywhere. Even the dim night could not conceal the air turbulence caused by the collision.
Countless fine cracks appeared on the surface of the hard cliff rock.
Those cracks all originated from beneath Nan Ke's feet.
Her feet were small, wearing two boots of flood dragon leather, stepping on those cracks spreading toward the cliff edge. The scene was very shocking.
Those cracks represented an incredibly terrifying collision of power.
Nan Ke had not expected this arrow, but she blocked it.
Two extremely clear sword intents crossed in a cross shape before her, blocking the arrow from the depths of the night sky outside.
The arrow tail trembled violently. The two cross-shaped sword intents also trembled. The space on the cliff platform trembled with them, light refracting and distorting!
Behind the splashing energy scene was Nan Ke's face. Her expression remained indifferent, her gaze still dull.
With a light crack, Xu Yourong's arrow was shaken into countless powder fragments. The two tyrannical sword intents also dissipated.
At the same time, a transparent barrier between the two also disappeared—whether it was the illusory realm or something else.
At this moment, Nan Ke's skirt hem swayed lightly, then turned to nothingness.
The next moment, she appeared at another spot on the cliff platform, several dozen zhang closer to Xu Yourong, her sword thrusting straight forward.
However, Xu Yourong was faster.
She did not move but instead raised her longbow again and plucked the bowstring.
This time, there was an arrow on the string.
The arrow's cry arose from the night mountain.
Nan Ke's skirt hem swayed again, her form again turning illusory, instantly appearing at another spot on the cliff platform.
Whoosh!
Just as her form appeared, Xu Yourong's third arrow shot over.
This arrow still failed to hit Nan Ke, only hitting the night wind, then disappearing into the distant night sky.
Looking at Nan Ke's bizarre and indescribable movement technique, for the first time, a cautious expression appeared on Xu Yourong's face.
But her speed in drawing and shooting arrows was not affected at all. Her movements were still so simple and natural, so natural that it didn't seem like fighting.
Nan Ke's movement technique was too fast.
Xu Yourong's archery, however, possessed the same speed realm as Nan Ke.
If ordinary people watched this battle, they would only see Nan Ke disappear from one spot and appear at another the next moment. Similarly, they could not understand what Xu Yourong was doing. In their line of sight, they would probably only see the arrow tips trembling slightly in the night sky, seeing countless images of Xu Yourong drawing her bow, but unable to see what she was doing.
Only by combining all these images could the real world be seen.
A real world belonging only to them.
And if Chen Changsheng saw this battle, he could easily understand.
Xu Yourong was using the Ice-Breaking Sword of Saintess Peak as... an archery technique!
And Nan Ke was using the most bizarre and unpredictable movement technique on the entire continent... the Yeshi Step!
Moreover, she was not using the simplified version of the Yeshi Step that Chen Changsheng had learned through unimaginable memory and perseverance. She was using the complete version, even the perfect version. Compared to the demon expert who had assassinated Luoluo at the National Academy back then, her movement technique was countless times more brilliant!
Logically, if one was not of the Yeshi clan, there was no way to learn the complete version of the Yeshi Step, let alone the perfect version. But Nan Ke was of the royal clan, so she naturally possessed the bloodline talents of all the demon realm's clans. In this sense, cultivation had never been a fair matter.
Xu Yourong's realm and cultivation were not inferior to Nan Ke's. Her archery, rarely revealed to the world, was exquisitely unmatched, conforming to the principles of nature. Facing Nan Ke's bizarre and indescribable footwork, she remained calm and silent. With each sound of the bowstring, she sent forth arrow cries, actually preventing Nan Ke from approaching her!
But... the number of arrows in the quiver was limited. There would eventually come a moment when they were all shot.
This was reality, and reality meant that at some point it would certainly happen, perhaps in the next moment.
In the next moment, Xu Yourong's quiver was empty.
She could no longer affect Nan Ke's bizarre movement technique.
A sound of air being torn arose. Nan Ke's figure flickered between reality and illusion in the night, arriving several zhang before her.
A tyrannical shout burst forth from Nan Ke's small body!
At the same time, a bright sword light also burst forth!
That sword light, several feet wide, came from the long sword she tightly gripped.
The sword light drew an arc in the night sky, violently and frenziedly slashing toward Xu Yourong's body!
This sword light carried a tyrannical and unparalleled sword momentum, directly sealing all directions around Xu Yourong, giving a feeling of inescapability!
The night wind wildly swept atop Mu Valley's summit. The sword light was bright as lightning.
Xu Yourong's hair ribbon, invaded by the sword intent, silently broke. Black hair cascaded onto her shoulders.
If struck by this sword light, she would surely die.
How would she receive this sword?
She reached out her hand toward the sword light.
That hand was very fair, very delicate.
Compared to the violent, frenzied, and terrifying sword light, it appeared so small and fragile.
But her expression was still so serene, so confident.
Through the bright sword light, she calmly looked into Nan Ke's eyes.
Her black hair gently danced in the sword wind.
An invisible aura spread from her hand into the night.
That aura was very gentle, with no killing power, as if summoning something.
Suddenly... buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz!
In the night sky around Mu Valley's summit, countless piercing and shrill arrow cries suddenly sounded!
More than a dozen arrows broke through the night, coming from all directions!
These were all the arrows she had shot earlier, seemingly disappearing into the night sky, but like the first arrow shot on the mountain path, they had never truly left, only waiting for her summons!
She reached out her hand toward the night sky.
And in the night sky, more than a dozen streams of light appeared, like meteors falling from the heavens, bombarding Nan Ke!
(Heh heh, my greatest improvement over the years has been writing fight scenes. The imagery, tsk tsk, beautiful... heh heh. These past few days I can only manage to guarantee one chapter. I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow. Oh well, anyway, what I promised was the total for the month, wasn't it? See you all tomorrow.)