Compared to her, Yunze's state was completely different—his expression calm and collected, his breathing steady. He looked no different than before the fight even began.
"Next, I'm going to get serious!" Gu Yuena puffed up angrily. Her pride made it hard to accept, and she wanted to regain face.
Her fourth spirit ring lit up, and a nine-colored staff appeared in her hand. Around her, elemental energy began to stir.
"Wind." She pointed her elemental staff toward Yunze. The wind element in the air was drawn forth, and suddenly, cyan gales roared to life.
The gales were as sharp as blades, howling with an ear-piercing shriek as they cut through the air—like vengeful ghosts screaming.
Their speed was terrifying, their cutting power immense. As they swept toward Yunze, deep gouges appeared in the ground.
Yunze's first spirit ring flickered—Inferno Prison!Flames surged forth, but instead of spreading outward, Yunze controlled them. A blazing wall of fire rose to meet the gales.
The fire wall blocked the storming winds, and the thousands of degrees of heat melted them away entirely.
"Water." Gu Yuena pointed her staff again, and streams of water materialized out of thin air, as if a river had been transplanted into the sky.
The flowing torrent swept across the air, colliding with Yunze's flames. Water and fire intertwined, sizzling loudly.
Water overcomes fire—but it depends on the fire. Against phoenix fire, the advantage wasn't clear. Some flames were doused, but more often the water was evaporated into steam, mist shrouding the battlefield.
Gu Yuena quickly retreated, pulling distance from the flames. She swung her staff at the ground, and masses of earth surged upward, forming dozens of earthen spikes.
The spikes shot out in unison—but then vanished after only a dozen meters.
Yunze reacted instantly, leaping upward. Flames condensed into a longbow in his hands. A moment later, earthen spikes pierced through where he had been. Without dodging, he would have been skewered.
More spikes suddenly reappeared beneath him, shooting upward faster than arrows.
Swish swish swish— Yunze drew the bowstring, and five fiery arrows appeared, loosed together. Each arrow followed a different trajectory.
Bang bang bang—! Each arrow collided with a spike, exploding. Fire and earth burst apart in midair.
He turned, drew again, and fired at the spikes shooting from behind.
Yunze's perception was razor-sharp. Even the slightest spatial fluctuation couldn't escape him. Gu Yuena's space tricks were useless against him—the spikes teleported through space were all destroyed by his arrows.
His second spirit ring glowed. He drew again, this time summoning a longer arrow, carrying even greater power.
Swish! The arrow tore through the air, leaving a fiery streak too fast for the naked eye to follow.
Sensing the danger, Gu Yuena immediately used spatial power to teleport. The instant she vanished, the arrow pierced through the spot where she'd stood.
The bowstring sang again, and an arrow shot straight toward her reappearing form.
Her pupils contracted—she twisted aside, but too late. The arrow struck her left shoulder.
Even as he loosed the arrow, Yunze lunged forward. By the time Gu Yuena appeared, he was already upon her. His fiery longbow morphed into a blazing longsword, cleaving down.
"Not good!" Gu Yuena raised her staff to block, but the pain in her shoulder weakened her. She was knocked downward by the force.
The sword shifted back into a bow. Five arrows fired at once, raining down on her.
Yunze's attacks were too fast, suffocatingly so. Gu Yuena hadn't even stabilized her body before she was forced to defend again.
She teleported away in the nick of time, but even so, one arrow struck her right arm, drawing a muffled cry of pain.
The arrows Yunze fired had terrifying penetration, the flames on them like they could melt anything. Against them, Gu Yuena's powerful defenses seemed fragile.
Though the arrowheads hadn't pierced deep—barely a centimeter—the pain was searing. Phoenix fire burrowed into her wound like a living thing, burning relentlessly from within.
Once again, Yunze unerringly locked onto where Gu Yuena reappeared, loosing two arrows.
This time, Gu Yuena was prepared. She anticipated that Yunze would pinpoint her location. The moment she emerged, violet light flared before her.
Element of Destruction—Annihilation!The flames on the arrows were erased, their power diminished by the destructive element.
But Yunze wasn't fazed. He continued his charge, his third spirit ring blazing to life.
Rockburst!
Beneath Gu Yuena, magma pillars erupted upward, space twisting violently as waves of heat surged forth.
The molten column was more than a meter wide, its temperature horrifyingly real.
Anything it touched—metal, stone, flesh—would instantly melt.
"Miss!" Di Tian tensed, ready to intervene at any moment. He couldn't allow her body to be harmed.
"Young Master should know his limits," Bi Ji said, though her face was anxious, she remained calm.
The scorching heat rising from beneath filled Gu Yuena with crisis. Panicking, she hastily used space power.
Her reaction was just fast enough—she teleported away, narrowly escaping the magma's impact.
Boom! Another spatial rupture erupted, magma pillars shooting forth. Unfortunately, Gu Yuena had reappeared directly above one.
It looked as though she had delivered herself into danger.
The magma surged to within a meter of her—then stopped, no longer rising.
"Haa… haa…" Gu Yuena panted heavily, staring at the bubbling magma below, her heart pounding. Just a little closer, and…
Though she could control fire elements, that didn't mean she was immune. And Yunze's flames? She had no confidence in resisting them.
In mastery over flame, Yunze far surpassed her. To talk of "playing with fire" or "being immune" before him—was laughable.
"You nearly scared me to death!" Gu Yuena scolded angrily, truly shaken.
If she'd been swallowed by that magma, even if she survived, disfigurement was likely. That was a fate she could never accept.
"Relax. Even if the magma swallowed you, you wouldn't be harmed." Yunze smiled, his battle armor sinking back into his body as the magma pillars vanished.
The duel's victor was decided. There was no need to continue.
"I lost again…" Gu Yuena's face was dejected, her mood sinking. Despite all her advantages, she had still been defeated.
The two descended slowly, withdrawing their martial souls.
Di Tian and Bi Ji exchanged looks, wanting to comfort her, but after a brief glance at each other, they stayed put.
End of Chapter 90