Naked Sword Art

Chapter 449: No Sword Style

Li Lian was from the Li Family Clans after all, martial arts was their specialty.

Xiao Fang was skilled, but this wasn’t a duel of blades or illusions anymore. This was her domain.

And if he touched her arms to counter, she’d simply block it with her chains, and he’d burn.

Strike after strike forced him backward. He was fighting a losing battle. Even with his speed and instincts the combination of her attacks tested his limits. The one thing he really needed to avoid were her chains. So that meant not attacking her carelessly, one slip up and those chains would get too good of a hold on him.

But then—he vanished.

[ Mimic ]

Li Lian struck an afterimage.

Her brows tightened, she recognized the technique.

[ Floating Leaf Rushing Tide ]

Xiao Fang’s speed doubled.

A whisper behind her. She twisted—but too slow. His after image faded as she struck it.

Suddenly she felt it. A sharp jab struck her ribs, then another to her lower back, then another to her thigh.

She spun wildly, but there were no shadows, no warnings. And even when her eyes locked onto him, his strikes could no longer be blocked.

[ Misdirection ]

She blocked illusory kicks and punches while the real thing targeted her blindspots—never where her arms nor chains could reach.

It was no secret what technique he was using, though she never thought he’d learn it and be so shallow to use her own family’s technique against her.

Her breaths grew heavy. Sweat dripped from her temples. The arena flickered between flames as they clashed again and again at incredible speeds.

Xiao Fang struck a pressure point, then Li Lian’s arm went limp. The chain on that arm faltered.

He leapt back, expression calm, almost lazy.

"Your skills have improved significantly," he said. "You really did get stronger."

"Shut it," Li Lian muttered, shaking her limp arm in the attempt to wake it back up.

"I mean it. If I were anyone else, you’d be a nightmare to deal with."

He wasn’t lying.

If his body cultivation wasn’t an entire realm over hers, he wouldn’t have been able to take as many strikes as he had. And if illusory techniques had any effect on him, fighting her would’ve been significantly more challenging. Furthermore, if he hadn’t learned the Li Family clan’s [ Misdirection ] techniques, he never would’ve been able to land a strike on her through her chain’s deadly defenses.

Still, Xiao Fang could tell she was still holding back, so he took this opportunity to be smug.

"Don’t tell me that’s the best you can do."

Li Lian froze.

A vein popped in her forehead.

The chains erupted in wild flame, flailing outward like enraged dragons.

"Who said that’s all I can do?" she growled.

A thunderous burst of heat and fury followed. Then in the next moment, Li Lian soared into the sky, the force of her takeoff cracking the stone beneath her feet.

Her silhouette was framed against the night sky as two brilliant wings of fire unfurled from her back, blazing like the feathers of a divine phoenix.

Her red eyes gleamed like twin suns.

Her fiery hair whipped in the wind.

Her robes, scorched and sleeveless, fluttered like battle flags.

Her face—cold and expressionless.

Her gaze—predatory, and condescending. As if she was leagues ahead than her opponent.

Something about her flames had changed, as if it were deadly... or as if she was no longer holding back. She didn’t care if he got burned anymore.

Xiao Fang narrowed his eyes. He recognized that look. It was the same look he had when he was ready to go all out.

She had stopped playing.

Flaming chains in hand, she finally reeled her arm back. The air screamed as the glowing links carved through it, burning space itself.

Xiao Fang felt the urge to draw his sword now. His instincts screamed at him to prepare.

But he hesitated, it was too soon.

Before he could make up his mind, the first strike came.

Cr-Cr-Cr-Cr-Crtttsss—BOOM!

The stage cracked like brittle stone under divine pressure.

’Shit,’ Xiao Fang exclaimed inwardly.

The chains were fast—much faster than before.

It quickly came again, but he had no time to dodge.

[ No Sword Style: Divine Sword Cutting Sea ]

Boom!

The mere shockwave of the collision cracked the stage.

Typically, after a swordsman reaches the Divine Realm, unless the sword they wield is exceptionally powerful, fighting with or without it makes little difference. As his father once told him:

"The sword is just a pair of training wheels—true swordsmanship needs no steel."

So when Xiao Fang resorted to using a Divine Sword technique to deflect Li Lian’s chains, it was the same as drawing a sword in his eyes. But to her—it still wasn’t enough.

The chains came crashing down again and again, faster and fiercer than before. Yet, Xiao Fang stood his ground.

With a flick of his sleeve, he unleashed projectile slashes one after another, each one colliding with the flaming chains before they could reach him.

The speed of her attacks quickly got faster now.

Sharper.

Deadlier.

Unpredictable.

Neither of them dared summon clones; the sheer collision of their attacks would obliterate them instantly.

Within just a few breaths, the once-grand stage had been reduced to molten rubble. All except for the one stone Xiao Fang still stood upon.

"Lian, let’s stop now. You’ve impressed me enough."

Li Lian frowned. "If you want to stop, then promise me you won’t sleep with the royal court girl."

Xiao Fang didn’t reply. To a swordsman, his promises cannot be broken. Naturally, if he made a promise like that, he’d avoid resorting to sleeping with Yu Qiuyan the best he could, but there was no telling what might happen in the future.

Li Lian’s body steamed, and her blood boiled.

Her beautiful face morphed into something terrifying.

"FANG!" she shouted through gritted teeth.

Her presence and tone was so threatening it could even intimidate beasts into fleeing. But who was Xiao Fang, he wouldn’t dare run from his woman.