"Ha!" Feng Bujue gave a light shout, tapping his foot down. His figure... shot straight into the clouds.

With a *zing*, the treasured sword was drawn, its cold light fully revealed.

"Nine Heavens Hanging One Point..." Coordinating with the sword moves, Brother Jue recited in a clear voice in the high altitude, "The moon hangs in the sky beyond the clouds..."

"Reciting poetry again?" Xu Huai Shang thought. "Are you addicted or something?"

"Floating in the vast mortal world... a flying immortal pierces the firmament!" Feng Bujue improvised a poem while performing various meaningless sword forms in the sky.

The poem subtly contained the characters *Tian* (Heaven), *Wai* (Outside), *Fei* (Flying), and *Xian* (Immortal). Coupled with his performance that emphasized both form and spirit, his fashionable value instantly exploded, reaching a positive one hundred and twenty. Under such fashionable value, even a simple stab with the sword could have astonishing power.

"Ha—" Seeing that the time was ripe, Feng Bujue immediately stepped on Moonwalk, rushing down diagonally from mid-air, flying towards Xu Huai Shang.

Xu Huai Shang had faced countless swordsmen in games, and she was no slouch with a sword herself. Therefore, she could tell at a glance that Brother Jue's moves were just fancy flourishes, and the amateurish kind at that...

"Tch... this isn't a skill at all..." Xu Huai Shang thought. "He obviously doesn't know how to use a sword, yet he's putting on an act..."

Confident in her judgment, her actions were decisive. Facing that "Tianwai Feixian," Xu Huai Shang didn't dodge or evade. She drew both her blades and directly responded with a move.

"Bei Tian Shi Zi Que!" Xu Huai Shang shouted the name of the move, her face flushed with embarrassment. She couldn't help it; the script demanded it. Calling it out might even add to its power.

*Chi—*

The frosty white cross slash flew towards the sky, meeting Feng Bujue's "Tianwai Feixian" head-on.

Brother Jue was prepared. Almost the instant his opponent attacked, he stepped twice more in mid-air. These two Moonwalk steps caused his figure to veer to the side like lightning, changing his trajectory and barely avoiding the incoming blade aura.

"I knew you'd use that move..." Feng Bujue thought. "Using an ice-attribute ranged attack to intercept me... its speed, power, and attack range are all suitable... it's a pity we've already fought once. The basis for zero-time difference calculation is sufficient. As long as I'm prepared, ranged attacks are ineffective against me."

"He dodged it, as expected..." At that moment, Xu Huai Shang's cold voice suddenly rang in Brother Jue's ear. "I knew you would dodge it."

It turned out... she had also foreseen Feng Bujue's evasion method.

Bei Tian Shi Zi Que was just a feint. After unleashing the blade, Xu Huai Shang herself had leaped up with all her might, following closely behind the blade aura to attack.

*Clang*—the sound of blades colliding pierced the night sky.

Feng Bujue reacted swiftly, forcibly twisting his body and blocking the incoming dual blades with his sword.

Xu Huai Shang's attack missed, but she didn't hesitate in the slightest. She immediately spun and changed her stance, unleashing another wave of swift attacks with both blades.

Blade light and sword shadows intertwined in the air.

The two figures hovered in the sky, exchanging blows back and forth, showing no signs of falling for a full two minutes.

"This..." Tang Yun'er, who was watching from the sidelines, was shocked. She couldn't help but mutter, "...what is this qinggong... how can they float without falling?"

"Using blades to emit qi, and even manifesting such a massive white light, and the inner energy contained within possesses astonishing Xuan Ice power, this..." Liao Wu's worldview was also overturned by the Bei Tian Shi Zi Que just now. He originally thought he was one of the top swordsmen in the martial world, but to his surprise... the unknown young female swordsman used a divine skill he had never seen in his life.

According to the common sense of this world, such a move could not be unleashed without forty years of arduous cultivation. And in those forty years, one had to practice high-level martial arts. If one practiced a low-level internal energy cultivation method, one wouldn't be able to unleash such blade qi even after eighty years.

"The scariest thing is..." Miao Ying also spoke, "...their martial arts are completely untraceable, without any apparent routine, seemingly without order or law, yet possessing astonishing power..." She subconsciously tightened her grip on the sword in her hand. "Standing here for so long, I haven't even felt a trace of internal energy fluctuation. I can't discern their breathing techniques, or their sect's lineage..."

"Hmph... so little seen, so much to marvel at." Cao Qin's effeminate voice rang out in a timely manner. "True peerless martial arts are not bound by form or constrained by rules. Only by breaking through all inherent rules can one reach a higher realm." He wasn't just bluffing; he truly knew what he was talking about. This Eunuch Cao's cultivation had already broken through the realm of martial arts and entered the ranks of Xuan cultivation. His ageless face was the best proof. "What you are painstakingly cultivating day and night is nothing more than internal energy. But what they are cultivating is unknown how many times stronger than internal energy."

As they spoke, the battle in the sky had changed.

As Feng Bujue had predicted in advance, he was at a disadvantage in close-quarters combat.

Although Brother Jue's experience and skills in fighting were now vastly different from what they once were, he was still far behind Xu Huai Shang. And in terms of pure strength and speed, he didn't have much of an advantage either, especially without being able to use Spiritual Consciousness Gathering Technique.

"Ha! Watch my Flying Dragon Enters the Clouds Step!" Seeing that things were about to go bad, Feng Bujue quickly feinted a move, parried his opponent, and then stepped on Moonwalk to escape upwards. Before leaving, he didn't forget to make up a cool and impressive name for his actions to boost his fashionable value.

"It's clearly just Moonwalk... it's not like I haven't seen it before..." Xu Huai Shang mumbled, then landed back on the roof ridge.

Don't be fooled by how long she fought with Brother Jue in the sky, actually... she didn't have any flying abilities. Just now, she was just borrowing strength to exert force, using Feng Bujue's levitating power to keep herself in the air.

This technique... seemed extremely difficult, but was as easy as turning her hand for her. Because Xu Huai Shang had a very powerful passive skill called [Swallow Steps Over Water].

As the name suggests, this move allowed her body to become extremely light in certain situations, so light that even a swallow could carry her. With the aid of this skill, every time she pressed down on Brother Jue with a blade, she could gain a little more height by borrowing the reaction force of his block. In a sense, this was more convenient than Moonwalk, as it hardly consumed any Stamina Points.

Of course, the effects of Moonwalk and [Stepping on Air] could be activated by stepping on air, while [Swallow Steps Over Water] required finding something to borrow force from, so there was still some difference.

"His strength has improved again in just half a month..." Feng Bujue thought. "If it weren't for zero-time difference calculation, I would have been seriously injured in that round of exchanges just now..." He couldn't help but recall that slaughter game when he first encountered Crazy Trace Sword Shadow, where he was also suppressed by his opponent's skillful fighting techniques, and it could be said that he was in a precarious situation.

"There's no other way, I'll have to take advantage of my aerial superiority and use Rankyaku to wear down her health..." Once Feng Bujue made up his mind, he took advantage of his high altitude and kicked out two crescent-shaped slashes with a swoosh.

Unexpectedly...

*Whoosh—whoosh—bang—bang—*

Two palm winds suddenly rose, vast and mighty, intercepting his Rankyaku in mid-air and reducing them to nothing.

"Liao Lord Feng," Cao Qin flicked his sleeves and looked up, saying, "This is the top of the Imperial City, what do you think you're doing?"

"Pfft..." Xu Huai Shang burst out laughing. From the moment she entered the script until now, this was the first time she felt so relieved. "That's right, Liao Lord Feng, if you damage the roof here, you won't have enough lives to compensate."

Cao Qin's sudden intervention and Xu Huai Shang's ridicule caused Brother Jue's fashionable value to plummet rapidly, dropping to forty in an instant.

"Also, your Tianwai Feixian is nothing more than that. I've already taken it, and I'm completely unharmed," Xu Huai Shang said.

As soon as these words came out, Brother Jue's fashionable value plummeted again, turning to zero...

"Hey! It turned to zero just like that..." Feng Bujue exclaimed inwardly. "I spent so long setting the stage before the fight, but it can be reset to zero with just one or two changes..."

So it is said... showing off is like climbing a mountain, the higher you climb, the harder you fall...

The main reasons for Feng Bujue's fashionable value plummeting were: first, he had built up the non-existent "Tianwai Feixian" for too long, but in the end, it was all bark and no bite; second, he was at a disadvantage in close combat and had to fly into the sky, switching to leg techniques for ranged attacks; third, his Rankyaku was blocked by Cao Qin, and he was ridiculed by Eunuch Cao and Goddess Xu in turn.

The occurrence of these three things was all seen by the onlookers. As a result, Feng Bujue's high-end image of a peerless master collapsed all at once. Although his Rankyaku was still a terrifying skill in the eyes of Liao Wu and the others, his personal deterrent power was far less intense than when Cao Qin mentioned "Cang Ling Sword Debate" earlier.

"There's no other way..." Feng Bujue calculated in his heart. "If I continue to use Rankyaku to attack downwards, I might trigger a battle with Cao Qin... hmm... can only go down and fight her in close combat?" Thinking of this, another plan came to him...

As everyone knows... fashionable value can be increased by [announcing one's name to the enemy], [letting the enemy go], [not dealing a fatal blow to the enemy], [using uncommon Chinese characters or foreign words], [reminiscing], [cheering for others], [expressing determination], [explaining the situation], [writing poetry] and a series of fashionable behaviors.

And women can also increase their fashionable value through actions that reveal skin, and the larger the breasts and the better the figure, the higher the chances of survival in battle, and the more significant the increase in fashionable value.

Conversely, [playing with the weak], [showing an arrogant attitude because one is in an advantageous position], [using all one's strength from the beginning], [dealing a fatal blow to a dying character], [ridiculing the beliefs that the other party is adhering to] and other behaviors will lead to a decrease in fashionable value, and even cause death.

Feng Bujue, who was familiar with this theory, deeply knew that... it was not impossible for him to win. He still had a glimmer of hope, that was to use the most ultimate and fashionable way to turn the tables—to reverse the situation after being beaten to the point of near death.

After deciding on this plan, Feng Bujue acted...

He saw his figure hanging upside down, his sword slanting in front of his chest. Then, he slightly raised his right foot and stepped down with a bang. In the next second, his whole person rushed down like thunder.

Seeing that his opponent seemed to be desperate, Xu Huai Shang naturally dared not be careless. The dual blades in her hand were used again, gathering qi to be released.

In an instant, her sleeves fluttered, her soft hands gently sent out the dual blades, and the cold light swirled into a shield, directly clashing with the falling sword.

"Nan Dou... Flying Dragon Sword!" Feng Bujue held the sword in his hand, but forcibly used that bare-handed killing move. As a result, he used a strange and awkward skill. The hand holding the sword was obviously a beat slower, and also affected the swordless left hand, so that he was extremely awkward when he shot.

Although to others, this strange move of "simultaneous sword and hand" was also considered an amazing feat, Brother Jue himself understood... the power of this skill was less than 30% of the original.

"Hmph... a joke!" Xu Huai Shang also quickly saw through Brother Jue's trick, and immediately gave a light shout, raising her blades to meet him.

The dual blades rose together, weaving a net of death.

The treasured sword shattered inch by inch, declaring the victory.

The broken pieces of iron fell one after another, reflecting patches of silver light in the moonlight.

Feng Bujue fell on the roof ridge, spitting blood, his face pale.

Xu Huai Shang stood beside him, threatening with her blade, her expression disdainful.

"Hehe..." Feng Bujue smiled in his heart. "Very good... it's all within the plan. Goddess Xu, hurry up and attack. It would be best if you ridicule me a few more times... I've still kept 30% of my survival value. After dodging your fatal blow, I'll get up and give you a sweeping leg, taking advantage of the situation to reverse..."

His idea was good, but...

An astonishing scene appeared...

Xu Huai Shang actually didn't attack, and her expression suddenly became gentle. She looked at Brother Jue affectionately and said something nonsensical: "You've lost." There was even a trace of resentment in her tone.

"What's going on..." Feng Bujue felt like he was suddenly stuck on a seesaw, a little at a loss. "Why doesn't she attack? What's with this line and expression? Could it be..."

"You think... I really don't understand anything?" Xu Huai Shang said this. At the same time, she even slowly closed her eyes, shedding two lines of clear tears.

"Hey!" Brother Jue's eyeballs were about to pop out. "An actress! She can cry on cue!"

Xu Huai Shang's words obviously had another meaning to others, but Feng Bujue understood... her subtext was: "You really think I don't know anything about fashionable value?"

"I know that from the beginning, you wanted to die." Xu Huai Shang continued to make up stories. "So you didn't use your full strength at all..." She sobbed twice in a seemingly realistic manner. "You think I'm really that stupid that I can't see it?"

Hearing this, the four onlookers revealed an "oh~" kind of enlightened expression. Their state at this moment was like watching a live stage play, their emotions rising and falling with the fate of the characters in the play...

"I'm done for... completely done for..." Feng Bujue was almost in despair in his heart. "This woman's EQ is much higher than I imagined..."

At this point, Brother Jue couldn't even respond. This play had been completely brought into Xu Huai Shang's rhythm. What Goddess Xu said was the truth, and Brother Jue could only remain silent with a look of grief and loss. If he forced himself to respond, or suddenly ran away or launched a sneak attack, his fashionable value would definitely plummet to a fatal level.

"Sigh..." Xu Huai Shang sighed deeply. "I know that you and I are destined to be together in this life..." She wiped away her tears and knelt down on one knee beside Brother Jue without restraint. "An hour ago, I had already taken a strange poison..."

"I even ate Hahahaha Half-Step Death!" Feng Bujue complained in his heart.

"...Since you refuse to fulfill me, then I will fulfill myself." Goddess Xu acted so sincerely and movingly, it was no wonder that people in the film and television industry were fighting over her. This was simply a genius. "At least I want to die with you..."

As Xu Huai Shang said this, she actually pulled Feng Bujue up and hugged him, resting his head on her shoulder.

This move was extremely vicious... In this state, Brother Jue's last hope of escape was shattered.

"Sigh... a terrible woman..." Feng Bujue sighed secretly. "I underestimated you too much..."

Brother Jue couldn't help but think that if his inventory wasn't locked, he could have taken out a kitchen knife and stabbed her directly; if Southern Dipper Flying Dragon Fist hadn't entered its cooldown, it would have been over with one move.

But now... these assumptions no longer existed.

It was also impossible to expect the NPCs to come and disrupt the situation. After seeing Liao Lord Feng embraced by that infatuated woman, they all looked aside and sighed with emotion... Basically, they were prepared to watch until the end.

"Why are you doing this to yourself..." Feng Bujue replied weakly, with a look of being played out.

Failure made him a little frustrated, but he wouldn't be so uncouth as to force a retreat, so he prepared to cooperate with Xu Huai Shang to finish the play.

"Don't say anything..." Xu Huai Shang raised her right hand imperceptibly and placed the tip of the blade against the back of Feng Bujue's heart. "My mind is made up, there's no turning back."

"I'm saying... that's about enough," Feng Bujue whispered in Xu Huai Shang's ear. "I've already admitted defeat, hurry up and do it."

"You like to play, don't you, hmph..." Xu Huai Shang replied in Brother Jue's ear triumphantly. "You want to lure me into a trap... didn't expect it, did you?"

"If you don't do it, I'm going to cry," Brother Jue actually said such a thing in a threatening tone.

"Huh?" Xu Huai Shang was stunned. "So what if you cry?"

"After I cry, I'll say I'm touched by you. Then I'll ask Eunuch Cao for some Tianshan Snow Lotus, Millennium Ganoderma, and so on to detoxify you, and then I'll fly away with you." Feng Bujue continued.

*Pfft*—

Before he finished speaking, the tip of the blade had already pierced his heart.

At this moment, Xu Huai Shang broke out in a cold sweat. She originally thought that she had completely controlled the situation, but she didn't expect... that in such a short period of time, the other party had conceived of such a dangerous plot direction.

If Feng Bujue really put this plan into action, then the subsequent development would be reversed again... The role played by Xu Huai Shang would no longer have any room to resist Brother Jue in a short period of time.

"This doesn't count, the setting is too inexplicable..." Xu Huai Shang said coldly in his ear before Brother Jue turned into white light. "Next time, I will win you in a more direct way."

"You still have a lot of resentment about that Butterfly Battle, as expected..." Feng Bujue replied in an indifferent tone. "Very well... I'm always at your serv..."

His words stopped abruptly, because he had turned into white light and was teleported away. Almost in the same instant, Xu Huai Shang, who heard the victory prompt, also left the script.

At the peak of the Forbidden City, only four stunned NPCs were left. Even Cao Qin couldn't help but wonder... whether what he saw was a human or a ghost.