Inside the Restaurant, Xuè shèngrén quickly ran out of room to back away, so with a 'Clang', her fan deflected Lu FengHo's sword, and then she used the mild distraction to leap further away from him.
Lu FengHo didn't give chase.
Clashing with that black-as-night fan had felt odd...
People with fans for weapons weren't particularly rare, and Lu FengHo's own mother wilded a set of beautiful, but deadly fans.
He had trained with his mother numerous times, so he was used to the feeling of clashing against a fan.
But Xuè Shèngrén's fan had felt nothing like that.
"What is that fan?" Lu FengHo asked.
Xuè shèngrén rose an eyebrow, and her nostrils flared in amusement, "Oh? Handsome Elder brother, you're more observant than your easy-going image suggests."
A black void instantly surrounded the fan, and it changed into an all black sword. Even the blade was a shiny black, but the same white tassel swung from its hilt.
She brandished the sword like a brush. "My *Shubi is a special top-tier treasure."
*Shubi- vertical stroke in Chinese writing.
Lu FengHo frowned and swung his sword outward, surrounding it with his mild blue aura, and Xuè Shèngrén flung her sword outward as well.
"Elder brother. I thought you came to avenge your precious disciples?" She taunted, and Lu FengHo's annoyance grew.
He lunged for Xuè Shèngrén, but his sword was met by a small orb, surrounded by a black smoky aura.
About ten more of the orbs appeared, attacking Lu FengHo from every angle, but he blocked then, by creating an impressively precise number of shields, which destroyed the orbs on contact.
Lu FengHo himself charged at Xuè shèngrén, and they began crossing swords.
As they swung at each other, their sword clashes created small waves of aura that swept through the entire restaurant.
Xuè Shèngrén was a bit impressed.
She concluded that Lu FengHo was at least, in the early Purple realm stages, and his techniques were flawless for that level...
But he was no match for her, and she easily countered or evaded his attacks, not even bothering to attack him.
Then suddenly, she leapt upward, evading a low attack, and lightly landed on Lu FengHo's sword.
Though Lu FengHo couldn't feel any weight from her, the move angered him, and he swung upward to throw her off the sword.
But she had predicted his move, and she used his swing as a booster to leap up to the restaurant's high ceiling. She hung upside down for about a second, then kicked off the ceiling, slashing downwards toward Lu FengHo.
Lu FengHo barely saw the attack coming, and only managed to dodge by a hair's breadth, then turned to face Xuè Shèngrén again.
They were now on opposite sides of the restaurant.
Xuè Shèngrén's sword morphed back into the fan... "Handsome elder brother, are you with my white ribbon?"
"Even if I had it, would I give it to you?" He readied himself to attack again, but then he felt a silent 'Slash', which made his eyes widen, and he stood dazed for a few seconds.
But then, he suddenly sank to the ground, as his blood splashed to the floor, he felt blood rise to his throat, and he coughed up a spray of blood.
'What happened?!' He wondered, looking up at Xuè Shèngrén.
He hadn't seen Xuè shèngrén move, nor had he seen the fan switch back to a sword, and yet, it was a bloody sword that was in Xuè Shèngrén's hand, and a cold stinging pain made Lu FengHo certain that the sword had hit him.
Xuè shèngrén had somehow slashed accross Lu FengHo's chest, without him seeing anything, and though it was a shallow wound, he could barely move.
"Hmph." Xuè Shèngrén leapt and gently floated down in front of Lu FengHo. "Elder brother, I only allowed your group find me because I wanted my ribbon back." As she spoke, the sword changed to a fan again, and she leaned down toward him.
"That means you're my enemy if you refuse to return it, aren't you?"
Lu FengHo held himself up with his sword, but couldn't stand up, so he had no choice but to remain on his knees, glaring up at the young face before him.
'This fellow can't possibly be the 'Zhao Family Trash'!' He concluded. 'Zhao LanFeng supposedly had no power till he was fourteen, so how can he be this strong?'
If this tiny person was Zhao LanFeng, then he had somehow acquired such a powerful weapon, and defeated two major clans at the young age of nineteen.
It wouldn't be enough to call him a genius!
Even Shuǐ Chén had never made Lu FengHo feel this intimidated!
Xuè shèngrén suddenly shot upright, pulling Lu FengHo from his thoughts.
"I'm benevolent, so I won't kill you. My 'Shadow Slash' technique can be dangerous, so go to sleep for now."
She raised the fan and Lu FengHo shut his eyes, expecting to get hit, but her fan clashed with a... needle?
Then a sword attacked from her side, but she reflexively blocked with her fan, and she turned to face the veiled man from outside.
His sword was blue and silver, and a dense blue wavy aura surrounded it.
She smiled slowly. 'Not just anyone can sneak up on me!'
She leapt away, back to the other side of the restaurant, then began fanning herself. "Ho? 'The Mantis strikes the Cicada, unaware of the Oriole behind it.'." She recited lightheartedly. "Are you trying to turn me into the foolish mantis?"
She swung her fan outward, and a black fiery aura surrounded it.
"Elder brother, go easy on me! Weren't you all the first to attack a 'poor cicada' like me?
Lu FengHo, "Shuǐ Chén, be careful! His fan is a sword. This fellow has many tricks." He warned.
Shuǐ ChénLín nodded, then faced his opponent, one hand behind his back. 'For someone to defeat Lu Xian so easily... We can't underestimate this fellow.' He thought, then frowned at Xuè Shèngrén, who had also placed a free hand behind his back.
"So, you're called 'Chén'?" She asked. "But somehow those stormy eyes of yours seem like they would cloud the *dawn."
*Chén means 'Dawn'.
Shuǐ ChénLín nearly grimaced. "I don't want to hear my name from the likes of you." He lunged for Xuè Shèngrén in a split second, but Xuè shèngrén countered easily with his fan.
A violent force of wind blew outward from their first clash, and the two began to fight, sword meeting fan, as they weighed each other's strength, with their free hands behind their backs in a relaxed posture.
Shuǐ ChénLín could match her speed, and their level of qinggong was also similar, so they practically flew around the restaurant, evading or attacking in a seemingly endless dance.
Their clashes produced large shockwaves, which shook the entire building, making their black and blue sword auras sweep outward.
Outside, the disciples stared in awe... As far as they knew, Fènghuáng-Jun had been called the 'Shuǐ genius', and that was because there was no known person in his age group that had gotten him to fight this seriously!
How come he hadn't defeated such a small fellow?!
"Maybe this Xuè Shèngrén is a grand elder with the appearance of a young person!" Shuǐ JunHo said, and a few nodded awkwardly.
"Yes! It was our mistake to underestimate him!" Another one spoke. "Don't the Clan's Wise Texts state that we shouldn't 'judge a book by its cover'?"
A short distance from the disciples, Meng ZhuGuo felt a bit better. He had dared to underestimate someone on this level?!
Getting flung out by a sword hilt was one of the best outcomes!
Back inside, Lu FengHo also watched the fight in complete surprise, and he realized he had also underestimated Xuè Shèngrén!
Meanwhile, the Shuǐ ChénLín's and Xuè Shèngrén's clashes were gradually intensifying, and the floor began to rumble, shaking the entire building. Bits of loose stone, dust and wood splinters began to fall from the ceiling.
They had now began fighting with both hands, and at some point, Shuǐ ChénLín concentrated energy in his left hand to strike his opponent. However, Xuè Shèngrén pulled a similar move, and the energies clashed, making the building shiver more violently.
"Ei?!" Xuè Shèngrén leapt backwards suddenly, as the glinting tips of several needles narrowly missed her. She leapt further, landing a good distance away.
She grinned. "How interesting! You should have told me sly methods were allowed."
"The element of surprise is important in battle." Shuǐ ChénLín spoke with a deadpan expression. He gestured in a call motion, and all the needles returned to him, each of them surrounded by his blue aura.
With a sweep of his hand, he sent them toward Xuè Shèngrén at a frightful speed, but just before the needles reached her, she held up her fan, and they all stopped in mid-air.
She flung out with 'swish', and they blew away with tiny 'chinks', before returning to Shuǐ ChénLín's hands.
In a blink, Xuè Shèngrén raised her fan and swung downward using the same 'Shadow Slash' attack she had used against Lu FengHo, but though Shuǐ ChénLín was mildly surprised, he successfully blocked it, and in the same move, sent one of the large restaurant tables flying towards Xuè Shèngrén.
"Hmph." Xuè Shèngrén neatly sliced the table in two, kicking both sides to opposite ends of the practically demolished restaurant...