Chapter 206: A Disciple, A Woman
Her attacks get faster and faster by the second, making me use my Time Stretch Skill more frequently, and in turn, depleting my Qi Energy immensely. For someone uptight like her, she's playing this rather smartly. Instead of attacking me head-on, she resorted to hit-and-run tactics, leaving me no choice but to be on the defensive while I slowly burn out. I could feel the exhaustion creeping up on me but as for her, she was as energetic as ever. This was probably because she has a higher reserve of Qi Energy due to her being of higher cultivation than me. She realized she can't fight head to head with me straightforwardly, and so she changed her fighting style.
In other words, she's adapting based on her instincts. All I could say is that she's a strange fighter. Her passionate manner of approaching this fight makes me not want to do my best for her. I want to cheer her on and win but sadly I can't do that. As a Sect Master, I should guide her and make her attain her maximum potential. And if I were to lose, I would lose face as a Sect Master. There's no way she would accept my teachings if that were to happen!
Am I going to make her my disciple? Of course, I've seen her fight, she's a good addition to my Sect if she were to agree.
"Why aren't you attacking?" Zenith swung her blades at me, faster and faster, sharper and sharper. Quite honestly, I was being held back, but I didn't want to show the expression that I was having a hard time. In terms of raw speed and power, she's realms ahead of me. She might not have the technique, but she compensates with her strength. But as for me, I had to rely on the Skills given to me by the System, stretching and stretching time with my Time Stretch Skill.
A few more seconds later, Zenith was whirling around, hitting me with her legs and arms with sharp blades/ daggers sticking out of them. How could she get faster when she was already reaching her top speed a moment ago? Was it because she was using her lightning element with her time element? If that were the case, then she shouldn't have gotten thrice as fast as before.
Oh, wait. Now I see it. So she's got another skill. Now we're talking.
With me on the verge of depleting all of my Qi Energy, I decided to end the fight once and for all. And I know that it won't be fair if I won using another Element. She'll probably see it as me having an advantage in the fight and if that were to happen, she might not accept my offer of her being my disciple. I already made up my mind to make her my first disciple in the Middle Plane, there's no way I'm going to mess up that chance.
Even though I almost ran out of my Qi Energy, I could tell that Zenith was in a bad position as well. She's also feeling the initial impulses of exhaustion. Her beads of sweat danced around the ai as she continued her onslaught, bearing down on me with more strength and more power than before. She was using her momentum to increase her power, forcing me to go on in the defensive and making it harder for me to attack.
Wait... we're just on an endless loop, right? She just gets faster and faster while I try to match up to her speed. We're not getting anywhere!
"Hui-ying, I want to use my Purple Lightning and my Time Element, I have enough Qi Energy to expend, right? It won't damage my Qi Energy reserves, right?" I asked in my head.
"Yes, Yongrui. As long as you use it for a split second, you won't get to deplete your Qi Energy. You can still take on all of these guys." Hui-ying responded coolly. She wasn't fazed at all even though I was on the verge of losing.
"No, what I mean is... can I still take on Luxor after using my Purple Lightning and Time Element?"
Pause. I could tell that Hui-ying was doing some complicated computations on whether I could take on Luxor or not. Of course, if I go the roundabout way, I could take on Luxor but there's no way I'd come out unscathed. That's probably why Hui-ying was having a hard time calculating the probabilities.
"I'm not sure if you can fight against Luxor but when it comes to your Qi Energy, i won't really go down to dangerous levels. Even if you activate your Berserk Skill, you still have a high chance of controlling it even after using your Purple Lightning and Time Element."
"I see, thanks for that, Hui-ying. I owe you one."
"It's no big deal, I'm in your head anyways." Hui-ying warmly responded.
With that out of the way, I decided to use my ultimate move, something that I learned after being inspired by Zenith's movements. Mixing in the Lightning Element and the Time Element makes someone twice or thrice faster than normal. Even I had to stretch a minute to ten minutes just so I could match Zenith's movements. I had no idea how her eyesight could keep up with that. The only explanation I could come up with was that she really is a natural-born genius. There's no way someone could train their reflexes at such speeds.
I'm getting sidetracked here, so I'll just go through with this. In a split second, I accessed three of my Elements, making them swim through my Qi Energy Flow and feeding them into my System. I could've sworn that I saw my body glow light orange but then again, it might've been my eyes playing tricks on me. The heat of the Fire Element and the burst power of the Lightning Element all combined with my Time Element. At first, I thought that it would be easy but there's a certain quality of control needed over these three Elements so they would synergize together. To think that this girl could use it as if it were normal, she really is superbly talented.
Once I managed to barely do it, I gave my full strength to attack, pinning her on the ground in a flash as purple lightning coursed through my body. She let out a shriek of agony as her body twitched, marking her defeat. I made sure that the electrocution didn't last long since all that I needed is to defeat her. I don't have to torture her.
"It's my loss, Tang Yongrui, Sect Master of the Tang Sect. I'm on the Transcendence Realm." She tried to get up but her legs collapsed on her own weight. There was a bit of moisture running through her legs and I wasn't sure if she peed herself or if she was just sweating a lot. I did not bring it up though, that would just cause countless misunderstandings and I'm a bit drained to go through all that.
"Please, you can just call me Yongrui." I simply told her, extending my hand. "You're plenty strong. Who's your master?"
"My mother. She passed away when I was a teenager but her guidance has helped me throughout life. Although I may be lacking in some ways, I still became who I presently am because of her." Zenith cupped his hands. "Thank you for taking this fight seriously, Yongrui. Despite having a lower level of cultivation, you still managed to bring me down. You really are someone worthy of being called a Sect Master. I hope you will fight me with some time again."
"Um, Zenith," I said as she turned around. I didn't want to miss my chance so I just went for it. It would've been nice if she would say yes though... she'll be my first disciple in the Middle Plane. "I would like to formally invite you as my disciple, that is, if you're fine with it. With your mother's guidance and mine, I know that you can grow by leaps and bounds."
"I don't know... I haven't known you for long yet, are you sure you're fine with someone like me? I'm uh... I'm not really the maiden type and I'm stronger than anyone else here. In fact, ever since I've joined this settlement, no one has defeated me in a match before. You're my first, Yongrui."
The implications of that last sentence could cause a misunderstanding but I will overlook it. What's wrong if she's a bit quirky? It just adds to her charm, more or less. "Yes, I'm fine with it. I've been looking for someone like you, Zenith."
"I-if that's the case... then yes, gladly!" She cupped her hands. "I swear to protect you all of my life and bear as many kids as you want. We can start at it tonight, Yongrui, please take care of me."
"Wait, what?!" Natalia exclaimed before I did. If I were a little faster, I would've reacted the same way.
"Aren't you taking me in as your woman?" Zenith asked with an innocent expression on her face