Abyssal Awakening

As round two began, Alyss couldn't help but stare blankly at her opponent.

She could see the confidence in his eyes, the way he was scanning her from head to toe.

No doubt, he was looking down on her.

"Care to not stare at me so much? It's disgusting." Alyss spat out with a slight glare while massaging her neck.

Cao Lian simply smiled before taking a defensive stance.

If the first seed was to lose here, how great would that be?

Granted, he would've preferred it if he was against the third or second seed first.

At least that way, the best fight could be saved till last.

'I should test the waters a little first. She's strong with that defence breaking attack she used against the big guy earlier but it's useless if it can't hit.' Cao Lian was confident.

She didn't even look that much older than he was nor did she have the aura befitting those with the state of Unity.

She didn't feel dangerous like the sect leader or a reclusive master.

Thus he concluded that she was probably proficient in parrying in order to achieve the results she got.

A task which he could do if he didn't want to stay low key.

As the announcer declared the start of the fight, Alyss rushed in.

Twisting her body, she aimed to finish this fight with a single kick.

Noticing Cao Lian's eyes following her attack trajectory, Alyss understood that he was acting weaker than he was.

Since that was the case, she wasn't going to entertain him.

Either go all out or lose!

*BANG!!!

Her kick suddenly accelerated as Cao Lian leaned back in a panic.

The air cut against his forehead while blood flowed down.

He understood that if he didn't bend back in time, there was a change that his skull could've been caved in by that kick just now!

Cold sweat dripped down his back as Cao Lian quickly created some distance between them but Alyss wasn't about to let him have the easy way out.

Phantom Shift!

In an instant, Alyss closed the gap between them, causing Cao Lian's eyes to constrict as he felt panic rising in his chest.

*BANG!!!

"Oh?" Glancing at her hand that was parried away, Alyss found herself a little amused at best. Opposite her, Cao Lian now had a pair of tonfa's in his arms as he barely parried Alyss's grab.

"Finally thinking of taking this more seriously?" Alyss asked with a slight shrug.

"Wouldn't be entertaining otherwise." Cao Lian forced a brave smile but his arms were trembling from her earlier attack.

He couldn't believe that this was the power generated by just pure martial arts and physical strength.

The principle behind each attack, the way she whipped her limbs to generate more force.

Cao Lian understood that it was his mistake to take things easy from the beginning.

"Honestly, I doubt you'd be entertaining even if you went all out. Here, I'll give you a slight advantage. Two free hits, that's all you get. I'll let you try and hit me twice without countering." Alyss taunted with smirk while looking down on Cao Lian.

Furrowing his brows, Cao Lian clicked his tongue before smirking.

"Fine, don't take back your word now."

Crouching down slightly, he rushed forward as he adjusted his grip on the tonfas. Reversing them into a strike.

However, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion for Alyss as she simply tilted her body to the side, avoiding the strike.

But the first was a feint.

The second strike came in from below as Alyss tilted her head to the side.

With both attacks now dodged, Alyss was about to attack when Cao Lian spun the tonfa to attack Alyss from above.

Catching it between her fingers, Alyss glanced down at Cao Lian without moving her head.

"That it?"

Widening his eyes, he shifted his body to try and go for a stomach kick but Alyss simply lifted up her knee, blocking his strike and dispersing the force by taking a step back.

Gritting his teeth, Cao Lian threw his weapons in the air, going for hand to hand combat instead.

A three punch combo aimed towards the rib, throat and finally an upper cut.

But Alyss only stared at him blankly.

Slapping away the first hit, she parried the second with her hand, preventing the fingers from reaching her throat before using the same hand to cup the final upper cut.

Grabbing his fist, she pushed it behind him, forcing him to wince in pain before turning him around and kicking him away.

"It'll be better for you if you surrender." Alyss sighed but Cao Lian didn't respond.

Instead, he adjusted his footwork with a focused gaze.

Since things were going to be like this, he'll go all out! Enjoy exclusive content from My Virtual Library Empire

But just as he was about to lunge forward, Alyss had already appeared behind him.

"I gave you the chance earlier for two easy hits. You wasted them and now you want to drag this on? I think not." Two rapid strikes against the back of his knees to break his footing.

Twisting her body, she chopped against his neck, forcing him to fall back.

While he was still in mid air, Alyss pulled back her fist.

*BANG!!!

Landing a punch against his chest, Cao Lian slammed against the ground, forming cracks as the wind was knocked out of his lungs.

Alyss had even held back during that final strike as well otherwise there was a chance that his ribs would just break apart and stab into his lungs.

This was a competition, not a murder house.

With Cao Lian twitching on the floor, Alyss dusted her hands before stepping down.

Meanwhile Cao Lian glared at her with bloodshot eyes.

The next fight was between Jin and Qiu Qiu, both of which had certain aspects of the zone so the winner was entirely determined by whoever could create the most advantage.

###

Taking deep breaths to calm his mind, Jin stepped up to the arena.

He knew that his opponent wasn't going to be easy.

'Focus on what I can do. Trust in my instincts, trust in Alyss's martial arts.' Jin repeated to himself.

He needed to let things flow naturally in order to tap into the Zone.

If he's too bothered by the process or the outcome, his mind won't reach the state required.

Which only reinforced his perception of Alyss and Alice who could tap into the state whenever they wanted. Being able to consciously flow into the Zone, absolute Zone at that, seemed godly to him.

As he stood on the arena, he could see Qiu Qiu standing with her sword sheathed next to her.

There was focus and determination in her eyes.

Yet beneath that, he could also see hints of anger and frustration.

There were no needs for any words between them.

On the arena, there were only two fighters. Whatever he's concerned about or thinking about, he'll leave it for when he steps out the ring. But while he's in the ring, he'll give Qiu Qiu his full attention.

*BANG!!!

As the announcer declared the beginning of the battle, both fighter rushed in at full speed.

Their weapons clashed with each other, creating sparks as Jin took this time to whip the chain behind Qiu Qiu.

However, she pushed his guard away before performing a no look guard into a horizontal slash that he blocked with his chains.

Flicker Strike!

*CLANG!!!

Despite using his footwork to try gain an advantage, Jin's slash was parried as Qiu Qiu's eyes were locked onto his positioning.

Falling Shadow!

Trying to use the same trick he used on the first fight, Jin expected Qiu Qiu to take her eyes off him but she didn't.

Instead, she took a step back, avoiding the strike before grabbing the chains herself.

Pulling him towards her, she went in for a slash so that he couldn't use the range to his advantage.

For his chains to generate the most power and momentum, he needed the travel time.

However…

*CLANG!!!

Pulling out the blade from the ground, Jin parried her downward strike before twisting his body, unleashing a vortex of slashes.

Since they were unable to use their Sigils, Qiu Qiu forced herself to take a few steps back, only blocking what was needed and conserving her stamina.

'She's keeping her calm.' Jin took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

He could sense her focused gaze, observing and picking away at his martial arts. Trying to find the weakness and gaps that she could exploit.

As expected, she wasn't an easy opponent.

If he wanted to win, he had to create a path himself.

The newly modified Eclipse Reaver only had three movements that Alyss created. These three could be combined with natural movements to create a 'flow', a patten of attack.

Whether or not he could take full advantage of it was completely up to him.

Flicker Strike!

Throwing both blades into the ground, Jin rushed towards Qiu Qiu while adjusting his trajectory by changing the positioning of his anchors.

He wasn't in a rush to attack and neither was Qiu Qiu in a rush to defend.

She was observing his movements.

Silently, carefully.

Passive Zone!

Expanding his boundary, Jin focused on the instant where Qiu Qiu's gaze would lose track of him.

It wasn't a perfect Zone and had limited range. But for this specific task, it was sufficient!

However, the instant he expanded his Zone he felt a chill.

Qiu Qiu sheathed her blade as her gaze was focused on his every move.

There wasn't a gap he could exploit and worst of all, he was already in her range!

Offensive Zone!