"Looks like this guy has really irritated Princess Crimson Moon!"
The spectators gazed at the ring shrouded in red light. None of them had expected Princess Crimson Moon to exert this movement at the beginning. It seemed she wanted to defeat Jiang Chen as soon as possible.
"Only those who have achieved the state of being an integral part of the universe are qualified to practice this magical method."
"People shrouded in red light feel like they're in outer space. Their bodies are out of their control and their eyesight and hearing are affected!"
"Do you think the masked man will die or just lose?"
In the spectators' eyes, Princess Crimson Moon's victory was secured. The only suspense was whether Jiang Chen would survive.
In the ring, Jiang Chen was greatly shocked by the scene in front of him. He felt like he was in a red world. The surrounding scenery hadn't changed, but the crowd had disappeared. A bloody moon hung over his head.
Sorcery? Unlikely!
In this strange environment, he felt as if he had stepped into quicksand and was sinking out of control, but when he looked down, nothing was there.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
He kept hearing weird sounds. Everything he saw was distorted. He felt dizzy and sick.
"Clouds Split the Azure Sky!"
Princess Crimson Moon seized the chance to throw her scimitars at him. The incredible energy of the knives was like a strong wind that swept the plains, while the clouds were penetrated by their glaring brightness.
Jiang Chen might not have been able to take this attack when he was feeling normal, let alone when he was under the influence of a magical method.
"Ghost Strike to Kill: Crack!"
At such a crucial moment, Jiang Chen suddenly launched an attack. It was an awe-inspiring manifestation of the sword doctrine.
When their knives met, both the princess and Jiang Chen sank down. Neither of them had gained an advantage.
Princess Crimson Moon squinted her eyes into lines. She recovered from her surprise quickly and thrust the scimitar in her left hand, while at the same time changing the movement of her right hand.
The two scimitars were comparable to Mo Li's Sword of Sun and Moon, but Princess Crimson Moon was more adept, since she had achieved the state of being an integral part of nature. The two scimitars attacked simultaneously, making such a perfect pair that their joint attack was impossible to defend against.
However, Jiang Chen parried it anyway. He and his knife became one. They both kept changing their movements.
The exchange of blows was exciting, but no one could see it. The spectators in the square waited there for the result. They realized several minutes had already passed.
In these several minutes, as many as ten knife attacks could have been launched.
Could something unexpected have happened?
The spectators didn't allow this idea to occur to them. They were unwilling to admit the masked man's great power.
However, in fact, he was, indeed, that powerful.
The red light in the ring was looked like a cracked eggshell. With a pah, it instantly exploded, exploding into flashes.
Jiang Chen and Princess Crimson Moon appeared in people's sights once again. They stood in two different corners of the ring. No one could tell who was at an advantage in the fight.
"It isn't over yet?!" They were shocked. They could hardly believe it.
"You've learned how to be an integral part of nature too?" Princess Crimson Moon was extremely surprised. She started to look at Jiang Chen in a brand new way.
Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to crack her supernatural method.
Jiang Chen didn't deny it. He said, "If your rank is ten places higher than Wind Mark's only thanks to a mystical method, I don't want to continue the fight."
What he meant was obvious. Both of them knew the methods for being an integral part of nature, and he was capable of cracking her supernatural method. Her biggest advantage wasn't an advantage anymore.
"Huh, don't be so arrogant. You've only scratched the surface. How stupid and ridiculous for you to jump to conclusions so quickly," Princess Crimson Moon sneered. The red glow of the scimitars illuminated her pretty face like fire. She still looked haughty.
"Ghost Strike to Kill: Trap!"
Jiang Chen pressed his lips into a line. He didn't say anything, but directly threw his knife out.
"Smart move!" Princess Crimson Moon thought to herself.
After a failed attack, she had to wait for several minutes to exert her supernatural method again. She had held back her strength in the last attack, so she only needed about one more minute to recover herself.
But she hadn't expected Jiang Chen to see through her actions.
However, she didn't care.
"Foolish. The mystical method isn't my only way to represent the power of being an integral part of nature.
"Four Movements of the Holy Moon: Heaven Awakens!"
Princess Crimson Moon had also mastered the full spirit of the knife. She combined it with the state of being an integral part of nature and brandished the scimitars. The momentum of the knives was like a turbulent wave that could scare people off.
Her fair feet landed on the ground quietly. She was both agile and quick. Although she had attacked later than Jiang Chen, she managed to gain control of the situation. One of her scimitars suppressed Jiang Chen's knife, while the other pushed him back.
When he finally stopped, she kicked him in the chest.
He took several steps back until one of his feet stepped on the edge of the ring.
"Now have you realized the gap between us?" Princess Crimson Moon said complacently.
"You merged your ability to be an integral part of nature into your martial arts techniques. Looks like I'm behind."
Jiang Chen said something no one had understood.
Five hundred years had passed. Uncountable things had been forgotten in history, but at the same time, many things had advanced and developed.
Jiang Chen had only known that the status of being an integral part of the nature could be used to improve one's practice.
It was a surprise for him that 500 years later, it could be combined with martial arts techniques, thanks to which Crimson Moon could not only exert the supernatural method, but improve her knife method.
"Great! Great!" Jiang Chen suddenly cheered for her. He could only make progress when he knew what he lacked.
He took advantage of the sudden enlightenment he had just received and tried to combine his status as an integral part of nature with his knife method, too.
"Ghost Strike to Kill: Destroy!"
Jiang Chen attacked actively by throwing his knife out once again.
"Stupid man. You're so annoying!"
"Four Movements of the Holy Moon: Earth Irritates!"
There was an impatient look on Princess Crimson Moon's face. The momentum of her knife became more astonishing. The two scimitars overlapped, and the ring started to shake. The earth seemed unable to bear the power of her attack.
"It's so formidable! Princess Crimson Moon has made such big progress!"
"Although her rank hasn't risen, she must be hoping she can take advantage of today's competition to improve it."
"Four Movements of the Holy Moon includes Heaven Awakens, Earth Irritates, Thunderbolt, and Athanasia. The masked man has forced the princess to exert the second movement."
"Yeah, he cracked her mystical method, too. Did you hear? The masked man also knows how to be an integral part of nature."
They had thought Jiang Chen would be defeated in one attack, but he had managed to stay in the ring until this moment. It seemed what Chu Luo said was the truth.
But of course, Wind Mark's supporters didn't agree.
"The princess didn't use all of her power. It's only a matter of time until the masked man loses. It's true he's held out until now, but do you think Wind Mark couldn't achieve the same?"
It would be difficult to defeat Princess Crimson Moon, but it wasn't so difficult to hold out for some time when the princess wasn't making any all-out attacks. Wind Mark could indeed achieve this as well.
"He hasn't used the knife attack that he used to defeat Wind Mark, because that attack's power is trivial when he's defending," the fat woman said again. She tried her best to belittle Jiang Chen.
"Don't forget that the princess is in the late stage, and the masked man is only in the middle stage. If it were the opposite, what would happen?" one smart guy realized a key point and reminded the others of it.
Yeah, the exchange of the knife methods' blows were so eye-catching that everyone had forgotten that the most important factor to influence the result was the difference between their states.
Like Wind Mark, Princess Crimson Moon was in the completed late stage. Jiang Chen was in the beginning of the middle stage, but if one ignored martial arts techniques, the two were neck-and-neck when their energies collided.
"It's impossible. It doesn't make sense."
"There is one possibility. The masked man's holy points are the same as the princess'."
"He's accumulated holy points?"
That was what geniuses would normally do, but it wasn't without limit.
While they were discussing, the two fighters' energies collided once again, and this time, one of them was at a disadvantage. It was Jiang Chen.
"Oh?"
But some sharp observers also saw Jiang Chen looked more relaxed when Princess Crimson Moon exerted her second movement.
It meant he had advanced!
However, most people couldn't see it. Most people thought he had suffered losses in two consecutive movements and this was already a sign of defeat.
"See? He isn't as powerful as what Chu Luo claimed at all!" the fat woman said complacently.
"Chu Luo, what cards does your apprentice brother have in his hand that the fat woman should shut up? Just give me a hint."
Meng Feifei was on Jiang Chen's side, unknowingly. She found the fat woman annoying.
"Come closer." Chu Luo hesitated for a while and finally decided this didn't have to be a secret.
"Eh?"
Meng Feifei was pleasantly surprised. She moved closer to Chu Luo immediately.
"My apprentice brother is a swordsman."
Meng Feifei stood rooted to the spot.