Tang Yiyi saw that Shen Lang refused to draw a weapon. He had simply torn two silk ribbons, dipped them in the lake, and now prepared to fight her!

The Soft Sword in her hand was a Fourth Grade Spiritual Artifact. Many Martial Artists feared it greatly, yet her opponent was facing it with torn silk ribbons!

The feeling of being underestimated instantly unleashed the Killing Intent she had been suppressing.

Her normally calm disposition shattered. She was thoroughly enraged!

Killing Intent and rage intertwined, causing the perpetually ice-cold woman to exude an even more terrifying aura!

The air around her roiled and churned, sending sprays of lake water shooting in all directions.

Though she stood perfectly still, the effect was like a behemoth crashing down onto the lake’s surface.

Water erupted from the lake around her, blooming like a lotus as the sound thundered across the landscape!

"Arrogant!"

With a sharp cry, Tang Yiyi flicked her Soft Sword, and in the next instant, she was hurtling toward Shen Lang.

She had been still as a statue, but when she moved, her speed stunned many of the onlookers.

"The price for underestimating me is death!"

With a cold shout from Tang Yiyi, the surface of the lake in a hundred-foot radius around Shen Lang instantly froze solid, though no one saw her make a move.

Tang Yiyi’s figure was fast, yet also graceful beyond compare.

She moved like a flower petal drifting on the wind, a beautiful and pleasing sight.

But this beautiful sight was accompanied by an icy Killing Intent that swept over the battlefield, making it hard to breathe. It felt as if a giant boulder was crushing their chests.

Her drifting figure, her soul-stirring aura...

...made the Profound Dao Sect disciples who still lingered nearby stare, wide-eyed and unblinking.

Meanwhile, Su Wenxuan and the others showed looks of admiration, nodding in approval of her Body Technique.

"Whistling Autumn Wind Raises a Raging Tide!"

As Tang Yiyi’s Soft Sword danced, it whipped up a gale across the surface of the lake.

Waves surged and water sprayed into the air, instantly transforming into a sky full of Ice Cones that completely enveloped Shen Lang!

"The Xiu Hua Sect’s Celestial Cold Four Techniques. Not a bad display."

Shen Lang chuckled, and the Cloth Stick in his hands began to dance, making a WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH sound.

The Cloth Stick was stretched taut, just like a real iron staff. He wielded it freely, and in an instant, he had shattered all the incoming Ice Cones.

Not a single Ice Cone or snowflake managed to get within seven feet of him!

When Tang Yiyi saw her first attack so easily thwarted, she was startled and immediately shed her disdain for the Cloth Stick.

The anger on her face vanished, replaced once again by her original, ice-cold expression.

However, a hint of gravity now appeared in her eyes.

"Cold Blade, Icy Heart, Soul-Severing Chill!"

Tang Yiyi’s figure suddenly moved toward Shen Lang’s left, her Soft Sword launching a frenzied attack.

Her attacks were elegant and seemingly casual, yet their power was astonishing.

As her Soft Sword moved, it kicked up massive waves of ice.

One moment, endless Ice Cones filled the sky, whistling through the air as a frigid wind sought to swallow Shen Lang whole. The next, myriad silver snakes of ice darted in from all directions, their boundless, icy Killing Intent threatening to drown him in an overwhelming offensive.

"This young man is certainly skilled, but he doesn’t seem quite as formidable as Sect Leader Su made him out to be," Mei Yingxue remarked thoughtfully.

Although there was no hint of ridicule in her tone, it was filled with considerable doubt.

"Ah... Sect Leader Mei, just keep watching. You’ll understand soon enough," Su Wenxuan said with a light, self-assured laugh.

Nearby, Ye Xiangmo, the Sect Leader of the White Rainbow Sect, glanced at the constantly defending Shen Lang, then at Su Wenxuan, and then at Zhang Cheng, looking as if he wanted to say something but held back.

But his gaze toward Zhang Cheng was now clearly tinged with suspicion.

That fellow Zhang Cheng was thick-skinned enough to ignore even his Sect Leader’s questioning gaze, his eyes fixed on the two combatants.

’We’ll see soon enough if he’s the real deal,’ he thought. ’The test is already underway. Can’t you be a little more patient, Sect Leader?’

Ye Xiangmo, for his part, remained silent because of the earlier voice transmission from Zhang Cheng.

But on the other side, Shi Yanbin, the Sect Leader of the Mahayana Sect, was completely in the dark.

Seeing that Shen Lang seemed unable to fight back, Shi Yanbin couldn’t help but say mockingly, "Wenxuan, where does all your confidence come from? I don’t know what you’ve got up your sleeve, but if this is all Shen Lang has, he’s a far cry from what you described."

"I don’t deny that Shen Lang’s Cloth Stick is creative, but a fight is about winning and losing—sometimes, it’s about life and death. To arrogantly use that thing against Tang Yiyi’s Spiritual Artifact... I don’t know whether to call him an idiot or a moron."

At this point, Shi Yanbin, still fuming, continued, "A smart person would be more cautious, more humble, when facing an unknown opponent. He doesn’t know Tang Yiyi’s Cultivation level or what Cultivation Techniques she has, yet he dares to be so overconfident as to use a Cloth Stick to fight her. I’m speechless."

"Look at him! Tang Yiyi has seized the initiative and is forcing him back. How is he supposed to counterattack in a situation like this?"

"One wrong move and he’ll be defeated instantly. Is this the guy you said ’no one can take more than a few of his moves’?"

Mei Yingxue nodded as she listened. She glanced sideways at Su Wenxuan, only to see him smiling mysteriously, unconcerned by Shi Yanbin’s words.

Just then, a loud BANG came from the battlefield!

Shen Lang had finally begun to fight back.

Shen Lang’s Cloth Stick whistled through the air as he slammed it down onto the ice, splitting the massive sheet in two.

The sheer force of the blow was so shocking that Tang Yiyi shot back nearly twenty feet.

Once Shen Lang began his counterattack, the entire situation changed!

The Cloth Stick finally began to reveal its terrifying nature. Its movements were breathtaking to watch.

Tang Yiyi’s attacks were as wild as the wind and as fierce as the waves, her earth-shaking momentum giving her enemy no chance to breathe;

Ice and water were one, turning drops into ice; the entire lake was her weapon!

But Shen Lang’s defense was as fast as lightning, ever-changing, and impenetrable. As he defended, his own momentum flared, and he began to attack more than he defended!

He had only soaked two silk ribbons in the lake, yet no one dared to underestimate them any longer.

In his hands, the Cloth Stick was sometimes like a staff, mowing down all in its path.

At other times, it was like a whip with a life of its own, coiling and uncoiling unpredictably like a Flood Dragon!

No matter how fast or ferocious Tang Yiyi’s Swordsmanship was, when faced with Shen Lang’s Cloth Stick, she felt as if she were caught in a vortex, unable to escape!

She couldn’t even get within ten feet of him!

"If this is all you have, then it’s time for this to end!"

With a sharp cry, Shen Lang’s Cloth Stick suddenly multiplied into six images, scattering the incoming Frost Blade Ice Arrows.

Then, he stopped defending and finally went on the offensive, sending the Cloth Stick flying toward Tang Yiyi!

"Let’s see if you can block a single strike from me!"

Shen Lang laughed heartily, blasting away the Frost Blade Ice Arrows shooting at him from all sides. He spun, and the Cloth Stick drew a semicircle in the air as it came crashing down on Tang Yiyi!

Gripping her hilt tightly, Tang Yiyi looked up at the terrifyingly powerful Cloth Stick, her expression turning extremely grave.

On the Cloth Stick, silver arcs of electricity crackled and danced, and the sound it made slicing through the air was piercingly sharp.

’This man... he’s using the Combat Techniques of several different weapons at once. He switches between Whip Skill and Staff Technique at will, and sometimes it even looks like Spear Skill. The transitions are unpredictable yet seamless, alternating between soft and hard. He’s also fused Thunder Power and the Power of Water into that Cloth Stick... its strength is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. How can anyone be this powerful?’

’If I don’t go all out now, I’m going to lose, and lose badly!’

Exhaling lightly, the ice beneath Tang Yiyi’s feet thickened almost imperceptibly.

In a flash, she moved to her right. At that exact moment, her Soft Sword suddenly trembled and became encased in a layer of ice. She swung it out like a fan!

BANG!

The Cloth Stick slammed squarely onto the blade of Tang Yiyi’s sword.

A sweet taste filled Tang Yiyi’s mouth as the energy and blood within her roiled, falling into temporary chaos.

She was sent flying backward. Only by tapping her sword against the ice sheet several times did she manage to stabilize herself.

’Such overwhelming power! He was only defending before to gauge my strength! I absolutely cannot face power like this head-on!’

Tang Yiyi felt the web of her hand go numb as a massive tremor ran through her entire body!

It was as if her sword had just struck a falling mountain...

"Retreat!"

In this moment of crisis, Tang Yiyi’s expression changed drastically. She stomped hard on the ice below.

With a blast of Energy, the ice beneath her feet shattered, and her body instantly shot backward.

Using this evasive maneuver, she finally managed to both deflect and disperse the force of Shen Lang’s strike.

"Frigid Wind of a Thousand-Mile Snowstorm!"

With a soft cry, while still in the air and less than a foot above the water’s surface, Tang Yiyi swept her sword toward Shen Lang.

A fierce gale erupted. Blades of ice and Wind Blades mixed together, dancing through the air and emitting a sharp HISS HISS HISS as they tore through the sky, sweeping toward Shen Lang in an irregular pattern.

"Such petty tricks are useless against me."

Shen Lang couldn’t help but smile. Thunder Power rapidly gathered in his right palm and was instantly poured into the Cloth Stick.

The Cloth Stick, now carrying terrifying Thunder Power, carved a path straight through the center with the force of a conquering army. Countless Wind Blades dissipated, and the sky full of ice blades shattered.

"Thinking of dodging with your Body Technique? I’m afraid it won’t be so easy. You’re too slow."

Shen Lang’s words immediately made Tang Yiyi’s eyebrows arch in anger.

But his actions immediately after speaking made her expression change once again!

Before she could react, Shen Lang was already sprinting across the water’s surface. With each footfall, the water blossomed into a silent lotus flower. Meanwhile, the Cloth Stick in his hand became a thousand illusions as he launched a furious, all-out assault on Tang Yiyi, his Killing Intent surging!