At this point, Kalina lightly swung her hand once.

Swoosh.

A pale white arc silently flew through the poisonous mist. Dozens of thick vines were cleanly cut apart before slowly sliding to the ground. The attack continued for several more meters before finally disappearing.

Kalina nodded slightly.

Although it was nowhere close to the strength she could display with her Natal Sword, it was enough. Much better than fighting barehanded against a Qi Practitioner.

She slowly raised the glowing blade once more. Her eyes never left Aksai.

"I will not look down on you the way I did before," she admitted honestly.

"A dual path native practitioner with intent-based Spirit Spells. You also have a mysterious method to mimic a genuine Nascent Soul King’s aura for a limited time, which is somehow even more advanced than the ones found in the empire.

And then there’s the matter of a certain spatial treasure that I know you possess. Don’t even try to deny it. Unlike the natives here, I am not gullible enough to not be able to differentiate between a spatial treasure and storage item.

I am not even taking into account how you managed to get your hands on such a profound puppet technique. There are simply too many anomalies around you.

To be honest... You’ve surprised me more times tonight than anyone else has in recent years."

Her lips curved into a faint smile.

"But surprises only work once. You... You won’t catch me off guard again."

Although confidence filled every word she spoke, Kalina did not underestimate Aksai in the slightest.

On the contrary, she had finally accepted him as an opponent worthy of using her precious contingency talismans against.

Without any hesitation, she had sacrificed yet another rare talisman because she understood one thing.

A cultivator who specialized in close combat could never be allowed to fight on equal terms. They had to be overwhelmed by one trump card after another before they could close the distance.

After all, in a close-combat battle, there was no time to regret holding anything back.

***

Aksai did not answer Kalina’s words.

There was no point.

The moment the Sharp Slash Talisman’s demonstration was finished, he moved.

His feet exploded with force.

The air beneath him compressed as his body shot forward like a released arrow. Golden Qi flowed across his arms.

His right palm shifted into the stance of the Harmony Palm. His left palm formed the opening posture of the White Golden Palm Art.

At the same time, another layer of golden Qi wrapped itself around his body.

Guardian’s Qi.

The defensive martial art instantly covered his entire body with a thin layer of golden radiance. It looked transparent from afar, yet the golden light continuously flowed beneath his skin like streams of molten metal.

Ever since breaking into the Aurous Realm and stabilizing his foundation with countless precious herbs, spirit fruits, and body-refining medicines grown inside the Enchanted Everwood Farm, Aksai’s martial arts had undergone a tremendous transformation.

Aksai had not advanced in his Aurous Body realm because there was no suitable technique. However, he had strengthened his foundation by a huge margin. Even the native martial artists of Martial World Sharang who had reached the Aurous Body realm did not have a stronger foundation than him.

Aksai’s strikes carried greater force. His movements had become lighter. His body could endure much greater punishment than before.

Even so, he knew this golden protection was far from invincible.

Against Kalina’s strange talisman, Guardian’s Qi could only reduce part of the damage. It could never completely block it.

However, that was enough.

Aksai had never expected absolute defense.

He only needed enough protection to survive while dealing damage in return.

Bang!

His right Harmony Palm slammed toward Kalina’s chest.

Kalina instantly raised the two glowing fingers wrapped inside the white blade.

Clang!

The palm struck the ethereal blade.

Instead of flesh colliding with light, the impact sounded like metal striking metal.

The violent collision shook the surrounding vines.

The blade slid across Aksai’s palm. Guardian’s Qi immediately cracked. A long cut appeared across his palm.

Kalina wasn’t like the native late-stage Lords who practised cultivation techniques without the integration of Intents in them. Not only was her technique superior to Aksai’s, even her cultivation base was of a higher tier.

Even if the difference existed between the native mid-stage and late-stage Lords, it wasn’t a great chasm that no mid-stage Lord could overcome. However, it was a different story if one of the cultivators belonged to the Shinayin Empire while the other was a native of the subcontinent.

In the past, Aksai could still have a bit of breather while battling with Arkaal, a native late-stage Lord. This was not simply due to the fact that Arkaal was less talented than Kalina. It was more about the kind of cultivation techniques they practised and the resources available at their disposal.

As such, Aksai had already mentally prepared himself.

Fresh blood dripped down his wrist. Yet his left hand had already arrived.

The White Golden Palm Art descended from above.

Kalina twisted her waist.

Her body barely avoided the strike.

Boom!

The palm landed on one of the massive vines behind her. The thick vine exploded into countless wooden fragments. Without waiting, Aksai continued attacking.

Palm after palm.

Step after step.

Every movement flowed naturally into the next. There was not the slightest pause.

Kalina frowned.

This rhythm... It never broke.

Every attack forced her to defend before she could properly regain her footing. She immediately counterattacked.

Swoosh. Zoom. Slash.

Her glowing fingers sliced through the air.

White light flashed.

The blade swept across Aksai’s shoulder.

Rip!

Another deep wound opened.

Golden Qi scattered into the air.

Guardian’s Qi had reduced part of the damage, yet it could not completely stop the talisman’s frightening sharpness.

Blood stained Aksai’s robe.

His expression remained unchanged. Instead of retreating, he stepped even closer.

Bang!

Harmony Palm.

Boom!

White Golden Palm Art.

He alternated between the two martial arts with astonishing precision.

Sometimes both palms struck together. Sometimes one palm attacked while the other defended. Sometimes the strikes changed direction halfway before landing from impossible angles.

The entire battlefield became filled with afterimages. The poisonous mist concealed most of their movements. Only flashes of golden Qi and white light could occasionally be seen inside the dense fog.

The vines surrounding the battlefield also became part of Aksai’s attacks.

Whenever Kalina attempted to retreat, thick vines suddenly rose from the ground and blocked her path. Whenever she tried to circle around him, more vines wrapped around her legs or reached toward her arms.

She easily sliced through them. Yet every vine delayed her by a fraction of a second. That tiny delay was enough.

Aksai immediately appeared wherever her movement slowed.

Bang!

Another palm landed on her shoulder.

Kalina was forced several meters backward.

Before she could stabilize herself, another vine pushed against her back. She instinctively slashed it apart.

But that single movement allowed Aksai to arrive again.

Boom!

His palm struck her waist. The impact forced Spirit Essence inside her body to fluctuate slightly.

She gritted her teeth.

"Fuc*k off!"

She swung the white blade repeatedly. Its sharp edge cut through vines. It cut through the poisonous mist.

It cut through Aksai’s Guardian’s Qi.

Long wounds gradually appeared across his arms.

Another slash crossed his ribs. Another opened a wound near his thigh.

Blood continuously flowed.

Yet Aksai acted as though he could not feel pain.

Every injury he received was immediately exchanged for a palm strike of his own. His attacks became even fiercer.

Sometimes he purposely accepted a shallow cut just to create an opening. Sometimes he allowed the blade to graze his shoulder so he could land a direct strike on Kalina’s abdomen.

It was almost suicidal. He exchanged injuries without hesitation.

Kalina found it unbelievable.

’This man... does he not value his own life?’

Unknown to her, Aksai’s mind remained unbelievably calm.

Nuri had already stopped displaying spectral notifications. Instead, every calculation was directly imprinted onto his consciousness.

There was no delay.

No reading. No thinking.

The next movement simply appeared inside his mind.

[Turn left.]

[Raise elbow.]

[Lower center of gravity.]

[Step forward.]

[Strike.]

Every suggestion arrived exactly when he needed it. His body obeyed almost instinctively.

The transitions between Harmony Palm and White Golden Palm Art became smoother and smoother. His movements wasted almost no Qi. Even his breathing matched the rhythm of his attacks.

The martial arts seemed to become a single flowing stream.

Usually, Aksai would not take Nuri’s help while performing martial arts. This was because he would not gain deeper insights if he always relied on her cheat-like abilities.

By following her instructions to the letter instead of arriving at different conclusions through his own understanding, he would stop being a true martial artist and become little different from someone merely copying perfected techniques.

However, Aksai did not care about increasing his understanding of martial arts or the Qi cultivation path at this moment.

Heroes in novels often liked to use life-and-death battles to temper themselves and achieve miraculous breakthroughs.

Aksai did not indulge in such fantasies.

At least not against someone like Kalina.