The shockwave from their clash rippled outward, ripping shallow trenches through the ground. Both fighters were already gone before the dust could settle, vanishing in blurs of red light.
Steel sang in the air, clang, clang, clang — too fast for the eye to follow.
The fake Yu Xuan's movements grew sharper, his blade carving arcs that warped the air itself. Yu Xuan barely parried, each block rattling his bones.
A single step from the fake cracked the ground like shattered glass.
He lunged forward, his sword cleaving down with enough force to split a boulder. Yu Xuan met it head on, the impact detonating in a shockwave that sent shattered stone flying like shrapnel.
Before the debris could fall, the fake flicked his blade, sending dozens of sword beams whipping through the air like hunting serpents.
