Chapter 350: Moonlight Fists

Just as the multicolored beam was about to hit Musi Te, he twisted in the air and let the beam hit his soulshard armor rather than his glaive. As his attack landed, the entire warehouse burst apart. The reinforced metal shattered and splintered like glass, and Hong Xi, in front of him, disintegrated to pieces.

Nevertheless, Musi Te frowned. The moment that had occurred, another Hong Xi had appeared to his right. [The Elusive Moon] was able to produce illusions that looked almost like the real thing; Hong Xi had used this technique to evade his attack. She stood in silence, a faint smile on her face, as she launched the sword technique she had prepared. It was too late for Musi Te to defend against the lances of moonlight sent his way.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

With his armor temporarily unequipped, Musi Te was forced to take the blows with nothing but his body. Another soulshard fell to the floor—Hong Xi's iris peacock soulshard had struck again.

"I really did underestimate you," he gritted out.

Of course, he still believed that her strength largely derived from [Eclipse]. Without that wondrous technique, he was sure he would be far stronger than she was. He propped himself up with his glaive as he tried to stand up, but he suddenly stumbled, lost his balance, and fell back to the ground.

"How did our young master fall?"

"He must have been so agitated that he stumbled—surely he wouldn't lose to trash from the Hong clan?"

Musi Te found himself feeling weak all over, with most of the genetic energy drained from his body. Beneath him, the domain of [Eclipse] glimmered with white tendrils of smoke.

"This—the domain of [Eclipse]? When did it appear again?" Wasn't the Musi clan's [Black Sun] able to counteract [Eclipse] entirely? [Black Sun] did have some resistance to [Eclipse], but that was far from immunity. Furthermore, this resistance was most effective against hunters of the same or lower strength.

After experiencing Zhang Lie's hellish training, Hong Xi's understanding of [Eclipse] had reached an impressive level. Furthermore, during the battle, she had continuously used [Eclipse] to sap away at Musi Te's [Black Sun], and he would fall prey to her sooner or later.

After he stumbled, Musi Te laughed. "Interesting. It's been far too long since I had an opponent who was able to suppress me."

Hong Xiao shouted, "Musi Te, how can you still laugh at this stage?"

Musi Te grinned even more widely. "Why not? After my exchange with your sister, I've identified her weakness. Hong Xi, you aren't familiar with close combat, are you?"

Hong Xi was silent.

Musi Te roared in laughter. "It's all over for you, wench!"

Hong Xiao's eyes clouded with worry. He had also noticed that his sister had been holding Musi Te off by clever use of her soulshards and domain. Musi Te had to be right.

"The moment I get close to you, none of your techniques will be effective. Let's see if you can kill me first before I restrain you!" Musi Te's legs flared with black flame. "[Solar Flare]!"

He leapt up into the air, then swooped down toward Hong Xi like a flaming meteor. To everyone's surprise, Hong Xi neither dodged nor retreated. Instead, she dematerialized her fan and blade, then floated into the air like the moon goddess.

[Moon Seeker]!

She soared toward the black meteor.

"Is this girl crazy?"

"Does she really think that Young Master Musi wouldn't kill her just because she possesses [Eclipse]?"

"She's crazy, completely crazy, I say!"

Even Musi Te held back subconsciously. Defeating Hong Xi would be fine, but if he were to accidentally kill her, then the Musi clan's machinations all these years would be wasted.

That said, though he chose to relent, Hong Xi wouldn't do so. "[Fists of the Silent Sea: Flash]!"

The skies shook. Rings of brilliant light gushed out of Hong Xi's slender wrists, passed through the two arms that Musi Te held up in defense, and struck his right cheek.

Despite Musi Te summoning a helmet-type soulshard at the very last moment, his right cheek caved in, and two teeth shot out of the open wound. His brain felt dazed; he had been beaten into thoughtlessness.

"This blow's for my brother. [Fists of the Silent Sea: Tremor]!"

Her fists shone again and again with rings of light. The next blow caved in Musi Te's chest and made him bleed from all his orifices.

"This blow's for my old housekeeper, who perished because of your clan! [Fists of the Silent Sea: Reflect]!"

A pulse of concentrated moonlight burst out of Hong Xi's right fist, shattering the armor-type soulshard shielding Musi Te's body.

If Musi Te were unable to defend against this rain of attacks, he might well die. His life flashed before his eyes. Musi Te tried to strike at her with the glaive in his right hand, but before he could do so, she broke his wrist.

Musi Te had been relegated to the role of a human punching bag. His guards, along with Hong Xiao, watched on with shock and awe.

Musi Te was completely wrong—Hong Xi was an unbelievable close-combat fighter! Before becoming Zhang Lie's apprentice, Hong Xi had indeed been weak at close combat, but Zhang Lie had worked with her to improve her skills tremendously ever since. Furthermore, he had imparted her with his own [Fists of the Silent Sea], and she had even come up with her own variations on the technique.