1186 Sparring With the Dragon Empress(3)
'Since I don't want to end this too quickly, let's start out with something small.' Yuan thought to himself as his Sword Aura grew exponentially before disappearing suddenly, which puzzled Xi Mingze, who thought he had withdrawn his Sword Aura for some reason.
[Vanishing Ghost's Soundless Blade!]
Xi Mingze's instincts tingled, and she instinctively raised her spear in front of her.
Clang!
Before she could even see the attack, Xi Mingze was pushed back by a tremendous yet invisible force that struck her spear.
'What was that just now?!' Xi Mingze looked down at her hands that were still trembling.
It was clearly a sword technique, but she couldn't sense any Sword Aura from it, and an ordinary sword technique couldn't have possibly pushed her back.
There was only one possibility that she could think of, which baffled her when she came to realization.
"Enhanced Sword Aura…?" She muttered in disbelief.
"You have reached the level of Enhanced Sword Aura?!" She had to confirm it.
Yuan responded with a smile, "I learned it recently."
"..."
Xi Mingze hovered in the air with a dazed look on her face.
'How old is he again? I am almost 300,000 years old, yet I am barely scratching the surface of Enhanced Spear Aura!'
In the entire Ancient Dragon City, there was not a single individual who could use Enhanced Weapon Aura despite their long lives, hence why Xi Mingze did not immediately notice it.
"He knows Enhanced Sword Aura…?" Xi Shengmo and the others were just as shocked.
'Just how much more power is he hiding in that young body?' Xi Meili swallowed nervously.
"Here I come, Madam!" Yuan warned her before flying towards her with his sword imbued with Enhanced Sword Aura.
"!!!"
Since Xi Mingze did not know Enhanced Spear Aura, she had no way to really defend against Yuan's attacks, so she could only resort to avoiding them entirely.
She wanted to complain that it wasn't fair, but she was fighting someone two realms below her in cultivation, so she felt that she had no right to complain.
[Fleeting Clouds!]
Xi Mingze utilized her movement technique, moving so quickly that she would leave behind afterimages that would turn into clouds when Yuan struck them.
'This isn't good. I cannot let him chase me around any longer, or I will really lose. Let's get serious now!'
Xi Mingze's eyes suddenly glowed bright gold, and Yuan could feel an immense pressure appear around him.
'Dragon's Gaze!' Yuan wanted to compare her Dragon's Gaze with Xi Meili, so he purposefully stared into her eyes.
In Yuan's eyes, the world suddenly turned dark, and he could see a massive dragon's eyes that covered the entire sky staring down at him.
Even with his tremendous Soul Strength, he could feel an indescribable sense of fear deep in his heart.
Compared to Xi Meili, Xi Mingze's Dragon's Gaze was countless times stronger.
If it weren't for Heaven's Indomitable Soul, he would've fallen to her Dragon's Gaze at this moment.
'He's actually resisting my Dragon's Gaze? Just how much Soul Strength does he have?!' Xi Mingze was truly shocked to the core this time, even though she was only using about a quarter of her Soul Strength.
While highly unlikely, it wasn't impossible for a young person to learn Enhanced Weapon Aura if they have tremendous talent, but Soul Strength wasn't something that could be gained through pure talent.
Even geniuses must slowly train their Soul Strength, some faster than others because of a superior Soul Cultivation Technique, but the chances of someone having more Soul Strength than an expert from thousands of years ago was zero. And while there are treasures that increase one's Soul Strength out there, they are exceedingly rare and not enough to fill such a big gap.
This time, Xi Mingze did not believe that Yuan had enough Soul Strength to rival her, so she believed there to be another reason why he could resist her Dragon's Gaze.
'He must be resisting it with the help of a powerful spiritual treasure!' She thought to herself.
Even if Yuan defeated Xi Meili in Soul Strength, they only had a difference of about 10,000 years. Meanwhile, Xi Mingze had over 300,000 years to train her Soul Strength.
This is also why Xi Mingze did not use all of her Soul Strength with her Dragon's Gaze, as it was no different than cheating for an easy victory.
"Madam, is this the best you've got?" Yuan suddenly said to her with a provocative smile on his face.
"..."
An annoyed smile appeared on Xi Mingze's face, and she mumbled, "You asked for it. Don't regret it later."
Xi Mingze increased the output of her Dragon's Gaze to half of her Soul Strength.
The pressure around Yuan increased tremendously, but it was still endurable.
"There's no way he's less than a hundred years old…" Xi Shengmo muttered with a dazed expression on his face.
"He's resisting Mother's Dragon's Gaze…?" Although Xi Meili didn't know how much strength Xi Mingze was putting into her Dragon's gaze, she personally wouldn't be able to resist even 10 percent of her mother's power.
Xi Shengmo, on the other hand, could tell, hence his shock.
'Half of my Soul Strength isn't enough to subdue a human that's not even a hundred years old…?' Xi Mingze could feel her pride shattering into countless pieces.
Xi Mingze gritted her teeth in frustration, and the purpose of their spar suddenly changed for her. It was no longer about testing Yuan's prowess. She wanted to fight him for real. She wanted to defeat the anomaly before her!
The atmosphere around Xi Mingze suddenly began to change, and the sky in a hundred-mile radius turned gray, almost as though a storm was coming.
"Don't tell me she's going to transform?!" Xi Shengmo couldn't believe his eyes.
As Xi Mingze increased the intensity of her Dragon's Gaze, golden scales began appearing on her body, as well as horns and a tail.
Her heart throbbed with excitement, and she felt like she had gone back to the time when she was still challenging every warrior she encountered.
"Hahahah! This is fun! I haven't felt this alive in a long, long time!" Xi Mingze laughed out loud, her demeanor as the Dragon Empress nowhere to be seen.